Long Island Casino Opponents Love New York Licensing Delays

Posted on: March 27, 2024, 04:22h. 

Last updated on: March 28, 2024, 12:19h.

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

On Monday, reports surfaced that it’s likely to be late 2025 before the New York Gaming Commission (NYGC) makes decisions on the winners of three downstate casino permits. That’s much to the liking of groups opposing a gaming venue on Long Island.

Sands Long Island
Nassau Coliseum, a proposed site of a Long Island casino. The “Say NO to the Casino Civic Association” says it’s a positive that New York is delaying awarding downstate casino licenses. (Image: LongIsland.com)

The “Say NO to the Casino Civic Association,” which has long opposed Las Vegas Sands’ effort to build a casino hotel at the Nassau Coliseum site, said it favors NYGC’s “slower timeline,” and that it believes regardless of how long it takes, the commission will find problems with the Sands proposal.

“Not only is the proposed site wholly unsuited to host a massive casino, the Las Vegas Sands organization has shown a willingness to bend the rules and skirt the law in pursuit of a license,” said the civic group in a statement.

It’s widely believed that one of the primary reasons why the NYGC cannot open a 30-day bidding window for the three downstate permits this year, as previously hoped, is because several gaming companies and their partners haven’t yet received necessary zoning approvals for their locations of choice. New York regulators won’t consider potential casino sites lacking those approvals.

Long Island Casino Group

The “Say NO to the Casino Civic Association” believes there’s an advantage to New York regulators delaying the bidding process and awarding of the three downstate casino licenses.

Namely, the organization sees an opportunity for Long Island residents to get educated on the potential problems associated with a gaming venue. As the group sees it, those negative outcomes include threats to community character and environmental woes that could threaten standards set forth by New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

“The 4-million square-foot mega-structure would forever change the character of our community, and bring significant, pervasive, long-term negative impacts. We are also confident that the SEQRA process will find the extensive environmental impacts that will result from building the second-largest casino in the country can’t be mitigated,” added the civic organization.

It’s not clear where the estimate that the Sands casino would be the second-largest in the U.S. comes from. But the operator has pledged to build a $6 billion integrated resort at the Coliseum site.

Outlook for Long Island Casino

While the “Say NO to the Casino Civic Association” sees value in the NYGC delaying the start of the bidding process, that longer timeline could give Sands the time it needs to get free of legal red tape. It could also give Nassau County policymakers runway with which to confirm that Hofstra University, a strident opponent of the Long Island casino, is colluding with other New York casino contenders.

That hasn’t been confirmed as of yet, but it’s an issue that’s been mentioned by Long Island casino backer and County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R). It’s clear that Hofstra opposes a gaming venue near its campus, but the university has not said that it disapproves of downstate casinos in general.

The “Say NO to the Casino Civic Association” isn’t a political group, nor does it have clear ties to Hofstra beyond being on the same side of the casino opposition issue.