Trump Plaza set to close in Sept., N.J. officials say

ATLANTIC CITY - The list of casinos closing or soon to close here just grew by one. Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino will close its doors for good in mid-September, according to state officials who were briefed Friday by lawyers for the casino.


"I believe Sept. 16 is the targeted closure date that we were told," said Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo (D., Atlantic). Mazzeo said he and State Sen. Jim Whelan (D., Atlantic) received a phone call late Friday afternoon from a Trump Plaza lawyer. Other Atlantic County officials were also briefed, he said.


Mazzeo said the attorney told him that Trump Plaza management plans to make a formal announcement and issue 60-day layoff notices to about 1,600 employees Monday.


"This is another blow to the casino industry here," Mazzeo said in an interview. "With mid-September the timing of the closing, it will have a devastating impact on the local economy."

Trump Plaza becomes the fourth casino to close or threaten to close in Atlantic City since January.

The Atlantic Club, which employed about 1,700, closed Jan. 13.


Revel declared bankruptcy for the second time June 19 and is set to go on the auction block Aug. 6. Revel owners have said if the casino does not fetch a buyer soon, the megacasino will close on Sept. 1.


A week after Revel declared bankruptcy, Showboat announced it would close Aug. 31. Parent company Caesars Entertainment Inc. confirmed this week that it was open to selling the casino to help save it from closure.


There has been speculation for more than a year that Trump Plaza was on the verge of closing. Like the Atlantic Club, Trump Plaza is one of the city's smallest and oldest gambling halls - it opened May 26, 1984 - and had difficulty competing with the bigger casinos in town and those in nearby states, including Pennsylvania.


Bob McDevitt, president of Unite Here Local 54, the union that represents most casino workers, led a Boardwalk rally Wednesday to protest Showboat's planned closing. McDevitt, who labeled Showboat's closing "a criminal act" by Caesars Entertainment since the property was still profitable, could not be reached late Friday to comment on the latest casino to fall.


Whelan, a former Atlantic City mayor, expressed his displeasure Friday night.


"I go from depressed and sad to being angry," Whelan said in an interview. "When these casinos close, people lose their jobs and their careers. It's a very sad situation."


Employees at Trump Plaza had not been notified Friday of the planned closure, but slot attendant Stan Jelesnianski, who has worked there for 21 years, said employees had been worried "for a long time."


"Business has been slow," he said.


According to May 2014 monthly revenues from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the latest monthly data available, Trump Plaza ranked last among the 11 casinos here in total revenue, making $5.2 million.


Of that total, it generated about $4.6 million from slots, down 19.8 percent from May 2013. And it took in $660,666 from table games, a decrease of 45.6 percent from a year ago.


Its year-to-date total casino revenue of $21.9 million was down 26.7 percent from the same period a year ago.


Charles Pinkett, a Boardwalk rolling-chair operator, said the casino had seemed to be on life support for a while.
"The people have been talking about how there's no room service," he said.


Outside Trump Plaza, in the center of the Boardwalk on a busy summer evening, the casino's outdoor eatery was filled with customers and music could be heard from both nearby Kennedy Plaza and a beach bar.


Mark and Alice Aronson, dining outside, said they were surprised and saddened to hear another casino was on the way out. Alice Aronson, a local therapist, said she had clients from Showboat who were dealing with the pain of the likely layoffs.


"It's a shame," she said. "This is a good place. I heard Donald Trump is not involved anymore. I thought maybe he'd fight for it. It seems, one by one, they're not taking care of their employees."


With Trump Plaza closing, that leaves one Trump-brand casino in Atlantic City - the Trump Taj Mahal, which sits between Resorts Casino Atlantic City and the soon-to-close Showboat.





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Shit. That is bad news. I thought the economy picked up on the East coast. What's going on?

Time for that bastard Trump to step up....but I doubt it.....he could care less and probably makes money by closing......

VIEJO DINOSAUR said:

Time for that bastard Trump to step up....but I doubt it.....he could care less and probably makes money by closing......

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don't think he has anything to do with any of those Hotels.

also think the Taj is next. Heard really bad stuff from there now.

The Atlantic Club, which employed about 1,700, closed Jan. 13.

They don't say what happened to these employees?

Alice Aronson, a local therapist, said she had clients from Showboat who were dealing with the pain of the likely layoffs. One business goes bust another profits!

What do you mean? Is the economy getting bad again or people are preferring to gamble elsewhere?

HamGlaze said:

What do you mean? Is the economy getting bad again or people are preferring to gamble elsewhere?

Click to expand...

Not sure about the economy, Atlantic City never fixed it self up like they said back when they opened Gambling. So the Boardwalk became a dump. The Casino's along the boardwalk fell a part, and when the Borgata came along it became King of AC. You can Thank MGM for that. They know how to build a Gambling Meca, and do it Right.
Next came the neighboring State Casinos ( PA, Del, MD and even Slot machines at NY Race Tracks )
AC really went downhill then. Where do you think most of the Gamblers came from ?? The above States.

So now they have Less gamblers to fill all those Casinos in AC. Now you have too many of them. It was only a matter of time that some would close.

I'm less than a 3 hour drive to AC, but I go to las vegas & the Bahamas more. and I heard that MGM is building a New Casino in Maryland, to open in 2016
I'll be looking at direct Flights when that happens..

Borgata should start building another wing. Only casino I enjoy down there. Harras, if I can't get/afford a room @ Borgata. If NY ever wised up and put in table games and a POKER room, AC would go dark.

