Monthly Archives: September 2009
When Councilman Anthony Santino – who has handled the ball today about as well as Ted Ginn - interrupted Wang, the Islanders owner pounded the table and said, “Would you let me finish”! Frustrated, Wang waved his hand, backed away from the table and decided to bite his tongue.
Town Supervisor Kate Murray pointed out that the afternoon session had run long and called for a dinner break. (Maybe everyone was just really hungry). The evening session will begin at 6:30 pm.
I caught up to Wang – after that outburt, I just had to say hello to the man – and asked if he was tempted to walk away for the rest of the night. He joked, “My staff wouldn’t let me.” Wang said his concern was not the questions, but the tone. “I don’t understand a lot of the questions they’re asking because they’ve been addressed time and time again and are in the reports we’ve delivered to them,” Wang said outside the Adams Theatre at Hofstra University. “But more than that, I’m a little discouraged by some of the contentiousness.”
Later on Wang said, “Sometimes it’s as if we never made a presentation.” Co-developer Scott Rechler told me, “The board is asking about a lot of things that are well-documented in the DGEIS. It’s also frustrating when the councilman (Santino) says his constituents think this is all about the arena and the Islanders when that’s not true. We’ve hosted 213 public meetings.”
On the bright side, Wang dismissed the notion that the Lighthouse has reached the Old Plainview stage. “Nah, it’s not like that,” he said. Rechler agreed. “We’re so much further along than that.”
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6:35 - Final round begins with – tada! – Lighthouse traffic consultant Bob Eschbacher. The orchestra section of the Adams Theatre is about two-thirds empty.
6:50 - After Santino wise-asses to Eschbacher, Wang takes the mic and tells Santino, “We would appreciate it if you would stop badgering our consultant.” Later on Wang says to his traffic expert, “Bob, I know you say they (board members) are not intimidating you, but they are intimidating me.” Santino and Kate Murray laugh.
Yes, but it’s this blog that has been exaggerating the tension in this building all day. Riiiiiight.
6:55 - When Eschbacher is finally done, labor reps shout “Let the public talk”! Hearing only has two hours left and very few citizens have spoken.
7:00 - Wang asks Kate Murray if he can give another presentation because new people have joined the hearing for the night session. Murray says she was about to call on Long Island labor leader John Durso, effectively shutting down Wang’s request.
7:05 - Durso: The time has come. We need this built. We need these jobs. Enough is enough. What’s currently there is an embarrassment to you, to us, to all of Long Island.”
7:45 - Sorry for the lack of updates. The wireless keeps going on and off. I think everytime I write Clowncilman Santino, it falls off. Basically what’s happening now is one person speaks against the Lighthouse, gets booed a lot and gets to speak past the time limit. Then another person speaks, gets cheered a lot but gets ringed off after 90 seconds.
Tensions are high, though.
7:50 - Murray asks Wang to ask his suppporters to show some civility. Wang does, and then tells the audience his name is pronounced WONG, “like the Yankees pitcher.”
7:55 - Joe Conte, Islanders fan, finally gets his moment. “Supervisor Murray, I’m asking you and the entire board to save Long Island.” He says Murray could be Robert Moses or not. “The choice is yours.”
8:15 - Wicked moment as an elderly woman takes the microphone, says some bright, passionate things against the Lighthouse, and then starts in with some wild racist stuff. Wow.
8:20 - Gentleman from East Meadow compliments the minds of Wang and Rechler and, while looking at the Town board, says twice, “I vote in every election.” It was a good try, but it’s wrong to think Kate Murray is going anywhere.
8:30 - Hempstead resident bemoans “21st century development, 19th century infrastructure,” says the Lighthouse does not work. “We don’t want a golden city of lords surrounded by serfs.”
8:43 - Kansas City comes up small. Baumbach of Newsday reports that there are about 3,000 people at the Islanders-Kings game tonight. (REVISED: Since estimated at 8,000).
8:50 - Wrapping up the meeting, Murray asks those in favor of the Lighthouse Project to stand. 95% of the approximately 200 remaining visitors stand. Many shout out loud their digust that they didn’t get a chance to address the board.
8:52 - Wang is given the floor for final comments. Among them:
“We have followed this entire project without any shortcuts.”
“You have all the information in your hands.”
“Let’s get to the finish line. Let’s make the Lighthouse Project a reality.”
Comments. Good night.
