There is now a new arena for the Islanders under construction on the campus of Belmont Park. If all goes well, it should open for the 2021-22 season.
The fact that Lou Lamoriello, who built the Devils into Champions, is now the Islanders' general manager, shouldn't complicate things. You almost certainly won't be seeing him, so you won't have to boo him, so feel free to boo the team he's assembled.
Before You Go. In New York and North Jersey, anything is possible as far as the weather goes, but since you'll be mainly indoors, and you'll probably be taking the Subway to the Barclays Center, it won't be nearly as much of an issue as it would be going to Yankee Stadium, Citi Field or MetLife Stadium. Temperatures are expected to be in 40s all day on Thursday.
It's the Eastern Time Zone, so you don't have to worry about fiddling with your timepieces.
Tickets. The Islanders averaged 12,442 fans per home game last season -- 31st and dead last in the NHL. That was 78.9 percent of capacity, and only the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers did worse than that.
Ordering tickets online is almost certainly going to be better than just walking up to the ticket window, plunking down some cash or your card, and saying, "One, please." But you could probably do that with no trouble.
In the lower level, the 1-digit and 2-digit sections, and in the 100 sections above them, seats between the goals are $148. Behind the goal, they're $88. In the upper level, the 200 sections, they're $62 between the goals, and $54 behind the goal.
Getting There. The Nassau Coliseum is 46 miles from the Prudential Center, and 23 miles from Times Square. The best way to get there is to drive. I'm not going to kid you about that: Getting there by public transportation is possible, but it's a pain in the ass -- especially for a weeknight game, for reasons that I will explain after I list the driving directions.
From southern Queens or Brooklyn, take the Belt Parkway to the Southern State Parkway. Take Exit 19S for Peninsula Blvd. South. Take Peninsula Blvd. to Fulton Avenue, until it becomes the Hempstead Turnpike. The Coliseum will be on your left, between Earle Ovington Blvd. and James Doolittle Blvd.
From Staten Island or Central Jersey, get into Staten Island, and take the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn, and then follow the preceding directions.
From anywhere else, get to the Long Island Expressway, and take Exit 38 for the Northern State Parkway. Take Exit 31A for the Meadowbrook State Parkway South. Take Exit M4 for Charles Lindbergh Blvd. Take a left on Ovington Blvd., and the Coliseum will be on your left.
Now, here's the troublesome directions by public transportation. It's one of the quirks of Long Island that it is dominated by the Long Island Rail Road, but that the LIRR doesn't go to many of the most prominent points on The Island: The Coliseum, Roosevelt Field, Jones Beach, Fire Island, Theodore Roosevelt's place in Oyster Bay.
So you get to Penn Station, and buy a round-trip ticket for Hempstead. That will cost $21.75 -- $12.50 out, because it will be peak hours, and $9.25 back. And you may have to change trains at Jamaica Station in Queens -- in each direction.
When you arrive at the Hempstead Terminal, walk across the street to the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center, and take the N70, N71 or N72 bus to the Hempstead Turnpike and Ovington. It should take about 15 minutes. As on the New York Subway and buses, a single ride is $2.75, and you can use your MetroCard.
Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center
Getting back will be harder. Make sure you walk across the parking lot toward the southeast corner, to the bus shelter on the Turnpike at Glenn Curtiss Blvd. At 9:56 PM, the N70 bus should arrive, and it should take about 10 minutes to get back to Hempstead Terminal. But if it takes longer, you might be sort of screwed: The next train from Hempstead leaves at 10:16. The next one leaves at 11:19, and you'll be about as happy to stick around downtown Hempstead for over an hour as you would be to stand on line for the Coliseum bathrooms for that length of time (which could happen).
So, yeah, despite the proximity to Midtown Manhattan), the public transportation situation stinks, and you're going to prefer driving.
Once In the "City." Long Island is home to about 2.8 million people, about half of that in each County. The Town of Hempstead has about 760,000, while the "hamlet" of Uniondale, the "census-designated place" within Hempstead that includes the Coliseum, has about 25,000 permanent residents.
ZIP Codes in Nassau County begin with the digits 115 for the West, including for the Coliseum, 11553; and 118 for the East. For Suffolk County, they begin with 117 and 119. The Area Code for Nassau is 516, with 631 split off for Suffolk in 1999.
