Nassau Hub: After casino try, there's opportunity

This week's casino license selections set up the possibility of economic revitalization around a baseball stadium and racetrack in Queens and a golf course in the Bronx, while an asphalt-encrusted arena in Nassau County still sits empty.

All three available downstate casino licenses are expected to be issued to Hard Rock Metropolitan Park at Citi Field, Resorts World at Aqueduct and Bally's at Ferry Point, likely eliminating any revisiting of a casino in Nassau.

Now what? After six decades of failure due to a variety of political, financial, legal and other factors, what's next for the Nassau Hub?

Even though Las Vegas Sands pulled out of the casino licensing process in April, the gaming giant still holds the lease on the Hub. But the current lease is thin on details, requiring Sands only to operate the arena and the parking lot. It does not include the original language that required Sands to build a so-called Plan B if the casino fell through.

That's worrisome. Yet for two and a half years, Las Vegas Sands officials have pledged to facilitate an alternative if a casino didn't come to fruition. Now, they must make good on those promises. Sands isn't in the non-casino development business. So it would make sense for the company to transfer the lease and find a capable, visionary developer who understands the area to take this over.

Such a plan could include housing, entertainment, retail, commercial development, health care or something else altogether. When asked earlier this year, our readers suggested everything from an innovation village to housing for seniors or young families to a new neighborhood.

What's needed is a thoughtful developer who can determine what works best and execute it, and elected officials who are willing to say "yes" to a smart, viable plan. And that might require infrastructure funding from the state or zoning changes from the town.

Importantly, this time, many of the pieces are in place and some of the roadblocks are gone. While Sands' plan ultimately failed, the deal Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman made and Sands' initial actions paved the way. Nassau Coliseum is no longer saddled with $100 million in debt. An extensive environmental review is done. The critical Town of Hempstead zoning is in place, though it might require tweaks. Community advocates have been engaged. And local opponents who've said they just didn't want a casino should be ready to embrace an alternative plan.

For Blakeman, this is an opportunity to fill his promises to help move this forward, quickly and effectively. As he considers a run for governor, revitalizing the region would be quite the accomplishment to tout on the campaign trail. And if housing, restaurants, theaters or commercial development starts to rise from the asphalt on Blakeman's watch, he can say he's done what no one else before him could: Transform the Nassau Hub.