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Showing posts with label Steve Perskie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Perskie. Show all posts

Sunday, October 16, 2016

40 years later, was A.C.'s casino gamble worth it?





In this photo, gamblers sit at slot machines at the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City, N.J. A measure approved by a New Jersey Assembly ...

... staunchest opponents of the ballot question that would amend the state Constitution to permit casino gambling outside the seaside gambling resort.




New documents obtained by the Associated Press show groups that oppose and support the November 8th casino expansion question have spent ...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Atlantic City casinos saw a revenue decline in September, led by a large drop in earnings at the now closed Trump Taj Mahal.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & VIDEO ON LINK

40 years later, was A.C.'s casino gamble worth it?


ATLANTIC CITY — Steven Perskie thinks about the legacy of legalizing gambling here each time he sees the city’s skyline.
It’s been nearly four decades since Perskie, dubbed “the father of casino gaming,” wrote the law that allowed casinos in the struggling seaside city.
“The question I keep asking myself is a version of: What would Atlantic City have looked like in the last 40 years?” Perskie, 71, said Thursday. “What would Atlantic City look like today? What would the area look like today if we hadn’t done it or if we hadn’t succeeded?”
With the 40th anniversary of the Nov. 2, 1976, passage of the gambling referendum approaching, he isn’t the only one asking such questions.
On Nov. 8, the state will ask voters to again approve gaming, this time in North Jersey. The vote will come in the wake of five casino closings, 10,000 lost jobs and a city repeatedly near default following the opening of casinos in nearby states.
For a great part of the past four decades, Atlantic City casinos created thousands of jobs, millions in tax revenue and billions in capital investments while making Atlantic City an East Coast gambling mecca. Tourism in the city increased five-fold in the first decade. Neighboring communities, such as Egg Harbor and Galloway townships, saw enormous growth as people flocked to the region for work.
But critics say casinos didn’t fulfill all the promises. The gambling halls put small establishments out of business by offering dining, shopping and entertainment all in one building. Gaming tax revenue helped pay for Atlantic City housing and development, but the city still suffers from blighted areas and vacant properties, some right along the Boardwalk.
“It delivered a tremendous amount of jobs, a tremendous amount of revenue. In a lot of ways, a tremendous amount of excitement,” said Bryant Simon, a historian and author of “Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America.” “But I don’t think anybody in 1976 — that night on the Boardwalk it was bone-chillingly cold and people danced to celebrate — imagined what the city looks like now.”
For Perskie, a former state lawmaker and gaming regulator, gambling didn’t accomplish everything it could have. But he said the community wouldn’t have a “small fraction of the economic viability” it has had if the referendum hadn’t passed.
“The legacy is we put thousands of families in a much stronger economic position. We created a very viable industry,” Perskie said. “We created opportunities for people that wouldn’t have ever possibly been otherwise available.”
Indeed, the casinos offered good-paying jobs with benefits. Workers could afford to “buy a home, send away your kids to college and retire with dignity,” said Chuck Baker, a 57-year-old city resident, casino union member and former Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort cook.
But in recent years, as competition increased, casinos told workers they couldn’t afford the labor contracts, Baker said. He blamed “hedge-fund operators” who took money out of the properties and sent it “to New York.”
“That meant more money for the properties,” he said. “They didn’t want to take care of the workers.”
The Taj Mahal closed Monday amid a labor strike over issues including health benefits and breaks.
The Casino Association of New Jersey said the industry has “more than held up its end of the bargain” through the billions it generated in tax revenue and economic impact.
“Perhaps it took five casino closures and the unfortunate loss of some of those economic benefits for many to fully understand the significant economic impact generated by our industry for not only the city and the state, but the regional economy as well,” a statement from the association said. “Even with the right-sizing of our industry, Atlantic City remains one of the largest casino markets in the country and one of the most significant economic engines in the Garden State.”
At its height, the casino industry employed more than 50,000 people, including a quarter of Atlantic City’s population. Gaming-tax revenue for the state peaked at $502 million in 2006, and the city’s ratable base topped off at $20 billion in 2008.
But after five casino closings in three years, the gambling halls now employ about 21,000 workers, annual state gaming revenue hovers around $200 million and the city’s ratable base is down to $6.6 billion. Casinos opening in neighboring states, a consolidation of casino companies and the 2008 national recession have diminished the city’s gambling market.
Good-paying jobs and tax dollars weren’t the only promises of the casino referendum. The Casino Control Act of 1977 was intended to spark the city’s tourism industry and spur urban redevelopment.
But casinos alone reaped the benefits of the subsequent tourism boom, according to a recent report from New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning think tank. There were 242 food-and-drink establishments in the city before casinos arrived. By 1996, just 142 were left, according to the report.
Casinos have paid more than $4 billion in real estate taxes and funded $350 million in Atlantic City housing and development projects. But the NJPP report said the promise of the city’s urban renewal was largely ignored.
New Jersey created the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority in 1984 and offered casinos two options: spend 1.25 percent of gross revenue on CRDA-issued bonds for urban and economic development, or pay a 2.5 percent tax to the state.
“Casinos chose the first option. But over time, the redevelopment mission was diluted by the Legislature, allowing CRDA to spend money on tourism-related activities that directly benefited the casinos,” the report said.
Ironically, proponents of North Jersey casinos are promising hundreds of millions in gambling tax revenue to redevelop Atlantic City, nearly an identical argument for gambling advocates in 1976.
Perskie blamed “local political forces” for not doing “what had to be done to take maximum advantage of the situation.”
“For each success story there is a failure story, because there are areas of the city that did not receive from city or county or local government the kind of attention, the kind of imagination, the kind of daring thought processes that they were entitled to,” Perskie said. “And as a result, some areas of the city didn’t benefit as they should have.”
In 1977, Gov. Brendan Byrne signed the Casino Control Act in front of nearly 3,000 people outside Convention Hall, or what is now called Boardwalk Hall. A band played “Happy Days Are Here Again.”
But Byrne expressed uncertainty as he signed the law with gold pen after gold pen.
“I do know that this is an historic event,” he said. “But I don’t know if history will view what we have done here with success or failure.”
COMMENT: 
School Of Rock
I think it's quite obvious and safe to say that casinos have been a complete disaster for AC! They put half the longtime local businesses out of business. Were responsible for the greed and speculation that has left 1/3 of AC a vacant wasteland. Crime rose astronomically. Practically all the beautiful buildings in AC have been demolished. Practically zero middle/upper class residents are left...half of AC's population was white when casinos came...now maybe 10% and they're old and being taxed out and AC's population is now practically all government dependent uneducated minorities. The school system is an overpriced failure. Massive, hulking empty casino towers line the Boardwalk while Atlantic County has the highest foreclosure rate and property taxes in the country. If I were Perskie, I'd be ashamed to speak about his role in this epic debacle!