Aside from the Coliseum and the Hofstra campus, there isn't much in Uniondale. Essentially, you'll want to get from home to the Coliseum, see a game, and get out.
Going In. The official address of the Nassau Coliseum is 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, NY 11553. The mailing address is Uniondale, but it's part of the Town of Hempstead.
There are entrances on the north, east and west sides, but not the south -- which, of course, is the side you'll be facing if you came in by train and bus (and maybe even by car).
This arena, built in 1972, wasn't the most convenient of sports venues then, but got a major renovation in 2017, dropping seating capacity to 13,197. Parking is cheap: $8.00. The ticket office, and thus the main entrance, is on the east side.
The Nets and expansion Islanders moved into the brand-new Coliseum in 1972, and while it took the Isles a while to find their bearings, the Nets won right away, including the 1974 and 1976 ABA titles with Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Bill Melchionni and Super John Williamson.
Before the renovation
Meanwhile, the Isles were building the team that would win 4 straight Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983, and win a record 19 straight postseason series from 1980 to 1984. The Coliseum became known as "Fort Neverlose," and the Isles' battles with the Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins became legendary.
But after the 1987 Easter Epic, a 4-overtime Game 7 win over the Washington Capitals, the Isles got old in a hurry. Aside from a 1993 trip to the Conference Finals, they've been just another team at best, and pathetic (and poorly-dressed) at worst.
A failed referendum to build a new arena in 2010 led to speculation that they would move to Kansas City, which has built a new arena, but new ownership cut a deal to move them into the Barclays Center, which they did in 2015. But problems with that arena led them to make the deal for the Belmont Park arena, and to split games at the downsized Coliseum.
In addition, as Devils fans found out at the Meadowlands, having 1 level of concourse for 2 levels of seating means cramped confines, and long lines for food and bathrooms. It was a terrible design. Actually, the seating area wasn't so bad: The 16,279 seats it had at the time were comfortable, and sight lines were good. But by the time you got there, you were already in a nasty mood, and regardless of whether you were rooting for the Islanders or the visiting team, you were loaded for bear. No wonder the place, when it had any atmosphere, had a bad one.
So the Coliseum was fully redeveloped, with its seating area downsized to 13,917 for hockey, and is now also home to the Long Island Nets, a Brooklyn Nets farm team.
After the renovation
Elvis Presley sang at the Nassau Coliseum on June 22, 23, and 24, 1973, and on June 19, 1975. The 1st concert on his Fall 1977 tour was supposed to be there, but it was not to be. It's also hosted many other renowned concerts, including major ones by Long Island native Billy Joel.
The rink is laid out north-to-south. The Islanders attack twice toward the north end.
The rink is laid out north-to-south. The Islanders attack twice toward the north end.
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Food. Those of you who've been with the Devils since the Meadowlands days, you know that one level of concourse for two levels of seats simply doesn't work. Unfortunately, the Coliseum appears to be the arena on which the Meadowlands was based, so those of you who've been trying to put those cramped quarters out of your minds may have flashbacks.
The north side of the arena has 2 "Brew Houses," 2 Carvel ice cream stands, The Savor Market (which includes pizza), Greek Isles (pitas, gyros, stuff like that), Lettuce Serve You (salad stand), and a stand serving French Dip sandwiches.
The east side has Doolin's Pub, a Sabrett hot dog stand, Knuckleheads East, The Works, another Brew House, the Bavarian Hut (the Bavaria region of southern Germany is known for old castles, not huts like the South Pacific, but it has sausages and beer), pretzels and a Beers of the World stand.
The south side has a place named Goalie (I don't remember it being there on my last visit, so I don't know what's sold there), a Pig N Pickle stand, a Subway, 2 more Brew Houses, a Glass Kosher stand, another Savor Market and another Carvel.
The west side has another The Works and a place named simply The Grill -- a lot of the west side is taken up by the team store.
Team History Displays. The Islanders' history is summed up in 4 moments: The 1975 Playoff upset over the Rangers; the 4 and oh-so-close to 5 straight Stanley Cups of 1980 to 1984, including 3 Playoff wins over the Rangers; the 1987 "Easter Epic" Game 7 win over the Washington Capitals; and the run to the 1993 Conference Finals. But since the dawn of the Clinton Administration, they've won nothing.
