Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal

resort city A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

Atlantic County, New Jersey Atlantic County is a county located along the southern coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 274,534.casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of bridge ...

, and beaches. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, the city had a population of 38,497.QuickFacts Atlantic City city, New Jersey

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

. Accessed November 9, 2022. It was incorporated on May 1, 1854, from portions of

Egg Harbor Township Egg Harbor Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 census reported the population as 47,842, an increase of 4,519 over the 43,323 counted in the previous decade in the 201 ...

and Galloway Township.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 67. Accessed June 19, 2013. It is located on

Absecon Island Absecon Island is a barrier island located on the Jersey Shore of the Atlantic Ocean in Atlantic County, New Jersey. On the island from north to south are the resort communities of Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate, and Longport. The island ends a ...

and borders Absecon,

Brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

, Pleasantville, Ventnor City, Egg Harbor Township, and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Atlantic City inspired the U.S. version of the board game ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

'', which is reflected in the use of Atlantic City street names in the game. Since 1921, Atlantic City has been the home of the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

pageant. In 1976, New Jersey voters legalized

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

in Atlantic City, and the first casino opened in 1978. Geographically, the city is part of the

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

region.

History

Brooklyn Museum - A High Tide at Atlantic City - William Trost Richards - overall

Settlement

For many years before the city was founded, the island site of the future settlement was the summer home of the

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

. While the precise date of the first permanent occupation of what came to be Atlantic City has not been precisely determined, it is commonly thought that in 1783 Jeremiah Leeds first built and occupied an all year home on the island. However, it was not until 1850 that the idea arose to develop the location into a

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

and in early 1853 the name "Atlantic City" was adopted. Because of its location in

, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, Atlantic City was viewed by developers as prime real estate and a potential resort town. In 1853, the first commercial hotel, the Belloe House, was built at the intersection of Massachusetts and Atlantic Avenues. The city was incorporated in 1854, the same year train service began on the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. Built on the edge of the bay, this served as the direct link of this remote parcel of land with

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania. That same year, construction of the Absecon Lighthouse, designed by

George Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was a United States Army officer and civil engineer best known for decisively defeating Confederate States Army, Confederate Full General (CSA), General Robert E. Lee at the Battle ...

of the

Corps of Topographical Engineers The U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers was a branch of the United States Army authorized on 4 July 1838. It consisted only of officers who were handpicked from West Point and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal ...

, was approved, with work initiated the next year.History
Absecon Lighthouse. Accessed July 27, 2017. "1854 – After a decade of prompting from Jonathan Pitney, considered by most to be the 'father' of Atlantic City, the U.S. Lighthouse Service requested and received a $35,000 appropriation from Congress for a lighthouse on Absecon Island.... 1855 Construction began under the direction of Major Hartman Bache." By 1874, almost 500,000 passengers a year were coming to Atlantic City by rail. In ''Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City'', "Atlantic City's Godfather" Nelson Johnson describes the inspiration of Dr. Jonathan Pitney (the "Father of Atlantic City") to develop Atlantic City as a health resort, his efforts to convince the municipal authorities that a railroad to the beach would be beneficial, his successful alliance with Samuel Richards (entrepreneur and member of the most influential family in southern New Jersey at the time) to achieve that goal, the actual building of the railroad, and the experience of the first 600 riders, who "were chosen carefully by Samuel Richards and Jonathan Pitney":

After arriving in Atlantic City, a second train brought the visitors to the door of the resort's first public lodging, the United States Hotel. The hotel was owned by the railroad. It was a sprawling, four-story structure built to house 2,000 guests. It opened while it was still under construction, with only one wing standing, and even that wasn't completed. By year's end, when it was fully constructed, the United States Hotel was not only the first hotel in Atlantic City but also the largest in the nation. Its rooms totaled more than 600, and its grounds covered some 14 acres.

