Trump Plaza Atlantic City Closes!

The Trump Plaza Atlantic City is to close its doors in September after the summer season, putting around 1,000 people out of work and piling on yet more misery for the battle beaten resort of Atlantic City. 2014 has not been a good year for the troubled New Jersey casino mecca with The Atlantic Club closing in January and the Showboat Casino shutting its doors in August, as well as The Revel being stuck in bankruptcy and looking for a buyer in order to continue doing business. With The Trump Plaza closing it leaves Trump Entertainment Resorts with just the Trump Taj Mahal in AC.

Atlantic City revenues have been in decline for the past 7 years and this presents a huge problem, as Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo states, "The big issue for this region is that you'll have 6,000 to 8,000 people who will now be unemployed, that's going to have a devastating effect on our economy and on this region." The fact of the matter is that Atlantic City has lost its monopoly on East Coast gaming activity with Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York either expanding their casino offerings or legalizing it in an attempt to boost their own state coffers and this has had the inevitable effects on the Garden State.

There's been a double hit of bad news in Atlantic City as Governor Chris Christie's 5 year plan to turn around the gaming situation has clearly not worked, and neither has the introduction of online casino gambling in the state, with revenues falling way short of expected targets. There is now the possibility of building casino outside of Atlantic City with Jersey City and Meadowlands being possible locations, however is the building of more casinos the answer to declining gambling revenues? Some would argue that the answer to that is a no.

The Atlantic City Mayor, Don Guardian has recently stated that although the full 5 years of Gov Christie's plan will be followed through, that there will be a very painful shift away from a reliance on casino gambling revenue in the area, however what that may be is still unknown.