The Islanders' 4 Stanley Cup banners now hang on the south side of the arena, alongside the retired number banners of the Nets. Also hanging are single banners for division and conference titles, as opposed to the banners for all of those that hung in the Coliseum: The Conference titles of 1980, '81, '82, '83 and '84; and the Division titles of 1978, '79, '81, '82, '84 and '88. (That's regular-season Division titles, not the "Patrick Division Playoff Champions" that were also available, and which they won in 1978, '79, '80, '81, '82, '83, '84 and '93.)
The Isles also honor coach Al Arbour and general manager Bill Torrey with banners. Torrey's banner has a bowtie, which he always wore, and the words "The Architect." Arbour, a good defenseman who usually wore Number 3 in his playing days, had been represented by a banner with the number 739 on it, for his coaching wins.
In 2007, when it was noticed that he had coached 1,499 games in the NHL, coach Ted Nolan asked the Isles and the League to allow him to step aside for 1 game, so that Arbour could be a head man for a 1,500th time. It was set up, and the Isles won. A new banner went up with Arbour's name and the number 1500. It made him the oldest man to coach in the NHL, and only Scotty Bowman has coached, or won, more games.
Unfortunately, the plaques for the Islanders' Hall of Fame are next to the team's locker room, and are not accessible to the general public.
Morrow played for the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Potvin, Bossy, Trottier and Smith were named to The Hockey News' 100 Greatest Players in 1998. So were Sweeney Schriner and Nels Stewart of the old New York Americans. Potvin, Trottier, Smith, Bossy and LaFontaine were named to the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players last year. (Oddly, LaFontaine is not yet in the Hockey Hall of Fame.)
The Islanders and Rangers are one of the nastiest rivalries in the NHL. And one of the closest: Currently the Rangers lead it 146-144, with 19 ties. They've played each other in 8 Playoff series, with the Isles winning 5, although they haven't met in the postseason since the Ranger Cup year of 1994.
Stuff. the Islanders don't have a very big team store -- indeed, it's a wonder that they have one at all. It's on the west side of the building. There are smaller souvenir stands all around.
But you won't be able to find books or DVDs about the Islanders there. Maybe that will change at the Belmont Park Arena, but not yet.
In 2012, to commemorate the team's 40th Anniversary, Greg Prato wrote Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York Islanders, 1972-1984. In 2005, Peter Botte of the Daily News and Alan Hahn of MSG Network picked up the story from the end of the dynasty with Fish Sticks: The Fall and Rise of the New York Islanders.
To celebrate their 15th Anniversary in 1987, the team released Pride of the Island: The New York Islanders Story, which is available on Amazon.com, but only in VHS form. So is Never Say Die: The Story of the New York Islanders, released in 1996.
In 2009, the NHL released the DVD New York Islanders: 10 Greatest Games, but Amazon says it is currently not available. It includes all 4 Cup clinchers, the 1982 Game 5 comeback against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the overtime Playoff clincher against the Rangers in 1984, the 4-overtime Game 7 "Easter Epic" against the Washington Capitals in 1987, the 1993 overtime winner against the Penguins in 1993, a 2002 Playoff win over the Toronto Maple Leafs that featured a penalty shot by Shawn Bates, and Arbour's 1,500th game in 2007 (also against the Penguins). It doesn't, however, include the Game 7 overtime winner against the Capitals by Pierre Turgeon (and his subsequent clobbering by Dale Hunter), the Islanders' most consequential win of the last 30 years.
During the Game. A November 19, 2014 article on The Hockey News' website ranked the NHL teams' fan bases, and listed the Islanders' fans 22nd -- 1 place below the Devils, and well below the Rangers, dead last in the Tri-State Area: "Maybe improved team, move to Brooklyn finally gets people interested in Isles." This prediction proved to be, at the very least, premature.
Islander fans hate the Rangers. They also don't like the Devils -- but their jealousy of our 3 Stanley Cups since 1995 leads them to say we are jealous of them for their 4 Cups, now long ago. Riiiight.
At any rate, they don't especially hate us any more than they hate Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington or Boston. They certainly don't hate us as much as they hate the Rangers. A Ranger fan, wearing a Ranger jersey, took his life into his hands in and around the Nassau Coliseum. That hasn't changed at the Barclays Center. A Devils fan, wearing Scarlet & Black, should be fine, as long as he doesn't provoke Islander fans.
