Casino at the Nassau Coliseum is a Disastrous Idea for Residents

Upon learning that the New York State Gaming Commission doesn’t anticipate issuing three downstate casino licenses until late 2025, the Say NO to the Casino Civic Association, a grassroots organization of Nassau County residents, issued the following statement:

“We welcome the commission’s slower timeline. No matter how long it takes, we are confident that the commission will find serious fault with Las Vegas Sands’ application for a casino.

The improper rush to push through the Nassau HUB lease transfer was motivated by the desire to gain the lease and zoning approval before the residents was fully aware of what was happening and to avoid public scrutiny. Very few residents appreciate just how massive the proposed casino complex would be - 1.7x the size of the Roosevelt Field Mall with expected daily visitors in excess of 20,000 - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

The extended timeline recently announced by the NYS Gaming Commission will enable even more Nassau County residents to get educated on the enormous scale of the casino proposal. The 4-million square-foot mega-structure would forever change the character of our suburbs, and bring significant, pervasive, long-term negative impacts.

The extended timeline enables as many applicants as possible to participate. The Say NO to the Casino Civic Association believes there are other more suitable locations and that the NYS Gaming Commission will agree that the Nassau Hub is categorically wrong for a casino. Its proximity to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; several institutions of higher learning; local public and private schools; and minority communities, including Uniondale, Westbury, and Hempstead, identified by NYS DEC as overburdened from the impacts of air pollution and climate change, should be enough to disqualify the application. In addition, the site is not accessible to mass transit and, if built, the traffic burden would be overwhelming. The amount of water and energy needed to operate the massive structure would strain Long Island's already fragile infrastructure. The additional air pollution expected from the increased traffic, and the construction and operation of the structure, poses a significant health hazard to the community.

Bringing the second-largest casino in the country into the heart of Nassau County will never, ever be a good idea. Our Nassau County politicians often tout how they wish to "Save Our Suburbs" - they can start by putting an end to the proposal to place a massive casino in the heart of one the best places to live in the United States. Why would anyone gamble away the special quality of life that Nassau County residents currently enjoy?

In a perfect world, our political leaders would use this time to take stock of the explosion in gambling, and the number of new gambling addicts in New York, and choose to abort the process altogether, and abandon the idea of putting three massive casinos downstate. The expansion of gambling will ultimately leave our residents, and our state government, poorer in the end."

The Say NO to the Casino Civic Association is a non-partisan group who have come together with one goal: to stop the Las Vegas Sands Casino proposal. The group believes that a casino will have an unequivocally negative impact on our community and irrevocably change the character of Long Island for generations. The Say NO to the Casino Civic Association invite everyone in Nassau County to join and get involved by signing our letter to the New York State Gaming Commission on our website, nocasinonassau.org, joining our Facebook group, and following us on Twitter and Instagram, @NoCasinoLI.