Wow! It's MAY and there's a TWO PAGE spread in Newsday today by our favorite beat-writer, Greg Logan. Our NY Islanders normally would not even get a mention in the reader rant section at this time of year so permeated by Baseball and local High School sports.

But that first overall draft pick has changed all of that. The NY Islanders and GM Garth Snow show up in almost every media outlet that has any article even remotely mentioning hockey. Yes, the choice on June 26th is THAT BIG. The prize for being the biggest loser is being the biggest winner on a Friday evening in June.

Greg presents all the possible scenarios to those of us who know them well and those who never take their eyes off the baseball scores and have never visited a hockey blog site. It'll be 40 days and 40 nights of "WWGD"; What Will Garth Do? But don't try to ask him, you won't get an answer. He's saving it for the surprise party at the Coliseum.

"Going back to Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn? Going back to Brooklyn? Uh, no. I don't think so."

I was going to resist writing what every one and their blogging brother covered yesterday in the news that Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project is getting closer to becoming reality, but then I saw the article in Newsday's sports pages.

Hey, is Ratner the Ratner from the Kosher food conglomerate? Okay, I digress. But something struck me in the Newsday article. I'm not very familiar with the project design, so when I read the size of the project I was a little surprised.

Ratner is proposing a 22-acre $4-billion development that will include 6,000 apartments. Wait, read that number again. SIX THOUSAND apartments. Okay, I know it's Brooklyn, but doesn't that seem like an awful LOT of apartments on a development that's an exceptionally small amount of acreage that is also going to contain a 20,000 seat arena and commercial real-estate.

Originally, the plan called for almost 9,000 residential units that would make it more densely populated than Manhattan. I guess they pared it down to the 6,000 units since 2006. But still, 2,250 of those 6,000 apartments will be for "low and middle income families." That is 1/3 of the residential space. Seems like a lot to me.

As the LighthouseLI Project has their watchdog blogger, this Atlantic Yards project has it's own. The writing is very interesting, the problems facing the developer are real, the questions pending are enormous.

One large difference between the Atlantic Yards project and the LighthouseLI Project -- Eminent domain. How many people are losing their property for this project? How many field mice would be displaced in Uniondale?

If Brooklyn is the last resort of where to move the Islanders, I say -- Bye, Bye. I grew up in Brooklyn on Avenue K and Ocean Parkway. It took five years and speech therapy classes to lose the Brooklynese accent. It still comes out when I drink too much. But this very east end suburban housewife won't be travelling to Brooklyn to watch hockey games with any regularity. Maybe I'd go about as often as I go to Yankee games: once a season.

No, the more I read about other development projects, the more I don't understand the debate on the Lighthouse*. There is more property with less density and no condemnation. I just don't GET IT!!!!!

*As an aside: While watching Sunday morning television, there was a story about the Eiffel Tower and it mentioned that someone brought a lawsuit against it that delayed the building. That's the freakin' EIFFEL Tower, the icon that defines Paris, and some NIMBY was against it. No wonder we can't get the Lighthouse LI done! People have been non-progressive thinkers as far back as 1889. What would Paris be without that monumental structure???? The capital of Croissants? What will Nassau County be without the Lighthouse? Um... ummm.... give me a minute... I'm thinking...

And talking hockey with Brad Kurtzberg last night at WGBB AM studio in West Babylon.

 

The last time I was there was October of 2007 and I was exceptionally nervous. This time, with so much more experience in the hockey world (yeah, right) I was far more comfortable and actually didn't feel like I was going to throw up. No. Last night my biggest worry was "Dear God, please don't let me curse on air."

 

Brad and I have become good friends in the last two years and we talk all the time. He knows me well, and yet he STILL asked me to come in. As a passionate hockey fan, our conversations can become quite "colorful" to say the least. With the front cover of Newsday proclaiming Wang's remorse for purchasing the Islanders, I thought for sure I'd let one or two profanities slip. Luckily.... I didn't.

 

As the last of four guests last night, I was happy to hear the first guest, Kevin Greenstein from InsideHockey.com have some pretty similar views on the upcoming draft to my own. I also listened intently to Dave Maloney discuss the pitfalls of the NY Rangers and kept myself from laughing at their early exit from the playoffs.

 

When I first arrived at the studio, I talked to Brad about the shocking end of the NJ Devils season and wondered how Lou Lamarillo felt about it. After all, Brian Burke may be the Pope of hockey, but Lou Lamarillo is certainly the Godfather!

 

Sure enough, Brad asked Matt Sweetwood of NJDevs.com how Lou was handling the defeat and what he planned to do in the off season.

 

With Adam behind the glass at the mixing board and Brad at the mic, the show's timing was as perfect as a Rolex watch. Then it was time and the mic in front of me went "live."

 

Maybe espresso wasn't the best thing to drink in the car on the way over to the studio? I think the speed at which I let loose even surprised dear friend Brad. I just knew as the last guest on, with the clock ticking, I had to get it all out there before the clock struck 10.

 

I had only been prepped with "Okay, be ready to talk about the draft and about the Lighthouse." I was. But then additional questions started coming and still managed to run out answers at lightening speed.

 

My only regret is calling the draft combine "Columbine." I realized it in my head the second time I said it and felt like an absolute jerk and started to wonder to myself what else I could have possibly said incorrectly.