The Islanders used to have mascots. Nyisles (pronounced like Frasier's brother) was "a seafaring islander." He was replaced by Sparky the Dragon, who had already been the mascot for the other team playing at the Coliseum -- no, not the Nets (though the New Jersey version had tried Duncan the Dragon), the Arena Football League's New York Dragons. But the character was retired, and didn't make the trip down the LIRR to Brooklyn.
Sparky
Amanda Kaletsky is the regular National Anthem singer for the Islanders. Their goal song is "Crowd Chant" by Joe Satriani. The fans have a deep attachment to their cheerleaders/cleanup crew, the Ice Girls.
But with an Anthem singer like that, who needs Ice Girls?
At least once every period, the whistle to which we have all become accustomed at the Prudential Center, and before that at the Meadowlands, will ring out in the arena where it originated, followed by the chant: "RANGERS SUCK!" (Which... they do.) Islander fans do not, however, add what we add, because they simply don't hate the Flyers as much as we do.
Inevitably, at some people, the Barclays sound system will play "The Chicken Dance," and at the point where most people would do the 4 claps, Islander fans shout, "The Rangers suck!" (Which, as I said, they do.)
Looking for a good place to have a postgame meal, or just a pint? A 5-minute walk east of the Coliseum is the Long Island Marriott, which has a sports bar called Champions. If that's not your idea of the right place, you may be out of luck. Across the Turnpike, there's a McDonald's, a Starbucks and a Dunkin Donuts, but if it's beer you want, you may have to drive (in which case, you shouldn't be drinking). If you came by train & bus, and you miss your connection to the train back to The City, there are delis and Chinese restaurants open late in Hempstead. But I wouldn't recommend trying the bars.
If you're visiting New York during the European soccer season, as we are now in, there are many places where you can watch your favorite team. The best "football pub" on Long Island, though, is Prost (the German toast, equivalent to "To your health!" or "Na zdrowie!"), at 652 Franklin Avenue in Garden City.
Sidelights. This is where I discuss other sports-related sites in the metropolitan area in question, and then move on to tourist attractions that have no (or little) connection to sports. Since most people reading this will be from the Tri-State Area, I'll keep it short as possible. Indeed, since the focus is on the Long Island team, I'll focus on stuff on Long Island -- but also mention the other current home of the Islanders.
The address of the Barclays Center, perhaps the weirdest-looking building in the entire city, and named for a London-based banking and financial services company, is 620 Atlantic Avenue, at the southern edge of Downtown Brooklyn, intersecting with Flatbush Avenue. It's about 5 miles southeast of Midtown Manhattan, across the street from the LIRR's Atlantic Terminal, and several Subway lines meet there: The 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q and R lines.
Very weird-looking.
The best way to get there from Penn Station is to take the 2 or 3; from Port Authority, take the tunnel connecting the 8th and 7th Avenue lines and take the 2, 3, N or Q; from Grand Central, take the 4 or 5.
Since the main Subway exit is at the northwest corner of the arena, that's most likely where you'll be walking in. The arena has been home of the Nets since it opened in 2012 (delayed a few days due to Hurricane Sandy), several concerts have been held there, and the Islanders just moved in, making it 1 of 11 arenas to currently host both an NBA team and an NHL team.
But its seating capacity is too low (15,795 for hockey, as opposed to 17,732 for basketball), the seats aren't properly aligned for hockey (behind-the-basket seats had to be removed at one end), and the scoreboard, while on-center for basketball, is off-center for hockey. I suppose it wouldn't be an Islander game if the building wasn't whacked-out in some way.
Groundsharing can be fun. In this case, it isn't.
The Barclays Center opened on September 28, 2012, with a concert by Brooklyn's own Jay-Z. Concerts in 2016 included Brooklynite Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez (not with former boyfriend Bieber), and Demi Lovato with former boyfriend Nick Jonas. But the most famous musical performance there was the MTV Video Music Awards on August 25, 2013, when Miley Cyrus twerked to teddy bears and reverse-humped Robin Thicke as he sang "Blurred Lines."
The arena hosted its 1st Heavyweight Championship fight on January 16, 2016, as WBC Champion Deontay Wilder knocked out Artur Szpilka. On November 4, 2017, Wilder returned, and knocked out Bermane Stiverne. On March 3, 2018, Wilder scored a 3rd knockout at the Barclays Center, of Luis Ortiz. He remains the WBC Heavyweight Champion.
