N.J.'s gambling conundrum

New Jersey might soon be hit with a gambling tsunami. As a result of a report to the governor and three subsequent "gaming summits," there's been much talk about bolstering the casino industry in Atlantic City, as well as saving horse racing at (principally) the Meadowlands Racetrack in North Jersey with slot machines or even a full-fledged casino-hotel complex. There's also noise about harnessing Internet gambling, legalizing sports betting, and building offtrack betting parlors across the state.

But too many of the arguments surrounding the future of gambling in New Jersey suffer from leaky logic. Arriving at a policy that's both sound and visionary is harder than solving the riddle of the sphinx.

It seems that New Jersey casino gambling and horse racing - two ailing industries - are locked in a fratricidal, North-South struggle. The two brothers will never be freed until North Jersey interests abandon their efforts to bring slots to the racetrack (also known as the "racino" model). Each industry must be examined separately, and a business plan for each developed.

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Like any business, racing should sustain itself, and it can. The idea of building a replacement harness-racing track somewhere in the Meadowlands area is a good idea. A new track could conform to market conditions, which require downsizing. (But there must be no downsizing of the one-mile oval, which is necessary for championship racing and international interest.)

The harness-racing industry could get much closer to self-sufficiency if the state accelerated a long-ago legalized expansion of offtrack betting. The only state-owned offtrack betting facility now doing business, in Middlesex County, brings in $5 million a year. The state has authorized eight more, as well as a total of six private facilities - double the number now operating.

This offtrack betting expansion could be combined with aggressive marketing and worldwide simulcasting. At a gaming summit last month, an industry representative noted that 28 percent of all wagering in one marquee race comes from Europe.

Harness racing at the Meadowlands should and can be saved. It's a world-class product that enhances New Jersey's international reputation, just as Atlantic City does.

But the recent proliferation of casinos and racinos in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York - all of which attract New Jersey clientele - strengthens the case for a North Jersey casino separate from the racetrack, possibly run by a consortium of Atlantic City casinos and a state authority.

However, I would attach a few conditions beyond the required voter approval: Such a casino should not include sports betting, and it should be a world-class destination, emblematic and monumental - comparable to the pyramid-shaped Luxor in Las Vegas, which saw as many tourists as gamblers in its heyday.

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The SS United States might therefore be one solution to the riddle of New Jersey gaming. Currently berthed in South Philadelphia, the old steamship has been saved from destruction by philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, who has donated up to $5.8 million to cover its mooring and maintenance expenses for 20 months, beginning in January. The great liner is a national treasure, with 550,000 square feet of usable space for rooms, retail, museums, conventions, and casino slots and tables.

Retrofitted in keeping with its historical and maritime significance, it would be an instant world-class monument. And saving it would be a service to the nation. I'm not advocating loading the ship with a full cargo of slots, but rather up to about 1,200. The return to the state, perhaps $90 million a year, would be nothing to sneer it.

A Queen Mary-style renovation of the SS United States would cost about $400 million, according to knowledgeable sources. That's a lot less than the $2 billion Revel casino project now stalled in Atlantic City. And even without a casino component, the Queen Mary, near Los Angeles, draws more than 1.3 million visitors a year.

The only fitting place to moor the hotel-casino-ship would be New York Harbor. The deepwater terminals at Bayonne, in Hudson County, seem ideal.

There has been much discussion about preserving the SS United States in Pennsylvania. Those trying to preserve New Jersey's gambling industries should join the conversation.