A city rolls snake eyes, Atlantic City has run out of luck; no more comps. The city at one time had visions of Vegas East Coast, but those visions have been swallowed up by the Atlantic Ocean which ebbs and flows at the front door of the iconic casinos. Even the “Donald” could no make it in Atlantic City, his tenure there has left a trail of bankruptcies rivaling the downfall of many of the “elephants” that roamed the casinos. What sets Atlantic City apart is the proximity to New York – fifty million people within driving distance were not enough to raise Atlantis.
What doesn’t set Atlantic City apart from other failing cities is that Barack Obama received 85% of the vote in 2012 joining Chicago, Jersey City, Stockton and Detroit. Bankruptcy is now the plan. Reorganization lawyers have been hired against all odds to put a plan in place to solve the $400,000,000 in debt owed by the city. What is on the table is layoffs and debt relief. Current year deficit is running close to $100,000,000; that is real money that seems to have gone into a sinkhole. The population of AC is only 40,000, mostly of the liberal persuasion that consistently spends more than it takes in.
We wish them good luck at the bankruptcy table as they roll the dice for what maybe the final time. Casinos were to be the “pie in the sky” for the cities hopeful, but as it turns out that many of its citizens who worked the casinos are lining up for government comps.