Asylum-seekers a test of who we are

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Hochul, Adams and the state Legislature could also help by doing more to address New York’s housing shortage, which is exacerbating the migrant crisis as well as driving people out of the state.

The response by suburban counties around New York to Adams’ own version of dispersing the migrant population shows why this won’t be easy.

State Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-Westbury) ofered a sensible response to Hochul’s consideration of SUNY and CUNY campuses.

He said he understood SUNY Old Westbury was not being consid- ered as an option but if that were to change, he would be open-minded to any reasonable suggestion to address an infux of migrants seeking asylum.

Lavine said he estimates New York has received well over 50,000 asylum seekers and “more will be coming.” Because of this, he said something must be done to address the impact on local communities.

Many in the United States have prided themselves on our country welcoming immigrants to our shores, fueling our economic growth and serving as an example to the world of our goodness and generosity.

But that feeling has not always been shared by everyone. There have notable exceptions such as the country’s failure to allow Jews feeing Hitler into the United States. The motto was “America First.” And millions perished.

The asylum-seekers, like our immigration policy overall, are now a test of our ability to solve problems. And a statement of who we are.

Ican see why the Nassau County legislators – casting the most consequential vote of their political lives – voted 17-1 to transfer the lease for the 72-acre Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum tract (the Hub) to Las Vegas Sands, which is proposing to build a “world-class” casino, hotel, spa, entertainment and convention complex.

Presiding Ofcer Richard J. Nicolello summed it up best after four hours of testimony and vigorous public comment for and against, pointing out the unlikelihood of a non-casino developer coming in, having to pay of the existing leaseholder $100 million owed from a 2015 renovation, the millions of dollars it would cost to remove the existing structure and the millions more to develop.

The property itself would have to be of sufcient intensity, density to justify development, which always was the problem, in order to generate the income to justify all that expense. Pathetically, it seems only gambling can provide sufcient proft.

If we approve the lease transfer, the most important thing it gives Sands is the opportunity to apply for a gaming license – it’s not guaranteed because there are upward of 10 competing for three downstate. But regardless, the Sands is our development partner, willing to invest billions in the property even without casino.

We still get development, the economic activity of thousands of jobs, community beneft payments.

If Sands does get the casino license – it is part of a billion-dollar resort – we get the direct payments, tens of millions of dollars in rent, taxes on tickets, hotel occupancy entertainment. We get convention space, get visitors who come for more than one day, who are likely to go of and see other things.

“The county has tried for more than 30 years to develop this site and failed. We have a once-in-ageneration opportunity to partner with an entity that wants to invest billions without a cent from the county. If we say no, [a casino] will still be built, but all the economic activity will go to New York City, the county gets nothing but a failed arena and parking lot on 72 acres.”

Most signifcantly, this is far from being a done deal. As Sands’ environmental consultant, VBH, the public will have several opportunities to raise issues during the state’s mandated Environmental Review Process, likely to be led by the Town of Hempstead’s board.

Also, Sands is not assured of winning a casino license from New York State’s Gaming Commission – it is one of 10 competing for a downstate slot. A key factor in winning approval is community support or opposition, so expect the opponents, including Say No to the Casino organization, to be vocal.

So the biggest question is, given the amount of money that Sands is throwing around in anticipation of reaping $2 billion in profts a year based on gambling receipts, if the casino falls through, can Sands resell the lease without the county having a say? That issue was left unanswered.

What made me most skeptical was the testimony of Maurice Chalmers, director of the county’s Ofce of Legislative Budget Review, who said that the project would have a $3.7 billion economic impact on the county.

“It’s simple math,” he said –he took the Sands’ projections of

(union) workers during construction, 12,000, multiplied by wages. OK, then what will the economic impact be once the project is open, with and without the casino? He couldn’t say. And what would be the economic cost – lost home values, diversion of revenue from local shops and restaurants, increased costs for policing, emergency services, infrastructure wear-and-tear? That’s fduciary malpractice, and that should have been enough to table the vote until those answers were provided.