The first

was built in 1870 along a portion of the beach in an effort to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. Businesses were restricted and the boardwalk was removed each year at the end of the peak season. Because of its effectiveness and popularity, the boardwalk was expanded in length and width, and modified several times in subsequent years. The historic length of the boardwalk, before the destructive 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, was about and it extended from Atlantic City to Longport, through

Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. ...

and

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. The first road connecting the city to the mainland at Pleasantville was completed in 1870 and charged a 30-cent toll. Albany Avenue was the first road to the mainland available without a toll. By 1878, because of the growing popularity of the city, one railroad line could no longer keep up with demand. Soon, the

Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway The Atlantic City Railroad was a Philadelphia and Reading Railway subsidiary that became part of Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in 1933. At the end of 1925 it operated of road on of track; that year it reported 43 million ton-miles of rev ...

was also constructed to transport tourists to Atlantic City. At this point massive hotels like The United States and Surf House, as well as smaller rooming houses, had sprung up all over town. The United States Hotel took up a full city block between Atlantic, Pacific, Delaware, and Maryland Avenues. These hotels were not only impressive in size, but featured the most updated amenities, and were considered quite luxurious for their time.

Boom period

In the early part of the 20th century, Atlantic City went through a radical building boom. Many of the modest boarding houses that dotted the boardwalk were replaced with large hotels. Two of the city's most distinctive hotels were the

Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel The Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel was a historic resort hotel property in Atlantic City, New Jersey, built in 1902–1906, and demolished in October 1978. History In 1900, Josiah White III bought a parcel of land between Ohio Avenue and Park Place ...

and the

Traymore Hotel The Traymore Hotel was a resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Begun as a small boarding house in 1879, the hotel expanded and became one of the city's premier resorts. As Atlantic City began to decline in its popularity as a resort town, durin ...

. In 1903, Josiah White III bought a parcel of land near Ohio Avenue and the boardwalk and built the Queen Anne style Marlborough House. The hotel was a success and, in 1905–1906, he chose to expand the hotel and bought another parcel of land adjacent 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. The firm made use of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

, a new building material invented by Jean-Louis Lambot in 1848 (Joseph Monier received the patent in 1867). The hotel's Spanish and Moorish themes, 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.

Bally's Atlantic City Bally's Atlantic City is a casino hotel on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned and operated by Bally's Corporation. The Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel stood on the site before the casino was built. It is famous for its address of ...

was later constructed at this location. The Traymore Hotel was located at the corner of Illinois Avenue and the boardwalk. Begun in 1879 as a small boarding house, the hotel grew through a series of uncoordinated expansions. 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. Rising 16 stories, the tan brick and gold-capped hotel would become one of the city's best-known landmarks. The hotel made use of ocean-facing hotel rooms by jutting its wings farther from the main portion of the hotel along Pacific Avenue. One by one, additional large hotels were constructed along the boardwalk, including the Brighton, Chelsea, Shelburne, Ambassador, Ritz Carlton, Mayflower, Madison House, and the Breakers. The Quaker-owned Chalfonte House, opened in 1868, and Haddon House, opened in 1869, flanked North Carolina Avenue at the beach end. Over the years, their original wood-frame structures would be enlarged, and even moved closer to the beach. The modern Chalfonte Hotel, eight stories tall, opened in 1904. The modern Haddon Hall was built in stages and was completed in 1929, at eleven stories. By this time, they were under the same ownership and merged into the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel, becoming the city's largest hotel with nearly 1,000 rooms. By 1930, the Claridge, the city's last large hotel before the casinos, opened its doors. The 400-room Claridge was built by a partnership that included renowned Philadelphia contractor

John McShain John McShain (December 21, 1896 – September 9, 1989) was a American building contractor known as "The Man Who Built Washington". Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Irish immigrants, McShain graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory S ...

. At 24 stories, it would become known as the "Skyscraper by the Sea". The city became known as "The World's Playground". In 1883,

salt water taffy Taffy is a type of candy invented in the United States, made by stretching or/and pulling a sticky mass of a soft candy base, made of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, and colorings, until it becomes aerated (tiny air bubbles ...

was conceived in Atlantic City by David Bradley. The traditional story is that Bradley's shop was flooded after a major storm, soaking his taffy with salty Atlantic Ocean water. He sold some "salt water taffy" to a girl, who proudly walked down to the beach to show her friends. Bradley's mother was in the back of the store when the sale was made, and loved the name, and so

was born.

