New York: Nassau County Legislature approves Coliseum lease to Las Vegas Sands

The Nassau County Legislature voted Monday to lease the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum property to casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp.

The vote passed by an overwhelming 18-1 margin, following endorsements from the county’s Planning Commission and the Legislature’s Rules Committee on July 18 and July 22. Additionally, a vote for a state environmental review of the coliseum and surrounding property was unanimously approved, Long Island Press reported.

The initial lease agreement passed in the Republican-majority legislature in 2023 by a 17-1 vote, with Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) opposing and former Legislator Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) abstaining. However, a New York State judge later invalidated the lease.

DeRiggi-Whitton was again the lone dissenting vote in this recent decision, although she supported the environmental review. Las Vegas Sands has had control of the property since November, but the lease approval process had to restart due to the court ruling.

Las Vegas Sands plans to construct a $4 billion casino and resort on the property, a project backed by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and several county legislators. Monday's vote, however, was not directly related to the casino plans, and only grants Sands a 27-year site-control lease with three five-year renewal terms, potentially extending the lease to 42 years.

Sands will manage the coliseum and its surrounding area, known as the Nassau Hub, but still needs to obtain state gaming licenses, which might be granted next year. If denied, Sands plans to proceed with a resort development.

The casino proposal has generated mixed reactions from Nassau residents. The Say No To The Casino Civic Association, formed in 2023, argues that a casino would bring gambling addiction, drugs, increased traffic, prostitution, and pollution.

The casino plan for the coliseum, located in Uniondale in the Town of Hempstead, faces opposition from the neighboring Village of Garden City, which condemned the project in 2023. Mayor Mary Carter Flanagan, elected in 2023, has been vocal against the project.

“The Village of Garden City is adamantly and unequivocally opposed to the casino project. We don’t want more DWI fatalities. We don’t want more addiction. We don’t want more pollution, and we don’t want more traffic. We’ve had two [village] elections since this project has been known, and in each election the candidates ran, every candidate in the last election came out in opposition to the casino,” Flanagan was quoted as saying in the report.

Hofstra University also criticized the casino plans, with Vice President of Marketing and Communications Terry Coniglio speaking against the lease at the meeting, calling it a precursor to the casino.

"The operating lease at issue is not for the purpose of maintaining jobs. 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," Coniglio said.

Meanwhile, labor leaders support the lease, arguing that Sands is the only bidder for the coliseum and that denying the lease would lead to job losses.

The coliseum, formerly home to the New York Islanders from 1972 to 2015, has faced uncertainty since the team’s departure, with numerous plans for its future falling through over the years.