Hempstead mayor breaks silence on casino

Daily Point

Hempstead Mayor adds his voice to casino conversation 

For weeks, Nassau County residents, business and labor leaders, and elected officials have been speaking out at rallies, hearings and meetings — all leading up to Monday’s Nassau County Legislature vote that approved the transfer of the Nassau Coliseum lease to Las Vegas Sands. 

Mayors from Mineola, Garden City and Westbury all at some point have voiced opposition to Sands’ plans. 

But there has been one voice missing from the mix: Hempstead Village Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. 

 A day after the legislature voted 17-1 in favor of the lease transfer, Hobbs spoke to The Point about Sands’ proposal to build a casino resort at the land known as the Nassau Hub.

Hobbs told The Point he hadn’t come to a “firm yay or nay” on the casino project itself.

“I’m never automatically against anything,” Hobbs said in an interview. “You have to look at the pros and cons.” 

Hobbs said he has met with representatives from Sands multiple times in the last few months and has discussed issues including traffic and community benefits.

One suggestion he has relayed: allowing employees to park in the village and providing a shuttle to go to and from the resort. That, he noted, would reduce traffic along Hempstead Turnpike and bring additional people into the village. Such a shuttle could be used for hotel and casino guests, too, who might take the Long Island Rail Road or a bus into Hempstead before heading to the resort.

“When you look at a development like that, with a five-star hotel and an entertainment venue, that also adds a boost to the economy in Hempstead,” Hobbs said. “As people are going to the casino, they’ll come to us, as we are a transportation hub … and they’ll get an opportunity to shop in our downtown, visit in our downtown, and spend money here.”

And, Hobbs noted, Sands employees could end up living in the village, which has several new housing projects in various stages of development. 

Hobbs also said he sees the potential for Sands to utilize the village’s planned workforce development center for some of the company’s job training and other efforts.

Hobbs, a pastor at Coney Island Cathedral, said he recognizes concerns regarding gambling addiction, but noted that area residents already gamble online and at casinos out of state or at video lottery terminals at Jake’s 58 or Resorts World at Aqueduct.

Hobbs said he expects to continue to meet with Sands, especially to make sure the community benefits promised to the village come “upfront” — and that there are “teeth” so the benefits end up where they should.

“When I think about this, I think not just about the casino, but [about] the possibility of a nice hotel and a nice venue for events and concerts — things we are not really getting at the current Coliseum,” Hobbs said. “When the Islanders left, that was a big economic hit to not only the county, but to the surrounding areas.”

The lease transfer, Hobbs said, was an important step.

“I want to see something happen there,” Hobbs said. “If something positive happens there, it is going to spill over into the surrounding communities and the benefits are going to reach the surrounding communities. Just as people talk about the negative impacts spilling over, we have to also realize there are going to be some positive economic benefits …” 

Hobbs said he will continue to listen to all voices as the process moves forward.

“They still haven’t been awarded the license,” Hobbs cautioned. “They have a long way to go. It’s still early.”

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Talking Point

Putin bans LI congressmen 

Visiting Moscow or sipping vodka with Vladimir Putin along the Black Sea won’t be on the summer vacation list for two Long Island congressmen, Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota.

As of last week, they’ve been banned by the Russian government, among 500 people named on a sanction list issued by Russia. Putin’s government acknowledged their ban was in reaction to previous sanctions by the Biden administration because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Both Long Island lawmakers told The Point they consider getting the boot from Mother Russia “a badge of honor,” and shared their reaction with glee.

“I won’t say I’m going to visit Russia anytime soon,” LaLota said, who speculated that his inclusion might be due to being on the House Armed Services Committee. D’Esposito was even more unsure about the reasons why he’s named, but crowed about his new banned status on Twitter.

“Looks like Dictator Putin and his evil regime have banned me from entering Russia … Oh well!” he wrote.

The new list included several senators and members of Congress and even former President Barack Obama, whom the Russians said are “involved in the spread of Russophobic attitudes and fakes, as well as the heads of military-industrial complex companies that supply weapons to the regime in Kiev.”

The Russian sanction list also included some surprising names like late-night TV hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers and journalist Rachel Maddow. But one Long Islander who didn’t make it was ... freshman Rep. George Santos.

— Thomas Maier thomas.maier@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Hurricane Ron

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Clarification: Nassau County has frozen its assessment roll for the last three years under the administrations of former County Executive Laura Curran and her successor, Bruce Blakeman. An item in Monday's Point misidentified under whose administration that action took place.