That long and winding road is coming to an end in a matter of months when UBS Arena is scheduled to open in the fall of and the story of how the Islanders wound up at Belmont is one that will have a happy ending that many people in and around the Islanders might have thought would never happen.
When the referendum did not pass, it left former owner Charles Wang with a decision to make about the future of the franchise. So as the Islanders lease at the Coliseum was set to expire at the end of the season, Wang struck a deal to move the Islanders to Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the campaign. In fact, there is a story about how Wang, who passed away in October of , was told about some land next to Belmont Park that could be a good landing spot for the Islanders.
He was so impressed with the site that when he sold a majority interest in the Islanders to Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky, he told the new owners that they should take a look as well. He is on record saying how he always wondered why nothing was being done with all of that land around Belmont Park, much of it being a large parking lot on the other side of Hempstead Turnpike that is hardly ever used.
As it turns out, the visions of Charles Wang and Andrew Cuomo turned out to be a big reason why the Islanders will call UBS Arena home and why the arena is the centerpiece of a development plan that will also include a hotel and retail space.
That arena remains on schedule to open in October despite construction being shut down for two months during the pandemic.
The Islanders have a three-year lease with BSE Global, which runs the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, that calls for the team to split games between both arenas. The Barclays Center was the team's home since The lease, which began with the season, calls for a minimum of 60 games at the Coliseum over the three years, but both sides agreed to play all of next season in Uniondale.
The lease also contains two option years to protect the Islanders against construction delays. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran was asked if the Islanders could still play next season at the Coliseum and said, "Anything is possible. It really is a shame. The Coliseum was home to the Islanders from The team moved to Barclays Center after years of trying to get a new arena built at the site of the Coliseum.
The arena opened in It can seat up to 17, for hockey and is a huge upgrade over the aging Coliseum. The Islanders even played a preseason game there in I think there would be fans that would support the team as well. It seems like a great arena and definitely would be great for the organization. I think that this would be a last resort, though, in the event that no agreement is settled somewhere in New York. Brooklyn has a new arena and would love to have a hockey team there.
Moving to Brooklyn could increase media exposure for the team that they were lacking in Nassau. Being closer to the rival Rangers could also maybe fuel the rivalry even move. There are question marks, though, about Brooklyn. The arena can only seat a little over 14, people for hockey—less then the Nassau Coliseum holds. Another problem is that the sidelines would be bad for a hockey game—another downgrade from the Coliseum, which has very good views of the ice.
Of course, this would keep the Isles on Long Island. If there was a possibility of changing the configuration the the arena, I could definitely see Brooklyn as a very good option. If everything goes right, there is a great possibility,.
Queens is the best option at this point. There are 61 acres of land that would be available for contraction. Also, being closer to New York City, but still not too far from Nassau, is a huge plus.
Fans can still get to games easily while the team gets more exposure.
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