As the year comes to a close and we are smack in the middle of holiday season, I decided to get in the spirit of things and create my wish list for Nassau County.
Yours may differ but I hope not by much. I’ve been told if you dream big, good things just might happen. Here we go:
1. Access to affordable quality healthcare, so Nassau County’s 1,361,500 residents may live in good health.
2. The Islanders back in their rightful home, Uniondale, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
3. A transformative and exciting project on the vacant land at Belmont Park.
4. A tunnel with rail service from the end of the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway to Westchester or Connecticut.
5. A ferry system for both the north and south shore, to make use of one of our community’s greatest commodities, our waterfront.
6. A fair and equitable property assessment system, which can’t be gamed by those in the know.
7. Ample funding for treatment and rehabilitation facilities to help those who have fallen into the clutches of opioid abuse.
8. The end of government corruption.
9. An end to sexual harassment.
10. An end to xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and racism.
11. Equality for all regardless of gender.
12. Universal recognition that global warming is real, with Nassau County leading the way in conservation and preservation of the land, sea and air.
13. A miraculous change in proposed Federal tax policy that doesn’t punish Blue States with high state and local taxes.
14. A fairer distribution of services and aid from both Albany and Washington to Nassau County.
15. An end to waste of taxpayer dollars by stopping self-promotion through excessive political direct mail.
16. A rapid bus system transit system that encourages residents to use public transportation.
17. Less traffic.
18. Nassau County getting a Fortune 500 company corporate headquarters.
19. Reliable funding for Nassau youth services so social service agencies, who heroically take care of the neediest, can plan long term.
20. Greater funding for mental health services.
21. A New York State ban on assault rifles.
22. Ethics reform on all levels of government.
23. A fair share of NYS public school funding for Nassau County’s 56 districts.
24. A quick and painless construction process of the LIRR 9.8 miles of third track from Floral Park to Hicksville.
25. A safe and reliable LIRR.
26. Peace on earth.
Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season!
PLEASE stop beating the drum for Nassau Coliseum, Adam. If you put back the 3,000 seats and the club seats and suites they took out when the renovations happened, at best you’d have a building that’s only as good as the one the team and the league deemed unprofitable. To get it to a level that it would be appropriate for an NHL team in the 21st century would require much, much more. The dressing rooms need to be enlarged. The ice plant needs to be brought up to date. TV production facilities need to be upgraded. The scoreboard needs to go back to whatever high school Nassau Entertainment Center bought it from. Supplemental retail on the property would have to be fast-tracked. And on top of all that, the team wouldn’t move in without a favorable lease agreement.
The Town of Hempstead screwed this up for the Islanders and their fans with the debacle over Charles Wang’s Lighthouse project. The taxpayers of the county weren’t interested in paying for a standalone arena. And Ed Mangano’s office picked a redevelopment plan for the Coliseum that even Bruce Ratner himself said would be unfit for an NHL team. Shoehorning the Islanders into that building does nothing more than reward the shortsightedness of local government over the last 10-15 years. The Islanders deserve better. Their fans deserve better. And the taxpayers of Nassau County deserve better.
PLEASE stop beating the drum for Nassau Coliseum, Adam. If you put back the 3,000 seats and the club seats and suites they took out when the renovations happened, at best you’d have a building that’s only as good as the one the team and the league deemed unprofitable. To get it to a level that it would be appropriate for an NHL team in the 21st century would require much, much more. The dressing rooms need to be enlarged. The ice plant needs to be brought up to date. TV production facilities need to be upgraded. The scoreboard needs to go back to whatever high school Nassau Entertainment Center bought it from. Supplemental retail on the property would have to be fast-tracked. And on top of all that, the team wouldn’t move in without a favorable lease agreement.
The Town of Hempstead screwed this up for the Islanders and their fans with the debacle over Charles Wang’s Lighthouse project. The taxpayers of the county weren’t interested in paying for a standalone arena. And Ed Mangano’s office picked a redevelopment plan for the Coliseum that even Bruce Ratner himself said would be unfit for an NHL team. Shoehorning the Islanders into that building does nothing more than reward the shortsightedness of local government over the last 10-15 years. The Islanders deserve better. Their fans deserve better. And the taxpayers of Nassau County deserve better.
How about turning the Coliseum into a convention center and building affordable rental housing on the site, as you suggested four years ago when you were running for the Democratic nomination for Nassau County Executive?
9.2 Cross Bill Clinton off the Democratic Party holiday card list
16.2 Restoration of the Nassau County bus routes that were cut
16.3 Expand local bus service routes
25.2 Safe access to LIRR stations for people walking and biking