By being across from the Atlantic Terminal and on top of a major Subway junction, it would have eliminated what was, along with the limited seating capacity, the biggest problem with Ebbets Field: Only 750 parking spaces. With so many Dodger fans having come back from World War II and gotten housing loans on the G.I. Bill, allowing them to move out to Queens and Long Island proper, instead of having to drive in to Flatbush, they could drive to their local LIRR station and take the train in, thus being able to celebrate their Dodgers in Brooklyn without having to "be in Brooklyn."
But Robert Moses, New York's construction czar, didn't want a stadium there -- probably because it wouldn't have been "his stadium," it would have been O'Malley's. He wanted one out in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, across from the site of the 1939-40 World's Fair he designed, to correlate with the 1964-65 World's Fair he was planning. O'Malley had a point: If the Dodgers were going to go to Queens, they wouldn't be the Brooklyn Dodgers anymore. Their identity would be gone. They might as well leave The City, they might as well leave the East Coast. And they did.
To make matters worse, Moses never offered his Flushing Meadow stadium to the Giants, who had better reasons to replace the Polo Grounds than the Dodgers had to replace Ebbets Field: Although it had the largest seating capacity in the National League at the time, it, and its neighborhood, were falling apart.
So while the move (some would say "theft") of the Dodgers was O'Malley's fault, first and foremost, Moses was, however indirectly, an accomplice. Some blame him more than O'Malley, which is stupid. He can be blamed 2nd, but not 1st.
* Hofstra University. The campus of Long Island's best-known institution of higher learning has its campus to the south of the Coliseum, across the Hempstead Turnpike; and to the west of it, across Earl Ovington Blvd.. To the west is Weeb Ewbank Hall, the former offices and practice facility of the New York Jets.
To the south is most of the school's athletic facilities, James M. Shuart Stadium. Hofstra -- originally the Flying Dutchmen, and now, in a weird nod to political correctness (I don't recall any Dutch-American groups getting upset at the name), the Pride -- no longer plays football. But they do play other sports there, and the new version of the New York Cosmos, as the original version did for a time in the early 1970s, plays their home games there while they look for a stadium closer to The City.
Hofstra's theater, the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center, hosted the 2nd Presidential Debate of 2008, between Senators Barack Obama of Illinois and John McCain of Arizona; and the 3rd Debate of 2012, between President Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. 779 Hempstead Turnpike, at California Avenue, 2 blocks west of Shuart Stadium and 9 blocks west of the Coliseum.
According to an article in the October 3, 2014 edition of The New York Times, the most popular college football teams on Long Island are Syracuse and Notre Dame -- Syracuse in Nassau County, Notre Dame in Suffolk County.
* Long Island Arena. Also known as the Commack Arena, this 4,000-seat barn opened in 1956, and from 1959 until 1973 -- forced into irrelevancy and dissolution by the arrival of the Islanders -- it was home to the Long Island Ducks of the Eastern Hockey League. (There is now an independent minor-league baseball team with that name playing in Central Islip, Suffolk County.)
The ABA team in the New York market arrived, after spending the 1st season of 1967-68 as the New Jersey Americans at the Teaneck Armory, and, to rhyme with the Mets and the Jets, changed their name to the New York Nets -- admittedly, a dumb name with a dumb reason. They were terrible in that 1968-69 season, and found the floor unacceptable, full of pits and gouges, and with condensation from the ice beneath coming up, making it slick. After 1 season, the Nets moved again, for reasons that had little to do with poor attendance or performance.
John F. Kennedy made campaign stops at both the Teaneck Armory and the Long Island Arena on November 6, 1960, 2 days before he was elected President. Part of Peter Frampton's album Frampton Comes Alive! was recorded there. It housed an indoor flea market before being closed and demolished in 1996. A shopping center is now on the site. 88 Veterans Memorial Highway at Sunken Meadow Parkway. Not really reachable by public transportation.
* Island Garden. Built across the street from the original Island Garden, which hosted rock concerts from 1957 to 1968, the Nets managed to stay here for 3 seasons, from 1969 to 1972, including Rick Barry's ABA scoring leader season in 1971 and their 1st Division title in 1972.
The opening of the Nassau Coliseum made the Island Garden's 8,500 seats obsolete. (Yes, kids, the "Mausoleum" made another arena obsolete.) It was partly demolished in 1973, and, as with the Long Island/Commack Arena, a shopping center is on the site today. But so is a part of the original arena, and youth basketball is still played there. 45 Cherry Valley Avenue at Terminal Road, West Hempstead. LIRR Hempstead Branch to Queens Village, then transfer to MTA N6 bus.