Prohibition era

Boardwalk Hall—Atlantic City coat of arms

The 1920s, with tourism at its peak, are considered by many historians as Atlantic City's golden age. During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, which was enacted nationally in 1919 and lasted until 1933, much liquor was consumed and gambling regularly took place in the back rooms of nightclubs and restaurants. It was during Prohibition that

racketeer Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...

and political boss Enoch L. "Nucky" Johnson rose to power. Prohibition was largely unenforced in Atlantic City, and, because alcohol that had been smuggled into the city with the acquiescence of local officials could be readily obtained at restaurants and other establishments, the resort's popularity grew further. The city then dubbed itself as "The World's Playground". Nucky Johnson's income, which reached as much as $500,000 annually, came from the

kickbacks A kickback is a form of negotiated bribery in which a commission is paid to the bribe-taker in exchange for services rendered. Generally speaking, the remuneration (money, goods, or services handed over) is negotiated ahead of time. The kickbac ...

he took on illegal liquor, gambling and prostitution operating in the city, as well as from kickbacks on construction projects. During this time, Atlantic City was led by mayor

Edward L. Bader Edward Lawrence Bader (June 8, 1874 – January 29, 1927) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey for much of the Roaring Twenties, when the city was arguably at the peak of its popularity as a vacation sp ...

, known for his contributions to the construction, athletics and aviation of Atlantic City.Schwartz, David
"Crossing the Goal Line"
, ''Casino Connection'', Vol. 7, No. 11, November 2010. Accessed December 19, 2011. Despite opposition, he had Atlantic City purchase the land that became the city's municipal airport and high school football stadium, both of which were later named

Bader Field Bader Field , also known as Atlantic City Municipal Airport, was a city-owned public-use general aviation airport located in Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. It was approximately one mile from the terminus of U.S. R ...

in his honor. He led the initiative, in 1923, to construct the

Atlantic City High School Atlantic City High School (ACHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. It is the lone secondary school of the Atlantic City School District. The current school building opened i ...

at Albany and Atlantic Avenues. Bader, in November 1923, initiated a public referendum, during the general election, at which time residents approved the construction of a Convention Center. The city passed an ordinance approving a bond issue for $1.5 million to be used for the purchase of land for Convention Hall, now known as the

Boardwalk Hall Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlant ...

, finalized on September 30, 1924. Bader was also a driving force behind the creation of the

competition.Good, Dan
"Atlantic City's Bader beloved for good reason"
''

The Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The newspaper designated market runs from Ware ...

'', November 18, 2010. Accessed December 19, 2011. In May 1929, Johnson hosted a

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

for

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

figures from all across America that created a

National Crime Syndicate The National Crime Syndicate was the name given by the press to the multi-ethnic, loosely connected, American confederation of several criminal organizations. It mostly consisted of and was led by the closely interconnected Italian-American Mafia ...

. The men who called this meeting were Masseria family

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Charles "Lucky" Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...

and former Chicago

South Side Gang The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

Johnny "the Fox" Torrio, with heads of the Bugs and Meyer Mob,

Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...

and Benjamin Siegel, being used as muscle for the meeting. Gangster and businessman

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

attended the conference and was photographed walking along the Atlantic City boardwalk with Johnson.

Nightclub era

The 1930s through the 1960s were a heyday for nightclub entertainment. Popular venues on the white-populated south side included the 500 Club, the Clicquot Club, and the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...

. On the north side, home to African Americans in the racially segregated city, a black entertainment district reigned on Kentucky Avenue. Four major nightclubs—

Club Harlem Club Harlem was a nightclub at 32 Kentucky Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Founded in 1935 by Leroy "Pop" Williams, it was the city's premier club for black jazz performers. Like its Harlem counterpart, the Cotton Club, many of Club Harlem' ...

, the Paradise Club, Grace's Little Belmont, and

Wonder Gardens Wonder Gardens (also known as Wonder Bar) was a jazz and R&B nightclub at 1601 Arctic Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Established around 1929, it was one of four black-owned nightclubs in the black entertainment district on Kentucky Avenue. ...

