A new voice in the State Senate

Adam Haber declared his candidacy for state senate earlier this month.

Steve Smirti/Herald

New York State Senate Democratic candidate Adam Haber spoke at the Hillcrest Civic Association meeting in Floral Park on Feb. 25. With Sen. Martins vacating his 7th district seat to run for Congress, Haber declared earlier this month that he would seek the 7th district seat. Haber previously ran against Martins in 2014. He also ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Nassau County Executive in 2013. He lost that race to Tom Suozzi.

A major issue for the constituents of the 7th district, which spans from Elmont to Sands Point, is the proposed gambling facility at Belmont Park. On Dec. 29, Nassau Regional Off Track Betting chose the north parcel at the racetrack to house the proposed video lottery terminal parlor.

The proposed 100,000-square-foot facility could house up to 1,000 video lottery terminals, and cost $75 million to construct. A temporary structure would cost $10 million and be funded by bonds, OTB officials said. It could be operational within four to six months. After 18 months of operation, the permanent facility would be constructed, pending approval from the state.

“Forget about the traffic or the crime or any of the other ugly factors that a casino brings to a community,” Haber said.

The main issue, he warned, is that the money generated from the casino doesn’t trickle back into the community. According to Haber, the average loss for each person at a casino is $87.

“That’s expendable money that you could’ve used at a restaurant or buy a pair of shoes, usually extend the economy,” Haber said. “If I took $87 and I went to a nice restaurant in Floral Park and the owner of the restaurant went to the dry cleaner and that guy bought a pair of tires, that money gets recycled and every time it gets recycled, the state and the county charge sales tax.”

That’s not the case with a VLT parlor, Haber said. Instead of having money flow through the community, it disappears, he added.

“That $87 goes into a black hole, it goes to the state,” Haber said.