Email a copy of 'New York Rangers Owner Backs Islanders' Search For New Home' to a friend
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at CDT | by Gavin Lee
Email a copy of 'New York Rangers Owner Backs Islanders' Search For New Home' to a friend
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I think it is inevitable that the Isles get a new building and Belmont makes the most sense.
Belmont is on STATE property which will help avoid some of the issues that the Isles had at the Coliseum which is on County property. In addition the Coliseum had to overcome Town Of Hempstead issues.
Belmont gives the Isles the best of both worlds. It is literally on the Queens-Nassau border which will make it easier for fans coming home from the city to get to games yet be closer to the fan base on Long Island to get to week night games.
Belmont unlike the Coliseum has LIRR access. Granted the State will need to kick in resources to make this a viable option. The station is only used during horse racing season and on its biggest day (Belmont Stakes) consistently has had overcrowding problems where the police have been forced to send people away.
Belmont has Hempstead Turnpike access (same as the Coliseum), Cross Island Parkway access (Coliseum had Meadowbrook) and will still have sufficient parking unlike Barclays.
Finally the NHL and Gary Bettman will not allow the Isles to leave the area and Bettman has criticized Barclays both before the Isles moved there and since the move so he wants them out.
So why does the Rangers owner want in? There are three reasons that I can think of. First and foremost, his management company lost the bid to Barclays in the redevelopment of the Nassau Coliseum. Getting a new building I am sure will come with a guarantee that his company manages the property which will put a dent in the Barclays business both at the New Coliseum and Barclays itself. Secondly lets not forget, MSG spent about 1B on renovating the Garden BUT NYC only guaranteed a 10 year lease on the property. It is entirely possible NYC says the Garden has to move. They have been talking about a new Penn Station forever and MSG sits on top of it. Realistically that won’t happen but a new building with MSG as one of the financiers would guarantee the Rangers and Knicks a home until a new building is built. Finally Dolan and Cablevision (now Altice) have invested heavily on Long Island. Between their cable service, high speed internet, purchase of Newsday it would fall into the model of everything good on LI goes through Dolan.
The question is why do the Wilpons want in? Anyone that knows the Mets knows they have very large debt payments due on the Mets and Citi Field. Several years ago they needed to borrow money from MLB to pay players salaries while they refinanced their debt with Bank of America. So realistically how much could they contribute?
Having an ex Maple Leaf Garden person on board can only help more from the knowledge of what it takes to build a viable arena.
The story mentions plans have already been drawn up. That is good news. I am sure they will be floated soon. There was an absolutely beautiful rendering of a building several years ago with a huge glass entryway with Isles logos, Hall of Fame entrance. I would just hope they really go all out since this building would need to last 20-30 years.
I am very optimistic this will get done. Having seen these new owners complain about Barclays from moment one I knew there was no way they were staying in Brooklyn for 25 years. Now the question is will NY get out of their way and allow this to get done.
metseventually 2
“Get the f out of NYC”
frankthetank1985
They should go to pilgrim