Atlantic City Nj Casino News
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City tried Prohibition once before. It worked so well that Nucky Johnson, the legendary politician and racketeer, built a Boardwalk empire immortalized on HBO nearly. Trump and Atlantic City: Making Bank and Bankruptcy Donald Trump has a long history in Atlantic City. During the big boom period of New Jersey's gambling capital, Trump built the Taj Mahal (now the Hard Rock Casino and Resort) and also ran the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. At the time, the Taj Mahal was one of the most impressive casinos on earth.
- Latest Casino and Gambling News, Casino News, Casino openings, Gaming Industry News, Economy/Finance, Employment & Careers, Labor Relations, New Jersey Despite being allowed to partially re-open in early-July following an over 100-day shut-down and the nine casinos in Atlantic City have reportedly yet to welcome back their full retinue of.
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- Atlantic City Can Now Continue Indoor Dining in Restaurants & Casinos. Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, has said that indoor dining can continue and movie theatres would open on Friday in Atlantic City and elsewhere. The decisions came with a rider—they will be operated with September 1, 2020.
Atlantic City casinos officially opened their doors on Thursday after a monthslong pause even as the state has paused the reopening of indoor dining.
The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City opened at 6 a.m. on July 2, one of the first casinos on the boardwalk to reopen, the casino shared with Travel + Leisure. In line with New Jersey’s requirement, the casino required masks be worn. The Hard Rock also took the temperatures of all guests, placed more than 200 hand sanitizer dispensers around the casino, and bought more than 1,000 air filters for common areas.
The Tropicana AC also reopened on Thursday, implementing their safety plan, which limits the number of people who can sit at each table game.
Bally’s, Caesars, and Harrah’s Resort, which are all part of Caesars Entertainment, planned to reopen a day later on July 3, the company told T+L.
“The well-being of our team members and guests is important to us, and we are focused on enhancing our health and safety protocols to provide an enjoyable guest experience that emphasizes social distancing and cleanliness,” Ron Baumann, the regional president for Caesars Entertainment, Atlantic City region, said in a statement.
© Provided by Travel + Leisure Mark Makela/Getty ImagesLast month, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said casinos along the waterfront city could reopen, but with a cap of 25 percent capacity. Initially, the opening date was aligned with the return of indoor dining, but it has been since postponed.
“There's an enormous amount of protocols being put in place, including social distancing, sanitization, hygienic barriers... But the great thing about casinos, they're already the most closely monitored entities in our state, if not our country,” Murphy told reporters during a news conference on Wednesday ahead of the reopening. “We have got to say this unequivocally, people have to have face coverings indoors. You just have to have them. You won't be let in and if you don't have it on when you're in, you're going to be asked to leave.”
Not all hotels, however, chose to open right away. While the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa originally planned to reopen on July 6, the hotel decided to postpone that when Murphy postponed indoor dining.
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“We respect the Governor’s decision to postpone the reopening of indoor dining in New Jersey to protect the public. Given this decision, our property… will remain closed,” the hotel said in a statement. “Our guests expect a special experience when they come to our property and if we cannot provide that level of hospitality, we feel it best that we remain closed until such time that the Governor lets us know it is safe to offer food and beverage.”
The reopening of casinos in Atlantic City follows the resumption of gambling in Las Vegas last month. Casinos in Nevada were first allowed to reopen on June 4 with safety measures in place, but masks not required. On June 17, the Nevada Gaming Control Board updated its health policies to require guests to wear masks when playing table games if there wasn’t a barrier separating players and dealers.
New Jersey allowed outdoor amusement parks, playgrounds, museums, and boardwalk arcades to reopen.
Donald Trump has a long history in Atlantic City. During the big boom period of New Jersey's gambling capital, Trump built the Taj Mahal (now the Hard Rock Casino and Resort) and also ran the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.
At the time, the Taj Mahal was one of the most impressive casinos on earth. Trump invested $1 billion in the monstrous casino, and it was poised to be the most luxurious casino in the U.S.
Both of Trump's casinos went bankrupt. And many contractors and employees fell on hard times as a result.
But how much of this has to do with the up-and-down nature of the casino industry, and how much with Trump's business practices?
Read to get the details below.
