This story was originally published on Storify — recreated here.
Rita (a property owner in the neighboring town of Ocean City) and I were driving to spend the weekend at the Jersey Shore, (July 30, 2016) and along the way - we decided to see if the stories of Trump Devastating the City were true…
UPDATE: This morning (8.3) - Tropicana Int'l, which operates the Trump Taj Mahal, announced that it will close the Taj Mahal Casino after Labor Day 2016. See story below, plus the photos we took on our visit later on in this story.
Victim of strike, Trump Taj Mahal casino shutting down
The Trump Taj Mahal casino will shut down after Labor Day, the victim of the longest strike in Atlantic City's 38-year casino era. The closure of the casino that was opened in 1990 by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump but now owned by his friend and fellow billionaire Carl Icahn …
Background: I am a former NY resident who now lives in Florida. While I was growing up in NY, one of my favorite things to do was to visit AC (Atlantic City) - including Trump properties - so everything I was hearing about AC's downfall was not good news to me.
“Atlantic City fueled a lot of growth for me,” Mr. Trump said in an interview in May, summing up his 25-year history here. “The money I took out of there was incredible.” - NY Times
My grandfather taught me how to play craps, my dad taught me blackjack, and my mom played roulette with me. And although this sounds a little suspect for a kid, I really loved to go to AC and play.
When I was older, my brother and I used to jump in our parents' car and drive the 2 hours down to AC to play craps for a few hours. We used to put aside $20 to make sure we had enough money to get back. (which worked out fine - we had a pretty good winning streak for a while...)
Anyway, back to the present. Our first stop was Trump Plaza, which was the property that bear(ed)/bore his name, and is set for demolition in the next few weeks.
Atlantic City NJ Hotels and Casinos| Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, New Jersey
As one of the first-class Atlantic City NJ Hotels and Casinos on the world-famous Boardwalk, Trump Plaza delivers unsurpassed luxury, entertainment, and excitement. This hotel and casino is ideal for thrills, relaxation, or a combination of both.
Instead of an 'unsurpassed luxury, entertainment and excitement' - as the still existing website above promises - this is what we found:
The entire Trump Plaza complex is abandoned, empty and leaves a blight on a once flourishing city.
BTW - this is what the Plaza USED to look like:
How Donald Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions
"T.H.C.R. is a casino and entertainment company," the lawsuit, filed in 1999, said. "It is not in the business of loaning money. The company desperately needed (and needs) cash to shore up its deteriorating financial condition." (The suit was dropped in 2000, shortly after Mr. Trump paid the company back.)
“He put a number of local contractors and suppliers out of business when he didn’t pay them,” said Steven P. Perskie, who was New Jersey’s top casino regulator in the early 1990s. “So when he left Atlantic City, it wasn’t, ‘Sorry to see you go.’ It was, ‘How fast can you get the hell out of here?’” - NY Times
"But even as his companies did poorly, Mr. Trump did well. He put up little of his own money, shifted personal debts to the casinos and collected millions of dollars in salary, bonuses and other payments. The burden of his failures fell on investors and others who had bet on his business acumen."- NY Times
Rita's take: "I watched first hand as Trump made promises to the citizens of New Jersey about revitalizing Atlantic City.”
"All Trump did was revitalize the strip of road to and from his casinos. He never improved the neighborhoods surrounding his casinos as promised. He never added value to the local schools as promised. He just sucked money out of the casinos and its workers.”
Trump left his mark on Atlantic City - for better and for worse
At Evo Restaurant in the now-closed Trump Plaza casino here, white linen and dusty water glasses are still set on the tables, as if someone expected, any minute, the return of the high rollers who once made this spot the quick-beating heart of Donald Trump's casino empire.
Our next stop was the Trump Taj Mahal ('the Taj' as we used to call it), which I loved, not just because I really like tacky buildings, but it was fun visiting/gambling & hanging out when I was younger and lived in NYC.
But, we got to the Taj, and were greeted by this:
The striking workers walking up and down the street in front of the hotel, had several stories to tell about poor working conditions, low wages, errand running for "Mr Trump" with no acknowledgment (and no gratuities). They had a lot to say. We think that someone running to be the leader of our country should not allow his OWN workers to suffer. What does that say about how he'll treat our citizens that need help?
Disclaimer: Although Donald Trump doesn't technically 'own' the casino anymore - these workers are striking over years of mistreatment, that has grown out of the time that Trump did run the hotel.
We thought about going into the hotel to check it out, but out of respect to the strike, we didn't cross the picket line.
What value in Trump name? For his casinos, not enough
WASHINGTON (AP) - Donald Trump has promoted his casinos as historically successful and profitable, done in only by the economic decline of Atlantic City. "Every building in Atlantic City is in trouble. OK? This isn't unique to Trump," he said in 2010 deposition taken as part of a casino bankruptcy.
Below are some more photos of Atlantic City. It's really not good - and unfortunately, the devastation rumors are true. On the upside - we stopped at "White House Subs" (since 1947) and the Formica Bakery - those are still up and running after years and years. Even Trump can't ruin some landmarks
Original Storify appears here: