Carl Icahn Awarded Trump Taj Mahal as Battle with Union Continues

Carl Icahn really wants to revitalize the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and save thousands of jobs in the act, but he says it can’t be done unless local union workers are prepared to compromise. Unhappy union employees, shown only at an earlier protest, feel otherwise.
Billionaire Carl Icahn has obtained the Trump Taj Mahal, exchanging $292 million he’s owed for complete ownership of the casino in a deal that had been approved by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission this week.
Icahn says he will invest another $100 million to revitalize the resort and also to keep the Atlantic City landmark solvent.
‘We believe whenever you pull into the Taj Mahal, it is dirty, it’s dated, and it takes to be freshened up,’ Trump Entertainment CEO Robert Griffin said associated with settlement. ‘we feel extremely highly that the Taj Mahal will excel.’
That are no task that is easy however, because the north end boardwalk gambling venue continues to operate at a loss, including being $8.7 million in the red for the very first quarter of 2015. The hotel’s 2,010 rooms were less than 50 % full through the first three months of this year, a drastically reduced price than that of the other seven casino hotels that averaged occupancy levels of around 70 to 85 percent.
Icahn’t Stay Unions
Icahn is optimistic that he can restore the Taj to its former days of glory. But one key condition the mogul insists on is that Local 54 additionally the UNITE HERE unions stop their pursuit of having a court mandate Icahn to reinstate benefits for workers that have been terminated by Trump Entertainment during bankruptcy procedures.
The other Atlantic City casino under his ownership on Wednesday, Icahn told reporters he sees the Taj being reestablished much like he did with the Tropicana.
‘Although neighborhood 54 seems fixated at all costs on damaging the Taj, and risking its closing and the lack of almost 3,000 jobs, I am optimistic,’ Icahn said.
Icahn also released a letter to Local 54 Taj employees this week that likens the nationwide UNITE HERE organization to a Ponzi scheme that uses dues to enrich the lives of its leadership at a cost that is detrimental its people.
‘It is an fact that is undisputable your union leadership refused to negotiate with the Taj as its losses were mounting plus it was pushed into bankruptcy. Your union leadership refused to take into account any concession that would have aided keep the Taj afloat, and that’s because your jobs usually do not matter to the union leadership,’ Icahn composed.
Icahnoclast
The once bustling gambling mecca associated with coast that is east now house to just eight total casinos, and Icahn now has control of two, or 25 percent of the city’s video gaming venues. That means along side Caesars Entertainment, owners of Bally’s, Caesars Atlantic City, and Harrah’s, Icahn has a monopoly that is small the town where the game of Monopoly is situated.
Thought it’s understandable union workers want and need their health insurance coverage and retirement advantages reinstated, their tactics might be going about it within the incorrect way. This week, Local 54 delivered a page to Icahn’s midtown Manhattan office having a list of its demands, along with an apple pie, a dig in response to Icahn saying ‘apple pie and roses isn’t what sort of globe works’ earlier this year.
Jeb Bush Latest GOP Candidate to Enter Republican Presidential Race
Officially official: After many months of unofficial fundraising, Jeb Bush confirmed his bid for the 2016 GOP nomination today. The son and sibling of two past United States presidents is hoping to split up his campaign from their rather famous family name. Sort of. (Image: Erik Schelzig/AP)
Jeb Bush joined the ever-expanding crowd of Republican candidates into the 2016 presidential election on Monday, having an announcement at Miami-Dade College in the afternoon. But unlike most of the more than a dozen candidates within the GOP field, Bush will be hoping to run from a position of strength, as he will be one associated with the favorites for the party’s nomination in the early going associated with the campaign.
‘ In almost any language my message is an optimistic one, because i will be certain that we are able to result in the decades just ahead in the us the maximum time ever become alive these days,’ the most recent Bush political dynasty candidate opined, using both English and Spanish to handle the live and undoubtedly massive TV market.
Columba Bush, a first-generation immigrant that is mexican married Jeb 41 years ago, could show critical in helping him reach Hispanic voters. (Image: Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty)
Columba Bush, who has been married to your politician for 41 years and was initially from León, Guanajuato in Mexico, will certainly be a crucial force in a country grappling with immigration and dual-language issues on a just about every day basis.
In reality, the story goes that Mrs. Bush did not speak English when even she married Jeb back in 1974. Her mother had been reportedly a worker that is migrant food server.
Bush may need the assistance. Although the Florida that is former governor frequently the leader in national polls of Republican voters, though that advantage is incredibly narrow. In reality, it may be more accurate to have a look at Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio as co-leaders at this very early stage.
Strong Establishment Candidate
That said, Bush has plenty of advantages that will make their campaign a strong one. For one, he will haven’t any difficulty raising cash.
One super PAC that is backing him had hoped to increase $100 million by the end of June, and even though they’ll almost certainly come up short of this objective, it’s clear there’ll be plenty of funding for the Bush war chest.
