… to a colleague that, given Atlantic City‘s dismal July numbers, a plea for governmental assistance had to be just ’round the corner. Well, whaddya know? In at least five instances, Atlantic City’s casinos are run by companies that just reported profitable quarters, while four more just changed hands for pennies on the dollar. Not to mention that Colony C(r)apital, owner of the remaining two, supposedly was willing to put some or all of $244 million into bankrupt Station Casinos.
I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic, but … considering that Garden State citizens are being asked to tighten their belts, forego tax rebates and the like, if the casino industry needs $20 million to market itself then it can damn well pass the hat and raise the cash in-house. Besides, there’s something unseemly about “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” capitalists clamoring for guvmint subsidy, especially in a state filled with people who are in much greater need. (Yes, I know these are interconnected issues but we’re talking casinos that gross hundreds of millions of dollars every month. They’re not exactly paupers.)
The article’s final paragraph (misleadingly) implies that Trump Entertainment‘s three casinos, the Tropicana Atlantic City and the two Colony properties are all in danger of closing. But might Atlantic City be better off with five — or six, if Revel can be finished — strong casinos, whilst the sicklier ones are put out of their misery?
A reader posed that question to me … and now I pass it along to you.
