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Nassau County executive Ed Mangano this morning is expected to announce the winning bid to redevelop the Nassau Coliseum and surroundings, because that's just how Nassau politics and the star-crossed history of the New York Islanders goes.
**UPDATE: Multiple reports have the announcement postponed after the shooting of Nassau police officer Mohit Arora this morning.**
Long Island's newspaper, owned by one of the two finalist bidders, had the advance story. IPB highlighted one of the salient quotes therein:
While officials would not disclose the identity of the winning bidder, sources said the decision came down to the amount of revenue that the developer will pay Nassau through an annual lease agreement.
Yes, the Islanders fought for years to redevelop the property that kept them trapped in an archaic lease, ultimately moving to Brooklyn, only to have the Brooklyn arena developer or the owner of their chief rival get approval to do it less than a year later. Either scenario is absurd in retrospect and thus par for the course.
The announcement is expected at 11:30 today.
Elsewhere:
- Long Island Press sniffs Newsday's coverage of the political contributions from both (well, just one of) bidders.
- via Mike Schwarz (@mschwarz8), this is the stuff MSG has been pushing ... with an ad in Dolanvision's paper.
- The saga has played out by proxy via the press. This is Bruce Ratner pushing his Forest City bid on Bloomberg. Here is a good outside rundown of the proposals via Bloomberg Businessweek. (Yes, it's funny and sad, the cross-over ownership of these media outlets with developers, politicians, moguls.)
- Kent Wilson: Islanders' run of fan torture is unparalleled - NHL - Sporting News
- I don't know which is more absurd -- the Crosby DMV story coverage, or the Penguins trotting out executives to defend his good name.
- NHL.com: Seven individual NHL records that may never be broken - NHL.com - NHL Insider
- You should probably do this: Vote now: Force AHL team to wear LA Kings’ infamous Burger King jersey - Yahoo
- Our new divisional brothers at the Cannon introduce themselves to their new Metropolitan friends.
- Leafs bloggers continue to hammer away at their team's offseason: Another executive takedown based on stat quotes | Stajan vs. Bozak