—drew both black and white patrons. During the summer tourist season, jazz and R&B music could be heard into the wee hours of the morning.

Soul food Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans, originating in the Southern United States.Soul Food originated with the foods that were given to enslaved Black people by their white owners on Souther ...

restaurants and

ribs The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...

joints also lined Kentucky Avenue, including Wash's Restaurant, Jerry's and Sap's.

Decline and resurgence

Like many older

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

cities after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Atlantic City became plagued with poverty, crime, corruption, and general economic decline in the mid-to-late 20th century. The neighborhood known as the "Inlet" became particularly impoverished. The reasons for the resort's decline were multi-layered. First, the automobile became more readily available to many Americans after the war. Atlantic City had initially relied upon visitors coming by train and staying for a couple of weeks. The car allowed them to come and go as they pleased, and many people would spend only a few days, rather than weeks. The advent of suburbia also played a significant role. With many families moving to their own private houses, luxuries such as home air conditioning and swimming pools diminished their interest in flocking to the luxury beach resorts during the hot summer. Finally, the rise of relatively cheap jet airline service allowed visitors to travel to year-round resort places such as

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. The city hosted the 1964 Democratic National Convention which nominated

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

for president and

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

as vice president. 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 Johnson and

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

Richard J. Hughes Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10, 1909December 7, 1992) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. A Democrat, he served as the 45th governor of New Jersey from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973 to ...

led Atlantic City to host the Democratic Convention. By the late 1960s, many of the resort's once great hotels were suffering from high vacancy rates. Most of them were either shut down, converted to cheap apartments, or converted to nursing home facilities by the end of the decade. Prior to and during the advent of legalized gambling, many of these hotels were demolished. The Breakers, The Chelsea, the Brighton, the Shelburne, the Mayflower, the Traymore and the Marlborough-Blenheim were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s. Of the many pre-casino resorts that bordered the boardwalk, only the Claridge, the Dennis, the

Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...

, and the Haddon Hall survive to this day as parts of

, a condo complex, and

Resorts Atlantic City Resorts Casino Hotel is a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Resorts was the first casino hotel in Atlantic City, becoming the first legal casino outside of Nevada in the United States, when it opened on May 26, 1978. The resort comp ...

. The old Ambassador Hotel was purchased by Ramada in 1978 and was gutted to become the

Tropicana Casino and Resort Atlantic City Tropicana Atlantic City, also known as The Trop and previously as TropWorld Resort, is a resort, casino hotel located on the beach and Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Caesars ...

, only reusing the steelwork of the original building. Smaller hotels off the boardwalk, such as the

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

also survived.

Legalized gambling

In an effort at revitalizing the city, New Jersey voters in 1976 passed a referendum, approving

gambling for Atlantic City; this came after a 1974 referendum on legalized gambling failed to pass. Immediately after the legislation passed, the owners of the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel began converting it into the Resorts International. It was the first legal casino in the eastern United States when it opened on May 26, 1978. Other casinos were soon constructed along the Boardwalk and, later, in the marina district for a total of nine today. The introduction of gambling did not, however, quickly eliminate many of the urban problems that plagued Atlantic City. Many people have suggested that it only served to exacerbate those problems, as attested to by the stark contrast between tourism intensive areas and the adjacent impoverished working-class neighborhoods. In addition, Atlantic City has been less popular than Las Vegas as a gambling city in the United States.

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

helped bring big name boxing bouts to the city to attract customers to his casinos. The boxer

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

had most of his fights in Atlantic City in the 1980s, which helped Atlantic City achieve nationwide attention as a gambling resort. Numerous highrise condominiums were built for use as permanent residences or second homes. By end of the decade it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States.

Sports betting

On June 27, 2017, the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

agreed to hear '' Christie v. National Collegiate Athletic Association'' and heard oral arguments in December 2017. Then, on May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the

Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (), also known as PASPA or the Bradley Act, was a law, judicially-overturned in 2018, that was meant to define the legal status of sports betting throughout the United States. This act ...

(PASPA) was unconstitutional. The act was overturned, allowing New Jersey to move ahead with plans to implement legalized sports betting. Despite being the state to initiate the landmark ruling, New Jersey was actually the third state to legalize sports betting following Nevada and Delaware. Gov.

