LIGHTHOUSE DGEIS APPROVED
Hearing confirmed for August 4 at Hofstra
2:15 pm: The Town board approves and Kate Murray declares the DGEIS “ready for public review.” She also confirms public hearing, as reported here, for August 4 at the Adams theatre on the Hofstra complex.
1:45 pm: Cellular issue finally closed. Now it’s on to a property thing, not the Lighthouse. Union official tells me it’s a deep disappointment that the Town did not have a separate DGEIS hearing and instead placed it at the end of a long agenda. Hempstead lead attorney Joe Ra just assured me Lighthouse item will be raised within the hour. He did not say if he’d get me out of the parking ticket.
12:45 pm: They just took a 20-minute recess and are back at it on a cellular carrier issue. Even some Lighthouse staffers have bolted, which makes me wonder what the heck I’m doing here.
11:00 am: The DGEIS is last on the ToH meeting agenda, so this is going to take a while. On a non-Lighthouse matter, Tom Suozzi bulldog/Nassau legislator Dave Denenberg is fighting bitterly with the Town board - proving again the County and the Town have some difficulty working together. On the bright side, I met Trent Kowalik, who won a Tony Award and a Hempstead citation for playing Billy Eliot on Broadway. On the down side, I’m probably going to get a parking ticket.
8:55 am: The latest on the major public hearing on the Lighthouse Project is that it will be on the grounds of Hofstra University - probably at the Adams Playhouse - and not at the home-court advantage of Hempstead Town Hall. We speculated Hofstra initially, but were then thrown off by a Newsday report yesterday that said Town Hall. Silly us. We should have stuck to our guns, a la Tavares.
Either way, two big dates: today at 10:30 am (after they wade through all other town business), the Town of Hempstead will approve the DGEIS. And then the all-day event on August 4 - the official date is expected to be confirmed this morning - will be the public hearing to end all public hearings. If you care about the Islanders and/or this project, this is the place to be. The Adams Playhouse seats a little over 1,000. That should not be difficult to fill. They should consider the basketball arena.
Comments on the Lighthouse Project and future of the Islanders on Long Island.
50 Responses to “LIGHTHOUSE DGEIS APPROVED
Hearing confirmed for August 4 at Hofstra”
Please Wait
we Must all go!
the hofstra basketball arena? why don’t they just play b-ball at the new lighthouse. I’m sure the b-ball recruits would dig that much more and maybe they can field a good b-ball team in the future. should get hofstra on board with the lighthouse too. their students would love to go there to eat, party, etc.
CB, is this approval today of DGEIS a fact, or your speculation?
When will Wang have his start date?
Can you explain this processes a bit more.
I don’t know why I subscribe to Newsday anymore. The reporting is crap, the news is old by the time I read it, and the mistakes (grammar and spelling, people! grammar and spelling) are plentiful. I’m gonna stick with online bloggers for the latest and most accurate info.
Will they be serving food & coffee at this meeting, or will we need to bring our own??
To any one interested in if todays vote on the DGEIS is a done deal - they would not have set a date for public comments if it was not a fait accompli with the board just going through the motions of saying yea at the appropriate time. I bet they spend less than 10 minutes discussing the Lighthouse and then moving on. For detailed info on the project from every angle check out Nick Classic’s blog http://www.lettherebelighthouse.blogspot.com/
Today is not the big day for us fans but the 4th definitely is. Thanks for the correction CB.
very exciting. hopefully all goes well and Mr. Wang can get the ok before the hockey season begins.
Chris Botta, where would all of us be without this blog. Keep up the good work my man.
Any positive news or even the hint of the deal really looking good would dwarf all the the disappontment with the lack of ufa signings. The LH as a signed deal is worth anything and everything. Then those who preach patience in the teams development {I’m not one of those} can at least attend the games on the Island and not watch on an HHL premium channel!
What ever happened to the County Executive’s responsibility chart that was to be released? Did he ever do it??? I can’t find it anywhere.
This post has been up for almost 1.5 hours so far, and there have been 7 comments. Normally, for a typical story there’d be in the neighborhood of 40-50 comments (way more for a JT story) by this time. I know recent LH news has been positive, but this is far from over. We fans need to bring more passion to this issue than any other. This is going to turn into a battle and ultimately the powers that be in the TOH are going to do what is politically prudent for THEM. The only way for us to overpower those in Garden City et al that will oppose this is to show up in numbers and make our voices heard whenever possible. More than JTs development, UFAs…etc., THIS is THE ISSUE of the summer and really of the entire ‘09-’10 season.
I agree, hundreds of posts for Tavares and FA. Not much for the Lighthouse story. And its THE most important topic for us Islander fans. Maybe we are all just sick of it all. Hoping for good news regarding the LH. Lets not lose sight of the prize…….think maybe we can sign Tanguay…..?
CB, would you be able to give us more of an update on the steps after the actual public hearing on the 4th?
Please show up, because I cannot!
any updates on the meeting so far?
Will Nate Thompson be there?
can’t be there either but hoping all goes well… how’d it go?
“The DGEIS is last on the ToH meeting agenda…” Did anyone expect anything other than that????
