Apr. 4--Two Atlantic City casinos, bracing for the effects of a bad economy, eliminated managers by the bunches. 

Both Sands and Tropicana fired 33 managers last week, five days after Showboat eliminated its 10 full-time pit bosses. Tropicana further said it would not fill 10 other jobs, resulting in a total of 43 fewer jobs. 

"We need to be efficient now and efficient in the future. If the economy is flat we need to be efficient in the future. This is one way we have to do that," said Tropicana spokeswoman Maureen Siman, who would not disclose the estimated cost savings. 

Sands President Al Luciani said he was saving $3 million through the job reductions. He further put other managers on 90-day notice, saying he can't afford to keep those who fail to "think outside of the box." 

Sands' staffing needs, he said, changed once it withdrew its bid to acquire the neighboring Claridge Casino Hotel through the bankruptcy process. Park Place Entertainment is set to take control of Claridge next month. 

Colony Capital, parent of Lake Tahoe-based Harveys Casino Resorts, won temporary approval to take over the East's first legal casino, Resorts Atlantic City. Colony plans to close the $140 million deal with Resorts parent Sun International Hotels this week. 

Thomas Barrack Jr., who founded Los Angeles-based Colony 10 years ago, said he wants to "return to classics" with Resorts and restore the 122-year-old hotel's original grandeur. It's now a blend of old-world charm, art deco and beach themes. 

"Rather than building the Wild West or Jurassic Park or a Margaritaville, we're taking what we've got innately, which is the great quality, and just expanding it," Barrack said. 

Colony is studying plans to add a 500-room hotel tower in the near term, Barrack said, and down the road could develop a connected casino hotel on vacant land next door. 

Within a four-day span, Park Place Entertainment disclosed both its plans for an Indian casino in upstate New York and $5.6 billion in potential judgments it faces as a result of the project. 

The casino, to developed with the St. Regis Mohawks, would be just 30 miles from the New Jersey border and 90 minutes from New York City -- a major threat to Atlantic City. Park Place and the Mohawks said the $500 million casino would have 750 hotel rooms and 165,000 square feet of gaming space, making it the country's fifth-largest casino floor. 

Park Place CEO Tom Gallagher and Executive Vice President Clive Cummis met March 26 with New York Gov. George Pataki and legislative leaders to brief them on the project. 

In addition to federal, state and local approvals, Park Place disclosed that five parties have sued the company after it persuaded the Mohawks to switch development companies. The lawsuits, if combined, seek more than $5.6 billion in damages, including a $1.8 billion judgment levied by the tribal court two weeks ago. Park Place claims the tribal court is unrecognized and the award illegitimate. 

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