Atlantic City Approves Financial Recovery Plan State Lawmakers Considering Plan This Week

by Brian Pempus  |  Published: Oct 27, 2016

Atlantic City officials are trying to prevent a state takeover of city finances in a plan approved this week. Lawmakers in New Jersey’s Assembly Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday to vet the proposal.

Atlantic City has about $500 million in debt, thanks in part to its gambling industry contracting from a $5.2 billion market in 2006 to $2.56 billion in 2015. Five casinos have closed over the past three years.

More than 100 public employees will be laid off under the plan. A major component is being able to settle a tax issue with Borgata, the city’s highest grossing casino.

Borgata is owed $150 million in tax refunds, and Atlantic City is planning on being able to settle for about $100 million. The casino hasn’t formally accepted the settlement.

According to the Associated Press, other parts of the plan to pay off the debt include selling the Bader Field former airport site for $110 million and issuing $105 million in bonds.

The idea is to reduce its budget by about 20 percent by 2021.

State lawmakers have until Nov. 1 to approve the proposal. If they don’t, New Jersey would assume control of Atlantic City finances for a period of five years.

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/20959-amid-casino-gambling-collapse-atlantic-city-approves-financial-recovery-plan

NJ: Public hearing set on bond ordinances

Funding a Dead Industry!

Shore track wants in on casino expansion, aid for racing

Monmouth Park in Oceanport wants to make sure it's in the mix for a casino if voters ever approve the expansion of casino gambling beyond Atlantic City. BILL DENVER / Equi Photo, File

 

 

WAYNE PARRY, The Associated Press

Posted: Friday, February 20, 2015, 2:39 PM

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - A horse racing track at the Jersey shore wants to make sure it's in the mix for a casino if voters ever approve the expansion of casino gambling beyond Atlantic City.

The council in Oceanport, the Monmouth County borough that hosts the Monmouth Park track, passed a resolution Thursday night supporting casinos in other parts of the state. It also wants any such expansion to include a dedicated revenue stream for its track and the horse racing industry in general in New Jersey.

Expanding casinos beyond Atlantic City would require an amendment to the state Constitution. But with Atlantic City's casino industry shrinking - four of its 12 casinos closed last year - support has been growing in northern New Jersey for a casino at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, or in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River from New York City.

"We had always heard it was between Jersey City or the Meadowlands," Oceanport Councilman Joseph Irace said. "We need to get our name in the mix as part of that discussion. Why leave Monmouth Park out? Let's see if we can get some traction with this."

He said Oceanport would love to host a casino at the track, which is a popular summertime attraction at the Jersey shore near Long Branch.

 

Irace said state representatives have informally told Oceanport officials they consider the track to be too close to Atlantic City to warrant placing a casino there - even though it is an hour and a half north of the gambling resort.

 

In the event Oceanport is not chosen to host a casino, the borough still wants a piece of the action. Its resolution calls for part of the money raised by a new non-Atlantic City casino elsewhere in the state to help support Monmouth Park and the state's horse racing industry.

 

Atlantic City's casinos used to pay $30 million a year to the horse tracks in return for keeping casino gambling out of them. In 2011, Gov. Chris Christie ended those payments, redirecting the money to fund the Atlantic City Alliance, which promoted the resort to other parts of the country.

 

But state officials are on the verge of dismantling the alliance and redirecting its $30 million to the city's municipal finances and to help attract new development there.

 

Hurt by casinos popping up in neighboring states - some of which include racetrack casinos, like Pennsylvania and New York - Atlantic City has seen its casino revenue fall from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.74 billion last year.

 

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150220_ap_bd8e66582b984123ae0b6cde9eb063ce.html?c=r

 

 

Debts That No Honest Man Can Pay

Just as with Detroit, let's not over-simplify Atlantic City's problems.

Atlantic City defines Government's Addiction to Casino Revenues.

Statewide, New Jersey voters defeated CASINO GAMBLING, yet supported it for a poor community...as long as it was 'OVER THERE.'

AC Casinos received MILLIONS in REAL ESTATE TAX REDUCTIONS, casting the die for the City's bankruptcy.

Atlantic City has been plagued with corruption. Money has been misspent.

