NHL’s Islanders moving to Brooklyn in 2015
NEW YORK — Now hockey is coming to Brooklyn.
The NHL’s New York Islanders have agreed to move to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center starting with the 2015-16 season.
Islanders owner Charles Wang made the announcement at a news conference Wednesday. He opened the session by exclaiming “Hello, Brooklyn!” The lease agreement is for 25 years.
Officials in Nassau County, N.Y., have struggled for years to come up with a plan to either renovate or build a new arena to replace the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which opened in 1972.
Wang had long threatened to move the team from the site when the team’s lease expires after the 2015 season. He has complained that the dilapidated building is unsuited for a professional sports franchise.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg says, “Brooklyn is big time and now we have the big league sports to prove it.”