The first time Nassau officials approved a lease for a proposed Las Vegas Sands (LVS) casino on the Nassau Coliseum site, they held a closed-door meeting with no public attendees. On July 22, the Nassau County Legislature Rules Committee expects about 200 audience members for the hearing on two LVS lease proposals. Members of the Say No to the Casino Civic Association are already voicing their opposition to both.
Meanwhile, LVS is one of about a dozen entities that have publicized plans to submit formal applications for downstate retail casino licenses.
The proposed projects will cost billions to build. It may take years for them to open for gambling.
LVS Nassau Casino Timeline
Applications are due on June 27, 2025, to the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board (NYSGFLB). That appointed board will then recommend three license applicants be approved by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC). The commission’s deadline to select licensees is Dec. 31, 2025.
That means licensees won’t be able to begin casino construction until at least 2026. That’s true even if two existing casinos win bids for full licenses and are allowed to expand. Current downstate casinos are Resorts World New York City in Queens and Empire City in Yonkers, a property of MGM Resorts International (MGM Resorts International 31,35 0,00%).
Despite publicity about proposed projects, none of those 12 or so entities are official applicants for the three full casino licenses.
Meanwhile, LVS already designed a Sands New York logo that sits atop a site dedicated to the Nassau casino proposal. Scrolling through the site content on July 17, Bonus found a commercial filled with Long Island business owners who say they’re in favor of the casino project, a newsletter sign-up form that didn’t work for Bonus, and a section with press releases dating back to February 2023.
Nevertheless, Say No to the Casino Civic Association wants to ensure the LVS casino is never built on the coliseum land.
‘Say No’ LVS Press Conference
On July 16, the association notified Bonus that it will hold a press conference on July 18 in front of the Nassau County Legislative Building.
The gathering is scheduled to happen 30 minutes before the Nassau County Planning Commission (NCPC) convenes its regular meeting.
The press conference subject is the following:
Say NO members will urge the Nassau County Planning Commission to vote NO on recommending Las Vegas Sands be given control of the Nassau HUB for the next 42 years.
Sands Nassau Casino Proposal History
On Jan. 12, 2023, LVS first voiced interest in building a $5 billion to $6 billion casino on land housing the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
In its 2023 announcement, LVS wrote:
The company has entered into agreements to purchase the long-term lease of the site currently home to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. These transactions, which still require certain approvals, would grant the company control of up to 80 acres in Nassau County, New York.
Those agreements were news to Nassau Coliseum neighbors.
In March 2023, leaders from nearby Hofstra University published an open letter opposing the LVS casino.
On April 18, Hofstra filed Hofstra University vs. Nassau County Planning Commission. The complaint filed with the Nassau Supreme Court alleged the NCPC violated open meeting laws, beginning with a lease terms discussion with LVS on March 2, 2023.
In November 2023, Justice Sarika Kapoor annulled the lease on 72 acres that the NCPC granted LVS on April 27, 2023.
On Feb. 23, 2024, Kapoor added that any lease agreements with LVS need to comply with open meeting laws.
On July 11, 2024, Say No informed Bonus that county officials seemed to be avoiding Kapoor’s ruling that the lease comply with environmental law. As the association puts it, Nassau County officials are allegedly segmenting parcels, or attempting “to chop up a large project into small pieces and approve those small pieces without environmental review.”
2 LVS Nassau Lease Proposals
At least 24 hours before the July 22 county legislature committee meeting, the body must post lease proposal details on a page dedicated to that purpose.
On July 17, the Las Vegas Sands Nassau Coliseum Site Documents page only held the public notice about the July 22 meeting.
Within that notice, Nassau officials said this about one Sands lease proposal:
The first proposed lease will provide for the use, occupancy, operation, maintenance, and security of the existing Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum property by Sands, but does not permit development or redevelopment of the Coliseum property, or for the property to be used for a casino.
Then this about the second one:
The second proposed lease is separate from and independent of the first lease and would permit Sands to redevelop the Coliseum property, subject to land use, zoning and other required approvals, into the Sands Integrated Resort, which would include casino, hotel, and other uses. This second lease is under negotiation.
Four Projects With Land-Use Issues
The Sands Nassau casino project may be one of four that the New York casino siting board cited on June 28, 2024. Its press release about the “updated timeline” includes the June 27, 2025, application deadline.
However, the board doesn’t name the projects and it’s possible all four are within New York City’s five boroughs.
The board’s announcement reads:
In addition to [Community Advisory Committee] CAC approval, all applicants must complete all entitlement processes (landuse/zoning, environmental, etc.) before being eligible for consideration by the Board. The City of New York has amended its zoning code to allow licensed commercial casino gambling as a permitted use by right. However, at least four publicly known potential applicants are not currently able to avail themselves of the zoning change due to specific requirements not covered by the amendment, including mapping changes, grading or revocable consent to construct over streets. The New York City Department of City Planning has advised the Board that the four impacted entities expect to emerge from the zoning (ULURP) process by the end of June 2025.
The board will also require environmental reviews to be “substantially complete” by June 2025.
Two such casino proposals with land use issues haven’t yet acquired rezoning. They may go forward if state legislators change parkland to casino use in 2025:
- An $8 billion plan for a Queens casino, backed by New York Mets owner Steven A. Cohen.
- A Bally’s Corporation (Bally’s Corporation 10,52 +9,58%) development at a golf course. The Bally’s Bronx casino may cost $2.5 billion to build.
Meanwhile, a bill designed to accelerate the downstate retail casino licensing process by allowing applicants to resolve land use issues while being considered for licenses now appears largely forgotten.
On June 7, both chambers of the New York State Legislature approved SB9673, sponsored by state Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. As of July 17, Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul hadn’t signed the bill into law.
If Hochul had done so, New York might’ve seen application and license fee revenue by March 2025.
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