Live play-by-play of the Lighthouse zoning hearing at Hofstra University, for as long as I can take it without losing my mind…
9:48 am - Hearing officially kicks off with Kate Murray’s introduction of Charles Wang. Crowd is about half the size of Aug. 4 environmental hearing. Approximately half the crowd consists of union officials and Islanders employees. Nevertheless, Wang gets a raucous standing ovation. Murray makes her point: “The crowd is not as big as last time,” the Supe says, “but you certainly have your fans, Mr. Wang.”
9:51 - Wang intros the latest version – by my estimate, the 137th over the last six years – of the Lighthouse video.
10:00 - A second vid rolls, this one with testimonials from Gary Bettman, Mike Bossy, business owners, young children and noted Rangers fan Norman Esiason.
10:08 - As I just posted on Twitter, the game tonight in Kansas City – no matter how it may be spun – is now a non-event. I’ve heard from reliable sources that KC has comp tickets flying all over the joint and yet the crowd will still be far under capacity. Yes, John Tavares may be held to play in the Islanders’ one preseason home game – Wednesday night at the Coliseum. Still, if the Kansas City game was perceived as a difference-maker, Tavares would be playing.
10:12 - Wang giving speech. My translation: “Yo, we’ve done everything you asked for, we’ve worked with everyone we were supposed to work with. This is beyond stupid. Let’s get this sucker done, people.”
10:19 - Wang going through specifics on all the big buildings in the development. As an aside he says, “Although this building was not as tall as I originally hoped…”
10:23 - Hempstead Town-distributed press release sets tone for what lies ahead. In opening sentence the Town says the Lighthouse calls for “the construction of over 30 buildings – many of which are between 10 and 20 stories high.” Kate Murray does, however, acknowledge “Development is coming to the property surrounding the Coliseum. I know it and anyone committed to the future of our region knows it too.”
But will that development be what Wang and Scott Rechler have drawn up as the Lighthouse Project?
10:30 - Wang talking parking, water, etc. Seems to be wrapping up. “Our project can be a catalyst for tax generation and job opportunities,” he says.
10:33 - Wang challenges each Town board member by name. “We are at a defining moment, one that will determine Long Island’s future.” Talks about decisions the board may make, “or not make,” determining that future.
10:35 - Jim Castellane, Labor prez and Point Blank contributor, takes the microphone. Points out this is the 213th Lighthouse meeting. “We are facing the worst economic times that Long Island has ever seen. I personally have 35% unemployment.” He makes an impassioned, effective plea to the Town board to approve the Lighthouse.
10:43 - Unlike the star-power of the Aug. 4 hearing, this one is more business-like and dazzle-free. No Gary Bettman, no Bishop Murphy. Third speaker is an attorney from Farrell Fritz (a Town resident) and fourth is the director of the Long Island Progessive Coalition. Both speak nicely in favor of the Lighthouse. Prediction: the Adams Theatre will start to clear out over the next hour.
10:46 - Nick from Let There Be Lighthouse speaks.
10:47 - Nick gets the bell.
10:47:30 - Nick gets a second bell.
10:48 - Kate Murray tells Nick to “wrap it up.”
10:48:18 - Nick finishes.
Oh, brother.
10:50 - First Lighthouse opponent is speaker No. 6. I couldn’t tell you his name because the bells for Nick are still ringing in my ears. He believes the developers have not reponded appropriately to many concerns.
He rips on Tom “The Broker” Suozzi, which I can deal with. I’ve been consistently supportive of Suozzi and the Lighthouse, but couldn’t get him to return several calls over the last month.
Opponent from Garden City is booed when he finishes. Murray asks for respect shown to all speakers.
10:54 - Another opponent says the Town should take its time and ignore threats about losing the Islanders.
10:58 - Nick Eposcopia (sp?), a Trustee from Garden City says “the Lighthouse is not the answer.” He cites a meeting Wang had six years ago in Garden City, saying the Lighthouse vision has clearly grown since. He is ramped up, bitter, passionately against the developers and the development.
He’s effective. I’m just wondering what happened to the bell.
11:05 – Half the crowd splits.
11:06 – Labor leader Jim Castellane waves for his officials to leave the theatre.
11:07 - Another Garden City Trustee firing shots, including one at Scott Rechler for having plenty of unused office space on 110. “The Lighthouse Project will lead to the deterioration of the communities surrounding it.”
11:09 - Scott Rechler asks to repond to Garden City complaint. Kate Murray says he’ll have an opportunity after two more GC speakers and a break.
