New Arena Would be Great, However..

I have lived in Nassau county my entire life, and have seen it go through many changes. When I was younger, Hempstead Tpke. was a 2 lane road with many mom and pop shops along the way. I have watched the county blossom and grow, and then start its decay. I live in East Meadow which has had its share of empty store fronts, but they fill up rather quickly with new excited business endeavors. Levittown, is another story on the pike, given it seems to be owned exclusively by one realtor, and major businesses leave and the properties remain empty for years.

I would certainly welcome anything that would bring much needed revenue to our county, right?? Maybe not so fast. I drive past empty lots every day such as the old Kmart site and the Waldbaum's across the street. I tend to blame this on the landlords, who obviously charge ridiculous amounts of rent. Or do they? I really don't know, but I do know that all this empty real estate is not good for Nassau county. These properties do not seem to have upkeep either. I am disgusted with the TOH and NC. Taxes are unbearably high; seniors on a fixed income cannot stay and neither can their grandchildren. Middle class, or what once was middle class in Nassau cannot survive.

I am a huge Islander fan, and have been since the inception of the team. Ed Mangano's announcement today of the plans to build a new arena for my beloved Isles has many people excited. However, many of these excited folks do not live in Nassau county as I have been reading all day on twitter. They all feel that this is a great deal, many of them commenting that they don't care because they are not Nassau residents. Problem is, they need to care, because this will only happen if the county residents want it.

I think this will be an extremely hard sell for residents as we have some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Also, NIFA seems to be upset as they were not "in" on this proposal. Dems seemed to be behind Lighthouse, and this plan is the Republican baby. When you have lived here for 40+ yrs, and still cannot understand the politics here, there is a huge issue. The Pols will fight with each other just for the sake of the fight and nothing will get done.

I hope that this referendum will go through. I feel as though it is not only the last hope for my Islanders, but perhaps the county as well. We need to turn this town of Hempstead around, create a place where people want to come, and a place where professional hockey players would wish to call home. Politics has long played a role in TOH and NC progress, I hope we can all come together on this plan.