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Second of Three Summit on New Jersey Gambling Facilities Held

Posted on September 12th, 2010

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Towards the end of the weekday, a number of speakers which include trade and labor groups, local officials, heads of organizations for horsemen and even a corporate broker for real estate expressed their sentiments in favor of the Meadowlands complex in front of a group of Democratic lawmakers. They hailed the racetrack complex as “the crown jewel of New Jersey,” in efforts to convince everyone present of the importance of the race track to the state. Dennis McNerney, an executive of Bergen County said, “This really is the economic engine of not only North Jersey but all of New Jersey. These testimonies in praise of the facility were heard during the second hearing on gaming. These summits have been held to aid in deciding what the future of the casino and horse racing industries will be in the state of New Jersey. A third summit will be held on September 29 at Monmouth Park.

The heating was held in the Pegasus West complex, which overlooks the entire Meadowlands Racetrack and did not end until the evening. The space was filled with people, all six hundred of them crammed into a room that only had standing room capacity while the meeting was going on. Most attendees had on green shirts that read “Save the Meadowlands.” It is estimated that half of those who attended the meeting were employees of the racetrack in the construction and labor sectors. These hearings have been intended to examine the proposals made by the state’s governor, Chris Christie and his Advisory Commission on Gaming, Sports and Entertainment and for these plans to be made known to the public. Gov. Christie initially divulged to the public on July 21 that he plans on taking over Atlantic City in a move to save the casinos of the area, which are right now in financial distress. A good number of the recommendations of the governor, however, require the approval of the legislature of the state.

The first of these summit hearings was held in Atlantic City last month. During that hearing, it became apparent that the state of New Jersey was torn into two, between the northern and the southern portion. The lawmakers of North Jersey have recommended that a casino be built in the Meadowlands. One of the area’s senators, Ray Lesniak (D – Union County) even wrote a letter to real estate tycoon Donald Trump, requesting him to develop the proposed casino. Mr. Trump declined, saying that a casino in the Meadowlands would kill the business in Atlantic City, where he also has a stake in. On the other hand, lawmakers from the south of the state, including State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D – Cape May) are in direct opposition to any casino that would be in competition to their facilities in the Shores, which include the proposal of putting video lottery terminals or VLTs that would be run by the state at the Meadowlands complex In the summit last Friday, the mood was more conciliatory, with State senator James Whelan, a democrat from Atlantic County, proclaiming in his opening remarks that “We are in this together.” Whelan also happens to be a former mayor of Atlantic City.

In the Atlantic City summit, people who attended were more receptive of Gov. Christie’s recommendations. However, in the gathering last Friday, participants were more critical of the governor’s forwarded plans, calling them incomplete and without substantial contributions from the key groups that would be the subjects of his recommendations,, including sectors that are virtually dependent on the industry of horse racing. The panelists of Friday’s summit also thought of several plans on how to maximize the use of the Meadowlands Racetrack. Even without the planned VLTs yet, the complex already has a number of facilities that have not been utilized to their full extent, including the entertainment and retail complex Xanadu that has so far been half done in construction. The facility has been taken over on August 9 by the racetrack’s lenders. Another underutilized facility in the area is the Izod Center convert venue, which is located opposite to the racetrack.

A number of sectors opposed to the Meadowlands development are expressing concerns, though, that whatever improvements may be done to the racetrack will ultimately affect the business in Atlantic City adversely.