Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman: Las Vegas News, The Mob Museum And More
Where else can a gin-loving former mob attorney become one ofthe most charismatic mayors in the country? Only in Vegas, baby. While broadcasting from The Palms Casino Resort, Peter sat down with Mayor Oscar
Goodman to find out how Vegas is rebounding from the recession, and to get all
the juicy details of the mayor’s new “baby,” The Mob Museum.
Peter Greenberg: You know and I know that for a period of about
two and a half years now, you guys have been getting kicked.
Whether it was the president saying, “Don’t go”; whether it was the AIG Syndrome
where nobody wanted to get a pedicure when Rome was burning, the meetings and
conventions were in the toilet for a while. Are things turning around?
Mayor Oscar Goodman: Absolutely turning around. There’s no
question about it.
PG: Why?
OG: Well,
I can’t tell you why. But I think Las Vegas had the infrastructure in place all
along. We had the best casinos, the best hotels, the best food, the best shows,
the best shopping—the best of everything. The problem was the rest of the world
was suffering. We rely on them to come here and have a good time while doing
serious business, and spend money. They didn’t have the money that they used to
spend in the past. That’s the only difference. The crowds are good, but the
average daily rate, as we call it here, is down. But I think as the world comes
back, as the economy comes back, people will start spending again and then Las
Vegas will be right where it always was. Right at the top.
PG: I always talk
about Las Vegas as one of the great branding success stories when things were
working well. Meaning that whole concept of, “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in
Vegas.”
OG: It still works.
PG: Really?
OG: It does. We were
a little concerned because after the president made his remarks the message was
not to come here because we were not to be taken seriously; that we’re a place
of excess. But the truth of the matter is, the Convention and Visitors Authority
spoke to our corporate visitors and wanted to know whether it was inconsistent
to tell them to come to Las Vegas, do serious business, and at the same time
have, “the mark,” as we call it, of “what happens here, stays here.” Only 4
percent said that that brand should be minimized. The rest liked it, and felt
that it was no impediment. So I think it is a great thing.
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PG: I mean you
really couldn’t change the brand anyway and say, “Oh, we have rules now. Please
come.”
OG: No, no
we don’t want any rules here. That is for sure. We want everyone to be able to
go to the cusp of legality, and if they fall over that’s their problem.
PG: I love that.
Isn’t that the name of your biography, “The Cusp of Legality?”
OG: Well, it is
either that or, “The Cusp of Reality.” I’m not sure.
PG: So let’s talk
about what’s changing. If I go back and go down the Strip a year ago, you had a
number of projects that were either halted …
OG: …phenomenal.
Yes.
PG: No, it was
either halted, unfinished, or in bankruptcy. So give me the update.
OG: Well, it is a
great update. On December 15 the new two 50-story towers will be opening up just
down the street at the Cosmopolitan. City Center, of course, went up. It’s just
phenomenal, with three different major buildings, wonderful shopping, great
restaurants. The Hard Rock has expanded. The Planet Hollywood expanded with the
towers. Even in Downtown, The Golden Nugget put
up the Rush Towers, which is a beautiful $500 million investment.
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PG: Let’s talk about
Downtown for a second, because people forget about that area.
OG: Well
they shouldn’t forget about Downtown. It’s an integral part to our community
here. It’s the old Las Vegas. A place like The Palms is hip, it’s chic, it
swings. Downtown is more of a casual, strolling type place where you can go one
joint to another and try a lot of different experiences. Both are important ways
to enjoy yourself while you’re out here. We have the Viva Visionon Fremont Street, which is a canopy where
they show wonderful movies. We have about 18 million visitors there a year,
which is incredible. Of course when The Mob Museum opens
up, which is my baby …
PG: Yes, let’s talk
about that. For the interest of full disclosure, in the movie Casino, you played …?
OG: I played Oscar
Goodman. I played myself, yeah. That’s the only reason I became the mayor
because after I played in that movie I wasn’t getting any phone calls for
parts. I knew that in order for someone to make a movie in Las Vegas they had
to get a permit. So I figured if I’m a mayor I’d be able to require a part for
me if they got a permit.
