I’m going to invite you to a party at my new house. We just finished having it built. It’s quite nice. Large bedrooms, beautiful kitchen, game room in the finished basement. Here’s the thing, though…
Yes, and here comes the catch. I’m really sorry to do this to you, but when we built this house, it occurred to us that we couldn’t afford it. But we didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity. And since we know you love coming here, hanging in our living room, and playing games downstairs, we think you should help us pay for it. Yes, yes yes, we know you were able to do all that stuff in our old house. Yes, we know we charged you for drinks and food at our old house, and $10 to park in our driveway. But listen, you’re gonna love this house much better. Yes, the stuff we do here is exactly the same as what it was at our old house. But trust us, it’s going to be great for the neighborhood. Plus, we hired 25 workers to build this house! We had plumbers, and carpenters, and electricians, and landscapers! The cable guy made a call here, too! Well, listen, you don’t have to give me the money right now. I’m just gonna have it added to your property taxes. What? No I do NOT think it’s a preposterous idea. Yes, I know your property taxes are some of the highest in the country, but that’s why you won’t mind paying $50-$100 extra a year. What’s $50-$100 when you’re already paying $10,000?!?!
Does that hypothetical conversation sound ridiculous? Of course it does. Why? Because it would NEVER happen. Well, except in sports. Only in sports can we rely on the people who already pay for tickets and food and parking to also pay the mortgage. Heck, I’m surprised we don’t have seat licenses in hockey yet. YET. The Nassau County “no” vote was a good thing. I love hockey as much as the next guy, but expecting people, 95% of which will NEVER see an Islanders game live, to pay more money so that team can have a new arena is ridiculous. Unfortunately, it’s happened all around the country and usually gets approved. Finally, citizens have put their feet down.
The arguments for the arena are fair enough. The Coliseum is the worst building in hockey. That’s true and irrefutable. However, that doesn’t mean the people should have to pay for a new one. Many have argued for the influx of jobs and money into the local economy. I just don’t see it. In general, projects like this provide temporary jobs during construction, but after that those jobs go away. Sure, one addition would be a minor league ballpark, but how many jobs would that possibly create? First, the arena jobs are mostly part-time hourly employees. Those employees could walk across the street after the season (usually early April for the Islanders), and work for the minor league team. Second, minor league franchises rely heavily on unpaid college interns. Many of those working for the minor league team would be unpaid, and thus not really adding to the local economy.
One of the other comical aspects to this entire issue has been non-Nassau County residents who are big Islander fans. Most of them pleading for people to vote yes. “Hey listen, I’m not going to pay for it, nor am I going to give you the money, but can you go vote yes for this because I really want to go to this new arena and I’d like you to agree to pay for it. Ok? Thanks.” Just ridiculous on many levels. First of all, the tax hike isn’t for one year only. It’s not as if residents have a one-year $50 increase in property taxes and then it goes away. That arena loan is a 30 year $400 million loan that will balloon to $800 million with interest.
Finally, as if karma didn’t play a part in this, Charles Wang and the backers of this referendum have no one to blame but themselves. Putting a referendum on a ballot in the beginning of August is pretty ridiculous. Why do that? Well, it will probably keep those who have families, those who work full time, and those who are elderly away from the polls. Their thought process was that the die hard Isles fans (all 6 of them) would show up at the ballots, get the referendum passed, and they’d be on their way. They tried to keep people away from the polls, knowing that if they tried to put this referendum on a November ballot, it would most certainly fail. Well, a good amount of people recognized this tactic and rebuffed them. Good for Nassau County.
It’s time to let the Islanders go. They had their time, and Nassau County has essentially said they would be fine without them. There are many markets that come to mind who would love and support a hockey team. Charles Wang has been rebuffed twice. First, he tried to pay for it, and next he wanted the citizens to pay for it. Well, the people said no. Time to take your ball and go play in someone else’s yard.