Will Las Vegas Sands tear down the aging Nassau Coliseum to make room for a new casino? Many residents don’t want to find out what the future holds for the former home of the New York Islanders. (Image: Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)

The Nassau County Legislature Rules Committee voted Monday to lease the Nassau Coliseum to Las Vegas Sands, a final necessary step before the full county legislature can vote on the matter on August 5.

Over 100 residents showed up to the Monday meeting, many of whom came to speak out against the idea of giving the property over to Sands, which proposes building an integrated casino resort on the downstate New York site.

Unions, Workers Look to Sands for Stability

Under the lease, Las Vegas Sands would be required to keep the Nassau Coliseum open for a minimum of two years. However, it allows the company to keep control over the property for a total of 42 years. Some opposed to the plan brought up this fact, saying it would prevent further development of the site if Las Vegas Sands either can’t or doesn’t choose to use the site productively.

“You already know how bad it is: bad for people, bad for families, bad for communities, bad for small businesses, bad for our property values, and bad for our county economy,” Garden City resident Monica Kiely said at the meeting, according to the Long Island Press. “Tying up this property for 42 years means that you can’t put a good project there. And that’s what the operational lease is all about – 42 years of control. It’s not about saving Coliseum workers’ jobs. Right in the lease, it says they can close it down in two years.”

The promise of stability for current workers at the Nassau Coliseum has been one of the main selling points of the Las Vegas Sands proposal. Sands is the only company bidding to lease the facility, and keeping it in operation would keep about 400 people working on the site. Labor unions have supported the proposal for that reason.

Hofstra University Opposes Casino Development

However, one significant Long Island institution has come out against the proposal: Hofstra University, which says it doesn’t want a casino located near its campus in Hempstead. 

“Hofstra University didn’t get the outcome they wanted with the Nassau County Legislature, so they are litigating this,” Ryan Stanton, executive director of the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, said at the meeting. “That’s what today’s about. We have families that call Nassau County home that rely on this institution, not just to provide entertainment for you and me, which is important, but to provide food for their children to put a shirt on their kids back.”

But while Hofstra may be the most significant opponent to the Sands proposal, it is hardly alone. A recent poll by Newsday and Siena College found that 49% of Nassau County residents oppose the project, with only 42% in support. 

Even if the Nassau County Legislature goes forward with handing the lease over to Las Vegas Sands, that would far from guarantee that a casino would ever appear at the Coliseum. Sands would need to win one of the three downstate New York casino licenses in order to develop its integrated resort on the 72 acre site. 

That’s far from a certainty. Existing racinos such as Empire City Yonkers and Resorts World New York City may have a leg up for two of the licenses, and there are several prominent bidders in New York City itself, including projects backed by Caesars Entertainment, Wynn, Bally’s, and New York Mets owner Steven Cohen.

The Nassau Coliseum, which once housed the New York Islanders of the NHL and, for a short time, the NBA’s New York Nets, now hosts the Long Island Nets, the NBA G League team affiliated with the current Brooklyn Nets.