Betallsports said:

Not sure about the economy, Atlantic City never fixed it self up like they said back when they opened Gambling. So the Boardwalk became a dump. The Casino's along the boardwalk fell a part, and when the Borgata came along it became King of AC. You can Thank MGM for that. They know how to build a Gambling Meca, and do it Right.
Next came the neighboring State Casinos ( PA, Del, MD and even Slot machines at NY Race Tracks )
AC really went downhill then. Where do you think most of the Gamblers came from ?? The above States.

So now they have Less gamblers to fill all those Casinos in AC. Now you have too many of them. It was only a matter of time that some would close.

I'm less than a 3 hour drive to AC, but I go to las vegas & the Bahamas more. and I heard that MGM is building a New Casino in Maryland, to open in 2016
I'll be looking at direct Flights when that happens..

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Market neglect. Or, the market is just adjusting. Maybe not such a bad thing.

When I used to go to AC the service and staff were so aggressively rude that the environment there was horrible. Prior to that I had always played in Vegas and the difference was pretty stark. AC was real hellhole and I stopped going pretty quick.

sad to see AC closing up, hope something keeps them afloat

maybe they'll take a desperate measure and legalize sports wagering, maybe the opposition will STFU now

what will be left?

I suppose that if a couple of them do close, the others should be better off

AC should have gotten sports betting hack in the 80's........mob is paying off some people not to have it legalized since sports betting, especially football season is their biggest money maker.

Also, there are new local casinos popping up everywhere & that will destroy AC.

AC is a dirty city & its just for gamblers, it offers nothing else for people to draw them there unlike Las Vegas.

Like the song says, "when the party's over, turn out the lights"


(I accidently posted the same post in another thread, it was meant for this thread)

Since I grew up on the Jersey Shore, this recession has been like a dagger....hate to see AC go bad again.....

AC not getting sports wagering is the last straw....sad to say but you might see only 3/4 casinos survive the crisis...

Betallsports said:

Not sure about the economy, Atlantic City never fixed it self up like they said back when they opened Gambling. So the Boardwalk became a dump. The Casino's along the boardwalk fell a part, and when the Borgata came along it became King of AC. You can Thank MGM for that. They know how to build a Gambling Meca, and do it Right.
Next came the neighboring State Casinos ( PA, Del, MD and even Slot machines at NY Race Tracks )
AC really went downhill then. Where do you think most of the Gamblers came from ?? The above States.

So now they have Less gamblers to fill all those Casinos in AC. Now you have too many of them. It was only a matter of time that some would close.

I'm less than a 3 hour drive to AC, but I go to las vegas & the Bahamas more. and I heard that MGM is building a New Casino in Maryland, to open in 2016
I'll be looking at direct Flights when that happens..

Click to expand...

the new casino opening in 2016...close to dc/balt...is supposed to pound the revenues at charles town casino in wv....they are expecting layoffs...

Betallsports said:

Not sure about the economy, Atlantic City never fixed it self up like they said back when they opened Gambling. So the Boardwalk became a dump. The Casino's along the boardwalk fell a part, and when the Borgata came along it became King of AC. You can Thank MGM for that. They know how to build a Gambling Meca, and do it Right.
Next came the neighboring State Casinos ( PA, Del, MD and even Slot machines at NY Race Tracks )
AC really went downhill then. Where do you think most of the Gamblers came from ?? The above States.

So now they have Less gamblers to fill all those Casinos in AC. Now you have too many of them. It was only a matter of time that some would close.

I'm less than a 3 hour drive to AC, but I go to las vegas & the Bahamas more. and I heard that MGM is building a New Casino in Maryland, to open in 2016
I'll be looking at direct Flights when that happens..

Click to expand...

Forgot to add that the Borgata is now a Boyd gaming property after buying out MGM/Wynn

Wow what a sad situation.... What could change things in AC? I really thought revel had a shot.. Is it to late? Imagine how much worse this area will get.. Fucking shame

Betallsports said:

Forgot to add that the Borgata is now a Boyd gaming property after buying out MGM/Wynn

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how is Boyd with respect to comps? do you have any feel with how they compare to Harrahs?

I like the Borgata, looks like the boardwalk is dying / decaying, but I have a host with Harrahs properties and she's going to be hard to replace.

Willie99 said:

how is Boyd with respect to comps? do you have any feel with how they compare to Harrahs?

I like the Borgata, looks like the boardwalk is dying / decaying, but I have a host with Harrahs properties and she's going to be hard to replace.

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There are very few Host at the Borgata, they use the Point system first. The whole place has like 6 Hosts... Really !!

You need to get to a level with points and then the Host will find YOU.

But the Comps are Good.

In my mind..... when they started the point system back when...... it was started to kind of mirror the" riverboat type" system (smaller joints spread out in different states)

A way to draw in more beginners and lure them to play at higher levels..... all the better skin them, my dear.

Give some of the blue hairs a line pass, then a free buffet, before you know it you can rip them for their whole Social Security check.

Betallsports said:

There are very few Host at the Borgata, they use the Point system first. The whole place has like 6 Hosts... Really !!

You need to get to a level with points and then the Host will find YOU.

But the Comps are Good.

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just like the CT Indians, whatever your points entitle you to you can get on your own

I play at the Mohegan Sun more than anyplace else, and not once has a phone call to somebody ever helped, not once. Unlike AC & LV

I'm no whale, but I'm not chump change either y'know