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Recent Comments

"Cher" is a four-letter word ...
Deb said: We were at opening night of Cher, We enjoyed it as well as the rest of the people there the show reg...   [More]

This isn't my day
Jeff in OKC said: Business writing is usually very dry. Money isn't funny. McKee puts a different spin on stories, som...   [More]

This isn't my day
dave202 said: I think you should scrap every blog post since you seem to be out of touch with just about everyone....   [More]

Earth to NYT, Earth to NYT ...
David McKee said: Honestly, no. I don't think P&B merit big photo play in the NYT, especially given the brevity of...   [More]

Earth to NYT, Earth to NYT ...
Steve said: Come on, David. Own up. You were picking on the whole thing based on something minor you spotted abo...   [More]

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The Westin scandal ...

Posted At : April 4, 2008 01:47 PM | Posted By : D McKee
Related Categories: Labor,TV,Politics,International,Atlantic City,The Strip,Downtown,Harrah's,Columbia Sussex

... is growing legs. No, not these kind of legs. (Well, that too.) It's also unearthed another strange-but-true story of business as usual at Columbia Sussex. That $25/bedbug bounty at the Trop is unwontedly generous by ColSux standards -- a veritable king's ransom -- even if it means the housekeeping staff is going to have do its work during the graveyard shift. (That would be interesting.)

Also, with anywhere from 12 to 22 rooms to clean, per maid per floor, how much time is the hard-worked housekeeping staff going to have to go Bug-Hunting For Dollars? (The "bring 'em in alive" proviso is the best part -- and provides the company with a nifty escape clause.)

Then again ... I wouldn't oppose this bounty program being put into practice at all hotels. Could ColSux have actually had an industry-leading idea? Eureka!!!

Speaking of good ideas, repositioning the Golden Gate as a boutique hotel would qualify (although the rooms are awfully small by contemporary standards). That's assuming the Gate has its Culinary Union contract in order. How's that coming, by the way?

Dead man walking: The Gibber speaks. Few listen. Mismanaging an ongoing health crisis will do that to you.

Just a big coincidence. That's what Harrah's Entertainment is saying about the ongoing retrenchment of its overseas projects, now that it's out of Slovenia just weeks after ditching its Baha Mar resort. Oh, and don't forget the second thoughts Harrah's has been having about that London Clubs acquisition. Nope, no connection to that massive new debt load. Nothing to see here. Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain.

We're building projects that will provide as many as 100,000 new jobs, Jeremy Aguero forecasts. But he don't have places for them to live. We'd better get working on that hadn't we? Or what will happen?

As the affordable-housing market has shriveled over the last several, condo-addled years, I've long thought we'd reach this point -- where the service workers who will form the backbone of this expansive, sometimes dazzling future can't afford to live here or are simply crowded out of the housing market. It's ultimately self-defeating.

Every time a developer bulldozes some low-cost housing to build mansions in the sky, who's replacing those homes and apartments? And just where are Mr. Big's maids, maintenance people, security staff expected to live? Down with the other homeless people who were found squatting at the Klondike? Guess so.

Big Bang. If you can't get enough of implosion videos, the Press of Atlantic City has added its own to its coverage of the demolition of the old Sands garage. Warning: The ultimate collapse is obscured when some gawker steps right in front of the news camera ... although karmic punishment is quickly dispensed, as his bald spot is now showcased for the entire Internet-linked world.

TV's best show returns tonight. Be there or be square.

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