Trump wins battle against himself; Riviera’s fate sealed

Perpetual litigant Donald J. Trump has won the first round in his lawsuit against Trump Entertainment Resorts, whose minority shareholders include one Donald J. Trump. A bankruptcy judge in Delaware ruled that the suit can proceed. It contends that Trump Taj Mahal “isn’t worthy of their luxury brand.” When’s the last time any Trump casino in Atlantic City was mentioned in the same breath with “luxury”? Losing the Trump moniker might actually help the Taj, or at least help it avoid the same fate as defunct Trump Plaza, which customers avoided like the plague.

Trump Organization mouthpiece Alan Garten said, ludicrously, “The value of the brand is at an all-time high right now. That’s why there’s been such a knockdown, drag-out fight.” Yeah, that must be why the casino is bankrupt: because its brand name is such a customer magnet. Of course, this makes as much sense as anything coming out of Trump’s piehole these days.

* After the frenzy of rumors, non-denial denials and public admissions, the news that the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority voted Friday to purchase the Riviera for $182. 5 million was last week’s biggest anticlimax. Paragon Gaming will now start winding down operations, with a view toward a May 4 closure of the property, 60 years old and the penultimate ‘vintage’ casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

A sleek, futuristic pavilion will go where the Riviera once stood. Frankly, with the exception of the Peppermill, the surrounding area has long since gone to seed and an LVCVA presence would bring a substantial improvement to the area. (Our convention center, I am proud to say is always neat as a pin).  Paragon execs tried to hold out hope for the 1,000-person workforce, with CEO Scott Menke saying, “We have heard from several gaming properties about their interest in hiring some of our folks and we will assist with their transition.” The LVCVA is promising 6,000 permanent jobs — along with $221 million in paychecks — but that’s at least five years down the road.

Now that the LVCVA is feeling talkative, it’s interesting to learn that the authority kicked the tires on the former Las  Vegas Hilton, before David Siegel came along and turned it into Westgate Las Vegas. That would have made for a spectacular implosion but the LVCVA had other priorities, especially being on the Strip. Have we reached a inflection point in Vegas history, one in which gambling is no longer the highest and best use of Strip acreage? LVCVA officials have frequently cited the 20 expos they had to turn away last year and I’m confident they can fill their new pavilion once it’s built out.

Ironically, the LVCVA, which is funded with a tax on hotel-room stays, has now voted to take 2,072 hotel rooms off line. They will, we are promised, eventually be replaced … but for now both James Packer and Genting Group are playing their cards very close to the vest. In the short run, at least 150,000 already-booked Riviera guests will have to find other accommodations.

For those who worry about the fate of the shiny “Crazy Girls” bas-relief, rest assured that it will find a home in the collection of producer Norbert Aleman, who says both the butt tableau and the eponymous show will find homes elsewhere on the Strip. (If I had a dollar for everytime somebody’s said Crazy Girls had closed or was about to, I could take the week off.) Right now, the Riv has a thousand workers wishing they could say the same.