Jump to content

Atlantic City, New Jersey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RaccoonFox (talk | contribs) at 16:42, 17 December 2006 (→‎Television stations). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Atlantic City, New Jersey
Flag of Atlantic City, New Jersey
Flag
Official seal of Atlantic City, New Jersey
Seal
Map of Atlantic City in Atlantic County
Map of Atlantic City in Atlantic County
CountryUnited States
StateNew Jersey
CountyAtlantic
IncorporatedMarch 1854
Government
 • MayorBob Levy
Population
 (2000)
 • Total40,517
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Websitehttp://www.cityofatlanticcity.org
"Atlantic City" redirects here. For other uses, see Atlantic City (disambiguation).

Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, USA. It is famous for its boardwalk and its now defunct trams. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 40,517. It is a resort community located on Absecon Island, off the Atlantic Ocean coast of New Jersey. Other municipalities on the island are Ventnor City, Margate City, and Longport. The main route onto the island containing Atlantic City is the Atlantic City Expressway.

History

Atlantic City has always been primarily a resort town. Its location in South Jersey, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, presented itself as prime real estate for developers. The city was incorporated in 1854, the same year in which train service began, linking this remote parcel of land with the more populated, urban centers of New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Atlantic City became a popular beach destination because of its proximity to Philadelphia.

In 1870, the first boardwalk was built along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. The idea caught on, and the boardwalk was expanded and modified several times in the following years. The historic length of the Boardwalk, before the 1944 hurricane, was about 7 miles (11.2 kilometers) long and it extended from Atlantic City, through Ventnor and Margate, into Longport. Today, it is 4.12 miles (6.63 kilometers) long and 60 feet (20 meters) wide, reinforced with steel and concrete. The combined length of the Atlantic City and Ventnor Boardwalks is approximately 5.75 miles (9.25 kilometers) long. It is now the world's longest boardwalk.

Ocean Pier, the world's first oceanside amusement pier was built in Atlantic City in 1882.[1] Other famous piers included the Steel Pier, now used as an amusement pier (opened 1898) and the Million Dollar Pier (opened 1906), now the site of a shopping mall.

During the early part of the 20th Century, Atlantic City went through a radical building boom. Modest little boarding houses that dotted the boardwalk would grow into monster sand castles by the sea. Two of the city’s most distinctive hotels were the Marlborough-Blenheim and the Traymore Hotels.

In 1903, Josiah White III bought a parcel of land near Ohio Avenue (today the site of Bally's Atlantic City) and the boardwalk and built the Queen Anne style Marlborough House. The hotel was a hit and in 1905-1906 he chose to expand the hotel and bought another parcel of land next door to his Marlborough House. In an effort to make his new hotel a source of conversation, White hired the architectural firm of Price and McLanahan to design his hotel. The architectural firm decided to make use of reinforced concrete, a new building material invented by Jean-Louis Lambot in 1848 (Joseph Monier received the patent in 1867). The hotel’s Spanish and Moorish theme capped off with its signature dome and chimneys represented a step forward from other hotels that had a classically designed influence. White named the new hotel the Blenheim and merged the two hotels into the Marlborough-Blenheim.

Across the way at the corner of Illinois Avenue and the boardwalk, would grow the city’s most distinctive hotel, The Traymore. Began in 1879 as a small boarding house, the hotel grew through a series of uncoordinated expansion. By 1914, the hotel’s owner, Daniel White, taking a hint from the Marlborough-Blenheim, commissioned the firm of Price and McLanahan to build an even bigger hotel. Sixteen stories high, the tan brick and gold-capped hotel would become one of the city’s best-known landmarks. The hotel was best known for making use of ocean-facing hotel rooms by jutting its wings farther out from the main portion of the hotel along Pacific Avenue.

One by one, other large hotels sprung up along the Boardwalk. The Brighton, the Chelsea, The Shelburne. The Ambassador, The Ritz Carlton, the Breakers, best known for its snob appeal for only the highest class of person roomed there and enjoyed its roof top garden lounge. The Quaker-owned Chalfonte House and Haddon Hall opened in the 1890's, would by the twenties merge into the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall and would become the city’s largest hotel with nearly one thousand rooms. By 1930, the city’s last large hotel, the Claridge, would open. At nearly twenty-four stories it would become known as the “Skyscraper By The Sea.”

