Casino owners in Atlantic City are counting the cost of a two-day shutdown caused by New Jersey governor Jon Corzine’s gamble to fix a $4,5-billion hole in the state’s Budget.
The city’s 12 gaming halls closed when 45 000 state employees, including casino inspectors, were sent home as politicians resisted Corzine’s plan to increase sales tax. It was the first time since gambling was legalised in New Jersey 28 years ago that the popular casinos had gone dark.
State legislators reached a deal on Thursday night to end the impasse, finally setting a Budget and paving the way for the casinos to reopen on Friday. But industry analysts said the shutdown probably cost owners, among them billionaire Donald Trump, up to $40-million.
Meanwhile, hotels and restaurants in America’s East Coast gambling centre reported significant falls in business as the 200 000 visitors who would have filled the card tables and slot machines over the two days looked elsewhere for entertainment. Stretches of the city’s 8km seafront boardwalk that would normally be packed in mid-summer were all but deserted on Thursday, and beaches, parks and even the state lottery remained closed.
”It’s a very sad day for Atlantic City,” said Trump, whose three hotel-casinos in the city have suffered hundreds of room cancellations and the temporary lay-off of 2 500 workers. ”Las Vegas sits back and laughs. The kind of money, jobs and goodwill that will be lost on this is sad.”
Shares in companies that own and operate casinos in Atlantic City, second in size only to Las Vegas as a gambling destination, fell between 1% and 4% on the New York Stock Exchange.
Owners of bus and limousine companies in neighbouring New York and Pennsylvania, who would usually carry thousands of gamblers to the city on day trips, also complained about lost business.
The dispute was over Corzine’s proposal to solve the Budget deficit and raise cash to stave off future problems by increasing state sales tax from 6% to 7%. He faced opposition from colleagues in the Democratic party, who called the move ”regressive and unnecessary”.
Thursday night’s agreement, which included the tax rise, will allow all state employees to work on Friday. Another 36 000 ”vital” workers, including police, hospital and child welfare staff, will be reimbursed for staying at their posts since Saturday, when the deadline for the budget passed.
”The people of New Jersey have every right to be angry,” Corzine said. ”Let’s put New Jerseyans back to work and let them go on with their everyday lives.”
But some bitterness remains about how the casinos were ordered to close their doors at 8am on Wednesday with many gamblers still at the tables. One card player told a local newspaper that he was $1 500 down when he was told to leave and was angry that he would not have the chance to win it back.
”This is something that no one ever wanted to see happen,” said Linda Kassekert, chairperson of the casino commission. ”While some patrons were unhappy about having to cease gambling, we received no reports of any problems in any one of the casinos.” She said she expected the roulette wheels to be spinning again within hours. ”We will get inspectors here as expeditiously as possible to get the necessary keys and return them to the casinos,” she said.
Atlantic City’s casino-hotels generate more than $1,3-million a day in taxes and employ 45 000. The city has reinvented itself as an upmarket tourist destination in recent years and in 2005 generated $5-billion in gaming revenue, $1-billion less than Las Vegas. – Guardian Unlimited Â