
Carl Icahn would like to revitalize the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and conserve thousands of jobs along the way, but it is said by him can’t be done unless local union workers are prepared to compromise. Unhappy union workers, shown only at an earlier protest, feel otherwise.
Billionaire Carl Icahn has acquired the Trump Taj Mahal, exchanging $292 million he’s owed for complete ownership of the casino in a deal that was approved by the newest Jersey Casino Control Commission this week.
Icahn says he shall invest another $100 million to revitalize the resort and also to keep the Atlantic City landmark solvent.
‘We think when you pull into the Taj Mahal, it is dirty, it’s dated, and it needs to be freshened up,’ Trump Entertainment CEO Robert Griffin said of this settlement. ‘we feel very strongly that the Taj Mahal will prosper.’
That will be no simple task, but, while the north end boardwalk gambling venue continues to operate at a loss, including being $8.7 million in the red for 1st quarter of 2015. The hotel’s 2,010 rooms were less than 50 per cent full throughout the very first three months for the year, a drastically reduced price than that of the other seven casino hotels that averaged occupancy levels of around 70 to 85 %.
Icahn’t Stand Unions
Icahn is optimistic which he can restore the Taj to its former days of glory. But one key condition the mogul insists on is that neighborhood 54 and also the UNITE HERE unions stop their pursuit of having a court mandate Icahn to reinstate benefits for employees that have been terminated by Trump Entertainment during bankruptcy proceedings.
The other Atlantic City casino under his ownership on Wednesday, Icahn told reporters he sees the Taj being reestablished much like he did with the Tropicana.
‘Although neighborhood 54 seems fixated at all costs on damaging the Taj, and risking its closing and the lack of almost 3,000 jobs, I have always been positive,’ Icahn said.
Icahn also released a letter to regional 54 Taj employees this week that likens the national UNITE HERE organization to a Ponzi scheme that uses dues to enrich the lives of its leadership at a cost that is detrimental its people.
‘It is an fact that is undisputable your union leadership refused to negotiate with the Taj as its losses were mounting also it was pushed into bankruptcy. Your union leadership refused to take into account any concession that would have helped keep the Taj afloat, and that is because your jobs do not matter to the union leadership,’ Icahn composed.
Icahnoclast
The once bustling gambling mecca associated with coast that is east now house to simply eight total casinos, and Icahn now has control of two, or 25 per cent of the city’s gaming venues. That means along with Caesars Entertainment, owners of Bally’s, Caesars Atlantic City, and Harrah’s, Icahn has a monopoly that is small town where the overall game of Monopoly relies.
Thought it’s understandable union workers want and need their wellness insurance and pension advantages reinstated, their tactics might be going about any of it into the way that is wrong. This week, Local 54 delivered a letter to Icahn’s midtown Manhattan office with a list of its demands, along side an apple pie, a dig in reaction to Icahn saying ‘apple pie and roses isn’t the way the world works’ earlier this year.
Jeb Bush Latest GOP Candidate to Enter Republican Presidential Race
Officially official: After many months of unofficial fundraising, Jeb Bush confirmed his bid for the 2016 GOP nomination today. The son and sibling of two past United States presidents is hoping to separate his campaign from their instead family name that is famous. Type of. (Image: Erik Schelzig/AP)
Jeb Bush joined the ever-expanding crowd of Republican candidates into the 2016 presidential election on Monday, by having an announcement at Miami-Dade College in the afternoon. But unlike many of the over a dozen prospects into the GOP field, Bush will be hoping to perform from a position of strength, as he shall be one regarding the favorites for the celebration’s nomination within the early going associated with the campaign.
‘ In almost any language my message will likely be an optimistic one, because i’m certain that we could result in the decades just ahead in the us the greatest time ever become alive in this world,’ the newest Bush governmental dynasty candidate opined, using both English and Spanish to deal with the live and truly massive TV audience.
Columba Bush, a first-generation Mexican immigrant who married Jeb 41 years ago, could prove critical in helping him reach Hispanic voters. (Image: Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty)
Columba Bush, who happens to be hitched towards the politician for 41 years and ended up being originally from León, Guanajuato in Mexico, will certainly be an essential force in a country grappling with immigration and dual-language issues on a basis that is almost daily.
In reality, the story goes that Mrs. Bush did not speak English when even she married Jeb back in 1974. Her mother had been reportedly a migrant worker and food server.
Bush may require the help. Although the former Florida governor is often the best choice in national polls of Republican voters, though that advantage is extremely narrow. In fact, it may become more accurate to examine Bush no deposit bonus planet 7 oz, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio as co-leaders only at that very early stage.
Strong Establishment Candidate
That stated, Bush has plenty of advantages that will make their campaign a strong one. For one, he will haven’t any trouble money that is raising.
