Mineola Voters Mixed on Coliseum Referendum

Marc Dadich has never seen the New York Islanders raise the Stanley Cup in his lifetime, but that still has not dampened his dream of a rebirth of a franchise for which he and his father share an affinity.

“My dad tells me about them,” the 22 year old said of the four straight championships from 1979-83 after voting Monday afternoon at the in favor of a and help keep the Islanders here for at least three more decades.

“I don’t want to see them leave, can’t see them leave, I love hockey,” the self-described die hard fan said before getting onto his bike. “I have no idea how its going to go. I’m hopeful.”

While the rain and hailstorm which swept through Nassau Monday afternoon was believed to be a deterrent to voter turnout, election workers at the middle school reported that 70 residents had turned out by 1:35 p.m. – high for a .

“I think you’re getting more young voters... because its affecting right here on their homefront,” an election worker at the nearby said, reporting that a mix of both seniors and younger voters came out to the polls. Others said they waited in lines up to 14 people deep to vote this morning.

“You pretty much knew that today was the day,” one senior at the Jackson Avenue said after receiving six robocalls over the course of the weekend. Both he and his adult son – both sports fans – each turned down the bond vote, but did not make up their minds until the last minute, even listening to interviews with Islanders owner Charles Wang and Nassau Democratic leader Jay Jacobs on Mike Francessa’s WFAN radio show.

“We really didn’t have as far as what the tax base was going to be,” the father said, citing a lack of clarity about who would pay for construction costs exceeding $500,000 in the future.

Outside of Jackson Avenue one woman in a minivan said she did vote yes because “it’s going to bring jobs, it’s going to bring the economy up and we need a new coliseum.” Even more surprising was that fact that she was a Rangers fan.

“I go to the coliseum for concerts and its a shame that the coliseum looks like that and for a NHL team they really need a new coliseum, a new arena,” she said.