The city hosted the 1964 Democratic National Convention which nominated Lyndon Johnson for President and Hubert Humphrey as Vice President. The ticket won in a landslide that November. The convention and the press coverage it generated, however, cast a harsh light on Atlantic City, which by then was in the midst of a long period of economic decline. Many felt that the friendship between LBJ and the Governor of New Jersey at that time, Richard J. Hughes, led Atlantic City to host the Democratic Convention.

Like all major cities, Atlantic City contains distinct neighborhoods or districts. The communities are known as: The Inlet, Bungalow Park; The Marina District (also known as Back Maryland), Midtown, Westside, Ducktown, Chelsea, Chelsea Heights and Venice Park.

Like many older urban communities, Atlantic City became plagued with poverty, crime, and disinvestment by the middle class in the mid to late 20th century. The neighborhood known as the "inlet" became particularly impoverished. In an effort at revitalizing the city, New Jersey voters in 1976 approved casino gambling for the city of Atlantic City. Resorts International became the first legal casino in the eastern United States when it opened on May 26, 1978. Other casinos were soon added along the boardwalk and later in the marina district for a total of eleven today. The introduction of gambling did not, however, quickly eliminate many of the urban problems that plagued Atlantic City. Many have argued that it only served to magnify those problems, as evidenced in the stark contrast between tourism-intensive areas and the adjacent impoverished working-class neighborhoods. Drug-infested tenements in poor condition stand directly beside multi-billion dollar casino hotels along the ocean in some locations. In addition, Atlantic City has played second-fiddle to Las Vegas, Nevada, as a gambling mecca in the United States, although in the late 1970s and 1980s, when Las Vegas was experiencing a massive drop in tourism due to crime, particularly the Mafia's role, and other economic factors, Atlantic City was favored over Las Vegas. On July 3, 2003, Atlantic City's newest casino, The Borgata, opened with much success. Another major attraction is the oldest remaining Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium in the world.

Atlantic City is home to New Jersey's first wind farm. The Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm consists of five 1.5 MW turbine towers, each almost 400 feet (120 meters) high.

Gambling was stopped for the first time since 1978 at 8:00 a.m. on July 5, 2006, during the 2006 New Jersey State Government Shutdown mandated by Governor Jon Corzine. The casinos reopened at 7:00 p.m. on July 8, 2006.

Geography

Atlantic City is located at 39°21′54″N 74°26′21″W / 39.36500°N 74.43917°W / 39.36500; -74.43917Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (39.364966, -74.439034)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.9 km² (17.4 mi²). 29.4 km² (11.4 mi²) of it is land and 15.5 km² (6.0 mi²) of it (34.58%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 40,517 people, 15,848 households, and 8,700 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,378.3/km² (3,569.8/mi²). There were 20,219 housing units at an average density of 687.8/km² (1,781.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 26.68% White, 44.16% Black or African American, 0.48% Native American, 10.40% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 13.76% from other races, and 4.47% from two or more races. 24.95% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 15,848 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.8% were married couples living together, 23.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.1% were non-families. 37.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,969, and the median income for a family was $31,997. Males had a median income of $25,471 versus $23,863 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,402. About 19.1% of families and 23.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.1% of those under age 18 and 18.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Atlantic City is governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) system of municipal government. The current Mayor of Atlantic City is Bob Levy.

Members of the Atlantic City Council are:

Federal, state and county representation

Atlantic City is in the Second Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 2nd Legislative District.[4]

For the 118th United States Congress, New Jersey's 2nd congressional district is represented by Jeff Van Drew (R, Dennis Township).[5] New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027)[6] and Bob Menendez (Englewood Cliffs, term ends 2025).[7][8]

For the 2024-2025 session, the 2nd legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Vincent J. Polistina (R, Egg Harbor Township) and in the General Assembly by Don Guardian (R, Atlantic City) and Claire Swift (R, Margate City).[9] Template:NJ Governor

Template:NJ Atlantic County Freeholders

Education

The Atlantic City School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district are eight elementary schools — Chelsea Heights School, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School Complex, New Jersey Avenue School, New York Avenue School, Richmond Avenue School, Sovereign Avenue School, Texas Avenue School and Uptown School Complex — Atlantic City High School [1] for grades 9-12, along with Venice Park School and Viking Academy.