 

I'll have to take a listen. You can too as Rob Kowal (the man that hardly sleeps) already posted the podcast last night after 11 at www.nyhockeytalk.com.

 

*Additional hockey notes: Carolina stuns the Bruins 3 - 0, NBC lets the Ducks & Wings go into triple overtime and doesn't cut away to celebrity poker, Team USA takes on Mark Streit and Team Switzerland today at 2:15 pm (they had better win damn it!) and Stan Fischler called me "The Ultimate Ice Cashew".... and I loved it.

WE DO!

Thank you Newsday editors for a headline that finally made me read the main part of the paper before I headed straight to the comics. Sensationalism at it's best, eh?

Wang's Regret: Sorry he bought the team. That's a good one too. I really enjoyed that one with my Sunday breakfast.

While both articles by Jim Baumbach and Liz Moore are far more fair and equal than some of the previous articles, those who chose to give them a careless glance may NOT come away with the full picture.

If all you read are Wang's Options and The Next Steps, you may come away with the conclusion that this is a done, dead deal. Please hold off printing the obituary while there is still a pulse.

Okay, big picture: We have a political pissing match in Uniondale over Republican vs. Democrat demographics.

Bigger picture: Our economy on Long Island is suffering greatly as a whole and can ill afford a setback in growth and stimulus at the hands of one township.

The innuendo in the Dark days for the Lighthouse article that really pushes my buttons is the possibility of Democratic voters moving into those proposed 2,306 residences being part of the underlying effort to hold up the process.

Dear Town Of Hempstead: Please be advised that since the Lighthouse project will be built in stages, you have a few years before you have to worry about WHO or WHAT will move into your neighborhood. But let's think about this, by the time those residences are ready to be occupied the political make up of this country may be quite different.

The Democratic government that is currently in power may find themselves with a huge backlash against them attempting to turn the US of A into a socialist "Canada Light." I wouldn't worry about where the Democrats will live. I'd worry about FIXING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ITSELF!!

Continue on into today's Newsday to the Editorials section and read 'Heavy lift' defined regarding a different multi-use development in Brentwood. It states the obvious, the Island is in desperate need of housing as well as jobs.

If residents don't have affordable places to live, they will leave. If they leave, there is no tax revenue from them to fund the government and its services. If there are no services or work force, the businesses will have to leave. If the businesses leave, Long Island will eventually be a nice memory and a dying community. Where will your perfect vision of suburbia be then Town Of Hempstead?

My favorite line in today's newspaper is also in that editorial as it closes with:

"Instead of shooting at each other in the tall grass, everyone needs to pay attention to the big picture, which is much the same as at Pilgrim: the need for sensible, economically and environmentally healthy development."

The LighthouseLI Project can be completed in it's multi-staged build-out to be beneficial to all of Long Island AS WELL AS be environmentally sound. Solutions for all possible problems exist. But to blindly dismiss an entire project because of perceived concerns is a death sentence.

No one left on this Island will care in 10 years who is a democrat and who is a republican because our best days will be behind us.

Smarten up people! We have still have an opportunity to move forward, but only if you let yourself be heard.

*As an aside: I am scheduled to be on air with Inside Hockey's Brad Kurtzberg tonight on WGBB's NY Hockey Talk. Brad is subbing for Rob Kowal this evening and asked if I wanted to come along for the ride. The show is webstreamed from 9 - 10 pm and will be available on podcast. The url is: http://www.nyhockeytalk.com/. Hopefully I won't suck.

You saw what the additional voters did for our recent Presidential election. Maybe NOW is the time to take that power to the streets of Nassau County.

We've heard it before. We've seen it with our own eyes. Who do the politicians work for? Themselves or their constituents? Who are they supposed to work for? YOU. The Voter. But you can't VOTE unless you REGISTER to do so.

Now, can our local politicians cross party lines if they feel a project is good for the public even if it will be a red mark on their own career? They should be able to, but would they if they don't see a change in the tide?

Let's think about this. As Long Islanders we feel that certain projects such as the Lighthouse LI project will benefit the area, but our voices may not be making an impact no matter how loud we protest, or how many emails or Newspaper comments we submit. The only thing that politicians see are VOTES on their own ballots.

But before you can VOTE, you need to register. How many of us here on Long Island who are ELIGIBLE to vote on the local level are not registered? Well? How many?


If you are 18 years of age or older, a US citizen and have lived in your present Nassau County residence for at least 30 days, you are eligible. It is not only your right, but in this economic climate, I'd say it's your DUTY to register and get involved.

It's not hard to register to vote. Bring your ID and proof of residence to a local DMV or the Dept. of Labor or Worker's Comp board. Don't feel like getting up off your butt, here's the website. You can download the form and mail it in!

The Lighthouse LI project has just submitted the complete response for the DGEIS to the Town Of Hempstead. Their next step next step should be the Town of Hempstead declaring the DGEIS complete and schedule public hearings. It would be beneficial for everyone if those attending the public hearings were REGISTERED VOTERS.

The voice of VOTERS cannot be ignored. If you are NOT registered to vote then you will only be considered background noise.

How about it? Ready to Rock The Vote on Long Island? Haven't things been done the same way for far too long? It's time to make Nassau County move forward into the future. Be part of it.