Launching a frontal assault on Las Vegas Sands, archrival Sociedade de Jogos de Macau has requested that the Macanese government repatriate Sites 7 & 8 on the Cotai Strip™, and award them to — surprise! — Stanley Ho. There’s no love lost between ancient oligarchs Ho and Sheldon Adelson but SJM had been sniffing around the moribund Studio City project, so its sudden descent upon land designated for Adelson is a mild jolt.
Let’s be clear that nobody “owns” land in Macao except for the government. Processing of so-called “ownership rights” moves with glacial slowness there; hence Sands has already put $102 million into Sites 7 & 8, in expectation of eventual governmental approval. With Venetian Oriental (aka Sites 5 & 6) running far behind schedule — due to factors beyond Sands’ control — there’s no way the company can proceed expeditiously on those seventh and eighth parcels. However, SJM’s James Bond-themed project would be stymied for the same reason … a shortage of construction workers. Sands is at least taking the matter seriously, as it hasn’t done with other recent threats to its bottom line.
The wild card is, of course, the Macanese ruling junta, which also has designs upon land zoned for casino development. If it reclaims Sites 7 & 8, there’s a strong likelihood that it would take such an extraordinary measure not to bestow favors upon Dr. Ho but to create more space for residential development. This has been articulated as a high priority and with the enclave’s workforce “maxed out,” it’s a prospect that has to be given serious consideration.
Kids in casinos. Without endorsing the strident rhetoric of the Philadelphia Inquirer, we’d like to suggest that Parx Casino General Counsel Robert Bonner pull his head out of his butt where the issue of providing on-site child care is concerned. When your patrons are leaving their tykes in overheated automobiles outside your casino, you’ve got a problem and the onus is upon you to offer remedies.
Airily proclaiming that it “was tried in Atlantic City. It was discontinued because it wasn’t very effective” doesn’t pass the laugh test. It’s proven very effective at Las Vegas‘ off-Strip casinos, whose convenience-driven business model is much closer to those of Pennsylvania‘s casinos than is the day-trip Atlantic City one. Bottom line: Parx just doesn’t want to spend the money, although it might want to consider the cost/benefit of bad publicity, especially if car-incarcerated kiddies start turning up in hospital emergency rooms.
It’s too soon to say, but early returns suggest that adding table games won’t enable Keystone State casinos to keep pace with the Great Recession. Who knew the Penn market would hit saturation point so early — and still without its full casino complement on line?
Pot calls kettle … back into session. It takes an awful lotta nerve for Massachusetts Gov. DeVal Patrick to put the onus for casino approval on the Legislature when it was he who single-handedly derailed the process. Solons like House Speaker Robert DeLeo (left) know a mug’s game when they see one. Patrick may shed crocodile tears for unfilled jobs but it’s his way or the highway. Unless the Lege gives him three “resort casinos” and no racinos, nothing’s going to get done.
As for the opinion of Patrick’s inspector general that designating two generic racinos is a “no-bid contract” that’s at best a fig leaf. Other states have gone and are going that route. Besides, Massachusetts has more than two potential racinos, so there will definitely be some bidding if this goes through. But it won’t and if voters want somebody to blame they have to look no farther than the governor’s mansion.
Back in the day, I was one of those kids looking for things to do in AC as the adults gambled. But guess what? AC did not need day-care because they had (and still have) a beach, boardwalk, rides, arcades, etc.
“… although it might want to consider the cost/benefit of bad publicity, especially if car-incarcerated kiddies start turning up in hospital emergency rooms.”
Or morgues.
“”One child left unattended is too many,” said Parx’s general counsel, Thomas Bonner. “We want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Only it did, three hours later, when Trenton mechanic Alexander Salter Jr. shut his 12-year-old grandson in an SUV for a half-hour without keys, air-conditioning, or water. The temperature outside: an astonishing 94 degrees.”
Given the high temperature + humidity, the “heat effect” was probably over 100 degrees – not counting the heat buildup inside the car.
I don’t feel the onus is on the casinos to find a remedy. I like the idea of a felony charge for any degenerate gambler that thinks for a second it’s ok to leave an unattended child in a car while they gamble. Consider the prison term gamblers anonymous therapy. The only responsibility for the casino is to have security watching the parking lots to identify the crime taking place, call the police and have them waiting to take the felon away. The law doesn’t have to be written specific to casinos either, other entertainment or shopping venues should be included.