Students from Brigantine, Longport, Margate City and Ventnor City attend Atlantic City High School as part of sending/receiving relationships with the respective school districts.

Casino resorts

The Borgata
File:100 0525.JPG
Caesars & Trump Plaza
Name Address Ownership
Bally's Atlantic City 1 Park Place and the Boardwalk Harrah's Entertainment
The Borgata One Borgata Way (Also known as 1501 MGM Mirage Boulevard) Marina District Development Corporation
Caesars Atlantic City Pacific Avenue and the Boardwalk Harrah's Entertainment
Harrah's Atlantic City 777 Harrah's Boulevard Harrah's Entertainment
Hilton (New) Boston Avenue and the Boardwalk Resorts International
Resorts Atlantic City North Carolina Avenue and the Boardwalk Resorts International
Showboat South States Avenue and the Boardwalk Harrah's Entertainment
Tropicana Brighton Avenue and the Boardwalk Aztar Corporation
Trump Marina Huron Avenue and Brigantine Boulevard Trump Entertainment Resorts
Trump Plaza Mississippi Avenue and the Boardwalk Trump Entertainment Resorts
Trump Taj Mahal Virginia Avenue and the Boardwalk Trump Entertainment Resorts
1 Claridge Tower (Formerly The Claridge Casino/Hotel) is now part of Bally's Atlantic City and is no longer listed separately.

Planned casino/resorts

  • CityCenter East – In March 2006, MGM Mirage announced that it has begun pre-development and design work for a new casino/resort, tentatively called "CityCenter East", patterned after the company's CityCenter project in Las Vegas. If built, CityCenter East would be located on 55 acres of land situated between The Borgata and Harrah's Atlantic City[10].
  • Pinnacle Gaming purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City's smallest casino, and permanently closed it on November 11, 2006 at 6:00 AM. Pinnacle plans to demolish the building and replace it with a $1.5 - 2 billion casino resort on 18 contiguous oceanfront acres, to open by 2011.
  • Morgan Stanley has also bought 20 acres directly north of the Showboat Hotel and Casino and plans to build another 1 billion dollar-plus resort casino[11].
  • A company headed by former Caesars CEO Wallace Barr and former New Jersey Casino Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Curtis Bashaw recently purchased land south of the Atlantic City Hilton, owned by its parent Colony Capital, LLC of Los Angeles, CA. The tract includes the site of the former Atlantic City High School and the planned but failed Dunes casino. Only the former Dunes site is currently zoned for casino space.
  • The recent closure of Bader Field, the city's original airport, has prompted speculation that gaming mogul Steve Wynn may be interested in returning to Atlantic City to develop all or part of the former Bader Field's 143 acres as a casino similar to his Las Vegas and Macau properties. These rumors were dispelled when the time and environmental cleanup of the site would prove too extensive.
  • The parent company of Tropicana Casino and Resort, Aztar, is looking for a partner to develop a boutique casino and/or condominium complex on a square city block of boardwalk property north of the Ritz Carlton Condominium Building.
  • A parcel of land behind behind the aging Trump Marina Casino bordered by Brigantine Bay and the Trump Marina parking garage is rumored to be owned by Mirage Resorts. Local residents and casino experts have been quoted in the press as being unsatisfied with the aging casino and have urged its demolition, combining the land with the bayfront parcel for a larger, more modern casino.
  • As reported by the Press of Atlantic City, Steve Wynn will join forces with his one-time nemesis, Donald Trump, to build a casino at the Center of the Boardwalk district. Plans are currently tentative but involve creating a massive 30 acre parcel of land by placing Pacific Avenue (which currently bisects the Trump Plaza property) underground, demolishing Trump Plaza, its parking garage, and support structures. The Historic Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall would either be demolished or incorporated into the site. Further, the site of the former Trump World's Fair Casino, adjacent to Boardwalk Hall and owned by condominium developer Bruce Toll, is reported to be a part of the project. Funds infused by Mr. Wynn by either a sale or lease of Trump Plaza's land would provide Trump Entertainment with capital needed to restore his other two Atlantic City properties and potentially render the company profitable. Legal disputes are raging with Vera Coking, a resident who owns the last remaining building on the parcel. She has refused to sell and has been threatened with the new casino complex being built around her home, as was the case with the ill-fated Penthouse Casino project of the 1980's.

