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Friday, July 26, 2024
Vol. 12, No. 30
SUMMER DINING
GIFT OF LIFE TO OPEN STOREFRONT
DEMS, D’ESPOSITO REACT TO BIDEN BOWING OUT
PAGES 21-28
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Oyster gardens bloom again in the LI Sound Aids in improving water quality BY C A M E RY N O A K ES
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF TOM SUOZZI
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) helps plant oysters in the Long Island Sound as part of the oyster gardening program to clean the Sound’s water.
The oyster gardening program has returned to Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay once again to aid in cleaning the harbor’s water, but a new face came around this year as Rep. Tom Suozzi joined to get his feet wet in the program. “Protecting and preserving the Long Island Sound, our ‘National Park,’ and its shellfishing heritage, is a top priority and a shared responsibility,” Suozzi said. The community oyster garden program, which is in its third year, is an initiative by the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor to restore
the local body of water. Oysters clean the harbor by filtering the water through their bodies, removing phytoplankton, bacteria, and other small particles. The oysters also aid in promoting the harbor’s biodiversity by providing habitat and protection for other water fauna. Volunteers manage the conservation education program by helping raise oysters in cages throughout the harbor. The cage locations are Tappen Beach Marina, North Hempstead Beach Park, the Hempstead Harbour Club, and Sea Cliff Yacht Club. Continued on Page 37
County advances Sands casino bid BY M I C H A E L MALASZCZYK
The committee’s vote came days after the Nassau County Planning Commission voted unanimously The Nassau County Legislature’s Thursday in favor of the lease. Both votes came amid protests in Rules Committee on Monday voted in favor of allowing Las Vegas Sands favor and against the lease needed to operate the Nassau Coliseum for for the Nevada-based corporation’s the next 42 years and approved the has planned $6 billion project for the start of an environmental review for 72-acre, county-owned Coliseum site a possible casino resort on the prop- in Uniondale. The full project requires the Las erty.
Vegas Sands to win one of three state gambling licenses next year. The 42-year lease, which still requires approval by the full county Legislature and County Executive Bruce Blakeman, gives the Sands control of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. This includes booking events and maintaining the property but not the right to develop the site. In addition to approving the lease, Rule Committee members agreed to be the lead agency on a state-mandated environmental review. Once the environmental review is complete, a separate 99-year lease that would allow Sands to
build on the site would be presented to legislators for another vote. Labor activists with green signs reading “Say Yes to Sands” gathered at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola to support the county’s move forward with the plan in anticipation of Las Vegas Sands potentially winning a state contract. “The casino has no implication on what we’re doing today,” Grant Newburger, director of communications of the AFL-CIO-affiliated Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk counties, said Friday. “Sands is the employer who is going to keep paying for our people that are unionized, local Long Is-
landers. This is the entity that is trying to take over the Coliseum right now. We all live on Long Island. And we just want to feed our families and I want to make sure they can go to work tomorrow.” Anti-casino advocates rallied outside of the building as well, stressing the need to consider the long-term implications of building a casino in Nassau. “The change in the culture [with a casino] is going to be profound,” George Krug, Garden City resident and member of the Say No To The Casino Civic Association said. “What this does to parents looking at Hofstra as a prospective school for their Continued on Page 38