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Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Debate Heats Up Over Gambling for Northern New Jersey




Debate Heats Up Over Gambling for Northern New Jersey

Voters will weigh in this fall on whether to allow casinos outside Atlantic City


New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, at a rally Friday in support of a referendum that would allow casinos outside Atlantic City. ENLARGE
New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, at a rally Friday in support of a referendum that would allow casinos outside Atlantic City. PHOTO: WAYNE PARRY/ASSOCIATED PRESS


By 
RUTHERFORD, N.J.—After a bitter battle over a proposed state takeover of Atlantic City, supporters of a gambling expansion are ramping up efforts to convince voters to allow two new casinos in the northern part of New Jersey.
Lawmakers agreed in January to allow a ballot referendum this fall on a proposal to expand casinos into northern New Jersey.
Gambling parlors are restricted to Atlantic City, and some fear the city’s financial problems—and the lengthy, acrimonious debate over how to keep it out of bankruptcy—may have soured the state’s voters on casinos.
“I think it’s going to be extremely difficult to pass gaming in northern New Jersey,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat. “People are seeing what’s going on with gaming and looking at all the problems and reading all the headlines…and saying, ‘Is that really what we want for our town?’ ”
Mr. Sweeney, a co-sponsor of the proposed constitutional amendment to allow gambling in northern New Jersey, said he isn’t “giving up yet” on the Nov. 8 referendum. On Friday, he attended a rally in support of the expansion in Rutherford, near the Meadowlands site where New York real estate mogul Jeffrey Gural wants to build a $1.3 billion casino in partnership with Hard Rock International.
Mr. Gural, who operates the Meadowlands racetrack, said he suspended his plans for a public campaign in support of the referendum while lawmakers spent the last five months debating a financial rescue package for Atlantic City.
“All you were reading were these dire predictions of doom from Atlantic City and we weren’t going to be able to counter that,” Mr. Gural said.
Last week, Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, signed legislation that gives the city, which opposes a state takeover, until October to balance its budget. Now that the Atlantic City legislative battle is over, “we’ve been able to go on the offensive,” Mr. Gural said.
Mr. Gural said he is planning an aggressive social media and public campaign ahead of the November election, but doesn’t know yet how much he will spend.