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

signed the legislation into law on June 11, 2018, prompting several casino brands to launch

sportsbook In the United States, a sportsbook or a race and sports book (sometimes abbreviated as book) is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, ...

s, particularly in Atlantic City.

Modern-day challenges

With the redevelopment of the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...

and the opening of

Foxwoods Resort Casino Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casinos have more th ...

and

Mohegan Sun Mohegan Sun is an American casino, owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe on of their reservation, along the banks of the Thames River in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has of gambling space. It is in the foothills of southeastern Connecticut, ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in the early 1990s, along with newly built casinos in the nearby Philadelphia metro area in the 2000s, Atlantic City's tourism began to decline due to its failure to diversify away from gaming. Determined to expand, in 1999 the Atlantic City Redevelopment Authority partnered with Las Vegas casino mogul

Steve Wynn Stephen Alan Wynn (''né'' Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He is known for his involvement in the American luxury casino and hotel industry. Early in his career he oversaw the construction ...

to develop a new roadway to a barren section of the city near the Marina. Nicknamed "The Tunnel Project", Steve Wynn planned the proposed 'Mirage Atlantic City' around the idea that he would connect the $330 million tunnel stretching from the

Atlantic City Expressway The Atlantic City Expressway, officially numbered, but unsigned, as Route 446 and abbreviated A.C. Expressway, ACE, or ACX, and known locally as the Expressway, is a long toll road in the U.S. state of New Jersey, managed and operated by ...

to his new resort. The roadway was later officially named the

Atlantic City-Brigantine Connector The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

, and funnels incoming traffic off of the expressway into the city's marina district and the city of

. Although Wynn's plans for development in the city were scrapped in 2002, the tunnel opened in 2001. The new roadway prompted Boyd Gaming in partnership with MGM/Mirage to build Atlantic City's newest casino.

Borgata Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is a hotel, casino, and spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The casino hotel features 2,798 rooms and is the largest hotel in New Jersey. Borga ...

opened in July 2003, and its success brought an influx of developers to Atlantic City with plans for building grand Las Vegas style mega casinos to revitalize the aging city. Owing to economic conditions and the

late 2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

, many of the proposed mega casinos never went further than the initial planning stages. One of these developers was

Pinnacle Entertainment Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was an American gambling and hospitality company. It was acquired by Penn National Gaming in 2018. At the time of acquisition, it operated sixteen casino properties, located in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missi ...

, who purchased the

Sands Atlantic City Sands Atlantic City was a casino and hotel that operated from August 13, 1980 until November 11, 2006 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was formerly known as the Brighton Hotel & Casino. It consisted of a 21-story hotel tower with 532 rooms and a ...

for $250–$270 million, closed it on November 11, 2006, with plans to replace it with a larger casino. The following year, the resort was demolished in a implosion, the first of its kind in Atlantic City. While Pinnacle Entertainment intended to replace it with a $1.5–2 billion casino resort, the company canceled its construction plans and sold the land for $29.5 million.Bogdan, Jennifer
"Former Sands Casino Hotel site sells for $29.5 million"
''

'', November 6, 2013. Accessed March 18, 2020.

MGM Resorts International MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Pa ...

announced in October 2007 that it would pull out of all development for Atlantic City, effectively ending their plans for the MGM Grand Atlantic City. In 2006,

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

purchased directly north of the

Showboat Atlantic City The Showboat Atlantic City is a resort hotel and former casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Showboat opened as a casino hotel in 1987 and closed in 2014; the hotel reopened in 2016. It is owned by developer Bart Blatstein. History On Marc ...

Hotel and Casino for a new $2 billion plus casino resort. Revel Entertainment Group was named as the project's developer for the

Revel Casino Ocean Casino Resort (formerly Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City) is a resort, hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is the northernmost casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, located on of land, adjacent to the Showboat Hotel. It is ...