Table of Openings and Closings of Trumps Atlantic City Properties
| Venue | Opening | Closing | Trivia | Current Status of Building |
Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino | May 15, 1984 | September 16, 2014 | Place of inspiration for Scorsese's Casino (1995); host of WrestleMania IV and V | empty; scheduled to be demolished |
| Trump Castle/Marina | June 19, 1985 | May 23, 2011 | Renamed Trump Marina in June 1997 after nearly closing. Father Fred Trump tried to make a loan in the form of chips at the casino. | Golden Nugget |
| Trump's Taj Mahal | April 2, 1990 | October 10, 2016 | Fined $10 million for 'significant and long-standing money laundering violations.' | Hard Rock |
Trump Plaza (1984-2014)
Trump Plaza (a casino and hotel) was Trump's first and more successful business venture in Atlantic City. Trump Plaza would grow to have 906 hotel rooms. The casino contained over 86,000 square feet of gaming space.
Breaking ground, then filling it, then breaking it again
Trump seized upon the opportunity during the height of the casino boom in Atlantic City. He struck a deal with the Holiday Inn company to build the casino and hotel buidling. Harrah's was already at the marina and looking to expand, so the deal was made that Harrah's new casino would be in Trump Plaza.
Despite the fact that Trump was having his building constructed by Holiday Inn and the casino organized by Harrah's, he was slow to break ground. In his Art of the Deal, Trump wrote that had his builders dig a hole, to satisfy Holiday Inn inspectors, and then fill it again when they left.
Trump Plaza's First Years
Trump Plaza cost $210 million to build. When it opened on May 15th, 1984, it was the largest casino in Atlantic City.
While it had a rather strong beginning, by 1990 Trump Plaza was having serious financial problems. In part, this was due to competition from none other than Trump's Taj Mahal.
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After seeking a backer for years, the Trump Plaza closed in 2014, laying off around 1,000 employees.
Trump Plaza and Scorsese's Casino
Gambler Akio Kashiwagi lost $10 million in baccarat at Trump Plaza in 1990. Not long after, Martin Scorsese's made it the subject of his film, Casino (1995).
Trump's Taj Mahal (1990-2016)
Trump's Taj Mahal opened with some serious publicity. It was declared the Eighth Wonder of the World. Indeed it was covered with marble, enormous glass walls, and onion domes. Modeled after the white marble Taj Mahal in Agra, India, Trump's Taj Mahal was no less visually spectacular.
Funding the Taj Mahal
The Taj was financed with $700m worth of 'junk bonds.' Junk bonds are high-risk, high-yield loans given to companies with low-credit ratings. This meant the Taj had to come up with $94m a year just to pay off its debts, and $1m a day to be profitable
Trump and Unpaid contractors
“You have to be very rough and very tough with most contractors, or they’ll take the shirt right off your back.” --- Donald Trump: The Art of the Deal
'Atlantic City fueled a lot of growth for me'
- Donald Trump, to New York Times (June 11, 2016)
At the opening of Trump’s Taj Mahal in 1990, he owed $70 million to various contractors. While the casino was not a complete failure, it did not make the kind of money it needed. By 2016, the casino had closed completely bankrupt.
Trump's bankruptcy meant that several contractors were never paid for their work and materials. Below are some claims for unpaid debts to contractors:
- $2 million to Robert Morrison of the Molded Fiber Glass Co. for creating onion domes
- undisclosed amount to Michael MacLeod, sculptor of elephant statues
- $1.2 million for the paving stones leading up to the Taj to Mario Paone
- $1.1 million to Marty Rosenberg for floor-to-ceiling curtain walls of glass
- $3.9 million owed to John Millar, marble supplier
- more than $500,000 owed to landscaper Herman Caucci
- $580,000 owed to Frank Lundy for overseeing construction clean-up
- $232,000, George Jenkins, the bathroom partition man who had to lay off his brother
The contractor who made the Taj's eye-catching onion domes claimed $2 million in losses. The contractor who supplied the Carrara marble from Italy ended up filing for personal bankruptcy. The contractor who put in the bathroom partitions had to lay off his brother.
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Marty Rosenberg, who was installing floor-to-ceiling curtain walls of glass, was owed $1.1 Million.
Competing Atlantic City Casinos
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Although the Trump Taj Mahal was deeply in debt and filed for bankruptcy, thus leading to Trump losing many of his assets, Atlantic City continued to boast huge revenues. By the early 2000s, revenues hit $4 billion.
Trump’s reign in Atlantic City came to an end in 2004, when his consolidated company Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy, with Trump resigning as chairman.
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Many other Atlantic City casinos' revenues saw constant growth throughout Trump’s public battle against bankruptcy. These revenues would only see a decline following the 2008 recession.