‘All you were reading were these dire predictions of doom from Atlantic City and we weren’t going to be able to counter that.’
—Jeffrey Gural, who wants to add a casino at the Meadowlands
Lawmakers and business leaders from southern New Jersey have said they would vigorously lobby against the referendum, which they fear could devastate the region’s economy if approved.
Assemblyman Chris Brown, a Republican who represents Atlantic City, said he has already begun working with southern New Jersey chambers of commerce to organize an opposition effort. As for financing, the campaign plans to raise “as much as we can” for social media messaging, public town halls and television advertisements, he said.
“We’re going to point out to families in New Jersey that approving casinos in north Jersey will not solve any problems, in fact it will only exacerbate the competition with Atlantic City,” Mr. Brown said.
Supporters of the expansion said they were heartened by a Monmouth University poll released this week that found voters are split, 48% to 48%, on whether to allow casinos in northern New Jersey. Previous polls showed a majority of voters opposed to allowing casinos outside Atlantic City.
Mr. Christie, who brokered the deal to allow a referendum on a gambling expansion, said on Wednesday that he hasn’t decided whether he will campaign in support of it. The fight over a state takeover of Atlantic City put the referendum’s chances for success “at almost a complete flat line,” Mr. Christie said last week.

“All it would do would be to ameliorate, on a short-term basis, the cash hemorrhaging,” said Steven Perskie, a former chairman of the state Casino Control Commission. “North Jersey casinos are the single greatest threat to Atlantic City’s future.”Supporters of northern casinos have tried to frame the proposed expansion as advantageous to Atlantic City, saying the city stands to gain up to $200 million a year in redirected tax revenue from the new casinos. But opponents doubt that Atlantic City would get that much, or that it would make up for the blow caused by the increased competition.
A Fitch Ratings analysis released Thursday said the expansion of gambling in northern New Jersey could cause up to four Atlantic City casinos to close.
Mr. Sweeney said he believes northern New Jersey casinos would more likely compete with casinos in New York and Pennsylvania than those in Atlantic City.

MORE ON NEW JERSEY CASINOS



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Monday, May 4, 2015

Corruption, New Jersey & Casino Gambling







GREAT PHOTO GALLERY - CLICK ON LINK





State of corruption: N.J.'s most infamous political scandals


By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comThe Star-Ledger
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on May 03, 2015 at 10:30 AM, updated May 04, 2015 at 9:50 AM
 

George Washington Bridge Controversy

George Washington Bridge Controversy

WASHINGTON — In New Jersey, it seems, politics and corruption go together like bacon and eggs in one of the state's numerous diners.

Prominent politicians from all levels of government have been involved in scandal. Here's a sampling through the years.

ABSCAM

Harrison Williams (D-N.J.) served 23 years in the U.S. Senate until he was
convicted of bribery and conspiracy for agreeing to help a fake Arab sheikh, who actually was engaged in an FBI undercover operation, in exchange for money. The Abscam scandal made it to the big screen in 2013 with the movie "American Hustle." Williams resigned in 1982 before he could be expelled and served two years in prison. Also convicted in the scandal were U.S. Rep. Frank Thompson (D-Trenton) and Camden Mayor Angelo Errichetti.

'I AM A GAY AMERICAN'

Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned as the state's chief executive in August 2004 following revelations that he was engaged in an extramarital relationship with a man he had put on the state payroll despite spotty qualifications. McGreevey, who was married to a woman at the time, came out as a gay man at a press conference at which he announced his sexual orientation. The resignation, which came as McGreevey faced a possible sexual harassment lawsuit from Golan Cipel, an Israeli he had named as his homeland security adviser, ended a tumultuous two-and-a-half-year governorship for the Democrat. It was followed by a nasty and public divorce from his wife, tell-all books and late-night TV jokes.

WANT TO BUY A KIDNEY?

