The New York Islanders are bound for Brooklyn!

The NHL team will call the Barclays Center home starting with the 2015-16 season. Islanders owner Charles Wang made the announcement from the new arena, opening the press conference with "Hello, Brooklyn!"

The Islanders will abandon the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which Wang long complained is unsuited for a professional sports team. Nassau County officials had also unsuccessfully struggled for years to come up with a plan to either renovate or rebuild the arena.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was among the many officials in attendance for the big announcement. He said, "Brooklyn is big time and now we have the big league sports to prove it."

News 12 Brooklyn's Joe Mauceri are at the arena. Follow him on Twitter for updates: @J_MauceriNews12

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