Rampant RACISM provided subsidized public transportation from suburbs to CASINO JOBS and much else.

Neighborhoods were destroyed, property speculation was irrational.

Local small businesses were destroyed because CASINOS provided it all to keep you GAMBLING.

Infrastructure improvements were TAX PAYER FUNDED - REVEL stands in testament to Christie's Addiction to Gambling Revenues. 

"For decades, the Las Vegas-based companies that ran most of the casinos here vacuumed up the gambling profits but did little to promote redevelopment of the surrounding area, preferring to keep customers inside."

There's a great book: "Boardwalk of Dreams" by Bryant Simon that offers insight.

David [Cay] Johnston produced a well documented tale: "TEMPLES OF CHANCE How America Inc. Bought Out Murder Inc. to Win Control of the Casino Business."

The New Jersey Gam[bl]ing Commission, under Steve Perske's dictatorship ignored insolvent casinos [like Merv Griffin and Donald Trump], ignored underage gambling, ignored money laundering and much else.

During one of the first public hearings in Massachusetts, a speaker pointed out that once you legalize GAMBLING, the state becomes partners in the success of SLOT BARNS.
In Nevada, they are not simply partners, but own the state.

In Massachusetts, they are dictating TERMS.

Eye on the News

Stephen Eide

Debts That No Honest Man Can Pay

Will Chris Christie bail out Atlantic City?

12 February 2015

 

Photo by Yamaguchi

 

It took six decades for Detroit to reach the brink of bankruptcy. Atlantic City, New Jersey, got there in less than one. With casino revenues falling by half between 2006 and 2014 and the local economy imploding, the beleaguered gambling mecca resorted to fiscal gimmicks to shield its budget from severe cuts. But the day of reckoning has come. The 5 percent loan that the city secured from Bank of America represents a near tripling of its borrowing costs in only one year. As unwise as it was for Detroit to have relied so heavily on the auto industry, a city economy based on gambling makes even less sense.

Atlantic City suffers from many of the same problems that have led other American cities to ruin.

The city’s annual pension bill has risen over 200 percent since 2006, from $6.5 million to $20.2 million. City employees receive defined-benefit pensions administered through two massively underfunded statewide systems. In November, Governor Chris Christie’s administration released a report recommending that Atlantic City take a pass on the annual, actuarially recommended payments, a “reform” the city had already tried. So far, the city has not sought to reduce pension benefits, though it is trying to negotiate cheaper labor contracts.

Source: New Jersey Casino Control Commission

Fiscal gimmicks have only exacerbated Atlantic City’s problems. As casino revenues tumbled, so did real estate values. The city reacted by raising tax rates and overvaluing its casino properties. Casino owners appealed these inflated assessments, and they won big on the overcharges. They’re not finished yet. Four out of the city’s top ten taxpayers now have outstanding tax appeals with the New Jersey Tax Court. Because the awards are too large to pay out in cash, Atlantic City issued general- obligation bonds to reimburse the casinos. Last month, Moody’s downgraded those bonds to junk status. Already, $125 million of the city’s $340 million debt burden consists of “Tax Appeal Bonds,” a total that may soon more than double. Simply put, the city has been borrowing to pay for current operating expenses—the big no-no of municipal finance. Atlantic City taxpayers face years of paying off debt used to finance past services. That means less money for future services.

Source: City Financial Filings

Atlantic City officials are trying to revamp the local economy, but their plans will take many years to succeed, if they ever do. In the near-term, officials’ main concern is the debt. Bankruptcy is not out of the question. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Springfield, Massachusetts, and several other nearly broke cities have managed to restore solvency without going to federal court. (Springfield appears determined to jeopardize its fragile revival by opening a casino.)

The state government hasn’t decided whether to let Atlantic City go bankrupt. State senate president Steve Sweeney has staked out a strong anti-bankruptcy position, but Christie signaled his openness to bankruptcy by appointing Kevyn Orr, who oversaw Detroit’s bankruptcy, as a “special consultant” to emergency manager Kevin Lavin, a former financial consultant to Philadelphia. Though Christie’s November report called for an emergency manager with “ultimate power on hiring, firing and budget expenditures,” Lavin and Orr have no real authority. Their charge is to lay out a plan by mid-March that shows how to “place the finances of Atlantic City in stable condition on a long-term basis by any and all lawful means.” The plan will be welcome if only because it will shed some light on exactly what is going on. Atlantic City’s financial disclosure practices leave much to be desired.

