*Author's Note: If you came here ONLY for Islanders hockey news, all there is on that is a Doug Weight press conference on Thursday at 11 am where he will announce his plans for the future. My personal guess? Retirement & front office work here on LI. I'm not thinking Sound Tigers coach.
Brian Rosenberg, President of the Long Island Restaurant Association gets it. He gets it from the most basic vantage point -- the wallet. And on Long Island and for this argument, that’s where it will be fought.
Rosenberg, who says he has never actually met Charles Wang, did an excellent job getting business owners and trade unions together to meet the press this morning. He is an excellent speaker and was well prepared, As a restaurant owner, he’s more a salesman than a politician, but he did better than most I have seen trying to relate to the general public for this cause.
As someone who also owned a restaurant, it is crystal clear where he and the others are coming from. Without the Islanders and the Coliseum, business in Nassau County will suffer a tremendous blow and it will trickle down to the common Nassau taxpayer.
Without the business the Coliseum generates through concerts, hockey games and events, many of those surrounding restaurant establishments will have to close. Their taxes will no longer fill the County coffers, the stores will remain empty and the residents will be picking up the slack.
With a depressed area around the Coliseum, the home value will fall and residents will relocate. This is NOT simply about an NHL team, it actually never was. But perhaps with the voices of those business owners and trade unions speaking out, the general population -- those who are not hockey fans -- will finally listen.
It was hammered home for me when a man who looked very much like the little statue flinging a pizza that greets me at my favorite Italian restaurant. One I have loved as long as I can remember since it was the FIRST restaurant I was ever taken to. The man’s name is the same as the one embroidered on his shirt -- Borrelli.
His family restaurant has stood on the site across from the Nassau Coliseum since 1953, long before the Islanders called it home. Before that, there was a raceway where thousands would gather and traffic still managed to get by, even without the Meadowbrook Parkway.
Borrelli‘s is one of the favorite stops of Islander fans before and after a game. Mostly because they are so accommodating. On game night when the line would be out the door, the staff takes orders while you wait so that your food is ready when you sit down. The wait staff would alert you to the time of puck drop so you didn‘t miss it. I‘ve loved that place since I was 5 years-old. The thought of it closing down after all these years due to lack of business would hurt me deeply.
And what about everything else around there? How about the Coliseum Deli and the Starbucks directly across the street. What about every other business whose bottom line is effected by the influx of people coming and going from the Coliseum? What about them?
Borrelli‘s pays $90,000 a year in property taxes including school tax. All these merchants pay property tax. If they are not there because the Coliseum closes, who will foot that bill?
Hello Nassau Residents: YOU WILL!
Another rally is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:30 outside the Nassau County Legislative Building prior to their vote on the $400 million bond referendum 8/1/11 vote. News 12 will be there beginning at 5:30 am. Yes, that’s a little early for everyone, but if you can get there at all to show support, that would be beneficial. You won’t be able to miss the crowd in front of the Teddy Roosevelt statue at 1550 Franklin Ave, Mineola (corner of Old Country Road.)
Watch the ITV video from today’s press conference. See it on the other News channels, but watch it and see for yourself. This isn’t just about a hockey team, it’s about our viability in a tough economy.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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