Nassau County, following judge's order, to resubmit plans for Sands casino lease at Coliseum site

One year after Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed a tentative agreement giving Las Vegas Sands control of the Coliseum property for a proposed $6 billion casino resort, county officials plan to redo the approvals process following a judge's order from last November.

Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle told Newsday last week that the administration plans to resubmit to the county planning commission and the legislature resolutions transferring the lease to the county-owned site to Sands and asking for the approval of a new lease.

That would mean holding public meetings and votes again. Boyle said he did not have information on when this would occur and how it would impact Nassau's appeal to a higher court in a case brought by Hofstra University last year. 

Neither Adam Schuman, the attorney representing Hofstra, nor Robert Giuffra Jr., the attorney representing Nassau, were immediately available to comment.

Blakeman and Las Vegas Sands CEO Robert Goldstein on April 26, 2023, announced they had struck a deal while in the county executive's ceremonial chambers in Mineola to a crowd of cheering supporters, mostly members of construction and trades unions. 

Sands executives now are expressing frustration to investors over the state's gambling license process as community support, as well as opposition, for the proposed project continues to build.

Here's what we know about where the proposal stands after the state announced a delay of more than a year in awarding downstate gambling licenses:

Delayed until late 2025

For much of 2023, Las Vegas Sands and about a dozen other companies looking to build casino projects in Westchester, New York City and on Long Island worked toward applying for three downstate licenses to operate Vegas-style casinos by the first quarter of 2024. 

Last month, the state Gaming Commission announced it would push back the application window and the awarding of the licenses until late 2025. (In 2013, the New York Constitution was amended to authorize up to seven commercial casinos in the state, leading to four licenses being issued for casinos in the upstate region. In 2023, the state Gaming Commission said it would open up the remaining three licenses for the downstate region.)

"We're very disappointed by New York," Goldstein said in Sands' first-quarter earnings call on April 17, in response to an analyst's question on the status of the Coliseum project. "I mean, we've been working there for a long time, and we thought it was going to happen in 2024 ... Now they're saying 2025 or 2026, but I don't think we have any real clarity. And to be honest with you, it's confusing and disappointing because we did a lot of work in New York and [put] a lot of time into it."

State Gaming Commission officials said more time before the selections will allow the companies bidding on licenses to address local zoning and other regulatory issues. 

For the Sands proposal, it could mean completing the state-mandated environmental review known as SEQRA of the 72-acre Coliseum property in Uniondale before applying for the license. Sands officials previously had said the zoning approvals and the gambling license application would run on separate tracks concurrently.

Town of Hempstead officials began the public SEQRA process in mid-January with two meetings at the Long Island Marriott, drawing hundreds of residents and business owners from both sides of the issue. 

Town officials, however, now say they are waiting for the Blakeman administration on how to proceed. While the town controls the environmental review, zoning and site planning of the property, the county owns the land.

"We understand that the county will be undertaking the [environmental] review process. The town will take whatever steps are required of it as the process goes forward," Jack Libert, chief of staff to Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald X. Calvin Jr.,  said in a statement.

When asked about the status of the project under the state's new timeline, Blakeman, a Republican, said to Newsday in a statement: "In spite of delays and changing circumstances, we are fully committed to deal with Sands to bring a world class hotel, entertainment center, casino and spa to Nassau County." 

The legislature in May 2023 approved the lease agreement between the county and Sands by a 17-1 vote. Republicans hold a 12-7 majority on the Nassau Legislature.

In exchange for the 99-year lease, Sands agreed to pay the county $54 million up front and then $5 million in annual rent, regardless of whether anything is built on the property.

Under the current lease, if Sands secures a commercial gambling license from the state, the annual rent rises to $10 million, and additional revenues to the county, Town of Hempstead and surrounding communities would total $96.3 million annually.

Court battle

Lawyers for Hofstra and Nassau County continue to argue in the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department, about whether Sands has the right to operate the Coliseum.

The Blakeman administration is appealing a November ruling by State Supreme Court Justice Sarika Kapoor, who ordered the lease agreement voided and the votes by the county planning commission and legislature approving the lease transfer to be "annulled." 

Kapoor ruled the county violated the state's Open Meetings Law when it did not assess the environmental impact of the casino plan before it gave Sands the lease. 

County attorneys argued in a brief filed with the Appellate Division on Feb. 26 that the county legally "segmented" or separated the lease deal from the town's responsibility to perform an environmental review.

They also argued the effect of Kapoor's ruling "is that no government or agency can lease its property before conducting a full environmental review of the impact of possible later development — a costly process that can take more than a year."

Hofstra attorneys, in their brief filed April 17, argued Kapoor's decision should be upheld and the county had the responsibility to perform an environmental review. 

They argued the county "improperly circumscribed the scope of their purported environmental review to 'site control' of the property and disregarded the very purpose and provisions of the proposed lease with Las Vegas Sands that allows the development of a sprawling casino hotel and entertainment resort."

Sands has proposed the creation of a new zoning district for the casino project that would incorporate the 15-acre site of the Long Island Marriott.

The company's "integrated resort" would include nearly 400,000 square feet of casino space with traditional table games including blackjack and poker; two hotels with 1,670 rooms; as well as a day spa, shopping, restaurants, a conference center of more than 200,000 square feet and three parking garages. 

Community organizing

Monica Kiely, a Garden City resident and member of the leadership team of "Say No to the Casino," said the state's new timeline will allow the opposition group to better organize via social media, flyers and lawn signs. 

"Last year at this time, people thought it was a done deal. Now people know it's obviously not a done deal," Kiely said. "We did not have basic information last spring when this lease was transferred, but now time is on our side." 

Sands' project, which has promised 6,000 construction jobs and 6,000 full-time jobs, has broad support among the labor unions and small business community across the county. The company has built partnerships with entrepreneurs as well as several colleges, including Long Island University and Nassau Community College. 

Tracey Edwards, Sands' senior vice president-New York in charge of workforce development, said the company will "remain committed to being a collaborative partner and excellent neighbor to the organizations and residents of Nassau County."

In a statement, she said that will be "through workforce training and local business readiness, partnerships with Long Island’s educational institutions and nonprofits like the Family and Children's Association, events for organizations like the LGBT Network and the Women’s Diversity Network, or support of Uniondale’s community center and community land trust, and a variety of youth sports."

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.