At a special meeting on Wednesday, December 16, the Village Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $125,000 transfer and engaged the village’s environmental counsel, Sive Paget & Riesel P.C., to review and prepare comments and objections on the proposed Sands Casino development at the Nassau Hub site. The firm will specifically address the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on behalf of the village government and its residents.
At the meeting, which had an unusual 5 p.m. starting time, Trustee Ed Finneran made the motion to approve the lone agenda item. Once it was approved he mentioned the solidarity of the Board on the casino matter. The approval was unanimous though three trustees were unable to attend due to their work and other obligations. Finneran said the three all conveyed that they would have preferred to be at the meeting to cast their votes.
Mayor Mary Carter Flanagan said, “I think we’ve been clear publicly that the Board is unanimously, unequivocally opposed to the Sands casino project at the Nassau Hub site.”
Nearly a year ago, on January 18, 2024, the Town of Hempstead Board, designated as the lead agency for the New York State-mandated SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) process, held a public hearing. At that hearing, attorney Jennifer Coghlan of Sive Paget & Riesel provided public comments on Garden City’s concerns about the environmental impacts, scale, and scope of the project.
Coghlan noted, “It is critical that the EIS consider the entirety of the project, and that the final scoping document detail exactly what is planned for the Marriott property and how it would be analyzed in the EIS. Similarly, the Scoping Document provides no explanation on what development would occur (by Sands) in the absence of a gaming license (contingent on approval by New York State). It was noted in Sands’ presentation that this is an alternative that will be studied, but the Draft needs to explain what that project is, what its financial viability is and the impacts of a semi-constructed or partially-vacant project,” she said.
At the same public hearing, Mayor Carter Flanagan illuminated “glaring omissions” with the proposal.
“I’d like to share the village’s very serious concerns regarding the scope and scale of the project and the significant social and environmental impacts that will result….More attention needs to be diverted to the wide range of impacts casinos have on community character – crime, poverty, addiction, secondary displacement and the need for services to address these impacts. It’s imperative also that we prioritize the health and well-being of young residents and the many students who will be residing near this proposed casino. Detailed analysis on water availability for this mega-project is critical as we all rely on Long Island’s sole-source aquifer for our drinking water. We also need to look carefully at how wastewater and sanitary waste will be handled,” she said at the Town hearing.
