Could the Nassau Coliseum become a casino? Las Vegas Sands would like to see that, but not everyone in the neighborhood would. (Image: Dirk Shadd / Zuma)

The Nassau County Legislature overwhelmingly voted in favor of leasing the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum to Las Vegas Sands on Monday, setting the state for the gaming giant to bid for a New York casino license.

The county legislature voted 18-1 to approve the lease, with only Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) opposing the plan. A second vote to approve a state environmental review of the property then passed unanimously.

Lease Gives Sands Control of Coliseum for Up to 42 Years

This is the second time that the county legislature had voted to hand over the Nassau Coliseum to Las Vegas Sands. In 2023, the same body voted 17-1 with one abstention to grant Sands a 99-year lease to the building. However, that lease was later ruled invalid by a New York State judge.

The new vote grants Sands a 27-year site-control lease. There are also three five-year renewals available, which means the company could potentially control the property for 42 years. 

Las Vegas Sands says that their ultimately plans for the property are to develop a $4 billion casino resort which would include a hotel, convention space, retail shops and dining options. That plan is largely supported by county politicians and labor leaders, though others in the area have come out against the plan. 

Predatory Casino Company?

For instance, the neighboring village of Garden City voted in 2023 to officially condemn casino plans at the Uniondale coliseum. In addition, a group of Nassau residents, known as the Say No To The Casino Civil Association, blasted Monday’s vote.

“This lease is a dangerous example of the power of money in politics and the pay to play system at work in Nassau County,” the group said in a press release following the vote. “Today, it exposes the depth to which predatory casino companies have infiltrated the halls of government and co-opted the rules of the process.”

Hofstra University, which is located virtually across the street from the Coliseum, has also opposed the development of the casino.

“We appreciate and support the ongoing operation of the Coliseum in the same manner as has been occurring,” Hofstra Vice President of Marketing and Communications Terry Coniglio said ahead of the vote, according to the Long Island Press. “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.”

Labor Leaders Say Sands Lease Will Provide Job Security

But labors leaders dispute this, saying the lease will bring more opportunity to workers and all of Nassau County.

“The economic development in this county is the thing that will drive the county into the future,” Matthew Aracich, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, said at the meeting of the county legislature. “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.”

There’s still no guarantee that Sands will be able to develop the Coliseum and the surrounding area into a casino, however. That’s contingent on the company winning one of three available downstate casino licenses, which New York State expects to award by the end of 2025. Sands says that it would still look to build a resort on the property even if it doesn’t secure one of the three gaming licenses. 

The Nassau Coliseum was opened in 1972, and was historically the home of the New York Islanders NHL franchise. However, the future of the Coliseum has been in question since the Islanders permanently moved away from the facility in the 2021-22 season. Currently, the main tenant for the building is the Long Island Nets, the G League affiliate of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.