MURRAY TO ATTEND FIRST LIGHTHOUSE MEETING
Tuesday, June 2, 11:00 am – Open to the public
Kate Murray has confirmed to David Reich-Hale of the Long Island Business News her attendance at her first meeting involving the Lighthouse Project. The Town of Hempstead Supervisor will join Lighthouse representatives at a Long Island Planning Council hearing on Tuesday. The meeting begins at 10:00 am, but the arena development issue will be brought to the table an hour later. It will be held at the Nassau County Legislative building and is open to the public.
Read Hale’s story for the details, including quotes from Murray and a political insider on why she is attending. I just put in a call to a Lighthouse representative who told me he would know on Monday who will be available to represent the developers. Respectful comments only.
41 Responses to MURRAY TO ATTEND FIRST LIGHTHOUSE MEETING
Tuesday, June 2, 11:00 am – Open to the public
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EdTurner says:
This is nothing but Kate covering her butt.
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bergie20 says:
wow, hell has officially frozen over. hopefully it’s genuine. at the very least it proves that murray knows that there is a significant amount of residents that are disgusted by the way she’s handled this issue thus far. we’ll see what happens.
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Matt says:
hopefully she goes in with open eyes and ears and this project can finally be given the green light.
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now that she knows her opponent, she will be more visible and will speak freely with the media.
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Pnut says:
Kristen McElroy
vote for her!as for Kate
people must ask her the tough questions like
1)If you are a legitimate Judicial politician why did you send out the flyers?
the person that gets her to answer this they must call her out on her answer, becauser you know its going to be bull
2) saying that the environmental study has to be done, and all this stuff about that its the countys fault (even though they did their part in record time, just leads up to her facade that she doesnt want it, WHY? she had no hand in it, she cant take credit for it! such a dumb reason for a pol to block something, but then again we are talking about the Nassau County Repubslook at all the pictures she has smiling with ToH residents when she did something or her fellow Repub council people, people that seem to be so pro Kate and Pro republican here I wonder if they can find any pictures of her with things that involved Democrats and i’ll give you $$$$$, problem is there is none, there is just politics as usual and keeping with party affiliations and usual bs that got this country in the mess that its in today.
And Murray thinks that the Isles leaving will help the County, no she is only trying to help herself………..really really sad. -
Brooks Simpson says:
Look, we’ve been all over her for not attending. Now she’s going to attend. Instead of blasting her still more in anticipation of the meeting (which she’ll use to say that it makes no difference whether she attends, she’s just going to get blasted by Wang’s paid-off thugs [:)]), lets take this as a victory for grassroots pressure and see what happens.
Just a suggestion.
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Al L says:
Lets not forget the impact Joe Mondello has had behind the scenes. It is difficult to pinpoint who is really calling the shots. I get the feeling there is more to deal with than this figurehead(Murray). In order to kill the weed you must get under the root!!! My feeling is that now her opponent has been named it is time to garner votes by playing up to Lighthouse supporters with an end run, never actually committing herself toward supporting it. We must all be on our toes and see right thru her imminent cuddling up.
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gary says:
its an election year so she has to address the issue and show up or her opponent will have a serious issue against her–I bet her apponent shows at some of these hearings
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isles99 says:
do not be fooled by murray all of a sudden attending meetings……this is all PR people…vote Mcelroy if you want change…the only reason murray is showing up is becuase she doesn’t want to lose. not becuase she wants the project to go through. i see right through her and so should you.
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Jimmy Mac says:
Well… it is a positive step. At least we will get an update and feedback from the TOH.
It almost seems like both sides need mediation in the matter.
If the TOH comes out and give details on what they think are the main issues with the project, then Wang can scale down or make the proper changes to make them happy.
It all about negotiations. You have to start somewhere.
If Kate really wants to be re elected, she can’t hide from the project. She does not want Islander Hooligans showing up to every rally…lol.
Lets see what comes from the meeting. If no progress has been made then I beleive her next rally will be a little more rowdy.
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Ben says:
I agree with #7.
The big problem with all of this is Wang wants so much to be done with the area and attaching the facility improvement to it. He is thinking too big.
Nassau County can handle a facility improvement. We could of had an awesome facility already.
Lock in on the facility improvement to show the rest of the league we have a top notch facility (UFA’s take note) and work on part’s of the Lighthouse. Let’s face it, Nassau county is having difficulty in dealing with this project. Give them smaller pieces they can chew because right now all they are doing is choking!
