Bring The New York Islanders Home To NYC

No Dolan Arena At Belmont

New York Islander Fan Central | 7/11/2019 02:37:00 AM |
For two years I read from Dolan's Newsday employees it's Belmont or NYI move to Quebec. Funny, but our one owner who speaks never said that. We're all grown ups, and if that's the truth (with Dolan cable contract check worth 300 million through 2032 voided) by all means tell us after 480 million for eighty percent of a team, a seventy million payroll for years, and a good fifty million plus to change two managements? Not buying, and how many sports teams own another teams newspaper, and makes such a claim?

Dolan's sports editor, Hank Winnicki, was hardly shy about getting New York Islanders to Hartford.


Does not sound like Belmont or Quebec when you spend that kind of money. Peter Malkin's son could have built a very nice mall elsewhere in a lot of cities without massive losses from a failed sports team in Nassau.


Very little new to add from what was posted two years ago on the side-bar here from the past entries. The truth will be hidden, even though it takes little knowledge to know who funds bleeding red ink in Seattle, Oakview/Leiweke, Irving Azoff, and how many billions have gone to Dolan from Cuomo at the Chase Garden. Anyone with a clue knew there was no chance Dolan was not going to put an arena next to the arena he lost, in a place he considered Ranger territory, and still a place he's called home before 1971. That was made a hundred percent clear in 2013 when Ratner won the Coliseum, and sore-losers wrote they would be watching very closely. Since July 2016, the newspaper of Msg, with Dolan owned News12LI, worked 24/7 to make Barclay's the problem despite a record thirty games over five hundred.

Barclay's is not perfect, there is no hiding that or the 190x83 special dimensions that would fix it for free, many past rinks got. Dolan's building has same issues behind a goal.


Belmont's not NYI home when Dolan's cronies Oakview & Azoff operate arena & supply over 110 acts. And as always Cuomo throws Dolan taxpayer money, another 700 million in June/w groundbreaking done for a new LIRR entrance to the Chase Garden. Newsday/Msg of course covered it like basketball on 7/1 when Nets took over Manhattan, while the rest of the local papers hammered Dolan.


Nassau is not fit to sustain an NHL team. The "bring them home crowd" returned with their best team in generations, and only 13.9k seats to sell twenty one times. It failed miserably as expected starting game two against Pittsburgh, and unlike real markets that sellout seasons in a day with the gift of a team, here they did what they do best, stay home. The downsized Coliseum did not sellout or come close many games, even dead-last, gutted Ottawa post-trade deadline outdrew Nassau in a March home/home. The usual excuses we read for thirty years even for Arbour-Torrey to finish last in attendance returned from the worst fan base in the NHL unless it's opening night or a playoff game.


No one builds a rail road station (that went from 300 million to 100 million in a week with lies about financing at first) a 1/2 mile from an arena, that requires shuttle buses, close to a mile away from Malkin's mall or Wilpon's hotel, it's just a bad plan in every direction, next to an already massively over-burdened highway, someone supplying 24/7 shuttles to get to Malkin's mall? Now that road requires 20-30 million to hold a bus to go with price to renvote Belmont Park road, and flooded parks near schools.


NYI need a new deal with Barclays. They need a home where people are to survive financially, that won't be Belmont. They will be under 10k by the second game, and October in Nassau this fall will leave no doubt as usual, they won't be coming eight miles to the Queens border for NHL games, maybe when Dolan brings down AHL Wolfpack which was his 2013 bid after our owners see the light, and lost enough money. Malkin will likely just keep his mall.

It's not NYI arena, it's just the name used to sell a shovel in the ground for Dolan/cronies until the truth comes out. I don't know what Wilpon's end is in this (when he can't develop a thing in Queens where a NYI arena would be perfect) or why Jon Ledecky is a willing part of this failed plan? As usual Newsday/News12 will be a joke, hiding the truth, with politicians well-aware, the Dolan media can control perceptions of voters, and promote who they want in/out of office, even democrats who don't back their agenda.


The bottom line is if this scam happens, the NYI will go out of business, maybe more new owners drag this to 2032 or end of television contract, but the revenue steams as a 41-day tenant, in a mall will not work to sustain any payroll much less one approaching eighty million, not at this location, not as Dolan's tenant. 


The same people around for thirty years still think owners should pay for everything only in Nassau, which is why nothing works there.


The money for the joke railroad station would go a long way toward renovating Barclay's & other than Dolan's paper saying Shea Stadium is not viable (like $58) they spammed to defeat 2011 vote, so their boss could bid in 2013 for Coliseum/HUB, with Ranger AHL team/home preseason games, we have gotten no facts, and mostly outright lies from the same people who told you vote no in 2011. No one at Newsday wrote Coliseum was where NYI belonged in July 2013 when Dolan bid, all you saw Ranger images of their plans to move their brand to the Coliseum site, but made a low-ball bid, even Mangano turned down. And Newsday hammered him.


One fact we have, it's not NYI arena, it's not NYI home, it won't work financially. No NHL team or UFA would sign up for this plan where they are sequestered there, in a place that will be a construction zone for a good five years. If you think Kris LeTang does not represent a good eighty percent of NHL players you are kidding yourselves. No law our players can't live in NYC/near Barclay's and drive to Northwell for practice.


My advice is again lock the doors with Prokhorov, new 49 percent Nets owner, Joe Tasi, who bought Liberty from Dolan, and seems willing to let them play Barclay's in front of terrible crowds. Let's keep our team in NYC so we have a team/future. Those first two years outdrew/tied 22/25 Nassau seasons after 1989 (without Saturday games/Newsday hammering it's competition) & Barclay's drew 14,800 on 2/16/19, with two other strong weekend showings in Feb 2019 while Nassau got 11-12,000 far too often. Ledecky did not hang around DC long after Caps moved, but eventually the Landover fans went to games or stopped following entirely. Barclay's already tied/outdrew Nassau's first two seasons with weekday games.


NYI can work in NYC, we know what has not worked since 1989. Thirty teams want a city arena to survive for a reason, the money will never be in Nassau, not at Coliseum or NYC line which is another joke to act like being fifty feet from NYC is being back home on LI.

I don't think Scott Malkin or Jon Ledecky did their homework on Nassau attendance, past revenue steams, only they know how they worked with Charles Wang, who spent far beyond teams revenue streams. This is a terrible plan, it will not belong to NYI like every other team who got an arena via Pilots (payments in lieu of taxes), it's in a terrible location but I do think their intentions were something in the middle, but a desolate, isolated location like this, and run by Dolan/cronies, is for them, not NYI. And I think it's a lie.


If all this money can be spent, why it can't it be spent in Barclay's or Flushing? A shovel-read area in a sea of concrete, why is Wilpon/Sterling spending a billion at Belmont, when for a full decade they had NYC ruin Willets Points/businesses, to build absolutely nothing to date, and face criticism for how cheap they are running their baseball team in their 600 million dollar, Madoff-funded taxpayer stadium?


LI people walked for good in 1989, no more dynasty? We're done. Everything sports-related died or left Nassau due to fan indifference. If 2018-19 proved anything, it was more of them walked for good after 2014-15.


Twenty years in NYC, and that 14.2k avgerage in 2015-16 from 12/2/15-end of ssn, and 14,800 on 2/16/19 will work just fine, and it will be a lot more in ten-twenty years without distractions or Dolan's media hammering it's competition.


Lets stay home in NYC, time for a real plan that makes revenue work for this team to survive.