Comments on: Report: New Brooklyn arena really wants the Islanders

By: libraves99

libraves99 — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:37:46 +0000

The islanders and Wang should look at a area in western Suffolk county on long island. The area I ‘m talking about is the pilgrim state. There mega amount of property there and very close to the LI 495 expressway and right off the sagatos pkwy. A really hot spot

By: bcisleman

bcisleman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:19:15 +0000

Of course not.

By: lewdood

lewdood — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:18:57 +0000

Exactly right about mass transit. The Barclays Center sits above an enormous transit hub that includes LIRR and a slew of subway lines. When I lived in Brooklyn it took me 30 mins to drive to Nassau Coliseum for a weekend afternoon game. I would never have considered battling traffic to get to a weeknight game. Now they’ll be able to pull Islanders who work out on the Island and can commute non-peak to games, Islanders who work in the city who can hop on the train after the game to head home (and get dinner in the City beforehand), and NYC folks who just need to hop on the subway or a bus to get to a game.

This is easily the best scenario for the Isles, be it under Wang’s ownership or if he sells to Prokhorov (the Russian who owns the Nets).

By: buffalomafia

buffalomafia — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:13:56 +0000

Would they be called Brooklyn Islanders?

By: bcisleman

bcisleman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:27:18 +0000

“It was reported”? You mean Stu Hackel made an unwarranted assumption based upon a vague comment by Bettman.

There is NO question about whether the Isles can relocate to Brooklyn. They can. That was settled back in the 1980s.

The question is whether they will want to. It is unclear whether many of the team’s Long Island fans will want to commute to games in Brooklyn. Renovation of NVMC or building an arena and parking garage alongside CitiField are more likely with Brooklyn as a last resort.

BTW, I am sure that the NYR would not be happy if the NYI moved to Brooklyn, but they’d prefer that to them leaving the NY area.

By: bcisleman

bcisleman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:25:54 +0000

Should add that one advantage a move to Brooklyn or Queens would have is access to mass transit. Queens especially because Long Island fans are familiar with it from Met games might help expand the fan base. But it would be good to keep the team in Uniondale where the last team to win 4 straight championships in any sport and the only pro sports team to win 19 straight playoff series did it all.

By: bcisleman

bcisleman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:22:54 +0000

It really isn’t that bad. It has great sightlines and there really isn’t a bad seat. It just needs a major and well conceived facelift and that requires money. The local pols are all arrogant idiots who cater to special interests, the economy is bad, and the Isles have been struggling so no one has tried very hard to work with Wang to get it done.

By: kicksave1980

kicksave1980 — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:18:21 +0000

I’ve heard about how bad Nassau is for years, but I’ve never been there. If there are any Islanders fans here, what exactly makes Nassau so terrible? I know it’s old, but what else?