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Rob says:
She is an actor pretending to care about the project
Don’t belive this crap
Check out savetheisles.webs.com
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Will C. says:
I have lived out of NY for the past 7 years, I ask all of you who still are local to please show up so my 18 month old son can grow up not wondering what the hell this signed Mike Bossy puck is all about that he got for Christmas. Please make time for those of us out of state who can’t! Remember we got the team to sign Ziggy by packing the house with a horrible team on the ice and chanting as loud as we could (yeah I know we traded him later), but we need to do the same to Murray and TOH. Someone please ask her if she is a republican she wants lower taxes, a tax free revenue generating development does not fit that bill?
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All of this news sounds like the beginning of the end. I hate politicians. I really, really do. Pure hate.
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Ajax says:
Too bad I’ll be fishing Tuesday.
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Merrick says:
Good call Brooks.
Two quick questions for CB on his 5/22 post regarding Murray’s re-election announcement. 1) When Mondello criticized the LH project, what exactly did he say? 2) When he was booed by the Islander fans and said they were being paid by Charles Wang, what was the tone–was it jocular or said derisively? I want to hold out hope, and for me, the tone of these words make all the difference in the world.
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Harold C. says:
So KM is a jerk for not saying anything yet when she FINALLY agrees to attend a LH meeting, the response is “She’s covering her butt”, etc, etc. So what is it you all think she should be doing right now at this point? Other than signing off on the project, what would make all of the negative types happy?
I am no fan of politicians – I can’t imagine why anyone would want to go into that line of work – but she will likely win re-election so get used to her being here. We need to find a way to get this LH done in some capacity.
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C.J. says:
Wow. How about that… she’s finally going to do what’s required of her.
Nothing more than re-election strategy.
Don’t be lulled… vote against her.
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Anthony L. says:
CJ – right on. Kristen McElroy is a bright and beautiful up-and-comer and Kate Murray knows it. Islander fans and voters SHOULD NOT be at all moved by Kate attending this meeting. Unless Wang gets to move on this project before the October deadline with Murray’s support, I’d say a vote for Ms. McElroy is appropriate. The blatant politics being played here is a disgrace.
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harold C or post 16,
1) murray insulted my intelligence when she said isles fans don’t know about the “mega real estate project”. kate murray, im going to nyu law school, where did you get your jd degree from? yea, i thought so.
2) kate murray said she plays a judicial role in this process. that is not why she met with the lighthouse consultants before? using that logic and analogy, why are you showing up now kate? i thought you didn’t want to meet with the defense attorney behind the prosecuter’s back.
see harold, murray is full of s**t, i hope you see her motives (reelection strategy) as well as I do. -
id just like to make a brief correction to my last post, that is not why she has met with the lighthouse people before*
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ok ill try to get it right for the last time lol,
that is why she has not met with LH people before? -
G. HOWITT says:
Good job KATE ! bring us the project with-out any tax payer $$$!
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At this point, going forward matters more than what happened previously. So everybody knows (and I’ll expand on this), the meeting on Tuesday morning is to declare the Lighthouse a “regionally significant” development. In a lot of ways it will open up avenues for federal funding for infrastructure, plumbing improvements, and the like. Kate Murray will simply be there, like everyone else, discussing how important such a project would be for the region.
Also, Brooks is dead-on. We can criticize her for insulting our intelligence in that LIBN interview, but we can’t have it both ways. We criticized her for not attending meetings, and now she’s attending one. Good, now let’s hope her future actions are just as good.
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Pete says:
This may prove to be very positive. It’s important for the developers and Murray to meet face to face. Now maybe concerns about the scope of the project can be ironed out and a win/win solution reached. Great job Islanders fan and Light House Supporters for your tireless lobbying. It is beginning to pay off.
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Strummer's Army says:
I still view this as mostly a smoke screen on her part but glad she is finally attending. I would like to think it can only help.
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doc says:
Isles99:
I’m no fan of Kate Murray but she did go to Boston College and earned her JD from Suffolk University Law School.DOC
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last post…..i know where she went to school doc but im just saying she shouldn’t assume that isles fans don’t know anything….because that’s what her statements imply and i am simply offended by them.
