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Nassau Hub History
Since the American Revolution, the area known as the Nassau Hub has been impacting both the area, the country, and the world.
U.S. Military Era
During the American Revolutionary War, when today's Nassau Hub was known as the Hempstead Plains, the area was used as an Army enlistment center. In the War of 1812 and in the Mexican-American War, it was a training center for Infantry units. During the American Civil War, it was the location of Camp Winfield Scott. In 1898, in the Spanish–American War, the site was known as Camp Black. In 1917, it became Hazelhurst Field #2 and later renamed Mitchel Field in honor of former New York City Mayor John Purroy Mitchel, who was killed while training for the Air Service in Louisiana. Mitchel Field would become home of training, observation, fighter, bomber, and transport squadrons and would become a place of historic events like being the scene of the 1920 and 1925 National Air Races and the site of the world's first "Blind Flight" by Lieutenant James Doolittle on September 24th, 1929. Mitchel Field would eventually be decommissioned in 1961 and is now home to the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Nassau Coliseum, Mitchel Athletic Complex, Nassau Community College, Hofstra University, and Lockheed Martin.
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Era
On January 20th, 1969, ground was broken for the construction of a new indoor arena known as the Nassau County Coliseum. The new arena would be renamed the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in honor of the military history of the area and it opened on February 11th, 1972 to a New York Nets game (today's Brooklyn Nets). The Arena would be most famous for being the home of the New York Islanders from 1972-2015 and 2018-2021. The Nassau Coliseum held countless concerts, family events, and expo shows throughout its history. Many proposals including the failed Lighthouse Project were brought up to either renovate or replace the Nassau Coliseum but nothing ever materialized. The Nassau Coliseum underwent a massive renovation from 2015-2017. After the Islanders moved to UBS Arena in Elmont, NY, the Nassau Coliseum hasn't had a main tenant outside of the soon leaving New York Riptide Lacrosse team and the Long Island Nets developmental basketball team. Despite it's rich history and the countless and priceless memories it brings to the community and beyond, the Nassau Coliseum is outdated and not economically viable in its current state.
Post Islanders Era
On January 12th, 2023, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation released a press release announcing their intentions for the Nassau Hub by turning it into a multibillion-dollar flagship hospitality, entertainment and casino project. The project would include outdoor community spaces, four and five-star hotel rooms, celebrity chef restaurants, experiential events and venues and flexible meeting and convention space, including ballrooms. Other amenities would include high-quality casino gaming, a luxurious day spa, swimming pool and health club, a variety of other entertainment programming, and a world-class live performance venue honoring the long legacy of live music at the Nassau Coliseum. The Las Vegas Sands said they were looking for input from the community regarding development of the project and as a member of the community, I sent them a copy of my proposal. My proposal gives them everything they want in their plans, it also pays tribute to late Las Vegas Sands founder, Sheldon Adelson, which will be explained in "The Sands and the NFL" section.
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