Over boos and shouts, the Hempstead Town Board unanimously approved rezoning the site of the Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday to permit a casino to be built, as the deadline approaches for a company to take over the proposal from Las Vegas Sands.
During a nearly two-hour hearing, speaker after speaker decried allowing a gambling facility to be built on the Mitchel Field site, raising concerns about crime and deteriorating quality of life in the area. Of more than two dozen speakers who addressed the town board, only one spoke in favor of the rezoning.
The Tuesday hearing was a continuation of one that had begun last month. Developers face a June 27 deadline to apply for one of three casino licenses in the state.
The newly adopted zoning designation, called the Mitchel Field Integrated Resort District, allows for gambling facilities to be built and for ancillary structures to be constructed at greater heights than would otherwise be permitted. It also allows for bars and nightclubs to be built in the area.
Opponents held printed signs that read “Say NO to the Casino” as well as handwritten signs that said “Legalized gambling not the way forward” and “Don’t Sell Us Out.
Proponents’ signs said “Vote Yes! Jobs. Local Biz Opportunities. Our Future.”
“If I was in church, I would say hell no to the casino because it needs to go to the pits of hell,” said Pastor Arthur Mackey of Mount Sinai Baptist Church Cathedral in Roosevelt. “It is not good for the people of America’s largest township … and it certainly is not good for the Black and brown, predominantly, community of Uniondale.”
Valerie Fitts, 59, of Uniondale, who works security at the Coliseum site, spoke in favor of the rezoning, saying it would bring jobs to the area.
“Let’s stop this site from sitting idle, let’s show hope for the hub and rezone it and give the Town of Hempstead and its residents the future that they deserve,” Fitts said.
Las Vegas Sands first proposed a casino project in 2022, but it abandoned the plan in April and said it was talking to a “third party” about taking over the casino bid. However, the zoning proposal wasn’t amended to remove gambling.
“Sands is no longer pursuing a gaming license through the state solicitation process,” Daniel Baker, attorney at Greenberg Traurig LLP, told the board Tuesday. “As the deadline for applications is only a few weeks away, it’s unlikely any other bidder will be stepping into the process.”
Following the vote, Baker declined to say whether Sands is in talks with other parties that could take over the project, saying he was “not authorized” by his client to speak about it.
Michael Levoff, Senior VP of Las Vegas Sands, said in a statement: “Today’s unanimous vote to approve zoning for the Nassau Coliseum site marks a pivotal step forward — affirming the shared vision of a dynamic future for this iconic location.
“We’re deeply grateful to the Town of Hempstead, local residents, union members, and community and business leaders whose advocacy and engagement helped bring us to this moment.”
Before the vote, Hempstead’s outside counsel, Steven Losquadro, said the rezoning was about modernizing the existing code, not just a casino.
“The new code will accommodate … sports, recreation research, hospitals, medical centers, whether outpatient or inpatient, a combination of all of those things, theaters, recreational uses other sports related activities,” Losquadro said.
A review of the existing Mitchel Field Mixed-Use District zoning code, however, shows that most of those uses, including hotels, research facilities, medical centers, hospitals, theaters and arenas, were already permitted.
Opponents of the rezoning were not convinced that gambling would not be coming to Uniondale.
“If they had taken the gambling out of the rezoning, we would all be fine, everybody would’ve accepted it and everybody would’ve been supportive,” said Glenn Aldridge, 70, a retired public school teacher from Garden City, after the meeting. “All they needed to do was to pull the gambling out of the rezoning.”
Newsday’s Yancey Roy contributed to this story.
Over boos and shouts, the Hempstead Town Board unanimously approved rezoning the site of the Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday to permit a casino to be built, as the deadline approaches for a company to take over the proposal from Las Vegas Sands.
During a nearly two-hour hearing, speaker after speaker decried allowing a gambling facility to be built on the Mitchel Field site, raising concerns about crime and deteriorating quality of life in the area. Of more than two dozen speakers who addressed the town board, only one spoke in favor of the rezoning.
The Tuesday hearing was a continuation of one that had begun last month. Developers face a June 27 deadline to apply for one of three casino licenses in the state.
The newly adopted zoning designation, called the Mitchel Field Integrated Resort District, allows for gambling facilities to be built and for ancillary structures to be constructed at greater heights than would otherwise be permitted. It also allows for bars and nightclubs to be built in the area.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The Hempstead Town Board unanimously approved rezoning the site of the Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday to permit a casino to be built.
- Of more than two dozen speakers who addressed the town board on Tuesday, only one spoke in favor of the rezoning.
- Before the vote, Hempstead’s outside counsel said the rezoning was about modernizing the existing code, not just a casino.
Opponents held printed signs that read “Say NO to the Casino” as well as handwritten signs that said “Legalized gambling not the way forward” and “Don’t Sell Us Out.”
Proponents’ signs said “Vote Yes! Jobs. Local Biz Opportunities. Our Future.”
“If I was in church, I would say hell no to the casino because it needs to go to the pits of hell,” said Pastor Arthur Mackey of Mount Sinai Baptist Church Cathedral in Roosevelt. “It is not good for the people of America’s largest township … and it certainly is not good for the Black and brown, predominantly, community of Uniondale.”
Valerie Fitts, 59, of Uniondale, who works security at the Coliseum site, spoke in favor of the rezoning, saying it would bring jobs to the area.
“Let’s stop this site from sitting idle, let’s show hope for the hub and rezone it and give the Town of Hempstead and its residents the future that they deserve,” Fitts said.
Las Vegas Sands first proposed a casino project in 2022, but it abandoned the plan in April and said it was talking to a “third party” about taking over the casino bid. However, the zoning proposal wasn’t amended to remove gambling.
“Sands is no longer pursuing a gaming license through the state solicitation process,” Daniel Baker, attorney at Greenberg Traurig LLP, told the board Tuesday. “As the deadline for applications is only a few weeks away, it’s unlikely any other bidder will be stepping into the process.”
The scene at Hempstead Town Hall on Tuesday. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Following the vote, Baker declined to say whether Sands is in talks with other parties that could take over the project, saying he was “not authorized” by his client to speak about it.
Michael Levoff, Senior VP of Las Vegas Sands, said in a statement: “Today’s unanimous vote to approve zoning for the Nassau Coliseum site marks a pivotal step forward — affirming the shared vision of a dynamic future for this iconic location.
“We’re deeply grateful to the Town of Hempstead, local residents, union members, and community and business leaders whose advocacy and engagement helped bring us to this moment.”
Before the vote, Hempstead’s outside counsel, Steven Losquadro, said the rezoning was about modernizing the existing code, not just a casino.
“The new code will accommodate … sports, recreation research, hospitals, medical centers, whether outpatient or inpatient, a combination of all of those things, theaters, recreational uses other sports related activities,” Losquadro said.
A review of the existing Mitchel Field Mixed-Use District zoning code, however, shows that most of those uses, including hotels, research facilities, medical centers, hospitals, theaters and arenas, were already permitted.
Opponents of the rezoning were not convinced that gambling would not be coming to Uniondale.
“If they had taken the gambling out of the rezoning, we would all be fine, everybody would’ve accepted it and everybody would’ve been supportive,” said Glenn Aldridge, 70, a retired public school teacher from Garden City, after the meeting. “All they needed to do was to pull the gambling out of the rezoning.”
Newsday’s Yancey Roy contributed to this story.
1
20
20
