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HERALD BEACON
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NOVEMBER 16 - 22, 2023
Beating drums, winning hearts By BRANDON CRUZ bcruz@liherald.com
Brandon Cruz/Herald
Members of Pure Gold, Uniondale High School’s marching band, preparing to perform at Sunday’s second annual Percussion Night.
Drums have served as a symbol of unity throughout history, bringing people together with shared creativity and expression, as well as communicating messages across distances. In certain cultures, drums are symbolic of group identity and heritage. This is the case in the Uniondale school district as well, where the high school hosted its second annual Percussion Night last Sunday, showcasing the CoNtiNUed oN PaGe 4
Sands project up in the air after court rulings By BRANDON CRUZ bcruz@liherald.com
The redevelopment of the Nassau Coliseum, in Uniondale, just took a detour, after a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled that a lease Las Vegas Sands signed with Nassau County wasn’t valid, and both sides would have to start the process over again. But as the saga continued to unfold, an appellate judge temporarily stayed the ruling by Supreme Court Judge Sakira Kapoor, granting a lifeline to Las Vegas Sands’ plans for a $4 billion commercial redevelopment at Coliseum.
Last spring, Hofstra University officials sued Nassau County, citing problems with how officials came to terms with Sands, which paved the way for a “multi-billion-dollar flagship hospitality, entertainment and casino project” on a portion of the site that houses the Coliseum. Kapoor’s initial ruling, on Nov. 9, declared the transfer illegal, saying that the county violated both the state’s Open Meetings Law and the State Environmental Quality Review Act when the Nassau County Planning Commission voted in favor of the Sands lease in April, and referred it to the County Legisla-
ture for ratification in May. In her ruling, Kapoor — a 2004 Hofstra graduate herself — annulled the county planning commission’s vote and resolutions from its April 27 and May 22 meetings, as well as the lease that Sands President Zac Hudson signed with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman on April 26, and ordered both the planning commission and the Legislature to conduct new public hearings, and to reimburse Hofstra for some of its attorney’s fees as it pursued the matter. But Justice Lourdes Ventura, of the state Appellate Court, put a temporary hold on the lower court’s ruling this week, after
Nassau County filed an appeal — injecting a dose of optimism for the county, the Sands group and its supporters, and allowing the Sands to proceed with its redevelopment plans — at least for now. Ventura set a hearing date of Nov. 21 for the county’s appeal. Blakeman, who championed Sands’ entry into the community, did not comment after
Kapoor’s initial ruling last week. But he had strong words after the appellate ruling. “For far too long, the Coliseum site known as The Hub has been languishing in a twilight zone of inaction,” Blakeman said in a release. “We are grateful that the appellate division granted a stay of the lower court’s decision, and we’re confiCoNtiNUed oN PaGe 9