Las Vegas just lost a lot of class. Elaine Wynn died yesterday and, with her, a golden age in Sin City. She tempered then-husband Steve Wynn‘s worst impulses (albeit not enough of them) as the ministering angel of Wynn Resorts and its precursor, Mirage Resorts. We feel unqualified to write Ms. Wynn’s obituary but will hasten to note that the tributes have come flowing in from far and wide, including from competing casino companies, which is quite unusual. (Try to imagine Frank & Lorenzo Fertitta penning a verbal bouquet to Tilman Fertitta. You can’t.) Ms. Wynn consistently strove to make Las Vegas a better place and we thank her for that. We’d love to be remembered so fondly when we shuffle off this mortal coil … but we’re no Elaine Wynn.
There has been so much news of an urgent nature elsewhere that our Atlantic City correspondent has been neglected. So we’ve dug up the mailbag and gleaned the following from a month’s worth of dispatches …
Rumor has it that Bart Blatstein‘s water park is insolvent. While Blatstein’s hotel venture at the Showboat is said to be profitable, the water park has been a bust. But we can’t fault Bart for trying. It was a good idea, at least on the surface. The warning signals emerged in mid-March, when a judge ordered Blatstein to pay a contractor $533,000 plus 12% interest. The mogul had previously agreed to pay said contractor $50K a month but defaulted after two months. Two other contractors are owed $1.8 million and $3.4 million respectively. Could the Showboat have a new owner soon?
If a water park didn’t float in Atlantic City, what hope is there for a $1 billion combination of manmade ski slope and 20,000-seat baseball/soccer stadium. Can you say ‘boondoggle’? We thought you could. Two minor-league baseball teams have already failed in A.C. and the preposterousness of the ski slope should be obvious. Imagine lugging skis, boots, etc., to the Boardwalk. As for the soccer/baseball venture, don’t look for Atlantic City’s 39,000 souls to sustain it. Our correspondent couldn’t resist writing to The Press of Atlantic City and asking, “Is Atlantic City going to donate the park so it could be used for a for profit enterprise? Some people now enjoy the park space for free, including some homeless persons.”
A more viable idea is one to convert the Claridge Hotel theater into an e-sports venue—something for the kiddies—not to mention raising an 800-room/1,200-apartment on the old Sands Casino site. (Will the cost prove prohibitive?) The devil being in the details, there are “funding gaps.” And who’s expected to cover them? That’s right, the long-suffering taxpayers of New Jersey. It’s the Garden State version of the Oakland A’s stadium kerfuffle.
Operating profits are out for Atlantic City’s nine casinos and it doesn’t look good for some of them. Put it this way: Resorts Atlantic City and Bally’s Atlantic City may soon be rattling their tin cups in Trenton. Before taxes and other expenses, Resorts made just $5 million while Bally’s eked out $2.5 million. Sitting pretty were Borgata ($208 million), Hard Rock Atlantic City ($135 million) and Ocean Casino Resort ($103 million). The latter was feeling sufficiently flush to announce plans for $50 million in capex investments this week. Splendid! Tropicana ($82 million) was the best-performing of the Caesars Entertainment threesome, followed by Harrah’s Resort ($64 million) and perennial underachiever Caesars Atlantic City ($57 million). Golden Nugget made $18 million, showing it to be by far the sturdiest of the grind joints, much to our surprise. Borgata, by the way, got panned by our man on the Boardwalk, as its Bread & Butter eatery was deemed “barely OK and overpriced.” You expected different from fee-crazed MGM Resorts International?
For a closer look at Bally’s poverty, our reporter made a St. Patrick’s Day excursion. On a Friday night, Longo’s Italian restaurant was closed (strange timing) and nobody was in the Park Place Prime bar. Too bad, as they apparently missed out on some good chow. The official St. Paddy’s event sounds depressing: “decent” food and “limited” prizes, plus the briefest possible appearance by the property president. The walk from the lobby to self-parking is said to be longest in Atlantic City, worse even than that of Hard Rock A.C. “The valet will have one employee on duty for people who have a car in their valet garage. When I spoke to one of the valet people, he informed me of ‘VIP’ parking. When the valet input is closed, the employee will park your car outside, give you a standard ticket, for only $20 cash to the employee.”
On the other hand, our man had nothing but rave notices for the new Edelman Fossil Park & Museum: It “features something no other museum in the world offers… an active fossil quarry where you and your family can search and dig for real 66 million-year-old fossils! I brought one home myself! About a month ago, Philadelphia TV news stated there was a 7,000-person wait list for the fossil dig.” Head to 66 Million Mosasaur Way, Mantua, NJ 08080 and say S&G sent you. They’ll have no idea what you’re talking about.
From the police blotter: “An Atlantic City cop arrested a woman at the Tropicana. She was handcuffed when he put her into his police car. She stated he sexually assaulted her in his police car while she was in handcuffs. He denied it, but Tropicana cameras proved otherwise, so he is in jail.” Thanks for the heads-up, Trop. We’ll say something nice about you in the near future.
Air show sorta-kinda returns. Yes, there will be an air show this summer on the Boardwalk … civilian craft only. It’s being presented by Herb Gillen Airshows July 15 and 16. Our scribe points out that McGuire-Dix AFB will be hosting the Thunderbirds on July 17 and 18, 20 miles from Atlantic City. Would it be too much to ask for a flyover? Government money is going to far more frivolous items nowadays.
Wonder where unused Covid-19 funds are going? Well, on the Boardwalk they’re being funneled into the Mayor Marty Small Scholarship, another self-aggrandizing move by Hizzoner, the disgrace of the Garden State Democratic Party. Let’s be clear that none of the 100-odd $10,000 scholarships is being personally funded by Mayor Small, who said breezily, “It’s free money, and you won’t have to worry about scrounging up change to go to college.” Trouble is, the money is running out (as was inevitable) and Mayor Marty is thumping the tub for a bailout. Perhaps he could find the needed lucre amid the City Hall couch cushions: Atlantic City received $125 million from New Jersey in 2023 and $120 million last year. Bastille Day is July 14, of course. It will also mark the beginning of Mayor Small’s trial for various and sundry (alleged) malfeasances while in office. Since the case, dating back to 2023, involves the physical abuse of a minor, we can only say that justice delayed is proving to be justice denied.
In a pinchpenny move, the feds have churlishly rescinded $10 million intended to pave streets and install traffic lights in A.C. It’s no secret that Atlantic City is a minority-heavy town and a grindingly poor one (the two are not unrelated). The paving/lighting funds were meant to redress environmental injustices. But the new administration’s priorities do not include helping the poor and downtrodden. Quite the opposite.
And on that cheery thought, we take our leave for the day.