Part 2 the Lighthouse Project

Part 2

Today, we are discussing what we can do as fans, and why it means so much to these gentlemen.

Okay, how can people outside the area get involved? Or can we help? Can those of us who are outside the area help in any way?

Nick:

Our fellow hockey fans have been amazing with their support for the project, and all of us are very thankful for that. There are limited options, but people who live outside the area can be of help. If you would be willing to come to the area (and SPEND MONEY, thus generating tax revenue) if the Lighthouse goes through, or if you believe the area would be better off, you could send a comment to the Town of Hempstead’s dedicated email box: lighthousecomment@tohmail.org. The biggest thing you could do is continue to keep this issue to the fore and make sure our elected officials have no choice but to deal with it. Unfortunately, outside residents might not have too much weight in terms of opinion (in fact, the Town has tried to pass off talking points recently that supporters only live outside the affected area, which polls show is not true). However, you can still have a positive impact. You can also go to the official Lighthouse Project web site at www.lighthouseli.com to sign up as a supporter and make your voice heard.

BDG:

Sadly, there is not much more to be done. They both put themselves at odds, and then, thanks to an election, the power paradigm shifted. The Lighthouse Project gambled on the side of the Democrats, and tied themselves close to Tom Suozzi. Yet, in a Nassau County election recount, it is likely that Suozzi has actually lost to Ed Mangano. Even if he did not, the Nassau County Legislature has changed over to 11-8 Republican, which also is an issue.

So, it all lies now in some conciliatory movement by both the ToH and the Lighthouse. If that does not happen, all is lost in the years and years that went into Nassau County. Then it becomes extremely likely that the Lighthouse Project has sent a RFP to the Queens Willet’s Point project, and that will now open up another long winding road that Islander fans now have to travail.

Tough days, and no answers until either cool heads prevail or a long meandering path to a new ball of wax. Either way, it’s not easy to be an Isles fan nor blogger with all this overshadowing the young team that seems to be developing before our eyes.

What does this project mean to you as a fans?

BDG:

The project, in a lot of ways, supersedes my own fandom. Nassau County has been languishing over years of misuse and poor vision by the political machine of both parties. People are leaving and heading to better places who don’t have ridiculous school and property taxes, high cost of living, and not much to show for it. Long Island needs this project with the jobs and business it creates badly. Nassau County doesn’t even have an adequate convention center. Instead, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York City get lots of travel, tourism and business dollars instead of Long Island. Places that were considered great places to live are whittling away, some towns in complete denial over this reality . . . like Garden City.
Long Island NEEDS this type of project. This is much more than a team and venue. Much more,

As a fan, of course, I want the Islanders here for the longterm. Islander fans have gone through more than your average fan on other teams thanks to owner issues, a horrific GM who sucked away the talent pool in trades while trying to pay his kids through college, and all sorts of fiascoes. Isles fans deserve, and should demand, better. This means a better location to have games. The Coliseum is not just an embarrassment, it is a place of shame for all of Long Island politicians who let it get that way. It is a national sore and example of Long Island’s failures in the new millennium.

The Lighthouse Project is a key piece of getting Nassau County back on track. The NY Islanders are Nassau County’s team and they belong here. Fans deserve a longterm commitment from the team to be on the LI/NY area. We fans deserve that, no matter which way this pendulum swings. If Gary Bettman really cared about Long Island hockey fans, he’d quit bitching about the venue and tell us that the Isles will move from this area over his dead body. That is what we fans deserve.

Nick:

It means a lot to me as both a fan and a citizen. I’m not going to deny that I’m an Islanders fan; I have a long scar above my left knee that I got celebrating David Volek’s overtime goal againt the Penguins in 1993. I want this project as a fan because the Islanders are a traditional franchise, and it would break my heart to lose them. However, I advocate for this project as a citizen. The Lighthouse Project includes many things that Long Island sorely needs, including a convention center, apartment-style housing, and an incubator for entrepreneurs. It excites me that instead of trying to extort taxpayers for a new arena, Mr. Wang is proposing a project that will benefit the community. I hope he and our local government can reach an agreement that both sides can accept, and that we can start this next off-season. If this project doesn’t go through, we will likely lose our team, and the impact to us as fans will be devastating. However, as Long Islanders, the cost of this not going through is more than we could bear.

You two want to show off your sites. Tell us how we can keep in touch with both of ya? Also, I would like to do some more of these blogs with both of you just so we can help. I feel that this is an important issue to all of us as hockey fans.

Nick:
You can visit me in my little corner of cyberspace at Let There Be Light(house) – www.lettherebelighthouse.com. I’m also a writer for Hockey Independent (though not as often as I’d like), so you can catch me there as well.

BDG:

Well, I run HockeyIndependent.com. We run blogs for all NHL teams, prospects and national news. I follow the Lighthouse Project closely, speaking to both sides of the issue between the Lighthouse Project and Town of Hempstead. Besides Nick and myself, not many bloggers seem to talk to both sides to try to get the straight dope.

I am also a hockey writer for TheHuffingtonPost. You can read me here:

www.huffingtonpost.com/bd-gallof
I can be reached at bd@hockeyindependent.com
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/bdgallof
Or on Facebook: facebook.com/gallof

As a blogger and a fan I can semi feel how you feel, as we had to go through the save the Flames. We as fans had to pull our wallets out and make a statement to save the team. I  can completely understand each of your sentiments.

Please get a hold of them, guys. Keep in touch with them and for heaven’s sake, save the Islanders.