Almost 1,000 local residents attended the Jan. 21 meeting of the Carle Place Civic Association in a continued protest against Nassau Off Track Betting (OTB)’s plan to turn the former Fortunoff’s into a casino.
Residents from Carle Place and its surrounding areas packed the auditorium of Carle Place High School, with overflow seating available—complete with live video and audio feed—in the cafeteria to handle the massive turnout. Civic Association President John Hommel, who served as moderator for a number of guest speakers on both sides of the controversial casino topic, reiterated the obvious feelings of nearly everyone present—that OTB’s proposed casino was not welcome in the community.
“Carle Place’s 100th anniversary is coming up, and for 100 years we have been fighting for everything that we get. We have never shied away for standing up for what we deserve,” he said. “Today, we deserve not to have our standard of living put into jeopardy. We are now facing the biggest threat ever…under no circumstances will we accept a casino being built that will compromise our way of life.”
According to OTB, the proposed casino would take up approximately 15 percent of the space afforded by the former Fortunoff building, and would focus primarily on video lottery terminals (VLT), as well as offering patrons access to restaurant dining and other amenities. Currently no contract has been finalized for the deal, but negotiations are ongoing and OTB expects to sign on the dotted line by the end of January, after which the NYS Gaming Commission will review the case.
Hommel stood at a podium at the forefront of the auditorium, flanked by children of the Carle Place School District brandishing signs bearing slogans such as “Kids Are Against The Casino” and “Don’t Gamble With Our Future.”
“Elevated crime, increased traffic congestion, and home de-valuation are not something that you stand for,” he said. “We will, as always, fight to make sure that doesn’t happen. Carle Place speaks softly but carries a big stick, and stick is the commitment to unity and the relentless pursuit of maintaining our community as we know it….we will determine our fate, not OTB.”
Superintendent of Carle Place Schools David J. Flatley related to the audience that the Board of Education was firmly behind the public disapproval of the casino, citing the well-being of the students under their watch as their primary concern.
“The board of education adopted a formal resolution at their last meeting opposing the casino,” he said. “As superintendent, my first responsibility is keeping the children and workers of this school district safe for teaching and learning, and the presence of that casino less than a mile from this location does not help in that effort.”
Throughout the evening, Hommel kept a firm hand in keeping heated audience reaction to a minimum. For the most part he was successful in keeping a lid on the tensions in the Carle Place HS auditorium, but at no time was that uneasy peace tested more than when OTB General Counsel Arthur Walsh took the mic.
“OTB is taking notes and addressing concerns of the public, and we’re going to take the community’s input as to how to proceed,” he said, amongst occasional pauses while hecklers cried out over him. “However, there is a misunderstanding that I would like to clear up—the NYS Gaming Commission does not select the location of the casino—OTB does. The Commission has no role in site selection. Once we pick a site and go foreword with our application, we will submit it for approval and the Commission will either permit it or veto it.”
Union Gaming representative Rich Baldwin noted that a large chunk of the proceeds from the casino would be used for philanthropic causes.
“Forty-five percent of the net wins of the machines are slated to go to the state to help fund education,” he said. “So, however successful the casino is, 45 percent of that goes to the state.”
Among other issues, Village of Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro expressed concerns over OTB’s casino causing a downturn for the surrounding retailers of the area, leading to hardships for local business owners. He noted that he was calling on help from the highest authority in New York State.
“I have sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo,” he said. “Last week the Governor was on Long Island, and he indicated that this site was not appropriate for a casino, and he said residents’ concerns were legitimate and valid. So, I have asked him to engage himself in this process.”
Alternate location suggestions on the part of both the public and lawmakers opposed to the casino include the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, among others.
Later in the evening, locals made their voices heard during the meeting’s Q&A session. Denise Pertessi of Westbury spoke of OTB’s assertion that the casino would help to pump much-needed revenue into cash-strapped Nassau County, but wondered if the cost would be worth it in the long run.
“You say that you’ll generate revenue and create jobs, but we’ve heard from researchers that casinos destroy downtown areas,” she said. “If the casino is raising money and jobs, how will that offset the countless lost jobs and money from our own local businesses? This will decimate our community, increase traffic in an already congested area and lower our property values.”
When all was said and done, John Genge of Carle Place remained unconvinced that the OTB casino would ever be anything but a veritable pox upon his neighborhood.
“I moved here to have a great place to raise my family, and things like this are going to turn it into a ghetto,” Genge said. “Crime, traffic, distress to local businesses, you name it…a casino that will be open as many as 20 hours a day—meaning people will be gambling practically in our backyard at 3 a.m.— will cause nothing but trouble.”
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