N Jersey eyes same casino expansion that has left Atlantic City struggling

Casino expansion throughout the northeastern U.S. has been blamed for much of Atlantic City’s struggles, and New Jersey’s first attempt to cash in on those same expansion benefits seems destined to fail.
But that failure could mean a win, at least temporarily, for Atlantic City. Many casino and southern New Jersey business leaders fear the resort town could lose up to three of its surviving casinos if in-state competition is authorized in a statewide referendum next month.
Atlantic City casino and business leaders held a rally yesterday against the expansion proposal, which is trailing badly in polls.
“If they allow this to happen, we will be done down here,” said Shari Schugar, a cocktail server at the Tropicana casino. “We get so much of our business from north Jersey.”
“It would devastate us,” added her co-worker, Joann Lardizzone, who has served drinks at the Tropicana for 33 years. “So many people came here to find a good job to raise a family. New Jersey should help us, not hurt us.”
The Nov. 8 referendum comes as Atlantic City’s casino industry continues to shrink. In 2006, when the first casino opened in neighboring Pennsylvania, Atlantic City’s casinos took in USD5.2 billion. By last year, that had fallen to $2.56 billion, and five of the city’s 12 casinos have gone out of business since 2014, most recently the Trump Taj Mahal, which closed on Oct. 10.
Supporters of the proposal say northern New Jersey casinos are needed to recapture gambling dollars being lost to neighboring states. New gambling houses have been added in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland recently, and Connecticut and New York are considering further expansion. In particular, the northern New Jersey casinos are aimed at heading off a threat from a possible casino in Manhattan. Massachusetts and Rhode Island are considering casino expansion, as well.
The referendum does not state where the casinos would go, but proposals have been publicly floated for casinos at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, where the NFL’s New York Jets and Giants play; Jersey City, and Newark.
Some of the tax money raised from the new casinos would go to help compensate Atlantic City for the expected loss of business to in-state competitors. But, the tax rate the new casinos would pay and how the money would be allocated have not yet been decided by state legislators.
The proposal is losing by a 3-to-1 margin in many statewide polls; in southern New Jersey the margin is more than 9-to-1. AP