Christie may have the legal authority to go ahead with bankruptcy over the objections of state and local officials. But before he does, he should define the problem that bankruptcy would solve. Is it incompetence? Corruption? Intractable creditors? Atlantic City is a fiscal and economic disaster, and Christie can’t turn it around on his own. The governor, who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2016, should think carefully about how much political capital he wants to invest.
Politics aside, New Jersey has a responsibility to Atlantic City. Municipalities are creatures of their state governments. A failing city is prima facie evidence of failed state policymaking. Atlantic City’s casino-focused economic development policy is a state policy: state voters authorized casinos during the mid-seventies, and about $200 million in casino tax revenues still flow into Trenton’s treasury each year. Atlantic City’s future, whatever it might be, should not obscure the fact that, if not for casinos, the city wouldn’t be facing insolvency. More pain is certain for residents and businesses, who must now serve as martyrs for the cause of better fiscal management.

Stephen Eide is a Manhattan Institute senior fellow.

 

 

http://www.city-journal.org/2015/eon0212se.html

 

 

New Jersey's Addiction to GAMBLING REVENUE...

September showdown is set to override Chris Christie's sports-betting veto: Mulshine

By Paul Mulshine | The Star Ledger 
Follow on Twitter 
on August 22, 2014

Overrides of gubernatorial vetoes are extremely rare in New Jersey. But on Sept. 22 we may see the most realistic attempt at an override in recent history.

 

That’s when state Sen. Ray Lesniak has decided to push for an override of Chris Christie’s veto of a bill he sponsored that would repeal the state’s ban on sports betting at casinos and racetracks.

 

Earlier this month, Christie vetoed that bill for reasons that didn’t seem to make a lot of sense.

 

In his veto statement Christie first said he did not wish to defy the federal law prohibiting states from setting up sports-betting operations. But that bill does nothing of the sort.

In its decision on New Jersey's prior attempt to set up a sports-betting system, the Third Circuit ruled that the state can’t set up a system to regulate the practice.

 

But the court also left open the possibility that instead of setting up a sports-betting system the state could simply repeal its laws prohibiting the practice. That’s what Lesniak wants to do. (Read more on that here.)

 

Apparently so does Christie. Right after writing that he didn’t want to sidestep the law, Christie proposed doing just that. He wrote that “the time is right to examine the Third Circuit’s opinion carefully and determine if a different approach towards sports wagering would comply with federal law...."

 

But the governor has yet to tell us just what that approach might be.

Chris Christie: If he doesn't like Ray Lesniak's plan for sports betting then he should put forth his own.Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger 

“Put up or shut up,” said Lesniak, a Democrat from Elizabeth. “He’s had over 60 days to let me know what this other way is. If he doesn’t know by now, he’ll never know.”

The bill passed both houses overwhelmingly. If the legislators simply stuck to their prior votes, the override would pass. However in normal circumstances legislators won’t go against a governor of their own party.

“Put up or shut up." - state Senator Ray Lesniak

But these are not normal circumstances. Three casinos are set to go out of business in the next couple weeks. Lesniak said that about 10,000 people will be losing their jobs. That should put pressure on Christie’s fellow Republicans to provide the votes need to reach the two-thirds majorities need for an override.

 

Besides, what’s the harm in trying?

 

Christie didn’t make that clear in his statement. Monmouth Park is set to go ahead with sports-betting as soon as a bill becomes law. Does that mean the feds would come and arrest the people running the betting?

 

Nope. The law in question, called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA for short), does not have criminal penalties. It simply states that the sports leagues can go to court and sue to get an injunction against the racetrack.

 

“The state wouldn’t even be involved,” said Lesniak. “I don’t expect we would lose, but if we did no harm, no foul.”

