Gov. Chris Christie will announce plans for an historical takeover of the State of New Jersey’s endangered gaming industry and entertainment disctrict including the selling off and or shutting down of the failing Meadowlands Racetrack.
The takeover will remove all control from local governments from garbage pickup to police.
The Governor’s office put out an advisory this afternoon that Christie will announce the findings of the commission Wednesday at the meadowlands in East Rutherford and in Atlantic City but did not provide any details of the announcement.
These are the recommendations that are listed in the commission report:

• N.J. gaming industry massive overhaul: Winners & Losers

• Atlantic City’s entertainment and gaming districts would become an independent city within a city overseen by state government. That includes the casinos, the marina, beachfront and Boardwalk areas. Those parts of the city would all be put under the administration of a state authority directly answerable to governor.

• New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority would be all but disbanded, becoming simply a landlord for the facilities it now operates.

• The Meadowlands Racetrack could be sold for a token $1, or turned into an off-track wagering facility without live horse racing. The plan also recommends that the Izod Center arena be privatized or sold.

• In addition, the state would help re-finance the long-stalled Xanadu project in the Meadowlands, enabling a new developer to take control of the garish, high-visibility retail and entertainment complex alongside the New Jersey Turnpike that many consider an embarrassment.

• Financial aid to help complete Xanadu would be contingent on changing the building’s much-hated mutli-color exterior, and requiring that it be an entertainment complex, not simply another mall.

The recommendations were made by a seven-member commission headed by former sports authority chairman Jon F. Hanson, who ironically was one of the movers behind the expansion of the Meadowlands Sports Complex and the reach of the sports authority.

The report calls for the near-dismantling of the sports authority, which currently operates Meadowlands Racetrack and the Izod Center, Monmouth Park Racetrack, the Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall and the Wildwood Convention Center.

Created by the Legislature in 1971, the authority is operating in the red this year, largely because of massive losses in horse racing, as well as funding lost with the closing of Giants Stadium. The old stadium had generated $20 million in income for the authority. Under terms of a deal with the Jets and Giants, however, the authority will see only $6.3 million in lease payments this season when the two football teams move to the privately operated New Meadowlands Stadium.

Salvatore Salvato and friends at final tailgate at Giants Stadium

These are shots David Levy and I gathered before the sunday night football game between the Jets and the Bengals. This is also the final game to be held within the walls of the stadium. You will see previews of interviews we have been gathering in regards to the new stadium and the PSL’s the owner of the jets Woody Johnson is implementing. Dave and I also had the pleasure of meeting Eric Manassy of http://www.jetstwit.com we dropped by his tweetup at his tailgating spot at 13a.

Erik Manassy of http://www.jetstwit.com http://www.twitter.com/e_man

Final Game at Giants Stadium Tailgaiting from Anthony Quintano on Vimeo.

Today is the second to last home game and boy is it getting colder outside. Dave and I arrived at the stadium at 9:00 am and we got right to it. Look who we run into. Santa and Mrs. Claus posing with a couple of fans.  We made some progress today with a number of emotional interviews and some really great stock footage. I will be posting some highlight clips either tonight or tomorrow so stay tuned. If you sign up for email notifications to my posts to the right you will be notified by email as to when I make new posts.  For now enjoy a few photos. If you are any of the people that I took photos of today and you want a copy just click on the image and then while in the flickr website click the icon that says all sizes and click original.

I have to say that im so upset that I have not discovered these guys when I was younger cause this tailgating really makes the game so much better. Hanging out with these guys is like one huge family. They welcome everyone in, anyone who wants to come eat you can just drop by the end of the road that leads to gate D you cant miss them. You can see where we are located via the first clip of my video.

To watch the video click the link below

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if the above video doesnt work try this one

From tonights game… more pics and video coming tomorrow morning stay tuned. horrible loss for the jets.