Thursday Roundup PLUS If You Build It...

UPDATED BELOW, with a little egg on my face.

Hi, everyone. We have some quick news bits to discuss today, and then I wanted to share someone else's blog post about the Lighthouse that you may not have had a chance to see.

3 days since my post went up, and I haven't heard from Garden City.

Hear Me on Preds on the Glass This Monday

The Lighthouse movement has received a lot of support in the Twitterverse from the NHL fan contingent in Nashville, a group that understands what we are going through all too well. I am very grateful for that, and I know many others are as well.

This Monday, the Nashville community will take its support to a whole new level. Buddy and Jackson Oakes of Preds on the Glass will be hosting a special Islanders and Lighthouse Project edition of Preds on the Glass radio. I'm scheduled to be on the show along with Dee (the 7th Woman) and Katrina Doell from the Lighthouse.

We are scheduled to talk Islanders and Lighthouse for the entire show, from 8-9 PM on Monday. I will have a link for all of you to listen, and it should be a great show. Buddy is very gracious for inviting us and taking such an interest in our cause.

Get Your Very Own "Just Build It!" Shirt


The "Just Build It!" t-shirt was a big hit at last week's Lighthouse public hearing. Now, there is a chance for those who couldn't make the hearing to get their very own. Between 3 and 5:30 PM next Wednesday, August 19, you can stop by the Lighthouse offices and pick up your shirt.

Limit 1 per person. The Lighthouse office is located at 1600 Old Country Road, Plainview.

Good Luck, Greg Logan - And Congratulations, Katie Strang

We all recently learned that Greg Logan will be leaving the Newsday Islanders beat in favor of Katie Strang. This is a pivotal year in the team's history, so Katie will be able to hit the ground running and hopefully provide us with some very valuable info.

Good luck to both Greg and Katie. I hope this move works out well for both of you.

My friend Islander505 has a full post sharing his feelings on the subject - check it out.

Now, a Special Guest Post

(NOTE: The author of our guest post was incorrectly identified as a Rangers fan at first due to my misunderstanding something - she is actually the MOTHER of a Rangers fan, but an Islanders fan herself. I apologize and hope I will not be sued for making such a defamatory claim)

Dani3boyz, the founder of the NHL Tweetup, made me aware of this incredible post from last Tuesday from a Long Island resident about the Lighthouse. She makes the most eloquent argument I've heard so far against those playing the NIMBY card. Long Island is in serious trouble right now, and instead of waiting for things to get worse we should take a stand now and make our Island better as quickly as we can.

She was nice enough to let me post the piece, in full, here on Let There Be Light(house).

You can follow the author on Twitter or check out her blog - otherwise, here we go:

If You Build It...

[This will be of little interest to anyone who is not from Long Island. I’m writing for my twitter/tumblr LI friends, especially the hockey fans. I’ll probably send it to the local paper. It is in reference to today’s town hall meeting regarding the future of the Long Island Lighthouse project - a project that needs to be approved in order to keep the Islanders from leaving us]

This is written to all the people playing the NIMBY card.

I’ve been thinking about leaving Long Island. My daughter wants to leave. My son thinks he’ll want to live elsewhere when he graduates high school. Our young people are leaving in droves because there’s no future for them here. Long Island is falling apart.

What you can’t see from the sanctity of your backyards is that Long Island desperately needs revitalization. The Lighthouse can provide that. In addition to the jobs it will create, the Lighthouse will be the starting point of a renewal that will spread from Uniondale and Garden City to the surrounding areas, creating a domino effect that will revitalize the entire area.

You say you’re afraid new business will affect the economy in your neighborhood. But you can’t ask an entire community to not change based upon your needs.

You say you’re afraid of the traffic it will create. People afraid of more traffic should be afraid of less traffic. When the Islanders leave us for a state that gives them the home they deserve, there will be less traffic. When the stores and restaurants that rely on the Islander fans for business close down there will be less traffic. When Museum Row is left as a tiny blot on what could have been a booming place of commerce and living, there will be less traffic. Hempstead Turnpike will continue to decline - just miles of strip malls with shuttered stores. When the Coliseum and the Islanders are gone, the suburban blight will continue to spread until it encroaches on your backyards and only then will you stand up and shout that something needs to be done about the stagnation. The rest of us are standing up now. We’re not waiting for it to get worse. We want to make it better.

We want to give our kids a reason to stay and give others a reason to visit, work and live here. The Lighthouse is a grand opportunity for Long Island. I drive past the Coliseum every day on my way to work and I would gladly sit in a little more traffic if it means a reason to be proud of the place where I live.

If we let this opportunity go, it will be a heartbreak to the thousands of people who have shown support for this project. All the people who have been on the brink of leaving will go and the Islanders will be gone with them. Long Island will be poorer, in so many ways.

Long Island needs a bright spot. It needs a landmark that is not associated with the elite of the Hamptons.

Long Island needs the Islanders. And the Islanders need the Lighthouse.

Please share your thoughts in comments. Petition. Email Me. Follow me on Twitter.