On August 1st, 2011 New York Islanders majority owner Charles Wang failed to win a crucial vote to secure taxpayer money to rebuild the Nassau Coliseum and the grounds surrounding it.
It was a blow for Wang who had been looking to revamp the Nassau Coliseum for years before this defining loss. “I have to tell you I’m disappointed, and to put it very bluntly, I’m heartbroken,” Wang said after the result of the vote.
Just over a year after that vote, Wang would state that the Isles were moving to Brooklyn in 2015.