 

There’s a good chance the court case could drag on for months while the betting continued, he said. That would help set a further precedent for legalization. And there's also a good chance the leagues would lose the suit. In the prior case, they conceded that 
"Nothing in the unambiguous text of PASPA requires states to keep prohibitions against sports gambling on their books."

 

The state certainly needs to try something. Among the casinos closing is the multi-billion-dollar Revel, which opened just a couple years ago. At the moment there are no buyers, but sports-betting offers the best way to breathe life into it and the other two casinos that are shutting their doors.

 

“The Revel was not designed for casinos but would be a welcoming location for sports bettors,” he said. “Unlike the average Atlantic City visitor who spends 11 hours in the city, they’d come for long weekends during football season, the Super Bowl and the NCAA championships.”

 

Meanwhile the state’s racetracks could also come back from the brink by offering an attraction outside of racing season. And there are a few Republican senators who have either tracks or horse farms in their districts.

 

So this should be fun for sports fans. It will also be fun for us conservatives. There’s been a big resurgence in interest in what is known as “nullification” among conservatives – the historical practice of states telling the federal government to mind its own damn business. This could be a classic battle along those lines.

 

It's usually liberals who get their knickers in a knot over nullification. Christie is on the wrong side of that battle.

 

Still, maybe he’s got some plan of his own up his sleeve. If so, he should put it on the table. But if Christie's not going to propose anything, then he can hardly object if the Legislature gives it a shot.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/08/september_showdown_set_to_override_chris_christies_sports-betting_veto_mulshine.html

Nanny State Alert

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘GAMING’ Future

It’s ironic how pro-casino people love to through out the ‘Nanny State’ card when it comes to my wanting lawmakers in casino states to put forth my safeguards into their gaming laws. But when casinos are having finical problems, and talk about closing, the pro-casino people are the first ones asking for government assistance.

 

Philadelphia Inquirer - August 15, 2014 - Casino workers confront Christie at town meeting

 

OCEAN CITY - Unrest spurred by a spate of upcoming casino closures in Atlantic City confronted Gov. Christie on Thursday at the Shore, as workers showed up at a town-hall-style event and demanded that Christie take action.

 

Christie, meanwhile, told the crowd in Ocean City that there was a limit to what he could do.

 

"The government can't order private businesses to do things," Christie told those gathered for the event at the Ocean City Music Pier. "And you don't want to live in a world where we do."

 

At the same time, Christie said his administration was working to find jobs for the soon-to-swell ranks of the unemployed in Atlantic City, where the number of casinos that have closed or are slated to close grew to four this week.

 

Read more athttp://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20140815_Casino_workers_confront_Christie_at_town_meeting.html#i5BtV6xrHSPjyxtp.99

 

By Maddie Hanna, Inquirer Trenton Bureau

POSTED: August 16, 2014

 

 

 

OCEAN CITY - Unrest spurred by a spate of upcoming casino closures in Atlantic City confronted Gov. Christie on Thursday at the Shore, as workers showed up at a town-hall-style event and demanded that Christie take action.

Christie, meanwhile, told the crowd in Ocean City that there was a limit to what he could do.

"The government can't order private businesses to do things," Christie told those gathered for the event at the Ocean City Music Pier. "And you don't want to live in a world where we do."

At the same time, Christie said his administration was working to find jobs for the soon-to-swell ranks of the unemployed in Atlantic City, where the number of casinos that have closed or are slated to close grew to four this week.

On Tuesday, the $2.4 billion Revel Casino Hotel - the latest addition to the resort town, which the state helped push to completion in 2012 - announced that it would close in September, leaving an additional 3,200 workers without jobs.

The Revel announcement followed the closure of the Atlantic Club earlier this year, and news that Showboat and Trump Plaza will also close.

A number of casino workers came Thursday to Ocean City, where they heralded Christie's arrival with chants of "Save our jobs!" and "Five-year promise!" - apparently a reference to Christie's five-year revitalization plan for Atlantic City, unveiled in 2011.

Rina Rimska, a cocktail waitress for 13 years at the slated-to-close Showboat, said as she waited for Christie's arrival that workers "feel outraged. Because he hasn't done anything."

After Christie was "so eager" to promote Revel, Rimska said, "why wouldn't he speak up? At least speak up."

