http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...pen_to_bi.html
Willets Point team spirit EDC open to bid from Islanders, sources say
BY Nicholas Hirshon
March 23rd 2009
City officials in charge of the proposed Willets Point redevelopment would entertain bids from the Islanders if the storied hockey club decides to leave Nassau County, insiders told the Daily News.
Sources said the city Economic Development Corp. - now preparing a request for proposals to transform the 62-acre tract near Citi Field - is intrigued by rumors the Isles may relocate amid stalled plans to revamp Nassau Coliseum.
Queens leaders began pushing for an Islanders move to Willets Point last month after the team scheduled a preseason game in Kansas City, which wants a National Hockey League franchise to play in its vacant new arena, which opened in 2007.
The Islanders' Coliseum lease expires in 2015.
Asked if the city is hoping for an Islanders bid on Willets Point, an EDC spokesman said the agency is "looking forward to evaluating any ideas that fall within the guidelines of the approved rezoning."
The Islanders referred questions to the Lighthouse Group, which hopes to renovate Nassau Coliseum and the surrounding area. A Lighthouse spokeswoman declined comment.
But advocates of relocating the Isles to Willets Point took heart in the EDC's openness to dealing with Islanders management.
City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), a candidate for city controller, urged the EDC to stop the four-time Stanley Cup champs from heading to Kansas City or Saskatoon, Canada, another locale reportedly gunning for an NHL club.
"The city should do everything humanly possible to keep the Islanders in our region - and preferably in Queens," Liu said.
The Queens Chamber of Commerce - whose proposal to bring the Isles to the borough was first reported Feb. 10 by The News - also was buoyed by the EDC's receptivity.
"They're a lot more powerful than the chamber of commerce," said the chamber's executive vice president, Jack Friedman. "They own the land. They decide how the land is divided and how it's done."
Chuck Apelian, who heads the Willets Point subcommittee for Community Board 7, envisioned a mighty sports complex anchored by the Mets, the National Tennis Center and the Islanders.
"It's a great opportunity for Queens," he said. "It fills out the area - you have baseball, you have tennis, you have hockey."