▼
Failed Belmont Experiment Is Ending/NYI Never Should Have Left Barclays
Our team never should have left Barclays, a flawed arena (that could always be renovated) with a NYC base of fans, more revenue, better transit which got them off the cap floor, and finally ended the 23 years of playoff failure. It worked in 2015-16, and would only have continued to improve same as leaving the suburbs improved many teams like Caps. Dolan's people at Newsday & in politics did everything they could to prosecute Barclays after the 1st playoffs by appealing to people who could not fill 1/2 the Nassau Coliseum for most of 35 years even with cheap tickets. It failed, win or lose, and it failed again in 2018-19-20 going back to an even smaller building.
Dolan wanted his Nassau Coliseum II which he lost to Ratner in 2013, owned Cuomo, and NYI as a tenant at Belmont had to happen for it to be approved. Belmont was never for the tenant NYI it was for Dolan to get his Nassau Coliseum, and take the events.
Now here we are in 2024, Dolan/Oakview don't want to pay NYI anymore to be a tenant and all that Islanders arena garbage turned out to be the scam, I told you countless times, we were a lame duck by the time the shovel hit the ground, and it was a matter of when Dolan decided to use his media to create the narrative everyone knew, that arena was in the wrong location, and never meant for NYI. Just events, NYRA, Oakview, and to make the Coliseum useless. Now we have Leiweke who raved about revenue saying the location the NHL just gave the 2026 all-star game is a ten year project. Malkin will be selling as soon as his late, hidden retail opens to no attention (it's been as hidden as NYI) and no one wants to walk a mile from the LIRR to a high end shopping mall who's parking garage was for retail/not hockey games.
I expect more ownership changes, the money NYI were given to go there ending, and the team with an 86.25 million lease buyout being used by the next owners. I wish the team would return home to Barclay's, but even Joe Tsai wants to sell part of his Nets stake, and the change to put an arena in Queens was rejected because for Dolan it was Belmont, or nothing, no inside New York.
The same Long Island loser fans who never went after 1989 win or lose at any price (or for free) will continue to stay home, and add more fuel to the narrative Dolan just started in his newspaper to stop paying us to be there, or the cable contract.
And NYCFC will get the location we needed to move to that was not accepted to Cuomo/Dolan where the bulk of our fans are. During 2015-16 the LIBN made clear the RFP for Belmont was rigged, ther were never any options for Malkin/Wilpon to exlore, it was Belmont or nothing on Dolan/Cuomo orders. Barclay's wanted NYI to stay without paying them which could be what happens now at Belmont but it's a non-starter for a team likely losing millions with the money they were given to go there.