Inga Saffron: Steve Wynn Should Get the P.T. Barnum Award

Is there anything more delicious than a critic who’s ticked off? When the New Yorker‘s Anthony Lane hates a movie, you know you’re in for a really fun read. Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron takes the gloves off plenty, like a good critic should, and it’s always fun–and often a much-needed reality check.

In her latest Changing Skyline column, Saffron reminds us that the casino developers are not offering “plans” but “bait.” And when we like what we see, we gulp, gulp, gulp, so we shouldn’t be disappointed later if we’re stuck with a hook in the mouth.

Aside from pointing out that SugarHouse is nothing like the SugarHouse that SugarHouse said it would be, Saffron also reveals that the “plan” Steve Wynn has been circulating — “after declaring his special love for Philadelphia, where he spent his college years, and promising to tailor his Delaware River casino specifically to the city” — has nothing to do with Philadelphia. It is the same, exact plan and rendering he’s been showing to Everett, Mass., where he also might have a casino. Oh, Steve. We thought we saw that lipstick on your collar!

• Changing Skyline: Reviewing the ‘plans’ for Philly’s second casino [philly.com]