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October 21, 2009
Islanders Foe or Prudent Politician? Hempstead’s Murray Stands Her Ground
The New York Times
by Ken Belson and Jeff Z. Klein
Depending on whom you speak to, Kate Murray is either an hard-headed obstructionist willing to drive the Islanders out of Long Island, a principled public servant protecting taxpayers or a Republican veteran holding out for a political ransom.
Murray has been tagged with these and other less flattering labels because as supervisor of the Town of Hempstead, she and her board have the power to block, delay or approve the zoning for the Lighthouse Project, a $3.8 billion plan to refurbish the Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders’ shabby home, and build thousands of homes, offices and stores nearby. The project was first proposed in 2003 and Murray is one of its last, and seemingly most stubborn, hurdles. She says she’s only doing her job.
...Politicians who get in the way of big real estate deals projects rarely get love letters from the business community, particularly during a recession when work is scarce. But when the projects include new sports venues and rabid fans are added to the mix, the pressure on politicians is even more pronounced.
...In their defense, Murray and her supporters point to Bruce Ratner, the owner of the New Jersey Nets, who has spent years and millions of dollars fending off lawsuits and other problems in his quest to build the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn that includes the Barclays Center basketball arena.
NoLandGrab: The article does mention the planned Barclays Center as a potential home for the Islanders should the Lighthouse project fall through, though it correctly notes that the arena would need to be redesigned in order to accommodate hockey. With the Islanders committed to a lease in Uniondale until 2015, that seems unlikely.
Posted by eric at October 21, 2009 11:26 PM