Action needed in Atlantic City, not more summits and pipe dreams.
I’ve got fourth-generation Atlantic City beach sand in my shoes.
I was born in Atlantic City. So were my kids. My parents, too. I can trace my Atlantic City lineage back nearly 100 years, to when my grandparents and great-grandparents landed on the Boardwalk to operate a couple of hotels.
So it would be disingenuous, not to mention very self-centered, for me to suggest that nobody wants to see Atlantic City succeed more than me, because there are plenty of people who have as much and more of a vested interest in the city’s future.
But you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not quite ready to shoot off some celebratory fireworks and crack open the bubbly over Gov. Chris Christie’s ambitious plans to create what he calls a state “partnership” with the casino industry and what others are calling a state “takeover.”
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against Christie’s aggressive attempt to stop the hemorrhaging of money, visitors and investment that’s been happening as the result of competitive pressure from neighboring gaming jurisdictions, namely Pennsylvania.
Guided by a 23-page report that indicated Atlantic City still had a viable future, Christie proposed sweeping reform and restructuring.
During press conferences on the Boardwalk, and, hours earlier, at the new Meadowlands Stadium — where he bluntly declared Atlantic City is dying — he called for the creation of an Atlantic City casino and entertainment district that would be marketed by a partnership between the state and the casino industry.
But here’s my problem: We’ve heard this song before.
OK, so maybe the lyrics are a little different this time, but the music’s the same. Atlantic City — in fact, this whole region — has a troubling habit of talking a project to death with little to show for all the rhetoric except a pile of newspaper clippings.
Granted, some might have been flights of fancy, like a plan to turn the mothballed luxury ocean liner S.S. United States into a floating casino permanently moored somewhere in the Inlet section of the city. That proposal probably stood more of a chance than two others, one of which would have enclosed the Boardwalk in a Plexiglas dome, while the other would have had a subway running beneath the Boardwalk with stops at each casino.
But other projects weren’t so fanciful and made sense to many.
In 1975, when I was transferred from the Cape May County bureau of The Press of Atlantic City to the Atlantic City bureau, one of the first stories I covered was a meeting to discuss the feasibility of improving traffic flow in the city by turning Pacific Avenue into a one-way street.
Sound familiar? It should; they’re still talking about it today, a mere 35 years later.
Another story that made headlines in the mid-’70s was when the Downbeach communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport began kicking around a plan to consolidate municipal services like police, fire, rescue, schools and trash collection. Every couple of years or so, often during a political campaign, some person or group blows the dust off that proposal and recycles it through the media.
One of the first stories I covered for The Press, shortly after I started with the paper in late ’74, was a meeting to discuss the possibility of the state building an overpass on the Garden State Parkway in Cape May Court House to eliminate what was then the only traffic light on the entire Parkway. I’m pleased to report that next year, a mere 37 years after I wrote that story, the state will finally build that overpass.
There are plenty of other examples of projects that have been discussed, studied, advanced and planned but never came to fruition. So perhaps you can understand why, for now, anyway, I’m going to be a skeptic over Christie’s plans for Atlantic City.
Oh, I’m sure something will come of it; but will it come soon enough to help, or too late?
This isn’t the first time that a state “role” in Atlantic City has been discussed. Every time an Atlantic City politician gets into trouble — which means about once a month — some group, if not the state itself, warns of a potential takeover of Atlantic City.
Christie wants his plans fast-tracked and in the express lane for whatever legislative approvals are needed to accomplish his goals. But expecting all of this to happen by next July 1, which is his deadline, is wishful thinking at best.
Already, politicians have begun planning a series of “summit” meetings and hearings to determine how to best implement Christie’s plans for the gaming, sports and horse racing industries.
Great. Just what we need. More meetings and hearings. And while those hearings are being held, money that might have been spent in Atlantic City five years ago is being pumped into casinos in Pennsylvania. Over the last several years, Atlantic City’s casinos have lost $1 billion to the competition, and that’s money it will never recoup.
Atlantic City simply can’t wait through another series of wasted public forums, backroom political wrangling, empty discussions, pep rallies, press conferences and town hall meetings.
Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Atlantic City’s back is against the wall. Can the rhetoric. Put politics aside.
Just do it!
The New York Times, CNN and other major news sources are reporting Tuesday morning, Oct. 4, that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will not seek the Republican nomination for the 2012 U.S, Presidential election.
Here’s an interesting read from ESPN, the title of which is: “Commission to N.J. racing: Drop dead.” And one from GuestofaGuest.com called “Martin Scorsese Is Atlantic City’s Best Bet,” referring to the upcoming HBO show Boardwalk Empire, which Scorsese is involved with as a director and producer. The piece asks the intriguing question, “Could the series [...]
Gov. Chris Christie spoke today at Kennedy Plaza on his plans for Atlantic City. A plan from the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Gaming would leave the state running A.C.’s casino district. For our full report go here.
On a sizzling hot Boardwalk Wednesday Governor Chris Christie did his best to say that the state was looking to help Atlantic City, not take over. “I’m here to extend the hand of partnership to the city,” Christie said. "We are entering into this public private partnership because we have to remake ourselves. We want to make Atlantic City a place where families and businesses want to be and want to come back to again and again.”
"I get offended when the governor and others advocate that we need an increased police presence on the Boardwalk to create the ‘perception’ that the city is safe, because the reality is that the Boardwalk is safe. But even to address just the ‘perception’ [of the city’s tourists] they advocate more resources. What about the neighborhoods?"
"[B]ills and legislation affecting Atlantic City and the creation of a 'Tourism District' have been fast tracked, and despite promises and assurances to the contrary...."
The mayor spoke about several city-created objectives, which could dovetail with the state plan for the city, as long as the two entities work with each other and communicate better moving forward.
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1. Anonymous said... on Jul 27, 2010 at 12:03PM
“I agree. And what about the rest of the city? The north end has cleaned up its act with new housing but the boardwalk is a disgrace. Garden Pier? It's looks are synonymous with the city. No easy way for tourists to get from the boardwalk to the marina. Maryland Ave? You would only drive through in an armored car at night. This plan will reinforce everyone's perception that Atlantic City is a sparkling jewel surrounded by dumps.”
2. Lewis Springer said... on Jul 28, 2010 at 08:04AM
“Atlantic City is "DEAD!" It's not Atlantic City Government that's corrupt, it's NJ State Government that's corrupt.
Here's just one reason Atlantic City is dead. "Power Surges in Atlantic City Casinos!" I blow the whistle via a civil lawsuit in 2004 concerning "Power Surges" and corrupt NJ Government which included the NJ Casino Control Commission. I was labeled a disgruntled employee by the NJ Casino Control Commission.
You report the facts and here's my facts on "Power Surges in Atlantic City Casinos!" Power surges have and are presently causing every slot machine in a casino to shut down. Casino patrons have to wait for hours by their slot machines for them to be reactiviated and paid their credits or jackpots. If you walk away from your slot machine you lose your credits and / or jackpots. Can you imagine hundreds if not a thousand or more casino patrons waiting by their slot machines to be paid. Penn., NY & Del. doesn't have this problem, AC Casinos do! Lew”
3. American Gaming Guru said... on Jul 28, 2010 at 06:09PM
“I certainly agree with your cautious outlook as it is certainly warrented. I am a bit more optomistic simply by his immediate track record. Hopefully he can do with a AC what he has done with the state budget. Make sense of it all and provide a good footprint for luring business back to the state. Ananymous..."And what about the rest of the city?" Try electing local leaders who give a dam!”