Nassau Community College teachers file ethics complaint over school’s $120K spent on casino lobbying
Nassau Community College’s teachers union slapped the school with an ethics complaint for dishing out $120,000 to a lobbying firm backing a controversial casino project, The Post has learned.
The NCC Federation of Teachers accused leaders at the public college of breaking the law when it approved a contract for Shenker, Russo & Clark to back a proposal to build a Sands casino at Nassau Coliseum.
“This is a clear violation of New York State Public Officers Law,” the union said in its complaint, filed with the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government and obtained by The Post.
The deal, which paid the firm to lobby on “casinos” as well as push for education funding, was an improper expenditure and “substantial conflict” that “may jeopardize” NCC’s “not-profit-status,” the complaint claims.
The community college is located next to the Coliseum in Uniondale and the officials have publicly supported the project, which is backed by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and the Republican-led county legislature.
A trustee on NCC’s board – Long Island Federation of Labor president John Durso – is a big booster of the Sands Casino project as a jobs generator.
Jerry Korthbluth, NCC’s vice president, has called the casino project a “win-win for Nassau Community College.”
The casino lobbying comes as NCC has come under criticism for shuttering its dining hall for 11,000 students, replacing it with mobile food trucks.
NCC’s support for the Sands casino contrasts with Hofstra University, the private college nearby that has spearheaded opposition to the project and has filed lawsuits that have temporarily sidelined the plan.
The complaint said the two-year lobbying contract with the firm coincided with backing for the project by Blakeman and county lawmakers.
The complaint slammed NCC for “expending taxpayer dollars and the resources of a public institution of higher education to lobby for a casino and gaming corporation.”
NCC is heavily reliant on county funding for its services.
Lobbying records filed by SR&C and NCC from last November through January said the firm lobbied on “Gaming-Casinos” as well as for education funding.
But in an amended registration filed on May 14, the firm omitted “casinos” from its description of lobbying work for NCC.
The ethics and lobbying commission declined comment, saying confidentiality restrictions bar it from discussing any pending complaint or investigative matter.
But NCC may benefit from a loophole that makes it exempt from scrutiny – at least by state ethics officials.
A 2021 advisory opinion by the ethics agency determined that the Public Officers Law does not cover the activities of the State University of New York’s community colleges, based on a prior complaint involving a community college.
“Only SUNY Administration and the enumerated SUNY Institutions in Education Law – not its community colleges – should be deemed state agencies under Public Officers Law,” the opinion said.
“Such an interpretation accords with the well established and long-standing treatment of SUNY community colleges as distinct from the SUNY system overall in the state’s education law, in federal and state case law, and by the SUNY system itself.”
The opinion concluded that the commission doesn’t have jurisdiction.
“We are not aware of any complaint,” said Richard Lauricella, COO & Chief Legislative Advisor at Shenker, Russo & Clarke.
The Post reached out to NCC, County Executive Blakeman and Sands for comment.
Numerous power players are vying for up to three casino licenses to operate in the New York City area, although state regulators aren’t expected to give the green light to any before 2025.