He will also have endorsements that are numerous Republican establishment figures, as well as a name that voters are familiar with, although his Jeb! 2016 slogan seems to indicate he is attempting never to drive on at the least the most obvious of coattails. After all, that famous last name is a double-edged sword, according to which voters you are speaking to.
While both his dad and brother have previously served as president, Jeb Bush is wanting to avoid being seen simply while the next in line of succession, with a ‘royal’ aspect that numerous voters may perhaps not be comfortable with.
Campaign Has Been Unofficial for Months
Needless to say, by any standard that is reasonable Bush’s campaign has been underway for months, but he has carefully skirted the line in order to avoid formally launching a campaign organization until now. Throughout the weekend, Bush told CNN that becoming an official candidate will enable him to higher articulate their message to the US people.
‘I think this transition to a candidacy will allow me to be more direct about my advocacy for the leadership skills necessary for the next president to fix a few things,’ Bush said while in, of all places, Estonia this weekend. ‘ And as a prospect, contrary to someone who has been paying attention and learning along the way, I’ll offer up alternatives to the trail we’re on also, so i will be more specific on policy.’
Historically Opposed to Gambling
It is uncertain whether we’ll get any information on Bush’s gaming policies, but his previous stances on gambling issues while governor of Florida make it pretty clear as he strongly opposed gambling expansion in the state that he is no fan of casinos. His stances on Internet gambling are less clear, though it is difficult to imagine he would be any friendlier to online poker and casino games than he was for their land-based counterparts.
Perhaps moreover to his campaign, Bush may need to conquer conservative voters who aren’t always on board together with his stances on immigration and education, both areas where his wife may become an important campaign ally. He also recently struggled with questions over how he’d have handled the war in Iraq, and fired their campaign manager week that is just last to squabbles inside his camp.
New Jersey Casinos See Online And Live Gains In May
The Golden Nugget has seen huge gains in its online gambling operations within the previous year. (Image: GoldenNugget.com)
New Jersey’s online gambling market continues to grow, assisting fortify the remaining eight gambling enterprises still operating in Atlantic City.
But while the overall numbers are positive, maybe not all games and casinos are sharing equally into the fortune that is good.
Based on the nj-new Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), online gambling revenues were up to $12.47 million in May.
That represents an increase of more than 19 percent over last May, when the sites brought in simply $10 planet 7 oz no deposit bonus codes 2019 australia.47 million.
Online Casinos Up, Poker Down
But that growth has been fueled very nearly entirely by online casinos. In contrast, online poker rooms are struggling. Internet poker brought in just under $1.93 million in May, down from $2.27 million in identical month year that is last.
That figure marks the second-lowest monthly revenue for on-line poker in New Jersey, with only last November trailing the absolute most month that is recent.
Once in charge of a quarter or higher of on the web gambling revenues in nj-new jersey, poker is now only about 15 percent associated with market.
On the poker side of things, the 888/World number of Poker partnership felt the majority of the harm. The $831,799 they introduced through their Internet poker partnership ended up being an all-time low, while their only competitor in the state, Borgata/partypoker, held fairly steady.
Holding steady was a theme for the Borgata, as its overall Internet revenues were down by about one percent also.
It’s still the online market leader, collecting about 32 percent of most revenues, but growth seems to have stalled: the company has yet to beat out its 2014 performance online in any thirty days in 2010.
On the other hand, several companies have observed their online offerings take off, none less than the Golden Nugget.
The casino has taken full advantage of the fact that BetfairCasino.com is now operating through them because the closure for the Trump Plaza, and has now ridden that new partnership to a clear second invest the state’s iGaming landscape.
Real time Numbers Promising for Atlantic City
But while the online numbers may show a mix of ups and downs for Atlantic City’s casinos, the overall numbers for the industry had been very encouraging in May. Overall, casinos won $208.6 million for the month, 5.3 per cent more than those exact same eight casinos took in year that is last.
To be certain, the overall cake is still smaller: in the event that you include three more casinos which were operating last might but have since closed, the revenues are down by about 9 %.
But with fewer gambling enterprises in the mix, the might revenues still represent a excellent result for the gambling enterprises that are still in business.
‘That’s a strong showing for what our detractors say is a weak market,’ stated New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman Matt Levinson. ‘Whether you look during the results for usually the one thirty days or for the very first five months with this year, total video gaming income is up for the present operators. The size of the market are smaller, but the health of the operators that are current getting stronger.’
The winner that is biggest was Caesars, which saw its monthly revenues enhance by 51 percent over last might. That was largely because of especially unlucky month in high-stakes table games last year for Caesars.
Just two casinos were down year-over-year, like the Borgata, which saw revenues fall by 4.7 % but nevertheless easily led the city with $56.1 million for the month. Also down was the Trump Taj Mahal, that will be in the act of being obtained by Carl Icahn.
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