If Coliseum loses Islanders, local charities would also lose

Should the Vote “Yes” campaign for a new coliseum fail and Nassau County residents turn down the proposed plan to renovate the nearly 40-year-old arena, Long Island-based charities will also feel the loss.

Syd Mandelbaum, Cedarhurst resident and founder of Rock ‘N Wrap it Up!, a nationwide organization that fights poverty primarily through food recovery, said the New York Islanders that play in the existing coliseum was the first National Hockey League team to donate prepared and unsold food from games.

Rock ‘N Wrap it Up!, receives all unsold food from games, shows, concerts and other events at Nassau Coliseum, Mandelbaum said. “In the last six years, we’ve recovered over 40,000 meals to donate to facilities on Long Island,” he said at a rally for the Vote “Yes” vote on Thursday at the Coliseum. “That equals 35,000 pounds of carbon dioxide that is not going to landfills. Through Rock ‘N Wrap it Up!, we’re able to reduce poverty by reducing society’s carbon footprint.”

On Monday, Aug. 1, a $400 million bond referendum to build a new Coliseum and a minor league ballpark is being presented for a vote to county residents. The plan, which was first outlined to the public by County Executive Edward Mangano and Islanders Owner Charles Wang on June 22, calls for $350 million of the bond to be spent on a new coliseum, with the remainder going to the construction of the ballpark.

According to the lease the county signed with the Islanders, the team would lease the coliseum from the county for 30 years, starting when the county’s currently lease with MSG and the Islanders expires in 2015. During that time, the county would get 11.5 percent of all the money earned by the Coliseum through a revenue-sharing plan, which includes tickets, concession-stand and merchandise sales, with the exception of television contracts.

Ron and Nancy Zuch of the Morgan Center in Plainview said the center is a not-for-profit organization that provides preschool age children undergoing cancer treatment the opportunity to interact and socialize in a safe environment. The Center was started when their daughter, Morgan, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2000.