Garden City Lawsuit Over Sands Long Island Casino Rezoning Dismissed

A lawsuit brought by the Village of Garden City challenging the decision by neighboring Hempstead to rezone the 72-acre Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum site for the development of a commercial casino resort has been dismissed. Las Vegas Sands is the new lease owner of the Nassau Coliseum. The casino company wants to build a $5 billion integrated casino resort on the 72-acre site. (Image: News12 Long Island) Filed last year in Nassau Supreme Court, Garden City alleged that Hempstead’s decision to rezone the events arena grounds harmed the village and its 23,000 residents. The village’s lawsuit sought to annul the environmental review and rezoning on the claims that a casino resort would cause havoc on its roads, infrastructure, and emergency services. Despite Las Vegas Sands folding on the $5 billion project in April 2025, Garden City continued to seek the withdrawal of the rezoning to protect against possible future developments at the multipurpose indoor arena that’s owned by Nassau County. In 2024, Las Vegas Sands entered into a 42-year lease with Nassau County for the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum complex, commonly referred to as The Hub. Sands had planned to demolish the aging Coliseum to make way for a sprawling casino, resort, and entertainment destination. Sands backed out on concerns that New York might legalize iGaming. The Town of Hempstead is the largest township by population in the United States, with almost 800,000 residents. The town includes Hofstra University. Case Dismissed Nassau Supreme Court Judge Gregg Roth dismissed Garden City’s claims on the grounds that the argument lacked standing. Perhaps the ultimate irony of this litigation is that, at this time, there are no plans by any party to build a casino, or anything else, at The Hub,” Roth wrote. The judge ruled that Garden City’s case is “premature” and “too speculative.” “Conclusory allegations of injury to community character are insufficient; the injury must be actual and concrete,” Roth wrote, adding that the court “cannot issue an advisory opinion.” The Village of Garden City was opposed to Sands’ plan from the beginning. In February 2023, the Garden City Village Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution opposing a casino in Nassau County. “The Board has received considerable input from residents opposing a casino and other uses at the Nassau Hub site. The serious security issues that surround casinos are well known, including illegal activity, crime, human sex trafficking, DWIs, prostitution, drugs, and problem gambling,” the resolution read. The resolution claimed a casino would “permanently impact the character of the surrounding communities.” Future Unknown Sands continues to shop for a developer to take over its Nassau Coliseum lease, which the company has already paid the county $54 million. The property remains zoned for commercial gambling, though there are no more casino licenses available for the New York State Gaming Commission to issue. The Hub could, however, be renovated into a racino and offer slot-like video gaming terminals. Nassau Downs OTB, a state-licensed off-track betting firm, has in the past explored developing the Coliseum into a facility like Jake’s 58, the casino owned and operated by Suffolk OTB. Currently, however, Nassau Downs OTB reportedly isn’t interested in such a massive endeavor. The post Garden City Lawsuit Over Sands Long Island Casino Rezoning Dismissed appeared first on Casino.org.