One symbolically important project involves knocking down the stone wall that sealed off the casino from the Boardwalk. He said he has spent $35 million on renovations since taking control of the property in January. That includes allowing smoking, not insisting on a two-night minimum stay, enclosing the casino's vertiginous escalators with 2-foot-tall glass safety panels on each side, and installing a buffet, which will open by winter. 'They came back and said, '$5 million,'' he said.ĭeifik outlined numerous ways in which he would run the casino differently than the way Revel operated. 'I assumed if you wrote a $1 million check to his charity' that would get Springsteen to agree, Deifik said. 'We went to Bruce Springsteen's agents and said, 'We'd sure love to be able to have a free concert on the beach, no charge,'' Deifik said.
And Deifik aimed higher than that, albeit unsuccessfully.
