Islanders May Move From Brooklyn To Queens With Mets’ Help

Following a rough first season at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the New York Islanders speaking with the owners of the Mets about building a hockey arena next to Citi Field in Flushing, according to Bloomberg, which did not cite anyone by name. The discussions have been going on for months.

Islanders May Move From Brooklyn To Queens With Mets’ Help

The Islanders’ new owners, Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin, took over from Charles Wang on July 1. Both teams’ owners stated that the arena would be built “if the Islanders’ owners and arena officials can’t agree on a series of hockey-specific improvements” to Barclays Center.

The New York Post reported in February that both sides were “secretly exploring ways to cut ties or modify the existing terms of their lease.”

The Barclays Center is also home to the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.

The report of the Islanders’ talks with the Mets appeared to surprise a spokesman for Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which manages the Nets and Barclays Center.

“Last week, Jon Ledecky said to the media and later to fans at a town-hall meeting that ‘Barclays is our home,’” said Barry Baum, the spokesman. “Any other questions should be addressed to Islanders’ ownership.”

The Islanders and the Mets declined to comment. Sterling Equities, the holding company for the Mets, is collaborating with the Related Companies to redevelop the Willets Point area adjacent to Citi Field.

Ledecky and Malkin seem to believe a location for a new arena in Queens may be more lucrative and a bit closer to the team’s longtime former home, the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale.

Barclays is a small arena by NHL standards, with a capacity of 15,700 for hockey, according to Bloomberg. It was built for the Nets as a basketball arena; when configured for hockey, there are obstructed-view seats. More specifically, about 1,500 seats have an obstructed view of the ice during hockey games. According to the Bloomberg report, attendance was down by about 11 percent from the previous season at the Nassau Coliseum.

Players have also complained about subpar ice conditions, and train schedules from Long Island were inconsistent early in the season. Attendance averaged 13,626 a game, 28th in the league, and below the 15,334 average for the final season at Nassau Coliseum.

Barclays Center and the Islanders each have the option to opt out of their 25-year lease after the 2018-19 season.

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 03: Josh Bailey #12 of the New York Islanders (l) celebrates his second goal of the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 2:27 of the third period on the powerplay in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Barclays Center on May 03, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)