The question used to be, "What does Danny Lehner want?"

It was a question, asked among the political and those connected to power, inspired by appearances of great persona, wealth and a penchant for showing up at all manner of government functions.

Tragically, Mr. Lehner, a former president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, is no longer among us, having succumbed, at the age of 47, to a fatal heart attack last summer.

The premise of the question, however, has regained some immediacy, thanks to the emergence of Howard Milstein as the new owner of the New York Islanders.

With the consummation of the $195 million purchase and talk of a proposed $1.5 billion development of the entire 70 acre coliseum site in the air, the question now is, "What does Howard Milstein want and how badly does he want it?"

"That's a premature question," said Gary Lewi, perhaps one of the best and most experienced development P.R. people in the business and Milstein's spokesman.

"First, there has to be a meeting between Mr. Milstein and County Executive Gulotta, during which, for really the first time because they had to wait until the Islander deal was closed, they'll talk about what the future can hold."

In addition to the new $200 million, 19,000 seat coliseum, the future may include a new, three-story, 80,000 square foot convention center (actually, the old coliseum refurbished), a second hotel to complement the Long Island Marriott, and a two-story, arc-shaped 190,000 square foot retail and office development with sports and entertainment theme stores and restaurants.

According to the recently released Nassau Hub study, the area in between the new Coliseum and the convention center will be turned into a tree-lined "Main Street," while the retail and office building will serve as a link between the coliseum itself, Nassau Community College, and the Omni Building, Mitchel Park area.

The entire Nassau Central complex is to be served by a six story, 122,500 square foot parking garage.

County officials, many of whom will only speak on background due to the sensitivity of the situation believe that Milstein's desire to be a major player in the Hub development explains why he was so willing to spend so much on the storied, but lately losing hockey team.

"I think that was part of the lure," said David Vieser, a spokesman for the county executive. "As far as defining what his role will be, and what our role will be, that's a way off."

According to Veiser, Milstein will meet with Gulotta this coming Thursday - their original meeting put off due to a LIPA-related press conference on the Island by New York State Governor George Pataki last week - and then meet separately, perhaps on Friday, with Mort Certilman, of the Long Island Regional Planning Board and the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Privatization committee.

Certilman is the county executive's point man on the proposed development project, and it will likely fall to him to hammer out the details of what could be the most dynamic and important public-private partnership on the Island in decades.

"With all the speculation, you'd almost think a new coliseum was going to rise out of the ground tomorrow," Lewi said. "Though the county executive himself set as a goal the completion of a new coliseum by the 2000 hockey season, you have to realize that the development of that facility and of the adjacent real estate, will be a deliberate process undertaken by rational men.

"Among the first things that will have to be determined is what we want - we meaning everyone involved - versus what is economically feasible, environmentally feasible, and what can be done within the regulatory climate that we currently exist in.

"Based on what's out there, in terms of what's been bandied about thus far, I believe what we are talking about is some kind of innovative mixed use with a transportation system servicing it. Now, as far as the specifics are concerned, nobody knows.

"What I can tell you is this," Lewi continued. "Howard Milstein has demonstrated in the past that he is an individual with vision when it comes to developing real estate. Past projects that he has been involved in - among them the revamping of the Milford Plaza Hotel in New York City - show that he understands synergy as a vital component in the creation of an economic engine.

"In terms of the coliseum property... well, like I said, it seems like we're moving in a direction of mixed, complementary uses both on and off the site. No one, for instance, wants to be engaged in a development that is going to hurt pre-existing businesses, retailers, and the like.

"What has to be done now, I think, is we have to define what the innovative niche will be in this area, and then we have to determine the best, most effective way to move people in and out of it."

Drawing parallels between the coliseum project and the Milford Plaza, Lewi said that in the later case, Milstein really took a major chance, opting to revitalize a property "on the ragged edge of Manhattan."

"What he did there was develop the hotel and the hotel then became an anchor for the future redevelopment not just of Eighth Avenue, but of all of Times Square.

"Compared to that, the coliseum should be easy," Lewi said.

Central to discussions between the county and the developer will be the status of the land upon which the present coliseum, the new coliseum, and all the other proposed development in the area will sit.

"Back in 1996, when he first proposed the creation of the Hub, the county executive said that a lot of the property would be placed back on the tax rolls and that that, in and of itself, would be a revenue producer to the county and its residents. Conceptually, that was always part of the plan," said Dave Veiser.

"Part of the conversation that will be going on shortly will concern bringing that part of the concept to fruition as well," he continued. "Among the things the county has to decide is, how much of the property, what percentage of it, will come back onto the tax rolls, and in what way."

"When you put a package like this together, you have to take a macro approach to it," said Nassau County Comptroller Fred Parola. "It's very hard, before the principals have spoken, to talk about what the final puzzle will look like, because to speak intelligently on this you have to factor in such variables as who is going to pay for what and are we throwing land in to any prospective deal to offset costs. Obviously the county will be offering a wonderful incentive package, as well it should. It's in the public interest.

"The real problem here, in my view, is Spectacor," Parola continued. "They have a fantastic deal with the county that runs through 2015, and I think you really can't expand on the proposals that are on the table until you renegotiate the deal with Spectacor.

"Right now [the Philadelphia firm that manages the coliseum] is in the cat-bird seat. They manage the facility and get but a piece of what they do. It's a horrendous situation and one for which we pay dearly. In addition, because of how the deal with Spectacor was drawn up 20 years ago, we have to deal with them on almost everything in the site - the exception being the hotel.

"On the other hand, if they don't play ball, then the Islanders... well, frankly, I think the Islanders will be gone. My argument to Spectacor, if I was making it, would be, you have to accept less, because without the hockey team there's no anchor draw to the coliseum."

At present, Parola is predicting that the much talked about convention center will be a no-go because, "convention centers are traditionally money losers... and nobody wants that.

"What I think it will come down to is a new coliseum, a new arts center of some kind, and restaurants and theme retailers to attract families. Now, to make that happen, we may well see an agreement wherein the developer of the property will get a number of years tax free - that's a standard way of reducing costs on the initial investment.

"Still, it's early yet and there are a lot of different ways you can structure an agreement like this one," Parola said.