Politics & Government

Coliseum Developer Chosen, Gas Station Incentive Announced

A weekly look-in at the news of Nassau County.

Nassau County announced Tuesday its plans to "reinvent" the Nassau Coliseum by bringing in Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), the same developer responsible for Brooklyn's Barclay's Center.

The project to develop the dated Coliseum recently took on an added dimension after the New York Islanders announced plans to relocate some 25 miles west to the same Barclays Center at the beginning of the 2015-16 NHL season.

Bruce Ratner, Chairman and CEO of FCRC, joined Islanders owner Charles Wang and County Executive Ed Mangano to announce the FCRC's plan to create a strategic Reuse Plan for the Coliseum to help transform the venue into becoming what the county described in a press release as "an attractive, state-of-the-art destination for sports and entertainment."

Click here for the entire story.

County Announces Incentive to Keep Gas Station Pumps on During Power Outages

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano announced Monday that the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (NCIDA) has a new financial program to keep the gas pumps open when the power is off. The proposed measure has the support of the Nassau County Economic Recovery Task Force.

The NCIDA will provide a sales and use tax exemption and other incentives to owners of retail gasoline stations who install backup generators or other alternatives that would allow them to continue to pump fuel in the event of a power outage. Tax relief would be retroactive to Nov. 1, 2012 and continue through to Dec. 21, 2013.

Gas station owners who install backup power equipment will be exempt from sales taxes on the purchase and installation of the equipment. Station owners also would receive a PILOT agreement in an amount equal to the cost of the purchase and installation of the “back-up” equipment spread over a 10-year period.

Station owners who obtain the tax breaks would be required to annually certify that the backup equipment is in place and operable. The tax breaks will be recaptured in the event of price gouging, the failure to install or maintain the equipment or if the source of payment for the equipment is from a third party entity.

Nassau Community College Presents "Superstorm: The Science Behind Sandy"

The Nassau Community College Cultural Program will present the program “Superstorm: The Science Behind Sandy” on Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 2:45 p.m. in Room 123 of Building F. The program will be presented by NCC Physical Sciences Professor Richard Cohen.
 
During his presentation, Cohen will answer several questions about the nature of Hurricane Sandy and the circumstances that precipitated its occurrence. Among them are: What made Sandy so unique? Why was the hurricane as devastating as it was? Was this storm at all attributable to global warming? Cohen will also give a history of previous major weather events on Long Island.  
 
For more information about “Superstorm: The Science Behind Sandy,” which is free, open to the public and accessible to the disabled, call 516.572.7148.

Free Holiday Concert to Benefit Sandy Victims

Nassau County is offering a free musical opportunity that will serve to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

County Executive Mangano announced that the Long Island Philharmonic will present Nassau County’s “Holiday Spectacular” concert on Saturday, Dec. 1 at the Butler Building at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Garden City. The two-hour concert will begin at 7 p.m.

Admission is free, but tickets are required. All attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food items which will be collected by Island Harvest and distributed to those affected by the fierce superstorm that caused widespread damage across the region.

Click here for all of the details.


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