Calverton, Bellport emerge as possible casino sites

At least two new prospective casino sites have emerged and will be presented to the Shinnecock Indian Nation at a meeting in Hauppauge Thursday, with approval for its federal recognition a week away.

A task force of the Suffolk County Legislature will play host to owners of previously undisclosed properties in Calverton and Bellport that are large enough to accommodate a casino and could meet the criteria of being located near a major highway.

The tribe has not commented specifically on the viability of sites, but it has begun a process of reviewing nearly a dozen in Nassau and Suffolk. Last month, it visited Brookhaven Airport with Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko.

Meanwhile, tribal trustees and their financial backers at Gateway Casino Resorts of Detroit met last month with representatives of Gov. David A. Paterson to begin preliminary talks on a compact with the state. A compact is an agreement that lays out revenue sharing, site selection and other contractual terms for a casino. Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook confirmed a meeting took place with the tribe last month but declined to elaborate on it.

One of the properties to be offered Thursday is a 50-acre Bellport site located just north of Sunrise Highway at Station Road, a mostly undeveloped parcel that will be presented by the Blumenfeld Group of Syosset, according to a Suffolk Legislature Gaming Task Force aide. A representative for Blumenfeld declined to comment. The site is about a mile from the Brookhaven Town landfill.

The second privately owned site is a 95-acre parcel near the EPCAL property in Calverton. Representatives of the Garden City real estate firm Engel Burman Group, which will present it, didn't return a call Wednesday.

The two private sites join a list of four publicly owned sites Suffolk has offered. They include the Brookhaven Airport, Legacy Village at Yaphank, a parcel at EPCAL in Calverton and the shuttered Shoreham nuclear plant. A person close to the tribe said Calverton and Shoreham are considered unlikely due to their remote locations.

Other private property owners and developers have approached the tribe directly, the person close to the tribe said. One privately owned site the tribe has expressed an interest in is the Parr Meadows parcel off William Floyd Parkway in Yaphank. Co-owner ARV, which is preparing a mixed-use development for the land, said it has not had discussions with the tribe about the site.

Nassau County officials, meanwhile, remain hopeful that two sites could attract the tribe. In April, County Executive Edward Mangano offered the Nassau Coliseum redevelopment project as a potential location. "The casino is very much a realistic scenario," spokesman Michael Martino said.

And Belmont Park racetrack has long been a candidate because of its proximity to New York City.

Gateway Casino's executives have said casinos both downstate and in the Catskills were possible.

Beverly Jensen, a spokeswoman for the tribe, declined to say whether representatives would attend Thursday's meeting. She declined to comment on site selection.

Suffolk Legis. Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon) said the county would like to present as many sites as possible to the tribe to make certain any casino is built in Suffolk. In a statement Wednesday he said, "Through open and honest discussions we hope to partner with the Shinnecock Nation to bring a vehicle for economic development and jobs to Suffolk County residents and members of the Shinnecock Nation."

After the Bureau of Indian Affairs ruling next week, the determination will be published in the federal registry for a month for public comment.