NY Post slams Navegante Group
The New York Post wanted to check out the casinos operated by the Las Vegas-based Navegante Group, which is part of the consortium that was awarded the rights to operate a 4,500-slot machine casino at the Aqueduct Race Track.
But instead of the Sahara or Grand Sierra in Reno, the Post decided to visit Navegante’s operations in Elko.
The result were these first two paragraphs in a Monday article:
“Instead of picking world-class MGM Mirage or Hard Rock Entertainment to run the city's first video-slot parlor, Gov. (David) Paterson is betting on the company that runs the largest casino in all of . . . tiny Elko, Nev.
“And if the Red Lion Hotel & Casino in the sleepy backwater town 500 miles from Vegas is any indication, Aqueduct is well on its way to being redeveloped as a Sin City resort -- circa 1972.”
Within hours, the New York City public relations firm that represents the consortium, Aqueduct Entertainment Group, sent out a point-by-point fact checking statement on the article.
“Today’s New York Post misrepresents the track record and portfolio of AEG’s gaming operator, The Navegante Group,” according to an email from Kreab Gavin Anderson.
“In attempting to compare Navegante’s purchase of the Red Lion Casino from an estate in a town of 16,980 residents while ignoring Navegante and its principals’ track record on the Las Vegas Strip and in multiple jurisdictions around the world, the Post offers a distorted picture of the skills and bona fides Navegante brings to Aqueduct.”
