Jay Z has unveiled the dates for his Magna Carta World Tour and included among his stops is the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, home of the New York Islanders and colloquially known as “The Mausoleum.”
Usually relegated to hosting things like Disney on Ice, Luke Bryan concerts and decades of Islander’s ineptitude, the Jan. 19 event marks the most significant thing the arena has seen since the Isles last hoisted the Cup in 1983.
This is a good sign for the crumbling Uniondale, New York facility as it once looked like it would be left for dead, as the Islanders announced they were bolting to Brooklyn after a $400 million bond referendum to fund a new Coliseum was voted down by Nassau County residents.
This comes after it was announced last month that Jay’s former co-owner of the Nets, Bruce Ratner, won the bid to renovate the building, meaning Long Islanders will at least be able to make lemonade out of lemons when the Isles depart for Brooklyn rather than having to see the building corrode away.
And of course, this all comes following the even better news for Long Islanders that Rick DiPietro was amnestied.
Things are looking up on the Island!