Doing Nothing Costs Nassau County $243 Million
Closing of Coliseum represents exorbitant loss of jobs, sales, spending and earnings
Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano announced today that according to an independent economic impact analysis conducted by Camoin Associates, a nationally recognized firm in public and private sector economic development, the county and its residents would lose a tremendous amount of jobs, revenue and earnings if the New York Islanders were to leave the Nassau Coliseum in 2015 when their lease expires.
Specifically:
- $243.4 million annually in lost sales
- 2,660 fewer jobs would exist in the County
- The loss of these jobs would mean that County residents would lose annual earnings of $104 million
- The loss of spending means that County government would lose sales tax, hotel tax, and entertainment tax revenues of $7.8 million.
“Every dollar is critical,” said County Executive Mangano. “For far too long, residents have received property tax increases with no end in sight. This plan presents an opportunity to invest in our community, create jobs and build a world class sports entertainment destination that would help hold the line on property taxes.”
Without the Islanders the Coliseum will shutter. Studies have shown that without an anchor tenant it is not cost effective to keep the coliseum open. That loss leads to a loss in visitation spending which effects lodging, restaurants and bars, transportation, recreation, retail and more. In total, the county is looking at a loss in annual spending of $152 million.
In addition to the loss of sales, revenues, jobs and earnings the county would lose all of our pre-season and regular season Islander hockey games, other sporting events, the circus, Disney on Ice shows, concerts, boat shows, auto shows and monster truck shows, which in total represents the loss of 126 events annually that are currently taking place at our coliseum. This does not take into consideration the loss of potential events that would attract even more entertainment should a new world class sports destination center be built.
County Executive Mangano concluded: “At a time when our economy is struggling, and our unemployment rate is high, we need to look for solutions. If the Nassau County Veterans Memorial Coliseum were to shut down our residents would travel to neighboring counties and boroughs and contribute to those local governments at a cost to Nassau County. By providing a world class sports entertainment destination Nassau wouldattract visitors to our great county, which in turn would help lighten your tax burden.”
Impact of Coliseum Closure Report 
