“Does anyone know what they are doing?” Newsday reader's scathing take on two-arenas problem

Newsday doesn't publish real-time comments online, but yesterday they did publish a (belated) letter in response to their (belated) news coverage, finally raising doubts about the likelihood that the new Belmont arena could co-exist with the nearby Nassau Coliseum.

The letter, in full, from Brian J. Davis of Oyster Bay is scathing:

When the reconstruction of the Nassau Coliseum began in 2015, officials said it would be a “state of the art entertainment venue and retail destination” venue. But it would be too small by NHL standards to host the New York Islanders. I thought, “I guess they know what they are doing.”
When the updated NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum opened in 2017, some people cried for the return of the Islanders. I wondered, “Do they really know what they’re doing?”
Then Newsday’s Oct. 29 news story “Competing arenas” asked whether the new Islanders arena at Belmont Park might spell the commercial end of the Coliseum. Need I ask, “Does anyone know what they are doing?”
Apparently, “they” don’t. Why spend $1.3 billion on an arena, as well as on retail space and a hotel, which I believe will be a disaster for local traffic and the Cross Island Parkway, when in the center of the county we have the Islanders’ historical home? Why was the Coliseum renovated with fewer seats? And why build a new venue that will compete for concerts and other entertainment and potentially result in an empty building and an economic disaster at the county Hub?
A lack of foresight is as bad as corruption. If the Coliseum goes downhill, Nassau County will see lower tax revenue and the public will be hurt.

Remember, the Coliseum was supposed to be guaranteed six home Islanders games, but that was a Bruce Ratner/Brett Yormark promise made before the National Hockey League weighed in. The Coliseum was also supposed to get a minor league hockey team. And the Islanders were supposed to stay in Brooklyn for 25 years.

None of that happened.