Nassau County Legislature Rules Committee members didn’t want to hear the word “casino” from members of the public who commented before the body voted 5-1 on July 22 to transfer the lease of land surrounding the Nassau Coliseum to Las Vegas Sands (LVS). That’s because the vote was about LVS continuing to operate the New York entertainment venue, not about the casino project that LVS may pursue, committee members said.
Despite their wish, almost every speaker at the committee meeting talked about the proposed Sands New York casino project. That was true whether they were advocates or opponents of the idea. Most spoke in favor of an LVS casino coming to Long Island.
Following more than three hours of public input, legislators voted on two ordinances about LVS.
The first — 172-24, approved 6-0 — had to do with a required environmental study before LVS can develop the Sands New York Integrated Resort.
The second, 173-24, would transfer the lease of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and surrounding land to LVS for “use, occupancy, operation, maintenance, and security of the existing coliseum property.”
Committee members kept emphasizing that the ordinances didn’t allow development or redevelopment of the land or its structures.
About 90 minutes into the meeting, Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, D-Glen Cove, stopped testimony to remind attendees that the vote wouldn’t be about the casino, but about the lease ordinances.
On Aug. 5, the Nassau County Legislature will consider the committee recommendations.
Nassau Coliseum Vote Coming August 5
On Aug. 5, county lawmakers won’t vote to execute the LVS lease transfer, committee members said. The body will only authorize the environmental review and authorize a use and occupancy permit for Sands for coliseum programming.
The body will also accept general public comments about anything they want to discuss, said committee members.
In addition to the land use issues making their way through Nassau County, the town of Hempstead would need to rezone the land.
If LVS Builds a Casino on Coliseum Land
On Jan. 12, 2023, Sands announced the Nassau casino proposal. However, a press release about the proposed $5 billion to $6 billion development has only been presented to the public.
Las Vegas-based LVS hasn’t yet formally applied for a full casino license.
Any entities interested in being considered for the three licenses that are available for downstate New York casino projects need to pay $1 million to submit applications during a 30-day window that ends on June 27, 2025.
After the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board (NYSGFLB) sorts through those applications, the appointed board will recommend to the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) which projects to consider. The board will accept winning bidders by Dec. 31, 2025, with possible deadline extensions into March 2026.
Licenses will cost at least $500 million each, but the bidding process could push license prices higher.
Mixed-Use Alternative to Gaming
On July 22, committee members said LVS would continue to lease the coliseum land if it isn’t picked for a downstate retail casino license. Sands would instead build a mixed-use development, including a hotel, testified Josh J. Meyer, a partner at White Plains, NY-based West Group Law. He was the first to testify and provided the committee with an overview of the ordinances for 45 minutes.
His bio on his law firm’s site says:
Mr. Meyer recently represented Nassau County, NY in connection with the redevelopment of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum site consisting of a $229 million public-private partnership to transform the 43-year old Coliseum and plaza into an attractive, first-class destination for sports and family entertainment. His representation included the drafting of all procurement and evaluation documents, facilitating the request for qualifications and request for proposals procurement processes, and negotiating all contract documents, including simultaneously negotiating full leases with the two selected finalists.
The 42-year operational lease of the coliseum and surrounding property, 173-24, includes a police station, officers, and security personnel.
Page 29 of the 679-page-long meeting agenda also shows Sands would pay the county a $54 million “one-time, upfront” amount. If Sands wins the gaming license bid and can construct the $5 billion to $6 billion casino complex LVS presented to the public, gaming revenue at casino maturity will be $50 million, the agenda says. Sands additionally promises to invest in the community, whether or not it’s granted a gaming license.
LVS Will Provide Needed Jobs, Testified Advocates
Representatives of the 400 coliseum employees testified in favor of the two ordinances, saying they wanted to keep their jobs.
Union representatives asked for the measures to be passed so there would be new jobs in Nassau County. Vinny Alu, the interim business manager for Local Union 66, said the casino would benefit Long Island and members of his union.
Francesca Carlow with TRIO Hardware and the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce said she was sick of looking at the coliseum’s “vacant [parking] lot.”
Ed Carr, the director of advocacy and stewardship for Discover Long Island, said Long Island needs the Sands integrated resort because it would satisfy the area’s convention center need. He testified that he’s had to turn away more than $30 million in business because Long Island doesn’t have a facility that’s an alternative to Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Convention Center.
LaShawn Lukes, president of the Hempstead Chamber of Commerce, opined:
Tourism is always the way to go.
Businesses can serve those tourists and expand, she said.
We need life.
Lukes added that she would love to take her grandchildren to the Sands resort and keep that discretionary spending in the community.
Opponents: An LVS Casino Would Harm Nassau County
Garden City Trustee Edward T. Finneran told committee members:
Let us not kid ourselves.
The LVS ordinances were about a casino, and Sands would be back to ask to build a casino, he said.
Residents of the city he represents are opposed to the casino and have been from the beginning, Finneran said.
Garden City resident Monica Kiely agreed that the ordinances were actually about the casino and asked the committee members why the development couldn’t have been a hospital.
Terry Coniglio, Hofstra University‘s vice president of marketing and communications, said Sands would have no reason to operate the coliseum now unless LVS wanted to build a casino. So, she urged lawmakers to include the casino in the conversation. (Hofstra has also sued the county planning commission for its previous handing of the LVS lease.)
Pearl Jacobs, a resident of Uniondale and president of the Nostrand Gardens Civic Association, pointed out she was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “environmental racism” when she said the environmental study should note the high rates of asthma where the proposed casino would be built. She said residents’ lungs don’t need to breathe in exhaust from 20,000 to 30,000 extra cars each day.
East Meadow resident Elizabeth McCoy disputed casino proponents’ claims that the attraction would create “generational wealth” for workers. She alleged worker pay would be comparable to $21 an hour introductory jobs with McDonald’s Corporation.
Opposition Group Disputes Stats
When Bonus reported on July 17 that the July 22 meeting would take place, it was scheduled for 10 a.m. When Bonus checked the meeting time on July 22, it had moved to 1 p.m.
Committee members explained they wanted to attend the funeral of a Hempstead Town councilman.
On the morning of July 22, Hempstead Town Councilman Christopher Carini was laid to rest in Farmingdale. He was 49.
During the afternoon committee meeting on July 22, Bonus noticed as lawmakers called the names of speakers, many hadn’t shown up to testify.
‘Say No’ Speaks to Bonus
Via email, spokeswoman Allison O’Brien-Silva of Say No to the Casino Civic Association told Bonus on July 22:
This meeting was indeed added on short notice, and we had less time to rally our folks. Plus, the meeting was during work hours and it’s also summertime and some of our most active members are out of town.
I hope you’ll see that the overwhelming quantity of written comments opposed to the casino more than makes up for a lighter showing in person today.
We can see right through Las Vegas Sands’ smoke and mirrors – they flood the hearing with speakers in support, but if you peel back the onion, and examine who is supporting, you’ll find ZERO genuine grassroots support for this casino.
She said evidence of that included 344 pages of letters and emails sent to the Nassau County Planning Commission (NCPC) opposing the casino and four pages favoring it, which Bonus found on the NCPC site on July 22.
The opposition messages include a 15-page letter from Garden City officials. It details Garden City officials’ objections to the proposed Sands project, including bullet points about environmental concerns.
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