Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Schrodinger's Lighthouse



While they slowly count the ballots to determine who our next County Executive will be**, we have been in a bit of a holding pattern related to the Lighthouse.  There are many people ready to jump ship and declare the project dead, with some even indicating the Islanders' decision to hold a hockey camp for children in Flushing as an indication that the Lighthouse is dead and everyone is ready to move on.  I'm going to avoid jumping to conclusions at this point, but the project is certainly in an ambiguous phase right now.

**Blogger's Note: My friend (and Hockey Independent colleague) B.D. Gallof reported on Hockey Independent that his intelligence indicates that Ed Mangano will be the new Nassau County Executive.  Everyone I have spoken to has the same opinion, and I would bank on a Nassau County run by Ed Mangano in 2010 and beyond.

I'm going to out-nerd myself for a quick minute and get into quantum mechanics to explain the current state of the Lighthouse, through the famous example of Schrodinger's Cat.

Two States of Being

Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger developed his famous thought experiment in 1935 in response to a certain interpretation of quantum mechanics known as the Copenhagan interpetation.  Copenhagen suggests, in simplest terms, that an occurrence that could go 2 different directions can't be known for sure until someone actually sees it.  Follow the example:

Schrodinger explained his experiment: a cat is placed into a box with a vial of poisonous acid and a Geiger Counter (radiation detector) with radioactive material inside.  If the Geiger Counter is activated, a hammer will fall and break the vial of acid, killing the cat.  According to the Copenhagen interpretation, we won't know whether the Geiger Counter went off until we actually open the box to see if the cat is alive.  Therefore, until the box is opened, some would say Schrodinger's Cat is both alive and dead.

It might make your brain hurt when you think about that cat in a box, but it's actually a perfect analogy of the Lighthouse.  Until we observe the behavior of our elected officials, the Lighthouse Project is both alive and dead.

 

(I have a cousin who works for NASA and owns this shirt.  When I first saw it I didn't know what was worse - that he owned the shirt or that I understood it)


The Lighthouse Project is Dead

The political angle of the Lighthouse Project could now cause dire consequences. The Lighthouse Project, for better or worse, has been closely identified with Democrats.  Charles Wang and Scott Rechler continuously appeared at public events with Tom Suozzi, and the Islanders helped to give a platform to Kristen McElroy, Kate Murray's opponent for Town Supervisor, during her campaign appearances at Islanders games.  Given the polarized political climate, it is possible that some Republicans may work against the project to extract their "pound of flesh," either by proxy against the almost-certainly-defeated Tom Suozzi or straight against Mr. Wang, whom some have described as a "bully."  B.D. also reported - I kid you not - that some in the Town were upset that Mr. Wang didn't call Kate Murray to congratulate her on her victory.  Regardless of how irrational that may be, I hope it does not signify another shift in the Town/developer relationship.

Mr. Mangano repeatedly stressed in our interview that the Town needed space to finish its state-mandated responsibilities.  It's clear that, as County Executive, he will likely not pressure the Town of Hempstead to move forward as quickly as possible to get things done.  This may give the Town space, but other debacles (Roosevelt Raceway, Courtesy Hotel, Bellmore Army Base) show that the Town does not move quickly unless it absolutely has to.  I wonder how that will play, because it could go in either direction.

There are also people who are now concerned about the County portion of the approval process: specifically the lease negotiation.  From a partisan stand-point, the Republicans in the Town of Hempstead have little motivation to release the Lighthouse from environmental review before a Republican-controlled legislature takes office in January, and there are already certain people firing warning shots over the lease.  Legis. Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), the possible new (old) Majority Leader, immediately blasted the lease agreement as a bad one for Nassau County, and other Republican sources have described it as a "sweetheart deal."  While Ed Mangano, likely the incoming County Executive, has endorsed the project, he also raised a specter that I had never heard before: the Coliseum property would have to be appraised before the Legislature could vote the agreement up-or-down.

At this point, I'm starting to become concerned about the timeframe for approval in the project.  Since we are likely to still be in environmental review at the start of 2010, the ability to break ground on a new Coliseum next summer, after hockey season, is seriously in doubt.  We should continue to watch this.

The Lighthouse Project is Not Dead

There are, however, plenty of reasons to still be hopeful, because in certain ways the conditions have become more favorable.  First of all, a Nassau County controlled by the Republican Party removes one of the main sources of political conflict.  After all, the Town and County would not be able to blame the opposing party for the process being politicized or held up anymore.  It would cause voters to focus like a laser on the most important thing: whether or not the process is moving forward.

Many factors working in favor of the Lighthouse come down to simple necessity.  Ed Mangano told me in our interview 2 weeks ago that nobody wants to see the Coliseum property remain an asphalt jungle riddled with weeds, and, given the decades of failure and the strength of the current Lighthouse proposal, there is overwhelming pressure to get the project done.  Failure of such a high-profile project could have negative ramifications for decades to come, and it could signal that Long Island is not a place where forward-thinking people want to do busness,  Mr. Mangano, I'm sure, would love to succeed where countless others have failed since John F. Kennedy were President and bring meaningful and catalytic development to the site of Nassau Coliseum.

Charles Wang and Scott Rechler also have a motivation to get this done.  They are native sons of Long Island willing to invest their own time and money to bring a transformative project to Long Island.  They have continuously emphasized both their commitment to the area and their willingness to seek other opportunities if they were left with no choice.

