Westbury, NY – North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth and Town Councilwoman Viviana Russell collectively were extremely gratified this past weekend after the Nassau Regional Off Track Betting Corporation (OTB) dropped their plan for a casino at the shuttered Fortunoff Building in Westbury.

OTB made their announcement following weeks of public opposition from Supervisor Bosworth, Councilwoman Russell, Westbury Village Mayor Peter Cavallaro, Nassau County Legislator Siela Bynoe, and Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, among others.

Supervisor Bosworth said of the announcement, “There’s a collective sigh of relief in the Carle Place-Westbury-New Cassel community today. I am pleased that OTB listened to the voice of the people and did the right thing.”

The Town’s opposition of the plan in recent weeks included speaking out at a public meeting at St. Brigid’s school on January 15th, rallying with the community in front of the proposed casino site on January 17th, asking the County Legislature to remove the OTB board members on January 26th, sending a letter to every Westbury, New Cassel and Carle Place resident, and sending a strong letter of opposition to OTB. The Town also filed a lawsuit with the State Supreme Court last week attempting to halt the plan.

After hearing the news of OTB dropping their proposal, Councilwoman Russell said, “As a resident of Westbury and an elected official representing both Carle Place and Westbury, I am so proud of the communities I represent. It was a pleasure to stand with the residents and my colleagues in government in this fight. We stood shoulder to shoulder, united as a community and we won a great victory for us all.”

The proposed location for the casino was in the Town of Hempstead but residents in the adjacent communities in North Hempstead who are just north of Old Country Road also would have been affected, which brought many groups of residents and elected officials together for this effort.

“This is proof that mountains can be moved and casinos halted when residents and elected officials work together on an issue about which they feel passionately,” Supervisor Bosworth said.