Ducks owner wins Nassau ballpark bid

Nassau residents may not know details of a revenue-sharing deal for a new minor league baseball park before casting their vote on the project Aug. 1, County Executive Edward Mangano said Monday.

"We will make every effort to have those lease negotiations completed," Mangano said as county officials announced they had selected a bid by Frank Boulton, owner of the Long Island Ducks, to bring a new minor-league team to Mitchel Field in Uniondale.

The proposal, which also includes construction of a new Nassau Coliseum, is contingent on public approval of up to $400 million in taxpayer-financed bonds.

Mangano added that the plan still must be approved by the county legislature and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state monitoring agency. "This is just the beginning of the process," he said.

The county previously announced that it would receive 11.5 percent of all Coliseum revenue, or at least $14 million per year, including at New York Islanders games and other events at the new arena.

"None of the dollars can be spent without having a transparent, full public process," Mangano said.

But skeptics said more information is needed. "Where is the market study?" asked Jay Jacobs, state and Nassau Democratic chairman. "How do they make the numbers work?"

Boulton said he expects the deal with Nassau to be similar to the Ducks' lease agreement with Suffolk County. The Ducks, which play at Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip, pay the county $1 per ticket and 25 percent of skybox revenue. For non-Ducks events, Suffolk gets 20 percent of gross concession revenue.

The Ducks offer was selected over a joint bid by the New York Mets and Syosset developer David Blumenfeld. "We appreciated being included in the process and believe we delivered a compelling proposal," the Mets said in a statement.

County officials envision a packed 6,000-seat, publicly owned ballpark in the center of Nassau's Hub, creating a sports-entertainment complex that includes hockey, swimming and golf. "This is a home run for Long Island, Nassau, Suffolk and our region," Mangano said.

Critics, however, said the cash-strapped county cannot afford to invest in baseball when 128 government workers were laid off last month. "This really makes me question the priorities of this administration," said Leg. Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn). "This is just not a good use of county resources."

Desmond Ryan, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, a real estate group, described the proposal as "shiny ornaments on a $400 million Christmas tree the taxpayer can't afford and shouldn't be asked to pay for."

Boulton said it will be up to the public to decide if they want to invest in a baseball park. "It's very appropriate that the people in Nassau County have opportunity to exercise the process of voting . . . on this very important project," he said.

The yet-unnamed Nassau team would play in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which is unaffiliated with Major League Baseball. The league already has reserved a spot for the Nassau squad. The proposed facility, which the county has estimated will cost roughly $25 million, would open in the spring of 2013.

WHAT SHOULD THEY CALL IT?

Among the names for the new team suggested by newsday.com readers:

Sounds

Suburbans

Beachcombers

Expressway

Teddy Bears

Railroaders

Aviators

Sea Gulls

Tax Abaters

Sharks

NIFAS

Geese

Knights