Supplier News
US – War of words continues over Taj Mahal closure
By Phil - 6 January 2017
Carl Icahn has said he will sell the shuttered Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City as long as he makes back the US$300m he has lost on it.
Atlantic City’s mayor Don Guardian said that allowing such a huge building to lie dormant on the Boardwalk was the ‘worst of the worst.’
The mayor said Icahn should ‘sell it, make a profit and move on.’
“He doesn’t have any faith in the city, I get it,” Mayor Guardian said. “But don’t let us lose that building on the Boardwalk. We need that activity and those jobs.”
However Mr. Icahn responded by saying: “Telling us we should sell the Taj and make a profit is easier said than done. We’ve lost almost $300m on that investment. If he’s a buyer at that price, I’d be a happy seller.”
He also asked where the mayor was last summer when the strike forced him to shut the casino’s doors.
“Some help back then would have been nice,” he said.
The venue closed on October 10 following a strike by its employees called by Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has confirmed that Mr. Icahn had applied for permission to surrender the Taj Mahal’s casino license on December 22. It coincided with state legislators looking to punish him for closing the casino with new laws that will penalise any owner who shuts down an Atlantic City casino after January 2016 but withdrawing their gaming licence for five years.
The new legislation was put forward by state Senate President Steve Sweeney, who is also a union official. Mr. Icahn slammed the Legislature as being ‘at war with business.’
“When a guy like Sweeney goes after someone who saved the Tropicana and 3,000 jobs when no one else would, who would invest in New Jersey?” he asked. “The worst thing about New Jersey is they have Sweeney as head of the Senate. The best thing about New Jersey is they didn’t make him governor.”
Sweeney spokesman Rich McGrath responded by saying the legislation was forced by ‘the callous actions of a multi-billionaire who has a history of putting his own selfish quest for personal profits ahead of the rights of working people.’
