Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc plans to close one of its two Atlantic City casinos in September, putting about 1,000 people out of work in the seaside New Jersey resort town.
Employees were notified yesterday that the company is reviewing options for the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and plans to shutter it as soon as September 16. That would leave the Atlantic City-based company with one property in the market, the Trump Taj Mahal. The East Coast gambling hub is withering amid growing regional competition.
The Atlantic Club closed in January, Caesars Entertainment Corp plans to shut the Showboat on August 31, and Revel, the US$2.4 billion mirrored-glass casino that was supposed to usher in a resurgence for the city, is searching for a buyer while in bankruptcy.
"The big issue for this region is that you'll have 6,000 to 8,000 people who will now be unemployed," assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo, a Democrat who represents Atlantic City in the state legislature, said in an interview. (Bloomberg)