New York community college teachers file ethics complaint over school’s $120K spent on casino lobbying

Wednesday, May 15, 2024 8:26 PM
Photo: Las Vegas Sands Corporation (courtesy)/rendering of proposed casino-resort in Uniondale, NY
  • Carl Campanile, New York Post

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.