An op-ed from the Coliseum leaseholder seems to be lowering our expectations

How about that. Long Island Business News on 3/4/21 published an op-ed, Mastroianni: Reimaging the Nassau Coliseum in an era of COVID, from Nicholas Mastroianni III, son of the controversial entrepreneur who founded the U.S. Immigration Fund and, in an amazing switcheroo, went from middleman for the EB-5 loan to the leaseholder of the arena. 

The credit line states: "Nicholas Mastroianni III, the president & CMO at U.S. Immigration Fund, is the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum leaseholder under the company Nassau Live Center LLC." 

That's news to me, I thought his father was the leaseholder. At the very least, he was described in a recent press release as "Nick Mastroianni II, Nassau Live Center LLC. Or maybe both of them are?

There are a lot of generalities, but he seems to be lowering our expectations:

It is premature to discuss our plans, but they are built on the simple truth that bears repeating: the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a significant asset owned by the taxpayers. It needs to succeed in an era when it faces any number of challenges – from all of us having to `recalibrate’ after a year or more of social distancing, the arrival of Belmont at the Nassau-Queens line as a sports and entertainment center, and the role of virtual attractions that may dominate our leisure time today and far into the future.

Suffice to say we are working with a number of visionary leaders who are deeply immersed in imagining how the Coliseum can not only meet that challenge but can become a regional destination, providing a compelling place for public gatherings while serving its role as an economic generator that will create tens of thousands of jobs for the surrounding communities.

So he counsels "not to 'fall in love with a building'" but to consider reinvention--getting us ready for a downsizing into a smaller concert venue?

And of course, making money for the leaseholder, which has already warned the lender--the immigrant investoers they recruited--that the payment schedule has to be extended