In 2009, federal prosecutors indicted 44 people, on charges of taking bribes to clear the way for building permits, with one person even offering to sell a human kidney. The case, known as Bid Rig III, ensnared three mayors, two legislators and more than 20 candidates for public office, who were charged with taking cash bribes to help green-light questionable development projects. Separately, five Orthodox rabbis from Brooklyn and the Jersey Shore were charged with laundering millions of dollars through various religious charities. Related to the scandal, the state's community affairs commissioner resigned after the FBI searched his home and office. The investigation was begun by then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

'I AM THE LAW'

Frank Hague, Jersey City mayor for three decades, was never convicted of a crime despite several investigations. His control over the city's political machinery was absolute. He retired a multimillionaire on a mayor's salary, allegedly because of the bribes he received.



A FAVOR FOR A FRIEND?

New Jersey's senior U.S. senator, Democrat Robert Menendez, was indicted April 1 on 14 criminal corruption counts for intervening with federal agencies on behalf of a friend and campaign donor, Dr. Salomon Melgen, in exchange for gifts, trips and campaign contributions. Menendez says he's done nothing wrong.

THE TORCH IS LIT

U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, nicknamed the Torch, tried to win a second term in the upper chamber after seven terms in the U.S. House, but withdrew two months before the election following allegations that he received illegal campaign contributions from businessman David Chang. Democrats scrambled to replace Torricelli on the ballot with former Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who agreed to run again. Torricelli later was admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee.

BAD GAMBLES

Even before legalized gambling came to Atlantic City, politicians were engaging in bad bets. Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, the subject of the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire," was a political boss who ruled over Atlantic City during the 1920s and developed relationships between city officials and organized crime during Prohibition. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of income tax evasion in 1941. Casino gambling brought a new era of corruption. Mayor Michael Matthews lost his post in 1984, two years after winning his seat, and went to prison after admitting to taking a $10,000 bribe. The mayor who succeeded Matthews, James Usry, pleaded guilty to a violation of campaign finance law after being indicted in 1990 on charges of conspiracy, bribery and official misconduct.

TROUBLES IN NEWARK

The state's largest city has had its share of corruption.
Former U.S. Rep. Hugh Addonizio left the Capitol for Newark City Hall, where he was charged in 1970 with consipracy to receive $1.4 million in kickbacks from city contractors. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Another Newark mayor, Sharpe James, spent 18 months behind bars after his 2008 fraud conviction for illegally steering city land to Tamika Riley, described as his mistresss, who then sold it at a profit. He later was ordered to repay his campaign committee $86,504 because he improperly used those funds to cover his legal expenses. James was succeeded as Newark mayor by Cory Booker, now a U.S. senator.

A CONVICTION IS NO BARRIER TO RE-ELECTION

William Musto, mayor of Union City and a state senator, was convicted of racketeering following a trial in which a former aide, Bob Menendez, was a prosecution witness. The day after being sentenced to prison in 1982, Musto was re-elected mayor. He didn't serve his term but did spend more than three years behind bars.

A CAPITAL OFFENSE

The head of New Jersey's capital city, Trenton Mayor Tony Mack, was found guilty in 2014 of taking bribes from developers in exchange for selling city-owned property at below market value. The payments came just two years after Mack was elected to office.


http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/05/state_of_corruption_njs_most_infamous_political_scandals.html


David Cay Johnston did a stunning job documenting the questionable decisions and coverup of the New Jersey Gambling Commission when Steve Perske was chairman.  

Great book, worth the read, well researched and footnoted:

TEMPLES OF CHANCE How America Inc. Bought Out Murder Inc to Win Control of the Casino Business.


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Friday, August 30, 2013

$47 MILLION FINE for Sands Money Laundering

This is NOT the first time Sands has been involved in MONEY LAUNDERING.
New Jersey ignored it and renewed the SANDS' license with Steve Perskie as Chairman.
Hmmmm......

[Steve Wynn is also under investigation for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, yet welcomed into Massachusetts?]

Las Vegas Casino Settles in Money-Laundering Inquiry - NYTimes ...

www.nytimes.com/.../las-vegas-casino-settles-in-money-laundering-inquiry....
Las Vegas Casino Settles in Money-Laundering Inquiry. By MICHAEL LUO. Published: August 28, 2013. The Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the casino ...

Govt probes Las Vegas Sands Corp. on money laundering | Alternet

www.alternet.org/.../govt-probes-las-vegas-sands-corp-money-launderin...‎
File picture shows Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation Sheldon Adelson at a press conference in Macau in April. The Justice Department has ...

