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October 6, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
NBC New York, Queens Makes Play for Islanders, New Arena
More speculation about where the Islanders might end up.
The problem is that there's no place for them to play. Queens has big plans to develop the area. They already plan to use eminent domain and vaguely Stalinist-sounding business relocation programs to clear the land so that they can build a variety of residential, commercial and public spaces. The arena is just gilding the lily. If that sounds familiar, it's probably because of the years-long Atlantic Yards boondoggle in Brooklyn which, for all its bold plans, will either fail or wind up using government intervention to hand choice real estate to a Russian oligarch at below market value.
There are already community groups lining up against the Willets Point project, but we'll just focus on the arena part of the equation since the plan is in motion with or without the Islanders playing a role. The city does not need another arena to play host to a sports team on 40-odd dates a year. Between Madison Square Garden, the two baseball stadiums, the arena and stadium at the Meadowlands, the Prudential Arena in Newark and the proposed Brooklyn arena, there's already too much competition for the non-sporting events that can actually keep these arenas from doing more than sucking down municipal money and staying empty. And that's before taking into account the zillions of other places for concerts, special events and the like in the metropolitan area.
Once you throw in the fact that all but MSG and the arena at the Meadowlands are in their infancy, it becomes clear that there's neither a need nor a justification for another new building. If the Islanders want to play within the five boroughs, let them share space with the Nets in Brooklyn because if we're going to get a building we don't need we might as well keep it full for as much of the year as possible.
NoLandGrab: Brooklyn is out — even if Bruce Ratner manages to build his arena, cost-cutting has rendered the current arena design incompatible with ice hockey.
Slap Shot [NYTimes hockey blog], Tuesday’s News of Hockey, 10/6/09: Janet Jones and the Big Gretzky Trade
slanders owner Charles Wang listens to overtures to relocate his team to Queens. Wang, frustrated that another deadline has passed without local government approval of his massive Lighthouse real estate project, which would keep the Isles at a refurbished Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, says he’s willing to “explore all options” for his team. Those include a possible move to neighboring Queens, where there is available land adjacent to the new New York Mets baseball stadium, called Citifield, or Brooklyn, where Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov has agreed to back the Atlantic Yards project that would bring the New Jersey Nets basketball team to a new arena.
NLG: Like we said, Brooklyn is not an option for hockey, because in Bruce Ratner's short-term rush to save money, he designed out the long-term option of a hockey rink.
The Huffington Post, Russia's Billionaires: The STILL Extravagant Lifestyles Of The Oligarchs
The financial crisis dealt a blow to the upper crust of Russia's financial elite last year, diminishing the worth of the country's 10 richest tycoons by about two-thirds. The number of Russian billionaires, tallied last year at just over 100, was cut in half. But despite such massive losses, Russia's richest remain powerful financiers on the world stage. Last month, Mikhail Prokhorov, currently the wealthiest person in Russia, arranged a deal to buy the the NBA's New Jersey Nets and partially fund the basketball team's new arena at Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards.
Mobilizing the Region, Is NYC Safer? City “Report Card” Offers Incomplete Picture
City Planning reports on several major development proposals including Hudson Yards and Lower Manhattan (Atlantic Yards, which like the downtown projects is a state-led initiative, is glaringly omitted from the list), as well as projects to encourage development in transit-rich areas throughout the five boroughs.
Brownstoner, Atlantic Yards: the Profits from Eminent Domain
More importantly, Warshawer obtained a contract between the ESDC and the Cornerstone Group, a firm contracted for its relocation services that has a history of questionable results.
...The firm must do the same for businesses, but Warshawer notes that in 2006 Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Congressman Jerrold Nadler claimed that “the Cornerstone Group, an MTA subcontractor charged with assisting in relocation, has continuously failed to provide helpful rental listings for those forced to relocate.”
PlanNYC, Eminent Domain Debate Continues
Some claim that the ESDC has already hired a contracting relocation firm that has received a few mixed reviews in prior development projects.
Ball Don't Lie [Yahoo! Sports blog], BDL's 2009-10 NBA Preview: New Jersey Nets
For whatever reason, I'm not as dour. Mikhail Prokhorov is about to take over, and is always the case with meddling young billionaires, there's a chance he screws everything up. There's also a chance all that money works. The lows can be really low in this situation, but the payoff could also be huge. Let's go half-full with this one.
NetsAreScorching, NETS ON THE NET: 10/5/09 EDITION
The Atlantic Yards Report notes how Forest City Ratner was missing from this year’s Atlantic Attic, Brooklyn’s biggest annual street fair.
Posted by eric at October 6, 2009 6:07 PM