11:10 - It appears most Lighthouse propnents have left the building because, after the most recent Garden City complaint, there was nothing but applause.
11:11 - This is starting to remind me of the day Charles Wang’s Old Plainview project was met with resistence and he shocked a packed POB middle school auditorium crowd by withdrawing his plans.
11:12 - Break time.
He probably won’t, but I can see Wang packing up and going home. Trouble is, he has the 6:00 pm edition of the hearing and understands he shouldn’t miss it. For the record, I’d be having a plane at Republic gassed up for a trip to Kansas City.
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11:30 - Jim Baumbach tweets that the Sprint Center in Kansas City is “magnificent” and that the Islanders should cancel their return flight home.
11:32 - Wang again asks to respond to Garden City complaints. I’d heard the ToH over the break had been reconsidering their decison to not let Rechler speak. Rechler is given the floor. “If the Lighthouse was built today, you would have companies that are going elsewhere staying on Long Island.”
11:37 - Water consultant for Lighthouse speaks. Says all matters have been addressed. He speaks more technically than that, but you can’t expect a hockey writer to keep up. About 150 left in the theatre.
11:44 - Lighthouse traffic consultant responds to Garden City concerns. ToH board member Dorothy Gossby puts on her usual big show to let everyone know she has the backs of her residents in Uniondale. She asks a few parking questions. Dot should really learn to not be so obvious about it.
11:55 - Town board, led by Anthony Santino, beating up LDC traffic consultant with lots of questions. Some testy moments, like Santino blustering, “Just tell me – yes or no”! Wang suggests they put the parking plans up on the big screen.
Noon - No question, LDC traffic consultant needs to sound more confident in his findings.
12:01 pm - LDC president Mike Picker just got slammed down by Santino, as if they were in court for a murder case. Body language at the Lighthouse table not good.
Hasn’t been a good last 90 minutes for anyone hoping to meet at the Lighthouse anytime in the next decade.
12:20 - The pushing around of the traffic consultant continues. Lots of questions to the LDC about how much things cost and who is paying for it. ToH seems to ignore that without their approval and an executed county lease, the LDC cannot get all of its answers.
12:25 - Rechler, who is good at this stuff, interjects to make the point that traffic is as important to the developers as the Town because he owns many of the buildings in the area and traffic coordination must work for those businesses. Rechler says they have presented a 2,000-page document breaking down the traffic mitigation and the town needs to read it.
12:26 - As if she didn’t listen to a word Rechler said, Goosby takes a “Meet Me at the Lighthouse” shot and again asks about the traffic on Long Beach Rd.
12:30 - Word was that the Town of Hempstead board was not going to allow Charles Wang to make a second presentation at the evening portion of the hearing. This, of course, would be silly because several new visitors are coming to Hofstra tonight after work or school. I suggested to a ToH official that the board might want to re-think their stance.
12:42 - Baumbach of Newsday reports that Kansas City will have 10,000 tonight in 18,000-seat arena so “the Islanders should feel at home.”
12:47 – Town says traffic answers are “a 19th century response to 21st century problems.”
Nick from Let There Be Lighthouse believes the Town of Hempstead is acting fairly and asking the right tough questions today. Cool. Never mind my critical view if you wish.
Just seems odd this show is taking place on September 22.
1:10 - Lunch break. Again, the Lighthouse Project is far from doomed. Maybe there will be some positive momentum at the night session.
But here’s the equation right now:
Today’s hearing + 50% capacity (with freebies) tonight in Kansas City + maybe 5,000 for Coliseum debut of John Tavares tomorrow = not a good 48 hours for the Islanders and the Lighthouse.
Your move, Charles Wang.
*
3:20 - Post-lunch, the focus is now on the physical structure of the Lighthouse. I’m at home, but from a constant stream of texts and by following on Twitter, I can see that Town board member Anthony Santino asked what are the heights of the buildings. Not for nothing, Mr. Santino, but it’s Sept. 22, 2009. You really need to ask what the heights are?
3:30 - Baumbach tweets that the man pushing for the NHL in Kansas City blames tonight’s crappy attendance for Islanders-Kings on no John Tavares, KC citizens not wanting to be used and – wait for it – Greinke pitching for the Royals tonight.
On a day when I’ve heard a lot of funny stuff, that dude gets First Star.