Former, closed and never opened casino/resorts

Name Reason For Closure/Not Opening
Atlantis License revoked on July 4, 1989. Sold and renamed Trump Regency (non-casino).
Bally's Park Place Renamed Bally's Atlantic City
Bally's Grand Renamed The Grand
Boardwalk Regency Renamed Caesars Boardwalk Regency
Brighton Renamed Sands Atlantic City
Caesars Boardwalk Regency Renamed Caesars Atlantic City
Claridge Renamed Claridge Tower at Bally's
Del Webb's Claridge Hotel and Hi-Ho Casino Renamed Del Webb's Claridge
Del Webb's Claridge Renamed Claridge
Dunes Never completed, land sold. Currently a parking lot.
Golden Nugget Sold and Renamed Bally's Grand
Harrah's Marina Renamed Harrah's Atlantic City
Harrah's at Trump Plaza Sold to Trump Casinos & Resorts. Renamed Trump Plaza
Hilton (Original) Casino Licensure denied. Sold and renamed Trump Castle Hotel/Casino.
Le Jardin Project scrapped due to Mirage Resorts-MGM Grand merger
Merv Griffin's Resorts Sold and Renamed Resorts International
Mirage Atlantic City Renamed The Borgata before construction was completed
MGM Grand Atlantic City Planned but not developed
Park Place Renamed Bally's Park Place
Penthouse International Never completed. Developer ran out of money. Property sold.
Playboy Hotel & Casino Sold and renamed Atlantis
Resorts International Renamed Resorts Atlantic City
Sahara Atlantic City Planned but not developed; land sold to Golden Nugget
Sands Closed 11/11/06. 6:00 AM. Building to be demolished.
The Grand Renamed the Atlantic City Hilton Casino/Hotel
Tropicana Casino and Resort Renamed TropWorld
TropWorld Name reverted back to Tropicana Casino and Resort
Trump Castle Renamed Trump Marina
Trump Regency Reopened as Trump World's Fair at Trump Plaza
Trump World's Fair at Trump Plaza Closed. building demolished. Currently an empty lot.

Sports

Club Sport League Venue Logo
Atlantic City Surf Baseball Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Bernie Robbins Stadium File:ACsurf.JPG

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying series involving USA, West Indies, Japan and South Africa is being held at Bernie Robbins Stadium in October 2006.

Media outlets

Media outlets without a link do not currently have a website.

Newspapers

Radio stations

Atlantic City's radio market is ranked #139 in the nation.

Television stations

See also: Television stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Transportation

Rail and Bus

Atlantic City is connected to other cities in several ways. New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line runs from Philadelphia and several smaller South Jersey communities directly to the Atlantic City Rail Terminal at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

On June 20, 2006, the board of New Jersey Transit approved a three-year trial of express train service between New York Penn Station and the Atlantic City Rail Terminal. The estimated travel time will be 2½ hours with a few stops along the way and is part of the Casinos' multi-million dollar investments in Atlantic City. Most of the funding for the new transit line will be provided by Harrah's Entertainment (owners of both Harrah's Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City) and the Borgata. The line is expected to be in service by the end of 2007, but details on the line's operation are scant[12].

The Atlantic City Bus Terminal is the home to local, intra-state and interstate bus companies including New Jersey Transit and Greyhound bus lines. The Greyhound Lucky Streak Express offers service to Atlantic City from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Highways and taxicabs

Access to Atlantic City by car is available via the 44 mile (70 km) Atlantic City Expressway, US 30 (commonly known as the White Horse Pike), and US 40/322 (commonly known as the Black Horse Pike). Atlantic City has an abundance of taxi cabs and a local Jitney service providing continuous service to and from the casinos and the rest of the city.

Airline service

Commercial airlines serve Atlantic City via Atlantic City International Airport, located 9 miles (14 km) northwest of the city in Egg Harbor Township. Many travelers also choose to fly into Philadelphia International Airport or Newark Liberty International Airport, where there are wider selections of carriers from which to choose. The historic downtown Bader Field airport is now permanently closed and plans are in the works to redevelop the land; most likely it will be torn down for mixed development use.