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steve says:
i will actually make the trip in to see this event.i am curious to see KM explain her stance of objectivity in the light of her now aborted actions. i am also interested in hearing a reason why after the LH proposal was selected, she felt the need to provide an alternative, while remaining “objective”. if you haven’t vetoed the proposal in hand, then why propose an alternative when that phase has already passed.
if anybody plans on attending, i’d suggest, only suggest, you wear neat attire and leave your isles gear at home. its a busines forum, look and act the part, and you might get a chance to step into the batters box.
either way, it appears something or somebody has forced KM to change her tactics. take a bow sportsfans, and hello to outsiders looking in, we made you blink. -
One more comment on politics.
Like it or not, consistency is often the hobgobblin of losing elections. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are deft at this game and it’s the nature of the beast. Just accept it and work within it. If instead you try to play a game of “gotcha” with Murray and bash her on her inconsistent positions, while it may make you feel better about your arguments and could get some press attention–it’s really minutia in the grand scheme of public debate and will do nothing to get the LH moving forward.
It is also fair to say that if KM and Co. wanted this thing, it would be moving much more quickly. But I’ve also seen local matters where it took a developer one year to get planning board approvals to build a two-family house.
Ultimately, I’m not a one issue voter and KM may be far superior to McElroy and 90% of the other issues I care about. Still, if you really want to get the GOP and Mondello’s attention on this, start badgering some of the remaining GOP State lawmakers in Hempstead who have Islander fans in their districts and let them know APPROVAL of the LH is a key issue to you. For example, while Hempstead is strong with the GOP, Kemp Hannon beat McElroy by a few points last time out in his district; could Islander fans ultimately shift the balance? The best pressure on KM and company may not be direct, but indirectly from the people around them. Just a thought.
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Oops. Badger any legislator on LI who could have an influence–not just in Hempstead.
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Section 320 rocks!!!!!! says:
isles99 post #21 you hit the nail on the head, nice job!!
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Jeff says:
Ok everybody, I want to predict what will happen. Article mentions it is a 10 a.m. meeting of Long Island Planning Council. Arena development is an hour later. By 11 a.m., she says she has to leave to attend to some very important business and misses the talk on the Lighthouse. Just my prediction. And if she stays, it is all politics since she sees our strong opposition.
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Noomz says:
the only reason she did the LIBN interview or *plans* to attend a LHP meeting is because, on Friday, Kristen McElroy entered into this debate. It’s not a coincidence, folks. Kate knows she & Mondello are vulnerable on this topic.
So far, Murray’s record shows only empty promises and no-shows regarding LHP. Her record since 2003 proves that. When (if!) she takes *action*, i’ll reassess my opinion.
In the meantime, I look forward to hearing McElroy’s position and concerns.
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#12! You are not well informed of the problem here. Nassau County isn’t the only entity choking. Saddled with a blood sucking SMG,Wang cannot even come close a breakeven point from NVMC revenue alone. He virtually nets -0-. The Project will provide him with enough income to make any further investment in the Nassau housed Islanders plausible. You seem either ignorant or inconsiderate of Wangs needs as an investor and business man to yield a return on his Capital.
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geduffer says:
“Jaw, Jaw, Jaw is better than war, war, war.” – Sir Winston Churchill
It’s a first step. If you can get her talking something has the chance to move forward. That said I’m still for McElroy. Since I am in Oyster Bay, not Hempstead, I will need to follow through on my support by donating and working as hard as possible to defeat Ms. Murray.
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Defensewins says:
Even if McElroy wins, by the time she is in office is going to be at earliest January of ’10. Wang wants an answer by October ’09, so yeah, for the Lighthouse, it is basically Murray, or bust.
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tuesday? hmmm, what am I doing? oh yeay, that ever not important thing..working..yes I would rather be at work, then attend this crap…She is an idiot..and any person that is voting should realize this. And vote against her. If she wins the election. Then it proves the people of nassau are a bunch of losers.
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Isles99:
Your comment that you are in NYU law and then posing the question; “where did you go to school Kate…” “yea, I thought so…” is insinuating that you go to school and she didn’t.
Your argumentative skills as an attorney in training need to be honed and shapened a bit my friend.
this is very typical…now that she sees the media calling her out for blowing off other lighthouse planning meetings…it has started to sink in that continuing to stonewall any dialogue on the lighthouse project might hurt her chances for reelection….which means she is now going to soften her stace a bit…start saying the right things…then if she gets reelected…its business as usual…
politicians in general make me sick…