Christie announced Wednesday that he would convene political leaders and casino industry officials for a summit to be held Sept. 8 on the future of Atlantic City.

To some in Ocean City on Thursday, that wasn't soon enough. "If we wait two weeks, Showboat will be closed," Cindy Pemberton, who has worked at the casino for 27 years, told Christie.

Christie said state officials were working "literally every day" with private employers in Atlantic City. But "what you're asking me to do is become the CEO of Showboat," he said. "I don't want to run Showboat. I don't want to run Borgata. I don't want to run Revel. . . . I don't want to run any of them."

The administration is "trying to come up with a solution that could help you and others save your jobs," Christie told Pemberton. "That's what our goal is."

Earlier, he had told the crowd: "I'm as committed today to Atlantic City and this region of this state as I've been the last five years. For all of you who are here and concerned . . . I am plugged in. I am listening."

Thursday's event marked the latest stop on Christie's summer tour at the Shore, where the governor has been making a push for still-unspecified changes to the state pension system.

Christie, who recently announced a commission to recommend changes to the system, continued to argue that the state's pension costs, which have been growing to compensate for years of skipped payments into the system, are unsustainable.

The governor, who had agreed to make escalating payments as part of a pension-reform deal reached during his first term, backtracked on the schedule earlier this year, cutting the state's payments to fill a revenue shortfall.

On Thursday when Christie's entrance was greeted by a few shouts about pensions, he said: "If they want to yell at folks to fund their pensions, they should yell at all the governors who came before me . . . who put nothing into [the pension system]. I'm cleaning up their mess. But a mess it is."

Christie singled out health benefit costs as a problem, noting a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts that said the average premium for a public worker in New Jersey - $1,334 - was 39 percent higher than the national average.

As he called for a need to curb the state's costs, Christie said he wasn't attacking public workers.

"What I am saying is, we can't afford the excess," he said.

Christie again acknowledged Thursday that he is weighing a bid for president - a topic he broached after a woman in the crowd encouraged him to run, drawing applause as she told Christie, "I just want to say we need you."

"Third question in - you people are slow," he said.

Christie, who has been traveling the country as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said he would likely decide on a run by the end of this year or the beginning of next. He called it "an enormous decision" and said "the hardest part" is weighing the effect on his four children.

"If I really believe it's right for me, my family, and our country, I'll do it," he said. "If I don't, I won't."

In response to a woman who asked a broad question on national issues, Christie issued several criticisms of President Obama, saying the president had thrown the health-care system "into complete chaos."

Christie voiced support for "significant" tax reform on the national level, saying too-high tax rates are to blame for companies shifting their headquarters outside the United States.

And he again faulted Obama in light of the recent influx of unaccompanied children trying to enter the United States from Mexico, saying the president "hasn't done his job" in securing the border and because "we don't have an immigration system that works."

 

http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-16/news/52850787_1_christie-showboat-casino-workers#i5BtV6xrHSPjyxtp.99

 

 

THE SCAM: Closing of Revel Casino Deals Another Blow to Atlantic City

TAXPAYER FUNDS and PUBLIC PENSION USED to fund an INSOLVENT CASINO?

Revel had a complex history - the union fought the
taxpayer subsidies. [This was Gov. Christie's baby!]
When Revel opened, it was NON-UNION.

Questions were raised initially about SOLVENCY!
[NJ with Steve Perske as Chairman of the Gaming
Commission approved Trump and Merv Griffin, both
of which were clearly insolvent and the pattern
seems to have continued.]

This should raise questions about Caesars, MGM and
Mohegan Sun and the willingness of the MA Gambling
Commission to rubber stamp these folks.

There are a number of serious issues with Revel,
beyond taxpayer subsidies.

1. Infrastructure was upgraded to support increased
traffic. [Isn't that what will happen in Massachusetts?]

2. Public Pension $$$ was invested.

3. The projections were GROSSLY OVERSTATED.

4. This screwed Atlantic City out of tax revenue.

5. The project was massively underfunded if they
couldn't pay initial construction costs.


There are consistent patterns that are PREDICTABLE!



FYI - there are 66 articles posted on this link.
At the bottom, just click 'OLDER POSTS' or click
and drag the topic.

