The consensus of local chambers of commerce is that a casino at Belmont Racetrack will be a good thing for the surrounding communities.
Late last month, the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce announced that its member organizations had voted unanimously to support development of a gambling venue at the racetrack.
“The upside is that you’ll have a casino in Nassau County. Anytime people spend money, it helps the economy of the area and it helps the government with increased revenues,” said Christopher Murray, president of the council’s board of directors. “It will attract business and create permanent jobs.”
Murray said he thought the advent of a casino at Belmont would be particularly beneficial to Elmont and the other communities in the shadow of the racetrack.
“This is an area that can use some help. If you have a casino, I assume you’ll see some hotels built,” he said.
The tentative plan presented by the Shinnecock Indian Nation last week projected 12,000 full-time jobs at the casino and hotel and more than 3,450 construction jobs to build the structures.
Plans include a 500-room hotel to accompany the casino the Shinnecocks would operate there. The complex would be built next to the existing grandstand at Belmont. The preliminary Shinnecock plan, presented at a meeting of Elmont residents, also includes renovation of the nearby Long Island Railroad station.
The proximity of the train station to the casino is another big plus for the project, according to Murray.
“Anytime you have a business attracting people from New York City, it’s great for the community,” he said.
The Elmont Chamber of Commerce supports the casino plan, but wants to see evidence that there will be a positive impact on the community.
“Our chamber of commerce supports any well thought-out development. We’re not adverse to having a casino there,” said Christopher Rosado, president of the Elmont Chamber of Commerce. “We want to be sure that any development there, whether it’s a casino or a hotel, has some spillover effect on the community.”
Rosado said he thought the Shinnecock presentation was “professional,” but he added that there wasn’t enough detail presented to make an assessment of the development’s potential benefit for his community.
He also said that in the absence of any endorsements of the development plan from any state agencies or the New York Racing Association, the development concept is just that.
“At the moment, it’s all rhetoric. It’s one thing for the Indian tribe and the politicians to say what they want to do,” Rosado said. “At the moment, I haven’t heard anybody from the relevant state agencies or NYRA say they support it.”
He said the Elmont community would welcome redevelopment at Belmont, but the residents have heard these kind of promises before.
“The Elmont community has been promised too many things by too many people to get excited about something sparking a renaissance in town,” Rosado said.
Stewart Small, president of the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, said his organization is withholding judgment on the proposed casino development.
“As a chamber, the New Hyde Park Chamber hasn’t taken a stance on it,” Small said.
Gary Port, an attorney with the Garden City law firm Port and Sava, and the Democratic challenger for Town of Hempstead supervisor this year, said he has serious reservations about the casino plan and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano’s approach.
“My big problem with anything that Mangano proposes is that he acts like there’s a plan in place. There’s no plan,” Port said. “Gambling could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what the plan is.”
Port said there were unanswered questions about the casino’s impact on the area’s resources, particularly water and sewer services. And he echoed Rosado’s opinion about the need for evidence that the casino development would directly benefit Elmont.
“Let’s come up with a plan that works for Elmont. If it doesn’t benefit Elmont, then it shouldn’t be there,” Port said.
