By Doug Miller
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to turn over management of the arena to this new entity as part of a settlement with the previous tenant, who was in arrears. The new group, calling itself The Arena of Long Beach, N.Y., Inc., will take over the rent payments of about $43,000 per quarter, and said they will immediately begin extensive renovations.
Taking over the arena is part of a larger plan by the group to purchase a minor league hockey team and bring it to the New York area. The hope is that the team will be the flagship tenant in an arena the group proposes to build privately elsewhere in the region, while using the Long Beach arena as a practice facility.
The group is led by Bernard Shereck, a Bayville resident and native of Quebec who once played minor league hockey for the Montreal Royals and who made his fortune in men's apparel. Shereck said his group is in negotiations with officials of the East Coast Hockey League, which operates at the AA level - two rungs below the NHL - to purchase a team and move it to the New York area by 2008.
The only part of the plan that has not been finalized is where to build the new arena, Shereck said. The group is looking into underserved areas such as Harlem, the Bronx and even western Nassau County, he said, though he would not elaborate. "We can get a team to sell, or if not, we can get the league to expand," he said. "[Finding a site for the] other arena is the only stumbling block."
The other arena is also the part of the plan that makes investing in Long Beach cost-efficient. After buying a team for $2 million or so and spending more than that each year to operate it, the new arena, which Shereck said would seat 6,000 to 7,000 fans, would be the company's chief source of revenue. Besides hosting 38 hockey games each season, the venue could be rented out for concerts, trade shows, ice shows and perhaps other sports such as arena football, he said, with the luxury box sales covering many of the expenses.
Shereck acknowledged that many businessmen buy sports teams more for the thrill than the profit, but he said his investors expected real returns. "None of us are in this for the experience," he said.
As for Long Beach, Shereck said his group would begin renovating the city's arena immediately, while maintaining public access to it. The team's players would be housed at his expense in and around Long Beach during the season, which would be a throwback to the days when groups of Rangers could be found eating in the city's diners and delis.
But these players would have far less disposable income: The league's salary cap is around $500 per week per player, not including housing and other expenses.
Council notes: City Manager Ed Eaton finally got the votes he needed Tuesday night to proceed with a bond hearing. The council voted 3-2, along party lines, to hold a public hearing Oct. 17 on a $15 million infrastructure bond. But all borrowing must be done with the consent of four councilmen, and Republicans Jim Hennessy and Tom Sofield seem united in their opposition to the proposal, even blocking a similar resolution two weeks ago. In order for the bond to go through, one of them must vote in favor. Hennessy said the GOP's resistance on the issue was simply a function of prudence. "We're not being obstructionists," he said. "We're being financial watchdogs."
The council tabled a proposal to install ornate antiquelike street lamps along the 100, 200 and 300 blocks of West Penn Street, which are still paved with cobblestones. The proposal met with strong opposition, oddly enough, from the Long Beach Historical Society, which claimed that the proposed light fixtures are not accurate representations of any lights the city has ever used. And true to form, the society's objections were denounced by the Long Beach Island Landmarks Association, a rival group led by several former Historical Society trustees. The matter was tabled until a consensus can be reached.
A council resolution to reconfigure the city's bus map was removed after city attorneys determined that Eaton could make the changes unilaterally, which he said he would do. They would include the elimination of the west loop bus stop in front of the VFW hall on West Park Avenue at Grand Boulevard, as well as the stops at National Boulevard and Park Avenue. On the east loop, the stop at Maple Boulevard and Park Avenue was deemed unsafe and slated for elimination, while use of the west loop stop at the Long Beach Community Center would continue, but only on the "shoppers' special" line.
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