Let’s Monetize Islanders!

An open letter to Barclay’s Center CEO Brett Yormark on the eve of the Islanders historic move to Brooklyn.

Dear Mr. Yormark,

We’re neighbors. I live at 560 State Street — Jay-Z’s old building — directly across the street from the Barclays Center. When my family first moved in I was interested to hear what people thought of the new arena and the Nets so I asked around. In the hardware store, the burger shop, etc. — people said they expected more outreach, more of an effort, more respect. Back then I came to your defense — it’s exciting though, right? A new team, a new arena…

The Brooklyn flag featuring the official colors: blue and gold.

Around the same time I heard you say that black and white are the colors of Brooklyn. That didn’t sound right so I looked it up. Turns out, Brooklyn’s colors for at least the last 120 years are blue and gold. Saying they are black and white is as if McDonald’s were to come to Brooklyn and declare red and yellow the official colors. No one — and I mean no one outside of your office — sees this any other way. To insist otherwise plainly lacks civic authenticity or any basis in reality. Not to mention it’s patronizing to a people world renowned for their collective bullshit sensor.

I am writing this letter because I care deeply about my borough and about the New York Islanders. If there were a Venn diagram describing the audience for the New York Islanders, I’m probably in the middle where all the cohorts collide. I attended my first game in the early 80s — my parents were season ticket holders from year one. I loved it so much I begged my parents to let me play hockey, which I did from Cantiague to Christopher Morley to Grant Park in my hometown of Woodmere, Long Island. I remember my first game at the Coliseum, Denis Potvin chirped at a player on the visiting Penguins. The glass was so low, the crowd laughed at the joke. I also remember, as a seven year old, marveling at the impregnability of Grant Fuhr and the brilliance of the emerging Oilers. From there I hung my hopes on Lafontaine, Turgeon, Palffy, Yashin… Like many of us, I am still on that drive for five.

Now I’ve been living in Brooklyn for ten years. I run a tech startup, my wife is a creative director at an event company. We have two kids and our three year old son already has a John Tavares shirt that he’s very proud to wear. As I mentioned, we live directly across the Flatbush-Atlantic intersection from the Islanders’ new home. When Nassau County rejected Charles Wang’s proposal for a new arena, I was among the first to take to Facebook, publishing a page called “Bring the Islanders to Brooklyn.” Maybe I knew the Islanders were coming even before you did.

When it was confirmed, I was ecstatic. My team was following me to Brooklyn! Of all the things I love about living here, it was the icing on the cake. And I do love living here. I feel about Brooklyn the way I imagine my parents felt about Long Island in the 1970s. With great deference to the generations that came before us, ours has built the businesses and created the culture that is sought all over the world. And now, the Islanders. To me it seemed a perfect fit.

The only thing in this entire experience that is giving me pause is you. I’m guessing if you’re making me feel uncomfortable, you’re making a lot of us feel uncomfortable. Here’s why:

1. You seem committed to changing the colors of the team, although your comments on the issue have been indirect. To us this looks like a strange obsession. To give you a sense of how this makes the average fan feel — we cannot fathom why the colors are even a question. Why? What does it mean to you? We all know that black and white does not “equal” Brooklyn in any sense other than the branding thing you’re pushing with the Nets so what gives? We’ve heard you say, “We won’t change the colors overnight.” You sound like you’re offering bread and circuses in ancient Rome. Overnight?What would be wrong with a full-throated commitment to the beautiful tradition of blue and orange? Why is our enthusiasm for this team and its history not reflected by management?

You see, Brett, colors mean something. Whether it’s the red, white, and blue of the U.S. flag or the blue and orange of the Islanders, colors are the physical embodiment of our shared experience and community. Did you know that the orange in the Islanders uniforms is an homage to the Dutch who settled Long Island, including Brooklyn? Did you know that the blue and gold Brooklyn flag also features a tribute to the Dutch settlers in the phrase, “Eendraght Maeckt Maght” which means, “Unity makes strength.”? Colors evoke history and the narrative we use to understand our place in the world. Black and white, on the other hand, is just an unimaginative, unoriginal thing you made up.

I would love for you and your company to make a fortune with the New York Islanders but if you go with black and white uniforms I sincerely hope you sell none of them. Black and white doesn’t speak at all to the Islanders, the fans, or Brooklyn.