. Revel was hindered with many problems, the biggest setback occurring in April 2010 when Morgan Stanley, the owner of 90% of Revel Entertainment Group, decided to discontinue funding for continued construction and put its stake in Revel up for sale. Early in 2010 the New Jersey state legislature passed a bill offering tax incentives to attract new investors and complete the job, but a poll by

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

PublicMind Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its ...

released in March 2010 showed that 60% of voters opposed the legislation, and two of three of those who opposed it "strongly" opposed it. Ultimately, Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...

offered Revel $261 million in state tax credits to assist the casino once it opened. , Revel had completed all of the exterior work and had continued work on the interior after finally receiving the funding necessary to complete construction. It had a soft opening in April 2012, and was fully open by May 2012. Ten months later, in February 2013, after serious losses and a write-down in the value of the resort from $2.4 billion to $450 million, Revel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It was restructured but still could not carry on and re-entered bankruptcy on June 19, 2014. It was put up for sale, however as no suitable bids were received the resort closed its doors on September 2, 2014. The property was bought by AC Ocean Walk, LLC for $200 million in 2017, and reopened in 2018 as Ocean Casino Resort. In the wake of the closures and declining revenue from casinos, Governor Christie said in September 2014 that the state would consider a 2015 referendum to end the 40-year-old monopoly that Atlantic City holds on casino gambling and allowing gambling in other municipalities. With casino revenue declining from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.9 billion in 2013, the state saw a drop in money from its 8% tax on those earnings, which is used to fund programs for senior citizens and the disabled. "

Superstorm Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

" struck Atlantic City on October 29, 2012, causing flooding and power-outages but left minimal damage to any of the tourist areas. The storm produced an all-time record low barometric pressure reading of 943 mb (27.85") for not only Atlantic City, but the state of New Jersey. Atlantic City has one of the highest rates of foreclosures in the country, particularly affecting Black residents in neighborhoods segregated by

redlining In the United States, redlining is a discriminatory practice in which services (financial and otherwise) are withheld from potential customers who reside in neighborhoods classified as "hazardous" to investment; these neighborhoods have signif ...

. After several casino closures and a worldwide pandemic, strikes and pickets were being threatened in June 2022 by casino employees which were short-staffed and wanted pay raises.

Geography

Atlantic City beach looking north at Chelsea Avenue

According to the

, Atlantic City had a total area of 17.21 square miles (44.59 km²), including 10.76 square miles (27.87 km²) of land and 6.45 square miles (16.72 km²) of water (37.50%). The city is located on

, along with Ventnor City,

, Galloway Township, Pleasantville and Ventnor City. The city is located southeast of

and south of New York City.

Unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

, localities and place names located partially or completely within the city include Chelsea, City Island, Great Island and Venice Park.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Atlantic City, New Jersey, has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(''Cfa'') with warm, moderately humid summers, cool winters and year-around precipitation. Cfa climates are characterized by all months having an average mean temperature > 32 °F (> 0 °C), at least four months with an average mean temperature ≥ 50 °F (≥ 10 °C), at least one month with an average mean temperature ≥ 72 °F (≥ 22 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. During the summer months in Atlantic City, a cooling afternoon

sea breeze A sea breeze or onshore breeze is any wind that blows from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass; it develops due to differences in air pressure created by the differing heat capacities of water and dry land. As such, sea breezes ar ...

is present on most days, but episodes of extreme heat and humidity can occur with

heat index The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is als ...

values ≥ 95 °F (≥ 35 °C). During the winter months, episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with

wind chill Wind chill or windchill (popularly wind chill factor) is the lowering of body temperature due to the passing-flow of lower-temperature air. Wind chill numbers are always lower than the air temperature for values where the formula is valid. When ...

values < 0 °F (< −18 °C). The

plant hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

at Atlantic City Beach is 8a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 11 °F (−11 °C).USDA Interactive Plant Hardiness Map

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

. Accessed March 18, 2020. The average seasonal (November–April) snowfall total is , and the average snowiest month is February which corresponds with the annual peak in

nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...

activity.

Ecology

According to the

A. W. Kuchler August William Kuchler (born ''August Wilhelm Küchler''; 1907–1999) was a German-born American geographer and naturalist who is noted for developing a plant association system in widespread use in the United States. Some of this database has bec ...