PG: So let’s ask the
question. Since you’ve been mayor, and since you’ve been in charge of permits,
how many parts have you had?
OG: A lot. I’ve
ended up on the cutting room floor more than any other mayor in the history of
the world. But the good news was, after I screamed and yelled at Jackie Chan, I
got myself into the DVD on Rush
Hour 2. Then I ended up on the Oceans
11 cutting room floor.
PG: Jerry Weintraub
cut you out of the movie?
OG: Absolutely. I’ll
never talk to him again. And then they made a great movie called Angel Blade, and I played the
mayor, of course. They told me it was going to be an exotic thriller, but it
turns out it is an erotic thriller.
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PG: On the cusp of
legality, ladies and gentlemen. It’s an erotic thriller, and you’re playing
yourself. Now let’s go back to what we started to talk about, The Mob Museum.
OG: When I
was first elected, I looked out of my window at City Hall and saw an old post
office/court house where I tried my first federal case back in 1966. We were
able to have it declared surplus by the federal government. We bought it for a
dollar with the understanding that we would renovate it to its original
condition. Very costly, but well worthwhile because we’re not imploding things
around here anymore; we’re trying to preserve our history. And then I thought to
myself, what kind of museum can go in there? I love watercolors, but nobody
would visit watercolors. I love porcelain, but no one would visit porcelain.
Then I said, why are we different? It’s because we came from the Mob. Law
enforcement came in, and they destroyed the Mob. What a great story that would
be! We hired Dennis Barrie who did The Spy Museum in Washington, D.C, and The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. He is going to do a
phenomenal job here, and it is as cool as it gets.
PG: I have tell you,
when I saw Casino I related to it so well because when I
was a correspondent for Newsweek I was in charge of doing the
interviews with Alan Glick. I was sitting there in his office, and he had a
paper shredder on his left, and a paper shredder on his right.
OG: Well, what I can
tell you? That was the beginning of shredding in America.
PG: That scene when
the FBI ran out of gas and landed on a golf course—it actually happened.
OG: As a matter of
fact, the woman who is the hostess at the Las Vegas Country Club sent the
picture to me of the plane on the golf course, which will be going into The Mob
Museum.
PG: Here’s a funny
story you didn’t know. I was doing a story for Newsweek a week earlier up in Alaska on a guy
named Jesse Carr who ran the Teamsters there. They’re considered to be so
corrupt up there, and I’m talking about the pipeline, and who walks in the
office? Frank Fitzsimmons, the labor leader, who looks at me and goes, “What’s
he doing here?” A week later I’m in Alan Glick’s office doing another story, and
Frank Fitzsimmons walks in I’m thinking, I’m a dead man.
OG: No,
you say, “What are you doing here?” I represented all those fellows in real
life. If I had only known what I was doing… I had to find out what I was doing
by seeing the movie Casino.
If I knew what I was doing I would have owned a private plane by then.
PG: Just don’t land
on the golf course. The Mob Museum, when does it open?
OG: Well I was
hoping it would open before I’m term limited out, but it looks like the opening
will be October 2011.
PG: What will the
actual exhibits be?
OG: Everything. We
have purchased the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre wall. That will be in there.
Also, the federal government had intercepted a Mafia induction ceremony, and
surreptitiously entered a home where the ceremony was taking place. I saved the
tape that was played during the hearings, and I have given that to The Mob
Museum so everybody will be able to listen to a real Mafia induction ceremony.
PG: Wow, that’s
cool.
OG: It is cool. When
you go in there you’re going to be mugged; you’re going to be booked; and you’re
going to be printed. You’re going to have your picture taken, which I hope
you’ll pay for on the way out.
PG: You’re taking
your cue from Disney on that one.
OG: No, it’s going
to be really neat. It really is the history of America. It is not just the
history of Las Vegas. The reputed mobsters all came from other places.
PG: And just think,
a year ago you could have gone bowling down the Strip.
OG: Well, that’s
true, but it’s really coming back.
PG: And here we have
the mayor of Las Vegas, Mr. Goodman, getting up early, no gin in his hand and no
show girls. I’m upset with you.
OG: Well see, you’re
wrong. You assume that I got up early; I haven’t gone to sleep yet.
By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio.
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