The DGEIS will not be approved today.
how much is the parking ticket? hope you don’t get towed.
chris… you need to slip in constant reminders about the august meeting in your other stories… pound it in people’s heads. it’s summer… general good news all around… it’s like giving a dog a little treat… they wag their tail and stop barking.
Their is no official August meeting.
chris stick it out! they’re tryin to filibuster you so to speak!! STAND STRONG!
Sounds like you have time to go put quarter in the meter.
You’re there for us,CB. You’re there for us. Has anyone started a collection to pay for the parking ticket???
Again today just shows how much of a joke TOH is.
This is all a terrible sign. They put this last because they thought they could wait out the supporters who would show up at 10:30. And apparently, they have; I just talked to somebody who left after hours of frustration.
OK, Kate Murray, we get it: those “green shoots” of support you showed over the last few weeks were just a deception. Your interest in this project is clearly represented by where you put this on the agenda. Cellphone towers…typical obstructionist stuff.
When you pay the parking ticker (if you get one) just put “Kate Murray” in the memo section
This is a joke!!! TOH Puts it last on the agenda 2 4 hours after the meeting starts are they kidding? I hope everything works out with the hearing!! How much would that su** if they made you wait so long then decided not to put it through. I 1000% hope they do put it through but I wouldnt put anything past the TOH.
So is that good news or was that expected?
Excellent. Full steam ahead. Chris - did they give the details of how each person voted or what the vote was? Or did they just announce that it passed?
wow finally. I’ve been refreshing this site all day! Thanks for the updates CB!
How do we, the public, review it?
thanks for keeping us posted CB. Now all of us need to there for August 4 and show our support.
One small step for Islander-kind!
was rejecting it a possibility today? or was it pretty much sure thing it would be approved today.
I’m with Vukota @ 27. Was this a positive result or simply what was expected all along?
if you read this blog, or any blog on the islanders, it is your DUTY to be there. if you have season tickets and dont show, then shame on you.
Well thank freaking god. I will be there August 4th, already got the day off. Willis, party of one. Who else?
*(Who else is coming to the meeting?)
#’s 33 & 34: I am sure Nick will detail this on his blog, but if the TOH wanted to, they could have dragged out the DEIS further, stating it was not fit for public review yet. So, it is a positive result in that the process is moving forward, even if it was a foregone conclusion they would do this today.
It also should mean that the analysis is satisfactory, at least to the TOH, which is a BIG positive to me in light of lawsuits that have been implicitly or explicitly threatened.
#30. I am sure people will either be able to request a copy from TOH or download from a website at some point. Again, something Nick will very likely provide information about.
Since it’s open for public comments, they must be making it available somewhere. I’m sure it’ll come out shortly. Love all the Lighthouse and Islanders coverage lately. It’s nice to open up the paper and see more than a tiny 5-sentence piece about hockey on Long Island. It matters and I think that is starting to show more.
It’s been a while…
Assuming all goes well on the 4th, how much more of the lighthouse needs to pass through the ToH?
Whoever can get to the Aug 4th meeting try to get your voice heard. Don’t play up the Islander angle, but speak about the economic boon it would be for hempstead. New jobs, better roads, etc. Someone will start moaning about additional traffic, noise and such. There will be no more traffic and noise then there is now. Let them know this is for a greater cause then the Islanders. ( Even though there is no greater cause):)
one step closer to a deal. unfortunately i’ll be in california on august 4th but i wish i could be there! hopefully isles fans fill the adams theatre that day.
I’m writing my letters, getting my family to do so too - since we are out of town.
what drives me nuts is they pretend that this is equal to any business that the town does… trying to put up a facade that it’s not a big thing but it’s one of the biggest projects to hit the area… they need to treat it like that and not put it at the end of a typical town meeting
Just to be clear, the DGEIS was simply deemed complete today, not approved. Approval comes at the end of the hearing process. A “complete” DGEIS opens the door for that process to proceed. The headline to this post is misleading as it says “DGEIS Approved”
Big day number 1 (Draft day)over, now it’s time to let the TOH and nassau county know how important this project is not only to the ISLANDER’S but to LONG ISLAND as well. I will try to be there on Aug,4th just started a new job so it’s up in the air right now. let’s pack that theatre on the 4th. I agree with frank D that yes this important for us ISLANDER FAN’S but what it would do for Nassau county and long Island as well. You go to just about any other arena,stadium and there’s thing’s to do before and after the game.The NVMC aother then the Marriot there’s nothing in walking distance other then Micky D’s, just where I want to go to after a game. Let’s go guy’s and gal’s let’s keep this going and hope to see a huge turnout on the 4th…
…one small step for mankind, one giant leap for long island
orngfan-(#35)- Most people have little things called JOBS in order to pay for the season tickets and may not be able to take a day to go to the meeting. If you can get a day off, fine, but don’t judge people be3cause they can’t get the day off. I’ll try, but that doesn’t make me less of a fan.
Its approved. Im going August 4th Keep it up guys we need to be there. What time should we show up. JIMMMYYY U
Hey CB and fellow Islanders fans I would love to be there in August, however I am over in Iraq. Is there anything I can do to contribute from over here? Whenever I am not on a mission and i have free time I am always checking in to see the latest news about the Islanders and it would kill me if they moved.