Shopping

Atlantic City is home to two malls, Pier Shops at Caesars and Atlantic City Outlets the Walk. Two nearby regional malls include the Shore Mall in Egg Harbor Township and the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing.

The boardwalk in Atlantic City, outside the Trump Taj Mahal

Atlantic City has been a rather frequent subject in popular culture. The eccentric 1972 Bob Rafelson film The King of Marvin Gardens with Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, and Ellen Burstyn was shot on location there and strongly conveys a feel for the pre-casino/post-glory-days limbo the city was mired in at the time. The powerful Oscar-nominated 1981 movie, Atlantic City, by French director Louis Malle, starring Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon, reflects the city at the dawn of its casino-driven "rebirth". Atlantic City is cited as the Sundance Kid's birthplace in the 1969 classic western film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. A popular Bruce Springsteen song, "Atlantic City", depicting a young couple's escape to the city, appears on Springsteen's 1982 album Nebraska[2].

More recently, several episodes of Donald Trump's television show The Apprentice have been based and filmed in Atlantic City.

Atlantic City is often mentioned on the sitcom Friends.

In Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, the family escapes to Atlantic City in the midst of the Colehouse Walker debacle. It is a song feature in Ragtime: The Musical. Two musicals by John Kander and Fred Ebb are set in Atlantic City: 1984's The Rink, which starred Chita Rivera and Liza Minelli and deals with a decaying roller rink by the seashore, and 1997's Steel Pier, about a dance marathon during the Great Depression.

It was the home of the Miss America pageant from 1921 to 2005. In August 2005, it was announced that the pageant would no longer be held in Atlantic City. On January 21, 2006, the first pageant to occur outside Atlantic City took place in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Aladdin Casino and Resort.

The streets of Atlantic City are used in the original American version of the board game Monopoly.

The sticky confection salt water taffy is closely associated with the Boardwalk.

Episode 5.3 of Sex and the City was set primarily in the Taj Mahal casino.

A Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Disney's BoardWalk Villas, is based on Atlantic City in the 1930s.

The Simpsons visited Atlantic City, with Homer making a derogatory remark towards the New Jersey state flag by pointing out that it has a fat man kissing a woman on it. In reality it does not. In another episode, after Homer's plan to build a casino run by South Pacific island natives goes awry, he remarks to the islanders, "I gave you a glittering Vegas, and you turned it into a skanky Atlantic City." Banners on the boardwalk in the show read "Atlantic City: Where New York comes to smoke".

References

  1. ^ Atlantic City Museum website, accessed November 25, 2006
  2. ^ Harper, Derek (2006-09-21). "A.C. council replaces Callaway, Jones". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved 2006-09-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ Graham, Troy (2006-08-30). "Sloan El, A.C. official plead guilty". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2006-09-06. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 64, accessed August 30, 2006
  5. ^ Directory of Representatives: New Jersey, United States House of Representatives. Accessed January 3, 2019.
  6. ^ U.S. Sen. Cory Booker cruises past Republican challenger Rik Mehta in New Jersey, PhillyVoice. Accessed April 30, 2021. "He now owns a home and lives in Newark's Central Ward community."
  7. ^ Biography of Bob Menendez, United States Senate, January 26, 2015. "Menendez, who started his political career in Union City, moved in September from Paramus to one of Harrison's new apartment buildings near the town's PATH station.."
  8. ^ Home, sweet home: Bob Menendez back in Hudson County. nj.com. Accessed April 30, 2021. "Booker, Cory A. - (D - NJ) Class II; Menendez, Robert - (D - NJ) Class I"
  9. ^ Legislative Roster for District 2, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 12, 2024.
  10. ^ Big vision in Atlantic City, Courier-Post, March 12, 2006
  11. ^ Morgan Stanley unit buys land for 13th A.C. casino, The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 18, 2006
  12. ^ NJ TRANSIT BOARD APPROVES NEW YORK – ATLANTIC CITY EXPRESS RAIL SERVICE press release, accessed June 20, 2006

Template:Geolinks-US-cityscale

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atlantic City.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlantic_City,_New_Jersey&oldid=94908588"