Poser says she won’t visit county legislature Monday in casino probe

Susan Poser

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman ordered Hofstra University president Susan Poser to appear in front of the county legislature next week. But it seems Blakeman and others will have to wait until at least February.

New York Supreme Court judge Sarika Kapoor — the same judge who ruled Nassau County violated the state’s Open Meetings Laws — issued a restraining order Thursday against the county until Feb. 26.

Blakeman and Nassau County Legislature presiding officer Howard Kopel told reporters Wednesday they issued the subpoena to Poser, demanding she sit before county lawmakers in Mineola on Monday. This comes after Blakeman claims an email involving some of the leaders in Hard Rock International’s bid to build a casino near Citi Field in Queens was working with Poser to try and block the Las Vegas Sands from pursuing their own casino project in Uniondale.

Attorneys representing Poser and Hofstra argued to the court the subpoenas were a “transparent effort to harass and retaliate against Hofstra University for having prevailed” in its case late last year potentially forcing the county to start the process again in finalizing a lease for the Nassau Coliseum site in Uniondale — where the Sands wants to push a $4 billion redevelopment project that will include, among other amenities, a casino.

According to Hofstra’s motion to quash the subpoena, just five days before Blakeman’s office announced the subpoenas, the university wrote a letter to the court asking it to declare the county lacked proper authority when it allowed Las Vegas Sands to take over part of the Coliseum’s lease.

Hofstra turned to Kapoor because they also claimed Blakeman’s subpoenas were an “effort to circumvent the judicial process,” claiming “the county legislature lacks authority to issue subpoenas to its litigation adversary in an effort to ‘investigate’ that very same (annulled) lease that has been fully litigated,” according to court filings.

At a news conference Wednesday, Blakeman shared an email he says was sent by a lobbyist for Hard Rock Café Inc. to an executive with the Florida-based entertainment company, as well as an executive with an asset management company tied to New York Mets majority shareholder and Hard Rock International partner, Steven Cohen.

In that email, the lobbyist reportedly sent a link to a news story about the Nassau casino efforts, and noting that he will be “checking with Hofstra to see if they will oppose this move.”

It’s that last sentence that Blakeman has described as the smoking gun, saying this proves his claims that Hofstra is working with Hard Rock to derail casino plans in Nassau in favor of the project in Queens, since it’s unlikely both could be approved.

Blakeman told the Herald he believes this motion is just an attempt by Hofstra to duck accountability.

“I think it's very suspicious,” he said. “It is disingenuous, and quite frankly, it's ironic. Hofstra — who has called for transparency in this process — is now trying to hide from the inquiry that the legislature is taking. How about a transparent process from them?”

Poser was scheduled to appear before the county legislature Monday morning. But a Hofstra spokeswoman told the Herald in a statement on Thursday that “as a result of Hofstra’s court filing contesting the Nassau County Legislature’s subpoenas, President Poser is not required to testify on Monday.”

But Blakeman is still hopeful the court will ultimately uphold his subpoenas, suggesting any effort by Kapoor to do so would “interfere with a separate branch of the government.”

Hard Rock International — owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida — denies any communication with Poser or Hofstra when it comes to the Nassau County project.

“Hard Rock has not had any communication whatsoever with Hofstra University or its president related to Nassau,” a Hard Rock spokesperson told the Herald in a statement on Wednesday. “We are committed to integrity, honesty and transparency in the (request for application) process for a downstate license in New York, and will not waver from that position.

But Blakeman doesn’t believe Hard Rock.

“I'm not going to go into what our lawyers have right now,” he told the Herald. “But I think once the hearings take place, it will be very insightful.”

“If Hofstra has nothing to hide, then come to the legislature and explain why this email was sent. But, obviously, they were coordinating.”