With Islander Arena Voted Down, Is Barclays Center A Possibility?

Voters in Nassau County rejected a $400 million arena bond issue Monday, leaving the Islanders in limbo and likely to either move, be sold or both. Once again, the prospect of the Islanders moving to Barclays Center is being raised, and this time, no one is saying no to the idea.

Six months ago, Bob Sanna, vice president for construction at Forest City Ratner, told a Pratt Institute School of Architecture audience that, to meet financing requirements, "we made some pretty deliberate decisions early on: we weren't going to have a [professional] hockey team." The problems: limited seating capacity and, in some cases, poor sight lines in the basketball-centric arena.

But more recently, word inside the Nets is that nothing can be ruled out, that the arena can "definitely" host the NHL, whether pre-season, a small number of home games or something more. Nothing has been determined but no one is dismissing the possibility anymore.

“The Islanders belong in Brooklyn,” Brooklyn Boro President Marty Markowitz said. “We've got lots of hockey fans, and since we're technically still on Long Island, they can call themselves the 'Brooklyn Islanders.'

• Islanders bid for new arena defeated at polls - NHL.com
• Long Island voters reject $400M plan for arena - AP
• Referendum loss leaves door open to possible Islanders move to Brooklyn - Rich Calder - New York Post
  
• Islanders arena vote fails: What now? - Brian Stubits - CBS Sports
• Lights out: After vote, Isles likely on move - Mike Mazzeo - ESPN New York
• With voters defeating bond for Nassau Coliseum, a big boost for the Barclays Center (if no new plan in Long Island emerges) - Norman Oder - Atlantic Yards Report