Long Island Casino Cruises Benefit from New Jerseys Shutdown

With the Atlantic City gambling Industry shut down on Wednesday by a New Jersey state budget stalemate, floating casinos based in Freeport and Bay Shore geared up their roulette and Texas hold'em tables for extra action.

By mid-afternoon yesterday the Majesty Casino, which sails twice daily, had already seen an increase in calls from New York players who otherwise would have gone to South Jersey, said David Reale, poker room manager on board the casino.

Reale said 138 customers visited the casino last Wednseday night when typically between 80-100 would be on board in nicer weather. He said he expects that trend to continue if Atlatic City casinos stay closed.

At Coin Castle Casinos, which opened in Bay Shore three weeks ago, managers looked forward to benefiting from New Jersey's loss. The casino cruise ships sail three miles off Long Island's South Shore into international waters and return after firve or six hours.

Some business weren't cheery about the New Jersey shutdown. For Stan Spirn, owner of Stan's Limousines in Cedarhurst, it meant the bottom dropping out of the Long Island limo market.

Academy Bus' Port Authority terminal eliminated its usual 30 Atlantic City round-trips and Harran Transportation Company in West Babylon had to cancel two charter bus rentals and eight daily bus runs, costing $7,500 a day, said operations manager Harlan Simonson.