The most recent articles mostly pertain to the bankruptcies.
http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/search/label/Revel


The restructuring will wipe out 82 percent of its debt, leaving it with a manageable $272 million in debt.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/ap/state/nj/revel-bankruptcy-plan-includes-allowing-smoking/article_34131617-74f5-5f19-8a19-27d99c838950.html



Revel owes $12 million in unpaid taxes to Atlantic City

A joint statement issued Friday by the city and Revel said both sides hope to reach an agreement next month on Revel's true tax debt. Atlantic City is issuing $100 million in bonds this year for such refunds; last year's total was an additional $35 million in refunds.

Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/30/sweeney-revel-casinos-finances-dire/#ixzz2DqPVRGde
- vcstar.com

Taxpayer Subsidized Revel not paying construction bills
For months, Local 54 has questioned whether Revel meets the “financial stability” requirement that is a key part of a New Jersey casino license. Local 54, Atlantic City’s largest casino union, has repeatedly battled with Revel over attempts to unionize the casino’s work force. Local 54 also has objected to public subsidies given to Revel, including $261 million in state tax breaks over the next 20 years.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/more-than-construction-companies-file-liens-against-revel-claiming-nonpayment/article_08511852-3b59-11e2-a65e-0019bb2963f4.html

Revel had the most to lose in the shutdown. It opened only seven months earlier, is carrying the most debt, and is still trying to develop a clientele. The $2.4 billion mega-casino, built with more than $300 million in state credits and tax rebates, lost five days of business to Sandy, reopening at noon Nov. 3.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20121115_Analysts__Ailing_Revel_casino_will_find_it_hard_to_recover_from_Sandy.html#ixzz2CIOwnn7f


Hedge fund's risky ties to Revel casino shine light on N.J.'s investing habits
A hedge fund that manages $200 million in New Jersey public pension money also has a financial stake in Revel, Atlantic City’s newest and sleekest casino hotel, a Star-Ledger review of records from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement and Treasury Department shows. It’s a gamble that has put a share of public workers’ retirement income at risk if the struggling resort fails.

The investment caught the attention of the local casino workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 54, which has fought Revel, a non-union shop.

"At the time of this deal, we couldn’t understand why any rational investor who relied strictly on financial considerations would put money into Revel," Bob McDevitt, the union president. "Now, as Revel’s revenue numbers disappoint month after month and more interest payments come due, will there be pressure for another bailout?"

The state Attorney General’s Office made it more difficult for the public to learn the identities of the hedge funds by granting a Revel request that they be exempt from public scrutiny on the ground that the funds didn’t hold enough of the casino’s debt. The Star-Ledger learned the identities of the hedge funds through filings with Gaming Enforcement,
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/09/hedge_funds_risky_ties_to_reve.html

Job lag at Anti-Union Revel is one more woe
Revel was supposed to be a job-generating machine - creating 5,500 full-time jobs with benefits as the biggest, most expensive casino ever built in New Jersey.

But to date, Revel has created only 2,780 full-time jobs - half of its original promise, according to figures reported by the casino earlier this month to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The number grows to 3,837 total employees if part-timers are included.

....the nonunion Revel received more than $300 million in state assistance to get built - including $2.6 million for employee training - on the premise that it would create thousands of jobs and tax revenue for Atlantic City and the state.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20120826_Job_lag_is_one_more_Revel_woe.html?page=2&c=y#ixzz24exeGgN2

The Poster Child for Failed Government Policy
...New Jersey encumbered Taxpayers in this charade, even investing in $42 million in infrastructure improvements [South Inlet Transportation Improvement Project].


"It is appalling that Revel has taken hundreds of millions of dollars in state assistance, and then it turns around and institutes anti-worker policies,"

"Revel's policies of term-limiting service employees and huge use of part-time workers are a direct attack on the labor movement,"


Saturday, March 24, 2012
The future of Suffolk Downs?
The undertaking is the largest in the city since the $330 million Atlantic City Expressway Connector opened in 2001.
State traffic counts have not been updated since May 2007, but figures from then show 27,151 vehicles on average used the Atlantic City Expressway on a given day.

