Hump Day Report: Atlantic City At Crossroads
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly
The news cycle created by Gov. Christie’s plan to form a partnership with Atlantic City government to clean up the town and create a more family-friendly atmosphere continues. AC Weekly columnist David Spatz weighs in this week and AC Weekly reporter Mike Pritchard has more coverage of the plan.
Atlantic City has been seriously hurt by the downturn on the economy. Gaming is a business that is always going to take a hit in bad economic times since most people gamble with the money they can afford to lose and a lot of people don’t have extra money these days.
Competition from neighboring states has done the most damage, as the Pennsylvania and Delaware casinos continue to draw patrons away from our region.
As I noted in an earlier blog, Christie’s “dying town” quote sent a lot a writers running to their laptops to declare that it might be too late to salvage the seaside resort.
I grew up in this area and I’ve heard the “AC is dead” declaration plenty of times. I’m 56 and believe me, I saw Atlantic City when it was really a dead town, in the late 1960s and early ’70s. The Steel Pier was shuttered, the Boardwalk was falling apart and nobody wanted to be in the Inlet section of town anytime of the day.
People still came for the beach and a few good restaurants, but AC was just a shell of its former glory as the “World’s Playground” from the turn of the century to the 1940s. That period also included its infamy as a mobster’s paradise in the Roaring Twenties, a period that will be revived when the series Boardwalk Empire debuts on HBO in September.



Partying like its 1999 has a lot of appeal and we have to hand it to
Monopoly, the board game based on Atlantic City’s 1930s neighborhoods, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. But if the game were constructed today, it would look much different.
The Tropicana is worried about your poker game and wants you to get better. They figure all it will take is a little poker boot camp. So to help, the casino will hold a World Poker Tour Boot Camp April 9-10 taught by poker pros Kathy Liebert, Nick Brancato, Rick Fuller and Nick Binger.



