Giuliani warns gaming boat customers

Friday, Dec. 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

"At this point, people should just be appropriately careful," the mayor said Thursday. "We have no idea what the background of the people involved might be. We have no idea whether or not they are treating people fairly. We don't know what standards they are using."

Giuliani said he had no evidence of anything improper about the operation, but said his concerns were justified in light of the historical links between gambling and organized crime.

The swank 162-foot yacht's inaugural voyage was sold out, a cruise spokesman said. The boat, outfitted with gaming tables and slot machines, can carry up to 200 people per voyage. It takes about a half-hour for it to travel 3 miles offshore, to international waters where gambling is legal.

"Its nice and calm," Petros Kontaratos said before the ship left the harbor. "I'm going to wait until the ship starts rolling and maybe I'll get two sixes (on the craps table). If (the boat) rolls, then the dice roll."

Offshore gambling on U.S.-flag vessels operating at least 3 miles off the coast became legal in 1992 with passage of an anti-crime bill. The law overrides state statutes that bar possession of gambling equipment.