Garden City Files Lawsuit to Block Casino at Nassau Coliseum

The Village of Garden City has initiated a legal challenge in the Nassau State Supreme Court, seeking to annul a 42-year lease agreement between Nassau County and the Las Vegas Sands corporation for the Nassau Coliseum property.

The Lease, Essential for a $6B Casino Development Plan

The lease is a main component of a proposed $6 billion casino development plan by Las Vegas Sands. 

The plan includes a massive 400,000-square-foot gaming area, 148,000 square feet dedicated to food, beverage, and retail, alongside a 1,670-room hotel.

The casino project would also expand the Meadowbrook State Parkway to accommodate a larger number of visitors in the area.

In 2023, Las Vegas Sands and Nassau County entered into a 99-year lease for the 72-acre site of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. 

However, that lease was later invalidated by the courts. The ruling found that the Nassau County legislature had failed to hold open meetings as required by law and had not followed the necessary procedures under the state’s environmental review laws. 

This decision is currently under appeal.

The Omission That Prompted Legal Action

In response, the county legislature and Las Vegas Sands entered into a new 42-year lease, though this agreement failed to specifically acknowledge that the property would be used for a casino. 

This omission has prompted legal action from Garden City. On December 6, Village Attorney Gary Fishberg filed an Article 78 petition, arguing that the new lease should have undergone a full environmental review. 

According to Fishberg, this review should have encompassed all activities anticipated under the lease, including the casino development it aims to support.

Article 78 proceedings are used to challenge government actions. In this particular case, the Village of Garden City claims the lease should have been examined in the context of the broader environmental impacts of the casino project. 

The petition also argues that the lease was improperly approved because the Nassau County legislature did not consider whether it aligns with the county’s long-term planning goals. 

The village claims that the Nassau County Planning Commission acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner, violating the Nassau County Administrative Code when it gave the green light to the lease.

Civic group Say No to the Casino spoke to News 12, reiterating the casino is expected to hurt the community. The group applauded Garden City’s decision to file the lawsuit against the county.

“They have really not followed state, federal, or local laws in everything they’ve done. You have to look at pollution, you have to look at the environment, they haven’t, they haven’t done their work,” explained Richard Williams.

Garden City’s mayor Mary Carter Flanagan told the same news station that she believed the county and Sands bypassed the necessary environmental review process to speed up the development.