A bit of minutiae from the fallout of Andrew Barroway's failed attempt to buy the New York Islanders from Charles Wang: Wang is seeking to get Barroway's lawsuit against him changed from Manhattan to Nassau County.
Newsday's Jim Baumbach tweeted the details, while former IPB captain Kevin Schultz provided the appropriate punchline:
Smart, he knows nothing will ever get done. MT @jimbaumbach Wang wants to move Barroway's lawsuit from Manhattan court to Nassau County,
— Kevin Schultz (@Schultz88) August 27, 2014
Typical of this dispute, Barroway's party appears to be arguing to enforce an agreement that Wang's party says does not exist. Behold, the beauty of legal wrangling:
Barroway argues that their agreement includes a clause that says any legal matter will be taken up in a Manhattan courthouse.
— Jim Baumbach (@jimbaumbach) August 27, 2014
Wang, in his filing, says "there is no signed, 'written' agreement between the parties."
— Jim Baumbach (@jimbaumbach) August 27, 2014
More from Wang's court filing: "the alleged agreement at issue in this action is not binding and enforceable because it was never signed."
— Jim Baumbach (@jimbaumbach) August 27, 2014
That is some meta stuff right there. If you thought the drama ended when Wang reached a sale agreement with Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin, then this must be your first year as an Islanders fan.
Meanwhile, in Wang's continued "screw you guys, I'm going home...except this is already my home, you guys just wouldn't let me build here" drama, Newsday reports:
An investor group is acquiring the $103.5 million loan owed by Charles Wang's Long Island Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, and is in talks to resolve foreclosure proceedings, a lawyer for the group said.
The 618-room Marriott in Uniondale, Long Island's largest hotel, has missed payments on the loan.
[...]
Wang purchased the hotel in 2005 to bolster his Lighthouse Project to revitalize the Nassau Coliseum, a plan that never came to fruition.
When the loan was taken out in 2007, Swiss global financial services company UBS AG was the originator and Wells Fargo Bank was in charge of servicing the loan, according to Bloomberg data.
In January 2013, Fitch Ratings reported that the loan was turned over to Texas-based C-III Asset Management, a company that services debt on distressed properties, because of "imminent default."
This concludes your periodic "the business of hockey and financial maneuvering" update.
Is it October yet?