For the second time in a year, the Nassau County Legislature approved a proposal that would lease the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum to Las Vegas Sands.
And for the second time in a year, Sands appears to have its location set for a $4 billion casino and resort as it continues its quest for one of three available downstate New York casino licenses.
The county legislature approved the 42-year lease by an 18-1 vote, with Delia DeRiggi-Whitton standing as the lone dissenting vote, which was also what occurred in 2023 when the legislative body signed off on the 99-year lease that was ultimately invalidated by a state court.
The legislature also unanimously approved a state environmental review of the coliseum and surrounding property.
Las Vegas Sands riding positive momentum in Nassau County
The past month has been a welcome change for Las Vegas Sands, which has long been embroiled in controversy since first targeting the Nassau Hub.
In mid-July, the Nassau County Planning Commission first approved a renewed lease for Sands to take over the Hub. Just a few days later, the Nassau County Legislature Rules Committee signed off on the deal.
At the time, DeRiggi-Whitton emphasized that the rules committee vote was not for the casino proposal but rather to ensure the stadium remained under lease to keep current workers employed.
Sands has said that even if it doesn’t receive a downstate license – which could authorize them to offer online casinos in NY once lawmakers authorize iGaming – it would still develop the Nassau Hub.
What they’re saying about Sands’ approved lease
While the legislature noted that the lease approval was not about the casino itself, Terry Coniglio said during the meeting that the legislature’s vote opens the door for one.
“The operating lease at issue is not for the purpose of maintaining jobs,” the Hofstra University vice president of marketing and communications said. “Rather, it is a precursor to and contemplates the development of a casino at the Nassau Hub.
“The 42-year term of the proposed lease would foreclose the possibility of any long term development of the Coliseum by anyone other than Las Vegas Sands.”
Another opponent, the Say No to the Casino Civic Association released a statement shortly after the legislature’s vote, which the group called “shameful.”
“The County Legislature tonight cemented its role as willing accomplice to the vast gaslighting effort underway by predatory gambling company Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and County Executive Bruce Blakeman to spin the specious argument that giving LVS a ‘site control and operating lease’ for forty-two years has nothing to do with a casino,” the group said in a statement.
“It has absolutely everything to do with Sands’ insidious, relentless effort to use our community as unwitting host to the second-largest casino in the country.”
The Say No to the Casino Civic Association also urged the New York State Gaming Commission “to instruct the county to invalidate the lease until a complete, thorough environmental review is conducted, as required by SEQRA laws, or otherwise disqualify LVS from contention.”
Proponents for Sands New York speak out
On the flip side, Matthew Aracich, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, voiced support for the Sands project.
“The economic development in this county is the thing that will drive the county into the future,” Aracich said at the meeting.
“Look, we have to look at this objectively. We understand, but we look at something different. The building trades model is something completely on its own, which means we try to make projects, we try to make sure they’re high class jobs with high class wages, with the same with benefits, a retirement job security. That’s what’s provided to these individuals here [at the coliseum].
“If we didn’t go ahead and move that lease forward, these people would be out of a job. And it’s not just a job, it’s a career – a career they spent many years in. What do we do to replace them? Just a swipe and it’s gone. That’s an unconscionable action.”
