SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — As news broke this week of a proposed multibillion-dollar casino plan at the site of the Nassau Coliseum and surrounding property, a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, which once worked to develop a casino on the parcel, spoke of dreams derailed.
“It's really disappointing to me,” said Lance Gumbs, tribal ambassador/vice president for the National Congress of American Indians for the Northeast Region. “We put a lot of work, time, effort and funds into moving our games out of the Hamptons because our neighbors don't want it here. The Nassau Coliseum Hub was our number one location!” he said.
Speaking throughout the hours, Gumbs said he and other members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation met with Hofstra University and Nassau Community College, as well as local community groups in the Hempstead/Uniondale area to address their concerns and find solutions.
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“We spent capital on architectural plans, which included talking to (New York Islanders owner) Charles Wang at the time about buying the Marriott hotel,” he said. “It's like seeing our entire playbook, which fell into the hands of the other team, being played out in front of us.”
He added, “We've been trying to work with a lot of groups, and the Sands project would be perfect for us as a Long Island, NY tribe, especially when you have two other out-of-state tribes in the Seminole and the Chickasaw Nation working with groups to come into their territory. of our aboriginal people for one of the remaining commercial gaming licenses.”
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It would make sense, Gumbs said, “to work with us to move our gaming out of the Hamptons and give the Gaming Commission a real reason to consider a proposal that would include us. That would be a political victory as well as a satisfying one.” our billionaire neighbors, who don't want gaming in the Hamptons. Now, we have no choice but to continue with our gaming plans out here.”
Gumbs was one of the authorities who “worked long and hard” on the Coliseum deal, he said.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation has entered into an agreement to purchase the lease for the Nassau Coliseum and surrounding property and, if approved by the state, will build a casino on the site.
The company announced the multibillion-dollar deal on Thursday. It plans to build a large hospitality, entertainment and casino complex on the site.
“Our company's track record of driving significant economic benefits to the communities in which we operate and the meaningful relationships and partnerships we have built in each of these communities gives us a unique perspective on what it takes to develop transformative tourism destinations that positively impact local Based on this experience, we strongly believe that Long Island can host one of the region's great entertainment and hospitality developments,” said Robert G. Goldstein, president and CEO of Sands.
The push for the casino comes from a state decision to add three casinos to the downstate area. However, a casino in the Hub area is still not finished. The state has said no designations or permits are expected until late 2023 at the earliest.
Sands, however, has big plans for the site regardless of whether a casino is approved. The resort portions of the site will include an outdoor community space, four- and five-star hotel rooms and a performance space that “honors the legacy” of the performances at the Nassau Coliseum. Sands said the resort will also feature celebrity chef restaurants, experiential events and flexible meeting and conference spaces.
The casino, if approved, would be less than one-tenth of the project's total square footage, Sands said.
Shinnecock's potential plans for the site stretch back more than a decade: In 2010, according to the Sports Business Journal, then-Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano “shaken up stalled development plans” for the Nassau Coliseum “by announcing he was talking with the Shinnecock Nation to build a casino next to a renovated arena for the Islanders, according to Newsday's Hadrick & Harrington.”
Mangano said at the time that he “had been in discussions with Shinnecock leaders since January 2010 about creating an 'entertainment-sports resort'” on the 77-acre Coliseum site that would include a high school baseball field, a convention center and new hotels,” the post said.
While “many regulatory hurdles still need to be overcome before the Coliseum can even be considered for a casino and several other sites are also in contention,” Mangano said the Shinnecocks “agreed . . . to include the Coliseum as a preferred site in its application to the state to build a casino,” the post said in 2010.
At the time Shinnecock Tribal Trustee Chairman Randy King said discussions of a Coliseum casino “would not necessarily preclude any other location, including the racetrack at Belmont Park.”
In 2011, with reports suggesting a Shinnecock casino deal with Nassau was imminent, Wang revealed a plan to replace the old Coliseum with a new facility adjacent to it that did not include the Shinnecock games.
At the time, when Wang and Mangano unveiled plans in 2011 for a new Islanders hockey arena that didn't include a casino, officials said talks would continue with the Southampton tribe about a casino at Belmont Park. Former Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy also pursued a Shinnecock casino on county-owned land in Yaphank.
“The Shinnecock Nation has always made it clear that we are ready to work with communities that want to work with us, both in Nassau and Suffolk counties, as we pursue economic opportunities for our people that also provide jobs for our neighbors,” said then Shinnecock. Tribal Trustees Chairman Randy King said in a statement. “We welcome the support from Nassau County Executive Mangano and Senators [Dean] Leg and [Jack] Martins. We are ready to discuss establishing a facility in Belmont with the state, the local community and all stakeholders there.”
The roadblock was one of a series of setbacks for the tribe, which also saw a former member of the gaming authority plead guilty to illegally accessing emails that some said hindered the tribe's future economic development in 2016. The actions “led to downfall of the tribe's billion-dollar casino plan,” Gumps said at the time.
“It also resulted in the loss of 4,000 acres of land, which was equally devastating,” Gumps said this week.
Gumps said he could not discuss future plans for a casino in the Hamptons.
With reporting by Alex Costello.
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