Sands Lease Deal Gets Thumbs Up From County Legislators

MINEOLA, NY — The Nassau County Legislature voted in favor of a 42-year lease for the Las Vegas Sands at the Nassau Hub. Monday night's vote was 18-1, with Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, the one lawmaker in opposition.

But as the lease stands now, "it is not a vote permitting a casino or gaming on the site." A spokesperson for the Sands said. "It is [also] not a vote that allows any development by Sands."

Those more controversial elements of the project are expected to get voted on next spring or summer, the Sands said.

However, Allison O'Brien Silva with the group Say No to the Casino Civic Association said the lease agreement is "a dangerous example of the power of money in politics and the pay-to-play system at work in Nassau County. Las Vegas Sandsis publicizing, even flaunting that it’s paying off community organizations in exchange for support, backing legislators into a corner with their vote."

The legislators also passed a resolution that will trigger an environmental review. That process "will determine what can, can’t and must happen to protect the environmental integrity of the site," a Sands spokesperson said.

A previous 99-year lease for a Las Vegas Sands-operated hotel and casino at the former Nassau Coliseum drew the ire of critics and neighbor Hofstra University, who filed a lawsuit against the deal going forward.

"We urge the Gaming Commission to instruct the county to invalidate the lease until a complete, thorough environmental review is conducted," O'Brien Silva said.