Curran amendment to Coliseum contract would end penalty payments

Rebecca Klar
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, seen here with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, center, and New York Islanders' Captain John Tavares at a January press conference, proposed an amendment that would eliminate penalty payments for the team not playing at Nassau Coliseum.  (Photo by Rebecca Klar)

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran has proposed an amendment that would eliminate the penalty Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment has to pay Nassau if the New York Islanders don’t play six games per year through 2027 at the Nassau Coliseum, according to Newsday.

Last month Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the team would return to its former Coliseum home to play half its home games over the next three seasons while the new arena at Belmont Park is built.

The team will continue to play half of its home games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where the Islanders currently play.

Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, which operates the Coliseum and Barclays, said the deal depends on the county revising the Coliseum lease, Newsday reported.

The 2013 lease states that if the Islanders don’t play four regular season and two preseason games at the Coliseum each year, Brooklyn Sports has to pay Nassau $1 million a year for five years, Newsday reported.

Curran’s proposed amendment eliminates the penalty as long as the team remains on Long Island through 2027.

In December, Cuomo announced that the Islanders were returning to Long Island with a development including an 18,000-seat arena, a multipurpose event center, a retail center and a hotel.

“This amendment fulfills a promise Nassau County Executive Curran made, and that is to guarantee that there will be hockey at the Coliseum,” county spokesman Mike Martino told Newsday.

Former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano began implementing the penalty last year, according to Newsday.

The payments would stop as of July with the new amendment, according to Newsday.

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