AN INTERBOROUGH battle could be brewing over the New York Islanders.
Two years after the Queens Chamber of Commerce expressed interest in luring the Islanders, a Brooklyn-born billionaire has emerged as a potential buyer for the struggling team whose Nassau Coliseum lease expires in 2015.
Nelson Peltz, a corporate investor on the board of Arby’s and Wendy’s, has explored buying the hockey club, according to ESPN.com and NHL FanHouse.
Peltz’s interest sparked speculation about the Islanders moving to his hometown borough and the under-construction Barclays Center, where the Nets are set to play come 2012.
Queens business leaders, meanwhile, want the Islanders to relocate to Willets Point – currently a maze of auto body shops near Citi Field – that’s slated for an overhaul.
A Peltz spokeswoman declined comment yesterday. Islanders spokesman David Hochman referred the Daily News to a recent interview during which Islanders owner Charles Wang denied the team is for sale.
But ex-Islanders executive Chris Botta, who blogs about the team and writes for NHL FanHouse, recently quoted an NHL source as saying Peltz has been “kicking tires” on the Islanders for about a year.
In a satellite radio interview last month, Wang reiterated his “first priority” to keep the team in Nassau County. But he left open the possibility of a move.
“Obviously if it doesn’t work in Long Island, I’d like to be close enough so I can commute to the games,” Wang said. “I go to all the home games as best as I can. So if it’s Queens, that’s great. Suffolk, great.”
He concluded, “Obviously we want to be in this area because it’s our home.”
Nets spokesman Barry Baum said the basketball and hockey teams have not discussed sharing Barclays Center.
An Islanders-Nets pairing in Brooklyn would reunite two franchises that shared Nassau Coliseum from 1972 to 1977, after which the Nets relocated to New Jersey.
To land the Islanders, Brooklyn and Queens may contend with suitors outside the metropolitan area. Cities from Kansas City to Saskatoon are rumored to be in the mix.
About 1,000 fans of the defunct Quebec Nordiques trekked from Canada to Uniondale for a Dec. 11 Islanders game, hoping to persuade the NHL to bring a new club to Quebec City.