This draws interesting parallels to SUFFOLK DOWNS. If 90% of this traffic takes place during about a 10 hour period during the day, that's 2400 vehicles per hour or 40 per minute. Where are the traffic studies contained in the REPORT Senator Petruccelli refused to provide?

Revel: OSHA for Death of Worker

Saturday, March 26, 2011
Union sues to stop bailout of Revel


Revel has also sought a $56 million municipal bond to help with road improvements around the project, and has applied for a five-year property tax abatement from Atlantic City that would save the company $50 million in local property taxes.

Closing of Revel Casino Deals Another Blow to Atlantic City

More Than 3,100 Jobs to Be Lost When Casino Shuts Its Doors

By Josh Dawsey and Heather Haddon


The mammoth Revel Casino Hotel, with its curving facade, high-end restaurants and pulsating nightclubs, was heralded as a game-changer in Gov. Chris Christie's push to revitalize Atlantic City.

But Revel announced Tuesday it would close next month after two years of operation, possibly carrying away 3,000 jobs from the beleaguered seaside city and dealing a setback to Mr. Christie's vision for its renewal. Revel had already filed for...

http://online.wsj.com/articles/atlantic-city-s-revel-casino-to-close-in-september-1407850347




On the right side of this blog, is a category list. Click on a category to review articles posted about a topic.


REVEL was ANTI-UNION and TAXPAYER SUBSIDIZED!

No Great Aptitude was required to KNOW this project was insolvent.


Who got CHEATED?   Taxpayers and Investors!

The Rape of Atlantic City!

Atlantic City squandered any chance to Pave The Streets With Gold with Predatory Gambling, was mired in racism and corruption.

The Casino Industry raped Atlantic City, took their profits....filed for bankruptcy and walked away!

They left the City and the State to pay their tab!

This is the FACE of Predatory Gambling and Short-Sighted Politicians!
[Great Book: Boardwalk of Dreams, by Bryant Simon!]


Do your research, collect the FACTS before you get conned like Atlantic City!

The only reasonable solution:

REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL

NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney Wants Atlantic City Redo

August 06, 2014 By Samantha Beckett

New Jersey State Senate President Stephen Sweeney wants Atlantic City to look beyond the resort city for financial rejuvenation. (Image: William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

Atlantic City is far removed from its glory days, when it was considered second only to Las Vegas in
the American casino scene. And now, New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) has asked the city, the gaming industry, and officials from around the state to come up with ideas for how Atlantic City can “reinvent itself,” saying that the city has been far too dependent on casino revenues for far too long.

As casinos continue to close in the resort city at a staggering rate, it is becoming more and more apparent that a return to those glory times isn’t coming. That’s enough for many, like Sweeney, to call for the city to find new ways to generate revenue and get back on its feet.

Gaming Revenues In Spiral Since 2006

“Since its peak, the market for gaming has changed,” Sweeney wrote in an op-ed published in The Record. “Convenience gaming has proliferated throughout the United States with casinos in the backyards of one-time day trippers to Atlantic City.”

In particular, Pennsylvania used to be an excellent market for Atlantic City casinos to draw on. But that state began introducing casinos in 2006, and the effects on Atlantic City were immediate and devastating. The city’s revenues peaked that year at about $5.2 billion. But they’ve now fallen for seven consecutive years, and while the 2008 recession made things worse, it’s clear that increased competition in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New York and other nearby states has been the main cause of the sustained decline. Last year, the 12 casinos operating in the city brought in just $2.9 billion, the lowest total in 25 years.

That decline has created mounting pressure on the gaming industry in Atlantic City, and that finally became too much to bear in 2014. In January, the Atlantic Club casino closed, with the Showboat closing this summer and Trump Plaza expected to shut down in September. The Revel could also close if a buyer isn’t found in a bankruptcy auction.

To Sweeney, this means that changes have to be made both inside and out of Atlantic City.
“It is time we consider whether to give voters the option of expanding gaming outside of Atlantic City in the near future,” Sweeney wrote. Sweeney has been a proponent of a North Jersey casino, which could be a way to draw in customers who might head over the border to current and future New York casinos. Under his plan, Atlantic City would still be the “premier gaming destination” in New Jersey, and any new casinos would have to be designed to avoid taking customers away from the city as much as possible.

