Coliseum referendum becomes political cover
New York Islanders owner Charles Wang at a 2011 news conference about Nassau Coliseum. Credit: Howard Schnapp
The moment the news broke that Charles Wang will move his New York Islanders to Brooklyn, last year's failed referendum to rebuild the county's Coliseum instantly acquired a postmortem political purpose: cover.
After all, both County Executive Edward Mangano, who faces re-election next year, and Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, who was re-elected last November, can accurately say that voters spoke, and rejected the Islander-centric project as proposed. When talks after the August 2011 vote failed to produce an alternative plan, Wang moved on.
