“Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment, not as the last place where prostitution is still legal.”
?Harry Reid, in a 2011 speech decrying legal brothels in Nevada
“Brothels are like 16 on the list (of concerns). Tesla is evidence that it’s OK… there’s a brothel just down the street. Nevada is a great place to do business.”
?Dennis Hof, owner of the Bunny Ranch and six other brothels, who says the deal to bring electric-car maker Tesla to Nevada proves brothels are no obstacle to business
“Perhaps current and future operators will consider complete overhauls of some of the aging Strip casinos as opposed to the historical model of implosion to new development.”
?Joel Simkins, Credit Suisse gaming analyst, on Sam Nazarian’s choice to build the SLS Las Vegas around the framework of the former Sahara resort
“The kind of economic growth we’re seeing right now is arguably more sustainable in that we’re not growing by the leaps and bounds that we were prior to the recession. It’s more moderate growth, it’s more diversified growth, and the hope is that going forward as downturns happen, we won’t be quite as susceptible as we were last time.”
?Bill Anderson, economist, Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, on the return to almost pre-recession employment rates in the leisure and hospitality sector. Casinos have not rebounded to the same level, however
“It took $100 million to buy Sterling Forest. It’s inappropriate to now say that they’re going to put the equivalent of a new city in the middle of the forest.”
?Carol Ash, New York conservationist who is upset about the proposed Genting casino in Tuxedo
“New York state has a decision. The selection group, the governor, whomever—are they going to cede the city of New York to New Jersey? To me, that’s how I would phrase the question. And I’d hope the answer is no. Put (a casino) in south Orange County that is close enough to compete for New York City.”
?David Cordish, developer, Cordish Companies, who says Orange County near NYC is the best bet for a New York casino
“I don’t really see how the Catskills survives if there’s a casino that close to Manhattan. I think it will serve as a dam. It will completely shut off the upstate region.”
?Angel Brunner, CEO, Nevele Investors, who says an Orange County casino will destroy the economic promise for casinos farther upstate in New York
“It’s been a source of a great deal of pain for the city and those of us who operate there. So everybody has to adjust to what feels like a more traditional, competitive retail business, which is really what it is. And while the adjustments are painful, there’s nothing wrong with that.””
?Gary Loveman, chairman, Caesars Entertainment, on the decline of the casino industry in Atlantic City
“We don’t care about casinos in New Jersey, Massachusetts, anywhere else?all we care about is Orange County. We don’t care about the Meadowlands. They’re going to draw from New York City. If you’re going to go to the Meadowlands, you’re going to go to a stand-alone casino in a parking lot. If you come to Sullivan County, you’re going to go trout fishing, to Bethel Woods, to golf and a spa at Grossinger’s. We’re a destination.”
?Louis Capelli, hopeful New York casino developer, who is unfazed by competition from other states
“Atlantic City has taken its worst blows. I’m cautiously optimistic that a turn is coming. There will be a few more blows, but none of them will be as severe as what we’ve had thus far.”
—Gary Loveman, CEO of Caesars Entertainment at an Albany hearing on the company’s plans for a New York casino on Atlantic City’s casino closings
“My three sons are the fourth generation at the Cordish Companies and, as strong an asset as Maryland Live! is, I would expect their kids to own the casino and hotel that will be added. As to competition with Horseshoe, generally suburban sites do extremely well versus urban locations.”
—David Cordish, chairman of Maryland Live! owner Cordish Companies, on competition from the new Horseshoe Baltimore 12 miles away
“The profits were going to offshore businesses and organized crime. Now it can be regulated and produce tax revenue for vital public needs and generate economic benefits for Atlantic City and the State of New Jersey.”
—New Jersey state Senator Raymond Lesniak, commenting to the New York Times on Governor Chris Christie unilaterally lifting the state ban on sports betting
“These poker tournaments violate Idaho gambling law. The upshot is that unless an injunction issues, the State will be left without any effective remedy.”
—Federal Judge B. Lynn Winmill, issuing an injunction preventing the Coeur d’Alene tribe of Idaho from offering Texas Hold ‘em
“Here’s a shocker: An Atlantic City gambling consultant hired by the Legislature to study the future of Maine’s casino industry says we’re ripe for at least one more casino. Maybe even two!”
—Bill Nemitz, writing about a report on whether Maine could absorb more casinos prepared for the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee
“Mohegan Sun has tried to dazzle commissioners by throwing a lot of money into its community mitigation agreements, much more than Wynn has. But the numbers that matter came last November: 56 percent of East Boston voters were against a casino at Suffolk Downs, and only 44 percent favored it.”
—Editorial, the Boston Globe, comparing the Mohegan Sun and Steve Wynn casino proposals now being weighed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission
“If you feel there aren’t enough casinos in California, vote ‘yes,’ as Gov. Jerry Brown and the North Fork Rancheria band of the Mono Indians want. A ‘yes’ vote would result in a another casino, just north of Madera on Highway 99.”
—Editorial, the Modesto Bee, calling for no vote on California’s Proposition 48, which would allow the North Fork Rancheria band of the Mono Indians to build an off-reservation casino in Madera
“The entire process has been a gigantic mess,” the Repeal the Casino Deal group said in a statement. “As they deliberate the awarding of a casino license for the Boston region, what we likely won’t hear are the allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, grand jury investigations, shady deals, and communities ignored.”
—Repeal the Casino Deal, a group opposed to casinos in Massachusetts, commenting on the process for awarding a casino license for the Boston metro area
“Tohono O’odham participated with 16 other tribes in a campaign that promised limited, regulated gaming on traditional Indian lands. Now they say that the promises tribes made never really meant anything; they were just “campaign noise” and not to be taken seriously.”
—Ruben Balderas writing about an Arizona tribe that wants to build a casino in Glendale, near Phoenix after allegedly promising that they would only building on traditional Indian lands
“Mayor Finter and others are pushing a false narrative about additional Valley casino development to persuade our two senators to change federal law and break a promise made by President Reagan and the U.S. Congress to the Tohono O’odham Nation.”
—Gary Sherwood, a city councilmember of Glendale, Arizona, criticizing a nearby mayor, Alex Finter, for opposing the casino proposed near the city by the Tohono O’odham Nation
