The president of Hofstra University is urging Long Island lawmakers to nix a plan for Las Vegas Sands Corp. to place a casino on the Nassau Coliseum near its campus — claiming it’ll be more trouble than it’s price.
“The casino proposed by Las Vegas Sands runs directly counter to the interests of our local population and can create dangers slightly than advantages,” Hofstra leader Susan Poser said in draft testimony obtained by The Post.
In her stinging 13-page testimony to be presented to Nassau County lawmakers voting on the plan Monday, Poser said a casino on Hempstead Turnpike on the Nassau Hub in Uniondale will trigger intractable problems while draining business from local merchants and hurting disadvantaged minority communities.
She also questioned the integrity of Las Vegas Sands, which has shifted its focus overseas in Asia and is attempting to revive a presence within the US.
Hofstra, which opened in 1935, is the foremost private college on Long Island.
Hofstra University President Dr. Susan Poser desires to nix a plan for Las Vegas Sands Corp.Hofstra University
“The Nassau Hub shouldn’t be an appropriate place to site a casino development for a number of reasons,” she said. “Because it will create serious dangers and unsafe conditions for our community – including gambling addiction, crime, traffic congestion, and pollution – I urge the Legislature to vote against the proposed grant of this lease to Las Vegas Sands,” she said.
She also blasted Las Vegas Sands as being “motivated by short-term profit” to its shareholders slightly than the interests of Long Islanders.
“To Las Vegas Sands, we are only one other bet placed on a gambling table,” Poser said. “High wins per unit from a casino means high losses for many who go to the casino to gamble, nearly all of whom will likely be repeat players from Nassau County.”
Poser called out the Sands’ exit from the US market — even selling its Las Vegas casinos to deal with its assets in Asia — and that it’s now attempting to rebound within the US.
“The casino proposed by Las Vegas Sands runs directly counter to the interests of our local population and can create dangers slightly than advantages,” Poser said.Las Vegas Sands Corporation
An aerial view of NYCB Live Nassau Coliseum on the Hub in Uniondale, Recent York.Newsday via Getty Images
“The realm surrounding the Nassau Hub is densely populated by a student population, and multiple studies display that students are particularly vulnerable to gambling addiction,” she said. “I consult with the over 32,000 combined students attending Hofstra University, Nassau Community College, and Kellenberg Memorial High School, that are all literally across the road from the Nassau Hub. If one ventures a number of blocks farther, there are additional preschool, primary, and secondary schools, eventually reaching almost 60,000 students inside a 6‐mile radius.” .
Poser continued, “Nassau County shouldn’t situate a gambling center in a location brimming with young people who find themselves especially predisposed to such dangerous behavior. As an expert educator, I entreat you to weigh the risks to our youth posed by placing a casino in the center of a neighborhood university community and near many other schools with students starting from preschool through highschool.”
She also noted the proposed casino, if approved by state regulators, could be positioned near Uniondale, Hempstead and Roosevelt — predominantly minority and lower income neighborhoods.
And citing studies, Poser said casinos attract crime and illegal drugs — and even mentioned a jump in lawbreaking outside Jakes’s 58 slots parlor in Islandia in Suffolk County.
“To Las Vegas Sands, we are only one other bet placed on a gambling table,” Poser said.REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Yet there’s no evaluation on what the casino’s impact on traffic along already congested Hempstead Turnpike in addition to the water supply, she argued, also questioning the long-term economic advantages of a casino.
Based on Poser, other uses are preferable, like a technology and life sciences hub that could partner with Hofstra and Nassau Community College.
“In regard to casinos, evidence from the experience of others shows that, while there may be some short‐term economic gains, the advantages are outweighed in the long term in an area like Long Island where casinos will shift revenue from existing businesses serving our community,” said Poser.
She also argued most gamblers heading there could be from nearby Long Island communities.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman last month endorsed the Sands plan for the Nassau Coliseum site. The county owns the property around Nassau Coliseum, and he announced a 99-year lease with Sands.
“Nassau County shouldn’t situate a gambling center in a location brimming with young people who find themselves especially predisposed to such dangerous behavior.”Hofstra University
On Sunday, he pushed back at Poser’s criticism.
“Hofstra is definitely entitled to have their say but to say crime will likely be an issue is just not true,” he said in a press release to the Post. “The Nassau County Police may have enhanced patrols paid for by the Sands and over 200 private security guards will likely be hired. It is a luxury entertainment site not a Seventies era casino on the strip.”
Sands says it has own list of organizations that back the Nassau casino.
Asked about Hofstra’s criticism, Sands countered Sunday with its own list of organizations that back the Nassau casino.
“As this process moves forward, we’re very gratified to have received great support from organizations in the encircling communities and throughout Long Island including Nassau Community College, Long Island University, NAACP Recent York State Conference, leaders in organized labor, local and regional chambers of Commerce including Uniondale Chamber of Commerce, Long Island African American and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, quite a few not for profit organizations, small businesses and lots of others,” a Sands spokesman said.
The Sands plan is a roll of the dice even without opposition.
State regulators would need to award the Las Vegas Sands a license to operate, even, as expected, the Republican-controlled Nassau County legislature gives its blessing to the transfer of property to Sands.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman last month endorsed the Sands plan for the Nassau Coliseum site. Newsday via Getty Images
The state is anticipated to approve three casino licenses, with a bulk of revenue from licensing fees and revenues going to prop up the financing of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Opposition is constructing elsewhere against casinos, nonetheless. Brooklyn’s Community Board 13 recently approved a non-binding resolution against locating a casino along the Coney Island Island boardwalk. Many Manhattanites also don’t desire a casino in or around their neighborhoods.
Other gaming operators are vying for one in every of three downstate casino licenses.
Gaming giant Bally’s is betting on The Bronx — proposing a casino on the Trump Organization’s public golf course at Ferry Point.
The owners of the existing slots parlors on the Aqueduct race track in Ozone Park, Queens, and Yonkers race track — Genting/ Resorts World and MGM’s Empire City — are expected to submit bids to expand their offerings to incorporate table games.
Meanwhile, Mets owner Cohen is eyeing a casino near the team’s stadium in Flushing, potentially partnering with Seminole Hard Rock. A 25,000-seat skilled soccer stadium can also be planned within the vicinity.
Others planning bids to operate a casino include the Steve Ross-Related Corporations/Wynn Resorts partnership for Hudson Yards, the owner SL Green/Caesars Entertainment team in Times Square.