3:50 - It appears the Town of Hempstead board took a crash course from Miss Manners during the lunch break. They are prefacing most of their comments with “I have the utmost respect for Mr. Wang and Mr. Rechler…”
4:10 - This says a lot about the ToH board’s attention span. One member actually asks about a deal between the Lighthouse and the Uniondale Fire Department. The deal was struck the day before the Aug. 4 environmental hearing. Like all of you, I learned about it from a large story in Newsday.
5:15 - Hello. I’m back at Hofstra. Funny thing when I walked in. The LDC traffic guy was back at the podium, taking another round of whacks from the ToH board. They were supposed to break for dinner by now. The few people here at this time seem to be LH advocates. Big rounds of applause every time traffic consultant tries to set the board straight.
Curious to see if a bigger crowd gets here by 6:30.
5:25 - After watching this for several hours, super Islanders fan and Lighthouse psycho Joe Conte stops by the Point Blank laptop and says, “A Town with this leadership does not deserve the benefits of this project.”
Fanhouse feature on Nikita Filatov
Four cuts announced by NYI: Figren and Koskinen sent to Bridgeport, Niemi and Poulin returned to juniors. The NHL rules Pascal Morency’s line change to re-arrange Dion Phaneuf was legal, but not his intent to start an altercation. Morency gets ten games. See you at the Lighthouse hearing on Tuesday.
Botta on NHL Fanhouse RSS Feed
James Castellane, the President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk, is concerned Town of Hempstead politicians are not taking Charles Wang’s Oct. 3 deadline for Lighthouse “certainty” seriously.
Castellane, who is trying to line up business agents from every trade in Nassau and Suffolk for Tuesday’s zoning hearing at Hofstra, is worried the New York Islanders will leave Nassau and the Coliseum will be an abandoned parking lot in a few years.
Said Castellane today in a phone conversation: “Charles said to me a few months ago, ‘Jim, my son’s birthday is October 3rd. The start of the next Islanders season is October 3rd. If after all this time, we can’t get answers on this project by then, I’m not going to like it but we have to start talking to other areas. This has gone on too long.’”
The president of the Trades continued: “I sure as hell hope they are taking Mr. Wang seriously. Look at his track record. He’s been a man of his word. He has his deadlines. In my opinion, Charles has been a professional through this whole process. He has been patient. He has invested millions upon millions of dollars. If it was me, I may have split a long time ago. I mean, enough is enough.”
The zoning hearing for the Lighthouse is Tuesday at Hofstra University from 9:00 am – 9:00 pm with one-hour breaks at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. There has been a noticeable lack of buzz for the event, far different from the Aug. 4 environmental hearing which included a rally at the Coliseum. The labor leader is concerned the Town may view a drop in attendance as a drop in support.
“I would have liked to have had another rally, but it’s a difficult time,” said Castellane. “I’ll tell you how tough it is. I might not be able to line up as many of our people for the hearing as I’d like because they’re off Long Island doing jobs! This is how bad it’s gotten. These guys are barely making their mortgages.
“I don’t understand why the Lighthouse wasn’t done a while ago. It’s amazing. My group is involved, fighting for projects all the time. In 99% of them, we’re faced with serious opposition. In this one, you can hardly find anyone against it! I can’t believe the Town is going to jeopardize thousands of potential jobs because of this BS.”
Castellane said “labor has been the driving force” in getting Nassau County, the Town of Hempstead and the Lighthouse developers to try and work together. “The Lighthouse is too important to us,” he said. “We’ve worked hard on this project. There comes a point when we can only do so much. These are adults, major political leaders. They have to get on the same page in these next few weeks. If they don’t, I’m very worried the Lighthouse, the Islanders and thousands of jobs are going to go away.”
Point Blank plans to be at the morning session of tomorrow’s hearing. Comments on the Lighthouse in this thread only.
In her Isles Files blog for Newsday, Katie reports that Kyle Okposo is flying back to New York today and will undergo further evaluation by team physicians. With the Islanders playing tonight in Saskatoon and Tuesday in Kansas City, makes sense to get him home.
Botta on NHL Fanhouse RSS Feed
The borough of Brooklyn is back as a potential destination for the New York Islanders, an NHL source tells Point Blank.