His big economic argument, though was that under the prior lease, over the past 10 years, the county collected $23.7 million; under the new lease, the county gets $54 million “unconditionally” right of the bat, plus other surety fees totaling $67,750,000 (two to three times the total of the past 10 years).

Then, when the project is open, the county will earn as much as $7.9 million a year (without a casino), but with a casino, $96,300,000 (after year four).

This includes public safety pay- ments of $900,000 (non-casino) or $1.8 million (casino) – money going directly to the Nassau County Police Department, which Commissioner Ryder described as a “partner” in combating crime that might arise.

It also includes community benefts payment of $2 million (noncasino) or $4 million (casino), and base rent of $5 million (non-casino) or $10 million (casino).

You can see why the legislators would swoon to have this massive an investment without a dollar of taxpayer money – and why they would be rooting for Sands to win the coveted casino license.

But to get these massive amounts of revenue – the $2 billion – means “north” of 20,000 “guests” a day, 24/7, exacerbating already congested roads, drunk driving, air pollution, crime, addiction (gambling, drug, alcohol). And where does that $2 billion actually come from?

“Casinos don’t create wealth, they extract wealth from where they are,” Monica Kiely of Say No to the Casino Civic Association, asserted. “The money Sands generates will come from gambling losses, mainly from Nassau County residents. If this were such a wonderful deal, why come in here and give upfront payments to so many groups?”

The opponents – chiefy residents of Uniondale, Westbury, East Meadow, and Garden City — also raised concern over the decline in their home value.

They objected that the wider public was not actively engaged in the process (opponents charged that the Nassau County Planning Commission did not hold the mandated public hearings).

On the other hand, Sands did a brilliant job of wooing local cham-

From The Desk Of Joe Toes

Last week, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced the 2023 winners of its coveted and prestigious awards for excellence in journalism.

Among the recipients were staf for the Wall Street Journal, who received recognition in the category of Investigative Reporting for bringing to light ofcials at federal agencies who bought and sold shares in companies they regulated.

The seven-part series reviews trades reported by approximately 12,000 senior career employees, political staf, and presidential appointees.

The series details the inconsistencies in confict-of-interest policies across government agencies and how much of this activity, while technically disclosed, is never made available to the public.

The breadth of data is meaningful, and the anecdotal examples lead to the conclusion that there is more here than just an appearance of impropriety.

This is not the frst time government ofcials charged with safeguarding the public’s interest have been accused of this unethical behavior.

In 2011, Peter Schweizer published, “Throw Them All Out,” which chronicled in great detail the existence of “crony capitalism” and its “corrosive efect on politics, our economy and our character.”

JOE TOES Security Traders Association

Mr. Schweizer’s work focused heavily on trades by congressional members during the mid-2000s fnancial crisis and proved to be the catalyst for Congress passing the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act)in 2012.

bers of commerce and business groups like the Long Island Hispanic Chamber, organizations like EAC and the NAACP-NY, and colleges (40,000 college and high school students border the project) — actually partnering with Nassau Community College on workforce and new hospitality management courses (how much money exactly?).

Hofstra University’s counsel, on the other hand, stood up to oppose the vote, at least until its lawsuit against the project is decided. They also are promising millions in community benefts payments to Uniondale, Hempstead and East Meadow.

It certainly didn’t hurt for Las Vegas Sands to hire former New York Gov. David Patterson as senior vice president.

And while the legislators and proponents were extolling this as the deal of the century that can’t be passed up, it was also noted that there are four (or fve) other billiondollar developments underway, with another on the way.

And Gov. Kathy Hochul has been to Long Island multiple times to talk up investments in turning the island, once the Cradle of Aviation and center for defense manufacturing, into a Life Sciences and Clean Energy (ofshore wind! Solar!) corridor.

But I can see why the legislators were unwilling to delay the vote, given the precarious economy (the Republican-caused debt crisis that could spark a collapse in investment). They didn’t want to take any chance that Sands would withdraw, as Amazon did in the face of community opposition to its New York City headquarters.

It remains for ofcials and residents alike to be vigilant in making sure Las Vegas Sands deals honestly.