One PAC that is super that backing him had hoped to improve $100 million by the finish of June, and while they’ll almost certainly come up short of this goal, it’s clear there will be lots of funding for the Bush war chest.
He will also have numerous endorsements from Republican establishment figures, in addition to a name that voters are familiar with, although his Jeb! 2016 slogan seems to indicate he is attempting never to drive on at least the obvious of coattails. After all, that famous final name is a double-edged sword, based on which voters you are speaking to.
While both his brother and father have previously offered as president, Jeb Bush is attempting to avoid being seen just while the next in line of succession, with a ‘royal’ aspect that many voters may perhaps not be comfortable with.
Campaign Happens To Be Unofficial for Months
Needless to say, by any reasonable standard, Bush’s campaign has been underway for months, but he has carefully skirted the line in order to avoid officially launching a campaign company until now. Throughout the weekend, Bush told CNN that becoming an official candidate will enable him to higher articulate their message to the American people.
‘we think this transition to a candidacy enables me to be more direct about my advocacy of the leadership abilities required for the next president to fix a few things,’ Bush said while in, of all places, Estonia on the weekend. ‘ And as a candidate, contrary to someone who has been listening and learning along the real way, I’ll offer alternatives to the road we’re on also, so i will be more specific on policy.’
Historically Opposed to Gambling
It is uncertain whether we’ll get any details on Bush’s video gaming policies, but his past stances on gambling issues while governor of Florida make it pretty clear as he strongly opposed gambling expansion in the state that he is no fan of casinos. Their stances on Internet gambling are less clear, though it is hard to imagine he could be any friendlier to online poker and casino games than he was to their counterparts that are land-based.
Perhaps more importantly to his campaign, Bush may need to make an impression on conservative voters who’ren’t necessarily on board with his stances on immigration and education, both areas where their wife may become an important campaign ally. He also recently struggled with questions over how he’d have handled the war in Iraq, and fired his campaign manager just last week due to squabbles inside their camp.
New Jersey Casinos See Online And Live Gains In May
The Golden Nugget has seen huge gains in its online gambling operations throughout the year that is past. (Image: GoldenNugget.com)
New Jersey’s online gambling market continues to grow, helping strengthen the remaining eight casinos still operating in Atlantic City.
But while the overall figures are positive, perhaps not all games and casinos are sharing equally within the good fortune.
Based on the nj-new Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), online gambling profits were around $12.47 million in May.
That represents an increase of more than 19 % over last May, when the sites brought in simply $10.47 million.
Online Casinos Up, Poker Down
But that growth has been fueled nearly entirely by online casinos. In comparison, online poker rooms are struggling. Internet poker brought in only under $1.93 million in May, down from $2.27 million in the same month last year.
That figure marks the second-lowest monthly revenue for on-line poker in New Jersey, with only last November trailing the absolute most recent month.
Once accountable for a quarter or more of on line gambling revenues in nj-new jersey, poker is now just about 15 per cent regarding the market.
The 888/World Series of Poker partnership felt most of the damage on the poker side of things. The $831,799 they introduced through their Internet poker partnership ended up being an all-time low, while their only competitor in the state, Borgata/partypoker, held fairly steady.
Holding constant was a theme for the Borgata, as its general Internet revenues were down by about one percent as well.
It’s still the online market leader, collecting about 32 percent of all revenues, but growth generally seems to have stalled: the company has yet to beat out its 2014 performance online in any month in 2010.
On the other hand, several organizations have seen their online offerings lose, none less than the Golden Nugget.
The casino has taken full advantage of the fact that BetfairCasino.com is now operating through them because the closure of the Trump Plaza, and has ridden that new partnership to a clear place that is second the state’s iGaming landscape.
Real time Numbers Promising for Atlantic City
But while the online figures may show a mix of ups and downs for Atlantic City’s casinos, the overall numbers for the industry had been very encouraging in May. Overall, casinos won $208.6 million for the month, 5.3 percent a lot more than those exact same eight casinos took in a year ago.
To be certain, the pie that is overall still smaller: if you consist of three more casinos that were operating last May but have since closed, the revenues are down by about 9 percent.
However with fewer casinos in the mix, the May revenues still represent a exceptional result for the casinos that are still in business.
‘That’s a showing that is strong what our detractors say is a weak market,’ said brand New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman Matt Levinson. ‘Whether you look at the results for the one month or for the very first five months of the year, total gaming revenue is up for the present operators. The size of the marketplace are smaller, but the wellness associated with operators that are current getting stronger.’
The winner that is biggest ended up being Caesars, which saw its monthly revenues increase by 51 percent over last might. That was largely due to a particularly unlucky month in high-stakes table games last year for Caesars.
Only two casinos were down year-over-year, like the Borgata, which saw revenues fall by 4.7 % but nevertheless easily led the city with $56.1 million for the month. Also down was the Trump Taj Mahal, which will be along the way to be obtained by Carl Icahn.
