The Jaffe Briefing - November 16, 2020
ATLANTIC CITY – The tale of two cities? It appears so, as the casinos have seen numerous conventions and other special programs canceled, as the number of tourists have plunged in recent months due to the pandemic. Yet, sports betting could not be going any better. New Jersey continues to lead the country in sports betting, setting a national record for the third month in a row in October. Almost unbelievable to write, but there was more than $803 million in legal sports wagers last month in New Jersey – to the direct benefit of the casinos and the three horse tracks in the state. Some perspective: The last record was set in Nevada in November 2019, with a paltry, laughable $614 million. As COVID keeps sports fans home, and basketball season mixes with football playoffs, can New Jersey have a $1 billion month? Our money is on “Yes.”
ATLANTIC CITY – Yet, another dose of reality. Today was supposed to kick-off the annual League of Municipalities conference, where thousands of people flock into the casinos and spend gobs of money in the hotels, restaurants and in the slots. The 105th annual conference is canceled, of course, and the impact reverberates throughout the struggling hospitality industry. CBS reports that AC’s most successful casino – the Borgata – is laying off or slashing the hours of 422 employees. The casino blames Gov. Phil Murphy and his new indoor dining limits, designed to keep us safe with the rising cases. The new restrictions took effect Thursday night, forcing all restaurants in the state to close at 10 p.m., which does not exactly fit into the “party all night” casino model.
JERSEY CITY – You’ll find New Jerseyans are celebrities in all corners. Take Tik Tok for example, where a 30-year-old city man with COVID 19 has had millions of views of his videos. Why? Because he lost his sense of taste, he appears on the video attempting to taste a lot of pungent foods, like raw onion, lemon juice, wasabi, sardines, garlic paste, etc. NJ.com reports that @rustard-likemustard can eat any combination of disgusting foods with zero impact on his taste buds, for the moment. With nearly 14 million views, to date, on TikTok, he is a coronavirus celebrity. He may now attempt to eat wet and dry dog food on TikTok, to feed the whims of his insatiable fan base, all likely under the age of 12. He tells NJ.com he is hoping for his “big break.” Perhaps he already has it – catching a virus during a pandemic.
BRIEFING BREATHER
Ronald McDonald is “Donald McDonald” in Japan because it makes pronunciation easier for the Japanese.
UNION TOWNSHIP – Owning a Chick-fil-A is a good business. But being the restaurant next door? Not so good. The Pita Shack is suing Chick-fil-A because its long queue of customers snaked off its property and blocked customers from accessing the pita place. The restaurants are both jammed on the median on Route 22, with cars and trucks flying all over the place. A judge – clearly recognizing the problem – has now closed the Chick-fil-A’s drive-thru, TAPInto Union reports, as everyone is trying to work with the town on a solution to an impossible problem. Route 22 is widely known as one of the most dangerous highways in the country, prompting why Union officials would have permitted a Chick-fil-A on that site – which clearly does not have adequate space for a drive-thru. Second thoughts abound.
STATEWIDE – Here’s a smart way to spend $2 million in government relief funds. State officials are rolling out a program that would pay the state’s struggling restaurants to prepare healthy meals for needy families. It even has a catchy name – the “Sustain and Serve NJ Program.” There would be grants of at least $100,000 that would be dispatched to local non-profit groups, which would bulk purchase meals from local eateries that would then be handed to low-income residents, NJ Biz reports. There’s some rules, like the non-profits need to show experience with the mass delivery of meals and, of course, the non-profits would be banned from reselling any food.
STATEWIDE – NJ Globe noted an alarming stat in the 2020 election. With more than 4.5 million voters in New Jersey casting ballots, many in the Democratic urban areas stayed home. You may recall the hallmark of New Jersey politics is to turn out the Democratic vote in cities like Newark and East Orange, which then easily engulfs the smaller GOP numbers in the leafy suburbs and thus ensures the ongoing success of political machines that can dominate for decades. NJ Globe points to the 10th Congressional District – one of the 10 most Democratic in the nation – where less than 55% of people voted. That’s significantly below the statewide turnout of nearly 75% and way below the suburban 7th Congressional District, where turnout is more than 80%. Party bosses in the cities are taking notice of this obvious shift – as the governor’s office and all 120 seats in the state Legislature are up for grabs next year.
MORRISTOWN – Four pet chickens must fly the coop today after their egg-asperated owners lost a squabble with town officials over their backyard hen house. Peter and Lark Sudol’s stylish “Hen Den” ran afoul of a 1980 “chicken ordinance” banning barnyard coops on small residential lots. The Sudols tell the Daily Record that none of their neighbors have ever squawked about the birds. But, Council President Stefan Armington claims the hens do ruffle feathers among his constituents. The Sudols must get rid of their pet hens by today or face zoning and health code fines. So, Xena, Trixie, Alice and Penelope are being shipped off to a Camden County “hen therapy center,” while the Sudols keep trying to convince the Town Council that the outdated chicken ordinance is for the birds.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
HALLE, Belgium – More bird news today. Are you into pigeon racing? No? Then you’ll likely see extremely little logic in the fact that one, two-year-old bird – New Kim – has been sold for $1.9 million to a very, very wealthy Chinese pigeon racing fan. Apparently, there is plenty of money to be made with this Belgian-bred bird and in this sport that was so darn popular in the 19th century. During a frantic last half hour yesterday of a two-week auction, two Chinese bidders operating under the pseudonyms Super Duper and Hitman drove up the price by $325,000, setting a record for pigeon-purchasing. Here’s the competition: Keep all the birds in the same coop for a month, release them all hundreds of miles away and see who flies back first, with prizes reaching tens of millions euros. Coming soon to Atlantic City betting parlors?
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Every vote counted on this day in 1994, when Helmut Kohl was elected chancellor by a margin of one ballot.
WORD OF THE DAY
Libertine – [LIB-er-teen] – noun
Definition: A freethinker especially in religious matters
Example: I have a reputation for being a libertine; fall weekends are made solely for football.
WIT OF THE DAY
“Truth isn’t truth.”
-Rudy Giuliani
TODAY'S TRUMPISM
“I look forward to Mayor Giuliani spearheading the legal effort to defend OUR RIGHT to FREE and FAIR ELECTIONS!”
-Donald J. Trump
WEATHER IN A WORD
Breezy
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