Advocates push for N.J. gaming in East Rutherford Watch video
Advocates are hoping to bring gaming to the Meadowlands sports complexEAST RUTHERFORD — It's a bet against the House that is likely to lose before it gets played.
But advocates for the Meadowlands today said the last best hope for the casino industry is to bring gaming to East Rutherford.
"New Jersey almost has to put a casino in the Meadowlands to save the industry in New Jersey," said Jim Kirkos, chief executive officer of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The proposal is one that has already been shot down by the Christie administration and legislative leaders, who maintain that any plan to extend gaming outside of Atlantic City is all but dead on arrival. A casino in the Meadowlands would require a constitutional amendment, and approval of the state Legislature and the Governor's office.
Despite the low odds, however, the regional group today outlined an ambitious $1.4 billion development plan for the Meadowlands sports complex that would include a casino, a conference center and a large hotel. The casino would be a "racino" of video slots, table games and other gambling opportunities, Daniel Baer, a Parsons Brinckerhoff executive who helped develop the master plan, said after the chamber's news conference this morning in Rutherford.
Complex officials said the casino has "nothing to do practically" with the fate of Atlantic City's gambling industry and is about adding competition to the casinos in New York and Pennsylvania.
Organizers admitted "significant legislative and policy activity would have to occur" before a casino would rise in the Meadowlands, but waiting for any change in government attitudes or the fate of Atlantic City would derail this project, said project spokesman Ron Simoncini.
"Building something in the Meadowlands has nothing to do practically with whether or not Atlantic City can succeed or not," Simoncini said. "But if you don't start talking about this now, if you wait seven years to show that Atlantic City can or cannot succeed, that's seven years wasted."
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