Sands casinos eyes Long Island as state considers first licenses

The Sands Corp., one of the world’s largest gambling firms, is looking to build a casino on Long Island. It was the suggestion of Sands’ senior vice president David A. Paterson, who was also a former New York governor.

The company is considering several sites for a potential casino, but named the Nassau Hub specifically as a contender.

The Hub is a proposed business district built around the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale that would include offices, housing, entertainment and retail.

David Paterson, the former governor of New York, is the senior vice president of Las Vegas Sands.

If successful, Las Vegas Sands would hold one of three downstate casino licenses that the New York State Gaming Commission is issuing starting next month.

The commission has said that it doesn’t expect licenses to be issued until late 2023.

The Nassau Hub, including Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, is one of several sites that Sands is considering, according to sources who requested anonymity.

Paterson and other Sands executives spoke to members of local chambers of commerce on Thursday about the company’s plan to win one of three state licenses to operate a casino downstate.

The NY State Gaming Commission will issue its Request For Application (RFA) by Jan. 6, 2023. But, according to the officials, no licenses are expected to be issued to New York casinos before late 2023.

Paterson predicted that both Resorts World New York City and Empire City Casino owners would win licenses to convert to full-scale gaming. The Resorts World New York City is located at the Aqueduct raceway (Queens). And Empire City Casino is at Yonkers Raceway in Westchester County (Hudson Valley north of New York City).

So, Sands is hoping to secure the final license. At least that’s what he told nearly 100 attendees who gathered at the joint meeting of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce and the Suffolk County Alliance of Chambers.

The event took place on Thursday at the South Farmingdale Fire Department building.

Long Island as an “attractive casino site”

According to Paterson, Long Island’s closeness to LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports makes it an attractive casino site. He is familiar with the area as he lives in Harlem. And he attended grade school and law school in Hempstead, Nassau County.