Nassau County announces lease agreement with Las Vegas Sands for NY casino

Securing the site will require approval of the 19-member Nassau County Legislature.

US.- Las Vegas Sands has signed a preliminary deal with Nassau County for a 99-year contract for usage of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It plans to develop an integrated resort with a casino on Long Island. 

In a news conference in New York, Sands chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein and Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman said the agreement was the first step in Sands’ bid to apply for one of the three downstate NY gaming licences. 

Securing the Nassau Coliseum site will require approval of the 19-member Nassau County Legislature, which is scheduled to address the issue on May 22.

The deal requires Sands to pay the county $60m up front regardless of whether it is awarded one of the casino licences. Rent for the property will start at $5m a month but would double to $10m a month if Sands obtains a licence. Blakeman reported that he expects an additional $25m annually to the county if the project moves forward.

He said: “We are going to develop the Coliseum site and bring a world-class hotel and entertainment centre funded by a casino. We believe that will bring jobs, economic prosperity, tax relief, and improved safety to Nassau County.”

Goldstein said: “Our company’s track-record of developing iconic, economy-changing developments is well-documented and we have every intention of bringing both our proven ability and a sizeable appetite to developing here on Long Island.”

Local resistance

Trustees of Hofstra University have published an open letter raising concerns about Las Vegas Sands’s plans for a casino resort at the Nassau Coliseum site in Long Island, New York. The letter notes that 40,000 students, ranging from children to graduate students, attend schools in the area, and that as such “The Nassau Hub is an entirely inappropriate location for a casino.”

The letter says: “It is surrounded by educational institutions from preschool through graduate school, and a diversity of suburban communities that should not be exposed to the increased traffic congestion, crime, economic harm to local businesses, and other negative impacts that a casino development would likely bring.

“There are other locations in and around New York City to site a casino that are not in such proximity to multiple educational institutions where so many young people live and learn.”

Residents have formed a nonpartisan group called Say No to the Casino Civic Association, which is calling on the county legislature to reject the proposal. They have started a change.org petition against the gaming facility.