Charles Wang of Computer Associates continues to negotiate to buy the Islanders, but a sale will not be finalized today, a well-placed source told The Post last night.
SMG, which manages the Coliseum, and Nassau County Executive Tom Gulotta (Republican) have been working feverishly to work out a deal in which Wang buys the club from Ed and Howard Milstein and Steven Gluckstern. SMG and Gulotta had pushed for the sale to happen this week so as to overshadow today’s scheduled public hearing before the County Legislature’s Planning, Development and Environmental Committee at the County Executive Building.
The hearing, called by the county’s democratic leaders, is an attempt to learn more about the status of the Coliseum, the development of the 70-acre Coliseum site, a new arena and the possibility of an Islanders sale.
Though still in the hunt to buy the Islanders, Bob Gutkowski and Charles Koppelman could try to team up with Wang on the purchase. As president of Madison Square Garden in the early-to-mid ’90s, Gutkowski helped revitalize the arena and could provide needed experience in running a new Coliseum.