Editorial

Farewell for now, Nassau Coliseum

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It’s not so much a goodbye as it is a see-you-later for the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which closed last week after hosting hockey games, concerts, trade shows and family events for the past 43 years.

Countless Long Islanders have memories of the Coliseum, which will now be renovated and transformed into what, according to the plans, sounds like a new venue, set to reopen in 2017.

The arena, built for the grand sum of $32 million, opened in 1972, and that fall saw the introduction of the New York Islanders, an NHL expansion team. What happened in the decade-plus that followed is part of Long Island lore. The “dynasty era” included four Stanley Cup championships from 1980 to 1983. Players such as Mike Bossy, Brian Trottier, Bobby Nystrom and Denis Potvin became household names and local heroes.

There were lean years for the Islanders, with ownership changes, including an embarrassing, failed attempt by John Spano to buy the team. Under Charles Wang’s ownership, the Isles had good years and bad, but they returned to the playoffs in their final season at the Coliseum. The team now heads to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The 41 regular-season games the Islanders played at the Coliseum each year were hardly the only reason to open the doors and turn on the lights. The NBA’s New York Nets took up residence from 1972 to 1977, and the New York Dragons — the inspiration for Islanders mascot Sparky the Dragon — of the short-lived Arena Football league played there. Other teams that have called the arena home include the Tomahawks and Titans lacrosse teams, the Arrows and Express soccer teams, Long Island Jawz roller hockey and New York Sets tennis. Baseball is about the only sport that hasn’t been played in the building.

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has performed there every year since 1972. The Grateful Dead hold the record for most concerts, with 35, but it may be most fitting that Long Island native Billy Joel, the Piano Man, performed the last show there on Aug. 4, marking the end of the Coliseum with, among other hits, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song).”

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