Sands, U.S. Reach Money-Laundering Accord

Las Vegas Sands and U.S. prosecutors reached an agreement to resolve a money-laundering investigation.

http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-310436/

Sheldon Adelson’s Sands Casino to pay $47 million fine for failing to report deposits from alleged drug trafficker

The Sands failed to report that Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who is under investigation for drug trafficking, deposited more than $45 million into the Venetian casino in 2006 and 2007.

By / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

APRIL 5, 2013 FILE PHOTO

Julie Jacobson/AP

Las Vegas Sands Corp, which is owned by U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson, signed a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department on Monday, agreeing to pay $47.4 million in fines stemming from a money laundering investigation.

For business tycoon Sheldon Adelson it is the equivalent of salt in the wound.

After spending millions to try and thwart President Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012, Adelson’s
Las Vegas casino empire agreed this week to pay the U.S. government $47.4 million in fines to avoid criminal charges stemming from a money laundering investigation.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., which owns the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino, agreed to the settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday night.

RELATED: ISRAELI NEWSPAPERS 'RUINED' BY U.S. MOGUL’S FREE DAILY
For two years, the Justice Department gathered evidence showing that Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon had deposited $45 million in suspected drug money to the Venetian in 2006 and 2007 in a series of complex transactions designed to avoid detection.
Federal law requires that suspicious deposits be reported to U.S. authorities, but Ye Gon was the casino’s best customer, losing more than $90 million at the Venetian’s tables.

Chinese-born businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who lost more than $90 million at Adelson's Venetian casino, deposited $45 million directly to the casino in 2006 and 2007 in transactions designed to avoid detection.

RICHARD DREW/AP

Chinese-born businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who lost more than $90 million at Adelson's Venetian casino, deposited $45 million directly to the casino in 2006 and 2007 in transactions designed to avoid detection.


“For the first time, a casino has faced the very real possibility of a federal criminal case for failing to properly report suspicious funds received from a gambler,” U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr., who represents the Central District of California, said in a statement.

“This is also the first time a casino has agreed to return those funds to the government,” Birotte said.

“All companies, especially casinos, are now on notice that America’s anti-money laundering laws apply to all people and every corporation, even if that company risks losing its most profitable customer.”

In his statement, Birotte said that the Sands admitted “in hindsight that it failed to fully appreciate the suspicious nature of the information or lack thereof pertaining to Ye Gon.”

While the fine is significant, many investors had anticipated that the Sands would have to settle for an even larger amount. Adelson, who is the CEO and chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp., has a net worth of more than $20 billion.

The Sands is not out of the woods yet, however. The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are still conducting a separate investigation into whether the casino empire—which owns resorts in resorts in Macau, Singapore and Pennsylvania—may have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sheldon-adelson-sands-casino-pay-47-million-fine-article-1.1439489#ixzz2dVLbqC7J

Sands agrees to settlement in Vegas money laundering deal

As the Florida Senate completes plans to embark on a statewide road show to discuss the future of gambling in Florida, one of the most active players in the quest to bring resort casinos to Florida -- Las Vegas Sands -- has withstood some rocky publicity this week.

According to the Wall Street Journal, and other news sources, the casino giant has agreed to pay more than $47 million and will accept U.S. Department of Justice's assertion that the company failed to report suspcicious financial activity by a customer who dealt only in cash, and who was later identified as a drug kingpin.

A Sands spokesman told the Wall Street Journal in its Wednesday papers that, "The company cooperated fully in the investigation, and that effort was recognized clearly by the government."

Under the agreement reviewed by the WSJ, Sands has agreed to refrain from using generic names on its customer accounts and must also conduct two years of reviews of its anti-money laundering policies and file periodic reports with the government.

The federal settlement is part of a two-year probe into possible money-laundering at the Sands, the newspaper reported. Investigators at the U.S. Treasury and Justice Department have been concerned that the practices may have enabled some of the casino's most lucrative customers to gamble using proceeds from illegal activities, federal officials said.

Sands officials also disclosed in its annual report in March that after an internal probe into its casino operations in Macau, the company probably violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Posted by Mary Ellen Klas at 11:38 AM on Friday, Aug. 30, 2013
 
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/08/sands-agrees-to-settlement-in-vegas-money-laundering-deal.html


Sheldon Adelson's Sands Targeted in Money Laundering ... - Forbes

www.forbes.com/.../sheldon-adelsons-sands-targeted-in-money-l...‎
by Steven Bertoni
Aug 4, 2012 - Las Vegas Sands targeted in federal money laundering investigation spells more bad news for Adelson and Romney.
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