Q:
In Today's News the day after Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast, you stated that it was the fourth time in Atlantic City's history that the casinos had been forced to close. When were the previous three times, and why?
A:
Prior to the impact of Superstorm Sandy, which ravaged the East Coast on October 29, Atlantic City's casinos have been forced to close for business on these three previous occasions during the 34 years of legalized gambling in New Jersey:
In 1985, Hurricane Gloria paralleled the New Jersey coastline, just offshore, as a Category 2 hurricane. Its arrival forced 95,000 citizens to evacuate and closed Atlantic City's eleven casinos, resulting in a loss of $7 million (equivalent to $15 million today).
The New Jersey state government shutdown of 2006 was the first in the history of New Jersey and occurred after the State Legislature and Governor Jon Corzine failed to agree on a state budget by the constitutional deadline. After the legislature failed to pass a budget by midnight July 1, when the old budget ended, the governor signed executive order number 17, which immediately stopped numerous non-essential government functions; more shutdowns, including of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, followed after the July 4 Independence Day holiday. Since, at the time, New Jersey law stated that gambling establishments couldn't operate legally without state oversight, the casinos were again forced to shut down, subsequent to losing an appeal that argued that the state monitors overseeing the casinos were paid by the casinos themselves, not the state. The three-day closure caused a loss of approximately $55 million.
Once again, in August 2011, it was Mother Nature causing the problem, when the effects of Hurricane Irene resulted in another three-day casino closure. Hitting what would have been one of the busiest weekends in the year, this shutdown caused an estimated $45 million-worth of lost business."
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