As municipalities continue to express interest in Charles Wang’s hockey team, the most recent approach has come from the leaders of the Barclays Centre project that hopes to bring the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn. According to sources, other potential suitors include Queens, Kansas City and a still-undisclosed city in Canada.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that Nets owner Bruce Ratner is close to selling a majority stake in his basketball team to Mikhail Prokhorov, an avid sports fan and – with a personal fortune of $9 billion – believed to be the wealthiest person in Russia. On Thursday, Ratner won state approval to build an $800 million arena in Brooklyn. Ratner and Wang have met over the last few years to discuss their plans for their respective teams and the potential of the Nets playing a regular season game at the Nassau Coliseum. They are said to enjoy a cordial relationship.
During the five-year struggle to develop the 22-acre residential and commercial project in Brooklyn, the arena has been designed in some plans to accommodate an NHL franchise and some for concerts and basketball only. Having teams from both the NBA and the NHL could get the Barclays Centre project much closer to reality.
In recent weeks, as the Town of Hempstead and Lighthouse developers continue to disagree on major aspects of the project, Brooklyn has emerged as a serious suitor for the Islanders. Wang has asked for certainty from the Town by Oct. 3, the day of his team’s home opener.
“Wang’s wish is still to keep the Islanders in Nassau County,” said the source. “He won’t let his people talk to Kansas City or Brooklyn or anywhere else until his deadline passes. But if things continue the way they have with Hempstead, at least Charles has attractive options in New York.”
*
Lighthouse Hearing on Tuesday: The Lighthouse zoning hearing is this Tuesday, Sept. 22 at the Adams Playhouse on the campus of Hofstra University. There will be sessions from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, 2-5:00 pm and 6-9:00 pm. We’re told that the majority of speakers are scheduled and the most action is expected to take place in two windows: from 9-11 am and 6-8 pm.
Since the Town declined the resident and fan-friendly recommendation to combine the zoning hearing with the enviromental hearing on Aug. 4, the Sept. 22 event seems to be falling through the cracks. While the Aug. 4 hearing had tons of buzz, was kicked off by a pro-Lighthouse rally and opened in the morning to a full house at Hofstra, there appears to be little momentum towards Tuesday. The most noise has been coming from a coalition of Garden City residents planning to speak against the Lighthouse.
If the zoning hearing does not feature the level of support demonstrated on Aug. 4 it could be a major setback for the Lighthouse Project. The call is out to stand up one more (last?) time. If this project and/or the New York Islanders are important to you, find an hour or seven to show up and be heard on Tuesday.
Comments.
2:50 pm - Point Blank just caught up with center Nate Thompson on the phone after the Islanders’ morning skate in Saskatoon. The Islanders “host” the Calgary Flames tonight, so we kept it brief.
Okay, Nate. Let’s get right to it. Who are your linemates tonight?
I’ll have Jeremy Reich on my left, Tim Jackman on the right.
What’s your take on Dion Phaneuf’s hit-and-run?
I don’t like it. He’s one of the best defensemen in the league and one of the biggest hitters. He’s also a big guy capable of answering his own bell. Scott Stevens played that way and never backed down. If you’re going to hit guys the way Phaneuf went after Kyle, you’d like to think he would stand up for himself.
How do you approach tonight’s game?
Nothing needs to be said. Everyone knows what happened. Look, no one’s going to do anything stupid tonight. That would not be worth it. But we will play hard and we will stick up for each other.
How do you think your team responded on Thursday night?
I’m proud of our team. I think we handled it correctly. Pascal did what he had to do. Later on, Matt Martin tried to take care of business. We played hard and we finished our checks, just as we will tonight.
How’s camp going for you so far?
Really well. This is my second year here, I’m healthy and I have a lot to prove. I have to show I’m a player they can rely on to win key faceoffs, kill penalties, take on a fight when the time is right. My confidence is there and I’m optimistic things will work out well for me and the team this season.
I’m curious if you saw the reaction from fans when I posted over the summer that you were taking the team to arbitration.
I didn’t, but I understand there can be a reaction to stuff like that. It was only business between the Islanders and me. By filing for arbitration, it guaranteed that we would get a contract settled. That’s what was most important to me. I didn’t want it to drag late into the summer. There are going to be times when the fans love you and times when they hate you. If I do my part, that will get taken care of. My goal is to be an important part of this team.
Jeremy Reich is not a new player to you.
Not at all. He’s a friend from two years together in Providence (AHL). I’m very familiar with him and Jack. Jeremy is a tough player and he scored 21 goals in the “A” last year. I’m really excited to be playing with Reich and Jackman tonight. My hope is that maybe you’ll see us as a line with the Islanders this year.
Comments.
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