* Bethpage Ballpark. This 6,002-seat stadium, about 45 miles east of Midtown Manhattan and 20 miles east of the Nassau Coliseum, opened in 2000, and had 4 different names in just 10 years (now 15 seasons of play). Bethpage Federal Credit Union bought the naming rights in 2010, so it has the name of that Suffolk County town, even though it's not in that town.
The Ballpark is home to the Long Island Ducks, named for the old minor-league hockey team, which was named for the many duck farms in Suffolk County. The Ducks have won the Atlantic League Pennant in 2004, 2012 and 2013, and have usually led the League in attendance. Former Met shortstop Bud Harrelson is a part-owner, was their first manager, and is now the 3rd base coach (as he was for the last Met title in 1986), and Gary Carter managed them to a Playoff berth in 2010.
3 Court House Drive, Central Islip. Not really reachable by public transportation: The closest LIRR station is in Central Islip, over 2 miles away.
* Belmont Park. New York's greatest horse racing track is home to some of the greatest competitions in thoroughbred racing: The Belmont Stakes (the 3rd and final leg of the Triple Crown, the mile-and-a-half "True Test of Champions"), the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Metropolitan Handicap (a.k.a. the Met Cap), the Manhattan Handicap (a.k.a. the Man Cap), the Champagne Stakes, the Mother Goose Stakes, the Man O' War Stakes, and many others. It has hosted the Breeders' Cup in 1990, 1995, 2001 and 2005.
The Islanders recently outbid Major League Soccer's New York City FC for the right to build a venue on adjacent land, and the Belmont Arena is now scheduled to open in time for the 2020-21 NHL season. 2150 Hempstead Turnpike, in Elmont, in Nassau County, just over the City Line. The track has its own stop on the LIRR.
Artist's depiction of Belmont Arena
Aqueduct Racetrack first opened in 1894, and was rebuilt in time for the 1959 racing season. It annually hosts the Wood Memorial, one of the leading warmup races for thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. It hosted the Breeders' Cup in 1985, and the Belmont Stakes from 1963 to 1967, while Belmont Park was being rebuilt. 110-00 Rockaway Blvd., in Ozone Park, Queens. A Train to Aqueduct Racetrack.
Lots of movies have been shot on Long Island, including Citizen Kane (Oheka Castle in Huntington stood in for Kane's Xanadu), The Godfather (James Caan's Sonny Corleone was whacked at a toll booth temporarily erected at Mitchel Field in Uniondale), The Amityville Horror, The World According to Garp (Fisher's Island stood in for coastal Maine), Trading Places (Mill Neck Manor was the home of the villainous Duke brothers), Married to the Mob (shot all over the Island, if you'll pardon my choice of words), Born On the Fourth of July (based on the memoir of Massapequa native Ron Kovic), and John Wick (Republic Airport in Farmingdale was used).
In Old Westbury, the Phipps Estate stood in for both the mansion of the villain played by James Mason in North By Northwest and the home of the hero played by Ryan O'Neal in Love Story. Also in Old Westbury, the Knole Estate stood in for the home of the titular characters in Arthur and The Devil's Advocate.
The most famous work of popular culture set on Long Island, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. East Egg is Great Neck, Nassau County; West Egg is Little Neck, Queens; and the "valley of ashes," halfway between Midtown Manhattan and East Egg is Flushing Meadow, roughly where the Mets eventually moved. It's been made into a movie 5 times, but on none of those occasions was it filmed on Long Island: The 1926 and 1949 versions filmed in Southern California; the 1974 version in Newport, Rhode Island; the 2000 version in Montreal; and the 2013 version in Australia, homeland of its director, Baz Lurhmann.
TV shows set on Long Island have included Silver Spoons, Growing Pains and Everybody Loves Raymond. The Gellers and the Greens of Friends were said to be from Long Island, and there were hints (but never proof) that The Wonder Years was set there.
And Long Island has its beaches: Jones Beach, Fire Island, the Hamptons.
*
Getting out of the Nassau Coliseum, as it then was, was a good thing for the Islanders. And, physically/geologically, if not culturally, Brooklyn is still on Long Island. So the identity still works.
Now, they are back on Long Island, at least part-time. Soon, it will be full-time again.