Long Island Casino Environmental Review to Be Released

Posted on: November 15, 2024, 10:21h. 

Last updated on: November 15, 2024, 10:32h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

An environmental impact study regarding Las Vegas Sands’ proposal to build a casino hotel at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY could soon be released.

Hofstra University Nassau Coliseum Sands casino
The Nassau Coliseum. An environmental review of Las Vegas Sands’ proposed casino hotel there was approved by a legislative committee. (Image: Newsday)

On Wednesday, the Nassau County Legislative Rules Committee unanimously voted to release the environmental impact study, setting the stage for the public to review it. That move also paves the way for the full legislature to vote on the matter.

Should the legislature sign off on the environmental review, the next step would be a public hearing on the matter.

Sands is hoping to build a $6 billion casino hotel at the site of Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. Despite some controversy surrounding that effort, the LVS bid is widely viewed as one of the most credible in the downstate casino competition. Nearly a dozen gaming companies and their partners are vying for the three New York City-area casino licenses the state has yet to award. That’s expected to happen late next year.

Long Island Casino Environmental Review is Important Step

While a single committee voting to advance the environmental impact study appears to be nothing more than a perfunctory legislative step, it’s meaningful because environmental concerns were among the reasons the casino proposal encountered legal difficulty.

Last year, New York State Supreme Court Justice Sarika Kapoor sided with Hofstra University in a suit brought by the college, noting Sands’ lease transfer agreement with Nassau County violated New York’s open meeting laws while adding that the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) may have been glossed over in the original agreement.

The court ruled that Nassau County must give residents adequate opportunity to express concerns regarding how a large-scale project such as an integrated resort could affect the local environment.

The environmental review, which is currently ongoing, is vital to Sands’ Long Island casino ambitions on multiple fronts, not the least of which is that under New York law, the lease transfer on Nassau Coliseum between the county and the gaming company cannot be finalized until the review is complete.

Environmental Concerns

The Nassau County Legislative Rules Committee didn’t publicly detail the findings in the impact study, but those details could soon see the light of day. Whether or not that alters perceptions of the casino project remains to be seen.

To date, Sands’ Long Island casino pitch has resembled comparable efforts in other parts of the country. Supporters see the proposed gaming venue as an avenue for bolstering the local economy and generating more revenue for cash-strapped New York, while detractors see the gaming venue as having deleterious effects, including on the environment.

In September, an opposition group said the Sands casino could strain Long Island’s already limited drinking water supply, adding that the project could have other negative long-term environmental consequences.