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Voters reject new Nassau County ballpark

Atlantic LeagueIt wasn’t even close: voters in Nassau County voted down $400 million in bonding for a new New York Islanders (NHL) arena and a new independent Atlantic League ballpark by a wide margin, 57 percent to 43 percent.

The vote doesn’t necessarily kill the project: the county board can still go ahead and approve the bonding. Still, at a time when the county is laying off workers and looking at further cutbacks, taking on further debt is certainly something that could come with a high political price.

The proposal would have raised $350 million for a new arena to replace the aging and economically obsolete Nassau County Coliseum, the home of the Islanders since they entered the NHL. It would have also raised another $50 million to be built and run by the independent Atlantic League. The bonds would have been repaid by increases in local property taxes — and we all know how much people like raising property taxes in rough times.

RELATED STORIES: Mets bid for Nassau County ballpark was missing one big component: team; Atlantic League lands Long Island ballpark; Mets, Atlantic League submit bids for new Nassau ballpark; Long Island ballpark plan resurrected

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