The casino connection

Daily Point

Can you tell me how to get … to the Nassau Hub?

Talk about good timing.

For years, Nassau County has undertaken an analysis of transit options for the Nassau Hub, the land around Nassau Coliseum. The effort, known as the Nassau Hub Transit Initiative, included a study of alternatives for connecting the Coliseum and other nearby sites with local Long Island Rail Road stops, centered around bus rapid transit. The beginnings of the initiative came under former County Executive Laura Curran, who had included studying transit at the Hub within the county’s four-year capital plan. The goal: Update an initial analysis, which had been completed in 2014, and find “realistic and practical transit improvements” that could be made.

While details, past studies and maps of the area are available at nassauhubtransit.com, it's been a relatively quiet process and little new had happened recently.

But late last year, with little fanfare, the county Department of Public Works announced it planned to hold a virtual public meeting on Jan. 18, to discuss the initiative and present and gather feedback on some of the bus rapid transit options.

At that point, Las Vegas Sands was already making connections and having conversations about applying for one of the three available downstate casino licenses — and building a casino resort at the Nassau Hub — but nothing had been announced. Sands’ announcement came last week.

So now, that meeting — scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday and requiring registration via the initiative’s website — likely will take on a new level of significance and interest.

One county official told The Point that the more recent analysis already has produced some results, especially after looking particularly at potential connections from the Hub to either the Mineola or Westbury train stations. That study, the official said, found Westbury was the “preferred alternative,” as it included a “more direct connection” and would “avoid heavier traffic and congestion” found near Mineola. But the county could “revisit” a connection to Mineola in the future, too, the official noted. Those findings likely will be discussed further on Wednesday.

Could Sands’ upcoming bid include some of the initiative's existing ideas or new ones of their own?

So far, Sands hasn’t provided detail on what its transportation or infrastructure commitments would look like. Perhaps Wednesday’s meeting will be a first look at what’s possible.

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Talking Point

NY district maps: Jigsaw pieces still missing

New York’s extended redistricting season plods forward in local forums and state courts, with the Town of Hempstead at the moment among the loudest of battlegrounds.

Lawyers Frederick K. Brewington and Randolph McLaughlin, representing civil rights organizations, last week warned the town’s elected officials and its temporary redistricting commission that a councilmanic map as currently proposed “cracks the Black and Latino community in Elmont/Valley Stream into two separate districts.”

They asserted in a letter for the record — possibly relevant if there’s litigation — that while more than 38% of the town’s population are Black and Latino, those voters are “only afforded an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice” in 1 of 6 districts.

The commission is due to convene again Thursday at Town Hall at 2:30 p.m.

Beyond Long Island, the Assembly’s own lines are still in limbo for the next election. On Tuesday, a state appellate panel heard arguments in the Nichols et al v. Hochul case out of Manhattan. Republicans are challenging a Democratic judge’s decision to have the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission redraw the lower chamber’s lines — rather than a special master, which worked well for the GOP regarding New York’s House and State Senate districts.

— Dan Janison @Danjanison

Pencil Point

Presidential games

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Final Point

Numbers games

• China, which has been roundly criticized for underreporting COVID-19 figures, now says that nearly 60,000 people have died since the country lifted its strict “zero COVID” policy last month. But here’s the thing: What if China is still underreporting?
• The Babylon school district kept one teacher on staff for more than 10 years despite “credible” complaints about sexual harassment from seven female student-athletes. Exactly how many credible complaints should it take to fire a teacher?
• After never exceeding $50 billion annually before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, insured losses from natural disasters in the U.S. now regularly exceed $100 billion, including $120 billion last year. That’s not only because the properties are more valuable.
• Assemb. Fred Thiele, architect of a voter-approved tax to build affordable housing on the East End, said passing the bill to establish the fund was easy but implementing it will be difficult. The bill took 21 years to pass.
• GOP Rep. Don Bacon, asked about the classified documents scandals involving President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, said, “I think there’s blame to go around to both sides of this. And I think if you’re an honest statesman, you just can’t point fingers to the other guy and deny that there was problems on our side as well.” Wanted: more honest statesmen.
• GOP Rep. James Comer, new chairman of the House Oversight Committee, also said he cares about documents being mishandled no matter which political party is implicated. But he’s only demanding communications and other information in one of the cases.
• Transcripts and documents released after the House Jan. 6 committee’s final report went public show that Twitter exempted former President Donald Trump from routine monitoring performed on every other Twitter account. So conservatives are right — there is a social media bias.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie