Report: Icahn Will Save the Taj

Financier Carl Icahn has agreed to keep the Trump Taj Mahal Casino open, the New York Post reported Wednesday night, and has even made concessions to the casino workers union, Unite 54, from whom he had long demanded givebacks as the price of saving the Taj.

Without Icahn’s intervention, the casino had been scheduled to close on Saturday morning.

The Post says Icahn agreed to restore all the previously negotiated work rules for union members at the casino. He had been fighting to outsource some services to nonunion workers.

In exchange for Icahn providing the cash to keep the Taj Mahal open, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney on Thursday is expected to propose legislation that will give the Taj roughly $150 million in tax breaks, sources said.

The hope is that the measure will pass both the New Jersey Senate and Assembly on Thursday. Companion legislation will allow the Meadowlands to merge with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, a source said.

Sweeney was not going to support the tax breaks until Icahn reached a deal with Unite 54, sources said.

As part of the deal, Icahn will invest $100 million in cash in the casino.