MINEOLA, NY — The latest effort to resurrect the Sands casino project at the Nassau Hub location took place on Thursday.
The County Planning Commission held a public hearing as a new 42-year lease was introduced by the hotel corporation.
“This is just to allow the Sands to operate, occupy and control the Nassau Coliseum site,” George Krug, a member of the advocacy group “Say No to the Casino,” told Patch.
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The lease does not authorize building a casino. The original 99-year lease with the county includes the controversial casino.
However, Krug and his wife Lynn both spoke in opposition to the lease, despite the casino being off the table, at least for now.
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“This is clearly meant to entrench the Sands as they continue their quest to get a gaming license from the state,” he said. “Once the Sands has control, it’s the Sands to control until the Sands wants to give it up. That’s what we surmise from this 42-year term.”
The Las Vegas Sands had no comment on Thursday’s public hearing.
Lynn Krug told Patch: “We’re disgusted as residents.”
She asked the Planning Commission to “show some vision and some political courage that this is the wrong project for that site.”
In his speech at the hearing on Thursday, George Krug focused on the questions of financial risks for the community. He said without an economic impact analysis for building the casino at the site, it remains unclear “if it really is good for the residents of Nassau County or even the residents of Long Island.”
The Planning Commission is scheduled to meet with a park advisory committee next month, before giving their recommendation to the legislature.
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