Lighthouse Moves Forward

I haven't written much about the Lighthouse Project. I read everything Newsday has reported on it, but I made a conscious effort to keep NYIFORLIFE.com as centered on the sport as much as I could. Until now, I guess.

After yesterday's meeting with at Hempstead Town Hall, it looks as if things are moving in a positive direction. I humbly admit that I know very little about Long Island politics but whenever you can tick something off of a long list of things that need to be done--after so much waiting--it has to be a relief to all Islanders fans who are sick of hearing the words "Kansas" and "City".

According to Newsday, the developers of the proposed $3-billion Lighthouse Project (Islanders' owner Charles Wang and Scott Rechler) delivered a 6,000-page report that detailed what they wanted to do to revitalize the 150 acres of county-owned land around Nassau Coliseum.

It is, as they say, a start. What scares me is this: $3 billion. That's the amount of money Wang and Rechler have "budgeted" for this revitalization project. That 3 billion makes the remainder of Yashin's dead contract look pretty darn good right now.

As an outsider, my whole opinion of this is different. First off, I want what is best for my team--for OUR team. I may not make Long Island my home but trust me, that rink on the turnpike is where my heart always will be.

Saying that, I want the team to do better. I want the Islanders to return to being (at least) contenders. I want to care desperately about hockey games in April, May, and June. We are, as a fanbase, literally aching to cheer another great playoff run. I tend to think that the organization is doing the right thing playing and developing the kids rather than sticking Band-aids on a middle-of-the-pack roster and shooting for a seventh or eighth seed in the East.

It doesn't take a genius to see that a lot of the organizational plan is to develop the team with young kids and get them ready to be a rising contender just as the refurbished arena is opening and the development has some of that new car smell. On paper, or between the ears, that seems like a pretty solid and logical plan. The problem is that the whole Lighthouse deal (team and area included) seems to hinge on two very volatile factors: the Islanders need to make good drafts and trades and mold the boys into a reputable franchise. Then, you know, they also have to secure the 3 billion dollars while minding the store.

Reading the papers, the mere fact that anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 jobs associated with construction and maintenance of the Lighthouse project is a great thing to hear about in this troubled economy. I can guaran-damn-tee you that if Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell could get a lot of jobs like that in this state that she'd hold the door wide open to hear that proposal with the daunting unemployment rate and the fiscal nightmare that is our deficit.

But that's not what scares me. The scary issue to me is how are Wang and Rechler going to secure 3 billion dollars worth of financing for the Lighthouse Project? We see Bank of America, RBS, and Citi trading lower and lower each day. The federal government has already bailed out these institutions with funny money that never even existed until the government said it did. If these places are hurting, why should they fork over more and more cash for a project like this when they don't even know if the bank can make it through the recession?

Eden Laikin, in today's Newsday, had two excellent quotes in her story regarding the financing. Real estate attorney Morton Weber said the following:

"...there's a track record here. You have somebody who built Computer Associates, which was very successful, and you've got Scott Rechler, who has this impeccable reputation in what he's done in the real estate world. Is that one of the keys in getting financing? Absolutely."

So right there, Weber sounds positive that they'll be able to finance the deal on reputation alone. Fair enough. Everyone has an opinion. But in times like these, you still have to wonder. You can have the greatest idea in the world for a product or for this development but unless you have the money to see it through, it's nothing.

That seems to me to be issue. Obviously, as Wang said, he can't get funding until the zoning issues are settled and after yesterday's meeting, wheels are in motion and we all feel good about that. But until they get the money--even if it does come from the Chinese government--we still have to be cautious. That's 3 billion with a B in a time where many Americans are having trouble scraping two nickels together.

Look at what is happening in Phoenix. You can read about it anywhere because the Canadian Media is obsessed with any news of a failing franchise--and especially one in a place where it's hard to make ice. Essentially, the Coyotes' problems come down to (surprise!) money. But take a closer look and you'll find that the city of Glendale has been footing the rent on the rink for the team because the ownership can't pay the bills. Why? Well, the owner makes his money in shipping. Times get hard, no one ships as much because nobody is buying as much and therefore, no one is producing as much.

If the Coyotes have lost the reported 200 million bucks that they have since moving to Glendale, then where did they get this money to lose? Well, dummy, they got it from banks! Banks lent money to the ownership and leveraged the trucking company as collateral. Now, because of the downturn, you've got two high-profile business knuckling under the pressure of debt--and using one failing enterprise to pay off another failing enterprise. No one in their right mind would pay off one credit card with another credit card, would they?

I've oversimplified, for sure, but I think we all understand that while hockey is important and the Islanders are hyper-important, we have to look at this Lighthouse Project with a bit of a jaundiced eye. Not the jaundiced eye of a beaten-down fanbase desperate for any shred of good news, but with the jaundiced eye that realizes that trying to pull off something this big--and this project is SCARY BIG--in a time where money is hard to come by...well, I'm just saying that we shouldn't get our hopes up just yet. A game-changer of a project like this would be exponentially difficult to pull off in the best of times.

On the ice and in the economy, these are not the best of times. That's all I am saying. I'm hopeful, but as an Islander fan who has been kicked a bunch of times, I'm wary.