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business newsAtlantic City Rolls Snake Eyes
New Jersey gambling town even harder hit than Sin City.
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But Atlantic City has gotten lost in the shuffle - and it's suffering even more than its larger cousin to the west.
The city by the sea -- once “America’s Favorite Playground” -- has never been able to shake its seedy image. But as recently as a few years ago, it was possible to see a brief glimmer of hope. There were new casinos on the way, planned development away from the boardwalk, and upscale entertainment and attractions.
All that is in shambles now, thanks to the economy, pressure from slots in neighboring states, casinos’ debt-laden balance sheets, and a nagging identity problem.
Even Resorts, Atlantic City’s first casino, is trying to fend off foreclosure after management admitted it hadn’t been making loan payments since October. Resorts opened in 1978, becoming the first casino outside Las Vegas.
The Tropicana has been under state supervision for 2 years after its former owners were stripped of their casino license. Trump Entertainment (TRMP), the operator of the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, and Trump Marina filed for bankruptcy Tuesday. Donald Trump no longer holds a management position in the company, but recently resigned from the company’s board; he called the Atlantic City situation in general a “disaster.”
About a year ago, Atlantic City was on its way to 15 casino hotels: 5 of them were updated, upscale versions of existing casinos, and 4 were brand-new mega-casinos. Atlantic City was on the verge of being christened the new playground for wealthy New Yorkers.
Today, 6 of the 11 existing casinos are in bankruptcy or facing the threat of it. Those 4 ritzy new casinos have been put on hold.
A luxury, nonstop train from New York to Atlantic City opened last month. It was planned and subsidized by casinos at the height of the boom.
“Atlantic City’s days as the East Coast’s premier gaming market are over,” said Andrew Zarnett, gaming analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York. “Its time has come and gone.”
While Sin City may wilt, its place in American tourism and entertainment is all but assured; the same can’t be said for Atlantic City. It may dissolve into just another tatty gambling town with a few casinos, instead of the luxury pleasure destination it so sorely wanted to become. And New Jersey’s government must look on this possibility with some apprehension: Taxes on casino revenues pay for social services and housing, and the city provides thousands of jobs.
I grew up on the Jersey shore. In my group of friends, it was a ritual of youth to drive to AC when you turned 21. To this day, the 2 letters are a siren song for our group, the only reason needed for an impromptu reunion. We didn’t have Vegas; for us, growing up in suburban Jersey, this was our escape.
So if Atlantic City is to fade away, its passing will be mourned by those of us who saw it as a symbol of New Jersey as a whole - gritty, seedy, but thrillingly unique - and ours.
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