Nassau County Off Track Betting has abandoned plans to develop a gaming casino in Westbury, the village mayor announced Saturday.
The OTB had proposed to fill the empty Fortunoff store on Old Country Road with video slot machines, anticipating it would earn $40 million, some of which would go toward state education funding.
Nearly 1,000 people turned out at a public meeting on Long Island last week to protest the proposal.
Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro suggested in a news release that such public pressure as well as the threat of a court fight likely persuaded OTB to back off.
"Most importantly, our local residents played the biggest part in winning this battle," he said. "Finally, I thank OTB and its board and staff for finally coming to the realization that destroying our community was not the right thing to do for the sake of a few dollars."
OTB wanted to buy the building and use 15 percent of it for video slots and off-track betting. No table games like poker or blackjack would have been installed. OTB said the site made the most sense from a business perspective.
Residents feared the casino would have attracted rowdy crowds, clogged traffic on busy Old Country Road and reduced their property values.
