Editorial: Casino company gift 'fit for a king'

Wednesday, March 17, 2004  

"New York Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, traveling in Las Vegas with his wife, must have been mortified when it turned out their hotel meal was one they couldn't eat. Silver is an Orthodox Jew, and the kitchen of the Paris Las Vegas Hotel doesn't keep kosher. Hard to imagine, however, that the lawmaker did much bellyaching.

According to a random audit of gaming outfit Caesars Entertainment's lobbying activity, conducted by the state Lobbying Commission, the powerful lawmaker and his wife paid just $109 a night for a two-night stay in the elegant, $1,500-a-night Paris, whose parent company, Caesars, is vying for a portal into New York's growing gambling trade."

Get the Story:
Fit for a king (The Journal News 3/17)
This tip led to a lobbying probe (The Albany Times-Union 3/17)