Suffolk County (which would be an utter disaster) has proposed that Mr. Wang seek opportunities there, and Queens recently issued an RFP for the re-development of Willets Point near Citi Field in what is now the Iron Triangle.  There are compelling arguments that Wang and Rechler will not continue if the Lighthouse fails.  After all, Mr. Wang is impatient that the project has taken 7 years to get to this point (5 since public unveiling), and he has repeatedly shared his frustration with the time it has taken, so I doubt he would have the appetite to wait another 3-5 years and cast his lot with a new option.

At the end of the day, we have not heard public pronouncements of interest in other specific areas from Mr. Wang.  This proves to me that he is committed to seeing the Lighthouse Project through to completion, and he may be willing to do what it takes to get the project approved.

What We Know

Right now, the Town of Hempstead is still plodding through the SEQR process, with the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) up for review.  There is no indication of a forthcoming vote, and leaks continue to come out of Town Hall discussing so-called "serious holes" in the proposal.  At the same time, many still believe there will need to be a change to the size and scope of the project before things could go forward.

However, I also want to focus on the one major, over-arching thing we know: LONG ISLAND NEEDS THE LIGHTHOUSE PROJECT.  We are losing business because of the lack of a convention center.  Companies are taking jobs elsewhere due to the lack of the right kind of office space.  Apartment-style housing is sorely needed.  Most of all, Long Island is at a crossroads, and it needs to either change or fade into oblivion.  It needs a catalyst, and there is no better option than the Lighthouse Project.

I told Ed Mangano 2 weeks ago that I did not care who received the credit for the Lighthouse Project, as long as it was done.  I stand by that statement, and I hope we can all meet at a ground-breaking in 6-7 months.  It's doable, but many things would have to go right.

Bottom Line

This is going to be a frustrating time for us as Lighthouse Project supporters, and I don't know how much we will be able to do from here on out to influence the process (aside from showing up at the hearings and continuing to write/call).  We are going to have to watch the process unfold, as the Town of Hempstead hasn't said much about the environmental review since the re-zoning hearing on September 22, and I will relay everything I find out.

Expect a series coming up about how each side (Nassau County, Town of Hempstead, Lighthouse) may be willing to make a deal and move this forward.

Please share your thoughts in comments. Petition. Email Me. Follow me on Twitter. Become a fan on Facebook.
 

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

7 comments:

  1. I think if we start calling and emailing Mangano from the get go, he will get an immediate sense of the presence of lighthouse supporters out there. If he does not hear much from the beginning, he may not feel as much pressure. It's important that we not let up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. the problem with having "a nassau county controlled by the republicans" is that the officeholders opposing the thing from the start are almost all republicans, as are the "business people" opposed to it, who are mostly surrogates of the old-guard republican-machine remnants. the concept of one party having more control - thus less opposition for the sake of opposition -doesn't always hold. we see that now with all the bickering and stalemate on the federal level, but in nassau county "politics" logic and normal rules apply even less. as i've thought all along, this whole thing has less to do with politics and much more to do with influence and profit manipulation. what i find curious is the silence for weeks now from both sides. unless i've missed something, there's been nothing from either camp. if someone is looking for any shred of a positive sign it might be that. a major stretch maybe, as it may also signal doom.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "You Gotta Believe"

    ReplyDelete
  4. "You Gotta Believe"

    great line by tug and it took him and his mates a long way, but that was 36 years ago and as i recall, in the end they lost.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Where were all the Islander fans and Lighthouse supporters on election day?

    If you believe the likes of Mondello, Mangano, and Murray are going to move the Lighthouse Project to fruition -- let alone get it right, if they do -- then the Islanders are in line for the Stanley Cup in 2010.

    Apathy, indifference, and expectations that barely rise to the level of mediocrity are killing us in Nassau County.

    "We have seen the enemy, and he is us!"

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've been meaning to post this since news broke about the Blue Jackets' financial troubles. I forget the exact words, but I read an article that said the Blue Jackets arena and surrounding area are the envy of many teams. We've also heard that the the development around the Coyotes' arena is great. So it sounds like we have 2 complexes that are similar to the proposed Lighthouse Project, for 2 teams that are so called "small" market teams like the Isles (although you could argue that the Isles are not a small market team, but that's not really the point). The point is, these large developments don't appear to ensure the financial success and stability teams need. This is very concerning to me and I'm wondering what your thoughts are Nick. I'm sure there are some differences in the agreements of the other deals, but the similarities seem too glaring too ignore.

    ReplyDelete
  7. DKing - not a bad idea, and Derek King was one of my favorites in the early 90's.

    TCA - I'm as disgusted and mystified by this as you are, and I've been clear before that we get the government we deserve. I'm hopeful that not being able to blame the Democrats will help, but there are as many reasons to be apprehensive.

    Brett - you're asking the right question there, because we would hate to be sold a bill of goods. However, there is one big difference between the Lighthouse and Columbus/Glendale: the team doesn't control the development in either of those places, and in some instances has to pay for some of those amenities (the Coyotes pay $2 to the City of Glendale for every parking spot, yet they get no parking revenue, for example). Since Mr. Wang and Mr. Rechler would either finance the development themselves or sell the rights to develop the land (less likely, but possible), they would be directly involved in the building and the revenue from the development, unlike those other examples.

    ReplyDelete

Followers