Island Garden

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The Island Garden Arena was a 5,200-seat arena in West Hempstead, New York. It was built in 1957 by Arnold "Whitey" Carlson,[1] a descendant of Swedish immigrants. Carlson's grandfather was Henrik Carlson, a noted San Diego sculptor who was the Foreign Art Director for the San Diego Exposition (now Balboa Park).

Over the years, many concert acts such as Cream, the Dave Clark Five, Tiny Tim, Louis Armstrong, The Byrds, Sly and the Family Stone, The Dave Brubeck Quartet and Bob Dylan performed at the venue. In addition to concerts, the Island Garden Arena has also hosted boxing matches, professional wrestling,[2] circuses, rodeos, stamp shows, midget car racing, and boat shows.

The arena also hosted the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association from 1969 to 1972. The Nets were unable to play any home playoff games in 1971 because the arena was booked with other events;[3] they played one home playoff game at Hofstra, and two at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum. In 1971–72, the Nets posted their first winning season, advancing all the way to the 1972 ABA Finals, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers. Late in the season, the team moved from the Island Garden into the new Nassau Coliseum. In 1976, the Nets were admitted into the National Basketball Association, where they have remained, eventually becoming today's Brooklyn Nets.[4][5]

The arena was partially demolished in 1973, unable to compete with the newer and larger Nassau Coliseum. A shopping center was built on that portion of the site. The remaining portion of the structure was rebuilt into a youth basketball venue in 1998. It has three courts for simultaneous gameplay or practice.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Winzelberg, David (November 8, 1998). "At Island Garden, New Life for Old Arena". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  2. ^ "WWWF Results from West Hempstead 04/21/67". Boardreader.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  3. ^ "1970-71 ABA Game by Game Log-- Part 4".
  4. ^ "Remember the ABA: New York Nets".
  5. ^ Hassan, John (1997). The 1998 ESPN Information Please Sports Almanac. New York: Hyperion Press. p. 552. ISBN 0-7868-8296-4.

See also[]

Preceded by Home of the New York Nets
1969 – 1972 		Succeeded by

Coordinates: 40°42′26″N 73°39′24″W / 40.70722°N 73.65667°W / 40.70722; -73.65667


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