Casinos Outside Atlantic City Not Yet a Popular Plan

But New Jersey residents may not be interested in such a plan. According to a recent poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind, 50 percent of New Jersey adults are against expanding casinos outside of the city, while 42 percent are in favor.

Regardless of the future of gambling outside of Atlantic City, though, Sweeney believes that the city must expand beyond gaming if it wants to secure its future.

“But Atlantic City is going to have to expand beyond just gaming,” Sweeney wrote. “For too long, the city relied almost solely on gambling revenues to keep the engine running. That format was bound to run into problems eventually. We must totally reinvent how Atlantic City bills itself to the world.”

Read more: http://www.casino.org/news/nj-senate-president-steve-sweeney-wants-atlantic-city-redo#ixzz39f0Po8dq

Atlantic City: ....the state's casino gambit has failed....

Atlantic City is the Poster Child for Predatory Gambling - a Failure!



Politicians say that casinos create economic development. Here is the Revel Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. (Most media photos are from the interior of the casino looking out onto the beach and ocean.)

from the New York Business Journal April 10, 2014:

http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2014/04/10/atlantic-city-casino-revenue-plummeted-in-2013.html

Apr 10, 2014, 8:47am EDT
Atlantic City casino revenue plummeted in 2013

Last month, there were early warning signs that New Jersey’s online gambling experiment was going poorly, but now, with the release of figures from all of 2013, we can see the state’s entire gambling industry is sliding.

According to a report by the Associated Press, the state’s 12 casinos, together, pulled in a gross operating profit of $235 million in 2013, a steep drop from the previous year’s $360 million. One of those casinos, the Atlantic Club, has since shut down, the AP added.

The report pointed to the proliferation of casinos throughout the northeastern United States in recent years, especially in Pennsylvania, as the primary cause for the decline of Atlantic City’s gaming industry. In that light, it’s somewhat puzzling that Governor Chris Christie is considering a push toward even more casino activity in the state. As the AP described, the governor is putting effort into reviving Atlantic City’s economy, but could also approve casino gambling in the northern part of the state, at the Meadowlands.

Philadelphia Magazine looked at some of the issues facing Atlantic City’s local economy and concluded that the state's casino gambit has failed. Instead, the post suggested, Atlantic City and other places that are now struggling with a casino-centric economy amid a larger scene where there is casino over-saturation ought to, instead, focus on the basics of urban planning, which boils down to encouraging diverse entertainment options that appeal to far wider swathes of the population.

Internet gambling bill bad for gamblers, A.C.

Posted: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 12:01 am

Internet gambling bill bad for gamblers, A.C.

Democratic state Sens. Ray Lesniak and Jim Whelan have proposed a bill allowing Internet gamblers to bet from other states and countries through the websites run by Atlantic City casinos. This is a poor idea.
Not only is Internet gambling a dangerous and risky way to gamble, but it is prone to attracting people who already have gambling problems. If this bill is passed, it will worsen gambling addiction and encourage compulsive gambling behavior.

The atmosphere of the casino is what makes gambling and Atlantic City exciting and what brings people to the city to have a good time. If this bill is passed, then I believe fewer people will make the journey to Atlantic City to gamble and would instead just go on the Internet. This will negatively affect the economy of Atlantic City.

Even though the proposed bill will give the Atlantic City casinos access to the global Internet gambling market, the risks it will entail will far outweigh the benefits it will bring. I think this Internet gambling bill should be stopped dead in its tracks before it causes much damage.

CODY WRIGHT
Marlton

New Jersey: Wouldn't ya think they'd figure it out?

Casino Gambling was supposed to pave the streets with gold and bring prosperity to Atlantic City. Anyone remember?

Instead, Predatory Gambling destroyed small businesses, increased poverty, increased unemployment, increased CRIME, increased homelessness.

Why would anyone believe Expanded Gambling would solve anything?

Don't politicians ever learn?






Casinos in Camden, Newark? Sweeney says maybe

NJ Sen. President Suggests Possibility of Casino in Camden

He also believes Newark and Jersey City may benefit from having casinos in their cities.