U.S.

potential natural vegetation In ecology, potential natural vegetation (PNV), also known as Kuchler potential vegetation, is the vegetation that would be expected given environmental constraints (climate, geomorphology, geology) without human intervention or a hazard event ...

types, Atlantic City would have a dominant vegetation type of Northern

Cordgrass ''Spartina'' is a taxon of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Its species are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Europe, north ...

(''73'') with a dominant vegetation form of

Coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

Prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

(''20'').U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation, Original Kuchler Types, v2.0 (Spatially Adjusted to Correct Geometric Distortions)
Data Basin. Accessed March 18, 2020.

Demographics

2010 Census

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

showed that (in 2010

inflation-adjusted In economics, nominal value is measured in terms of money, whereas real value is measured against goods or services. A real value is one which has been adjusted for inflation, enabling comparison of quantities as if the prices of goods had not c ...

dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

was $30,237 (with a margin of error of +/− $2,354) and the median family income was $35,488 (+/− $2,607). Males had a median income of $32,207 (+/− $1,641) versus $29,298 (+/− $1,380) for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,069 (+/− $2,532). About 23.1% of families and 25.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.6% of those under age 18 and 16.8% of those age 65 or over.

2000 Census

As of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

there were 40,517 people, 15,848 households, and 8,700 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 20,219 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 44.16% black or African American, 26.68% White, 0.48% Native American, 10.40% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 13.76% other races, and 4.47% from two or more races. 24.95% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.44% of the population was non-Hispanic whites.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Atlantic City city, New Jersey
,

. Accessed August 12, 2013.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 – Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Atlantic City city, Atlantic County, New Jersey

. Accessed August 12, 2013. 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 age distribution of the population shows 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.

Economy

As of September 2014, the greater Atlantic City area had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 13.8%, out of labor force of around 141,000.

Tourism district

Atlantic City boardwalk looking north at Michigan Avenue

In July 2010, Governor

announced that a state takeover of the city and local government "was imminent". Comparing regulations in Atlantic City to an "antique car", Atlantic City regulatory reform is a key piece of Governor Chris Christie's plan, unveiled on July 22, to reinvigorate an industry mired in a four-year slump in revenue and hammered by fresh competition from casinos in the surrounding states of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and more recently,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. In January 2011, Chris Christie announced the creation of the Atlantic City Tourism District, a state-run district encompassing the boardwalk casinos, the marina casinos, the

Atlantic City Outlets Tanger Outlets The Walk is a 109-store open-air outlet mall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is the only outlet mall in Atlantic County. The mall opened in August 2003 and spans 3 city blocks, featuring a unique layout in outlet mall construction. ...

, and

poll surveyed New Jersey voters' attitudes on the takeover. February 16, 2011, survey showed that 43% opposed the measure while 29% favored direct state oversight.Pizarro, Max
"FDU: voters oppose AC state takeover, 43–29%

PolitickerNJ The Politicker Network, or Politicker.com, was a national network of fifty state-based political websites operated by the ''New York Observer''. Origins The network had its origins in journalist Ben Smith's ''New York Observer'' blog, "''The Poli ...

, February 16, 2011. Accessed April 25, 2016. The poll also found that even South Jersey voters expressed opposition to the plan; 40% reported they opposed the measure and 37% reported they were in favor of it. On April 29, 2011, the boundaries for the state-run tourism district were set. The district would include heavier police presence, as well as beautification and infrastructure improvements. The CRDA would oversee all functions of the district and make changes to attract new businesses and attractions. New construction has already resulted in cases of

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

being used to seize properties for development. The tourism district would comprise several key areas in the city; the Marina District, Ducktown, Chelsea, South Inlet,

, and Gardner's Basin. Also included are 10 roadways that lead into the district, including several in the city's northern end, or North Beach. Gardner's Basin, which is home to the Atlantic City Aquarium, was initially left out of the tourism district, while a residential neighborhood in the Chelsea section was removed from the final boundaries, owing to complaints from the city. Also, the inclusion of Bader Field in the district was controversial and received much scrutiny from mayor Lorenzo Langford, who cast the lone "no" vote on the creation of the district citing its inclusion.

Casinos and gambling

The history of gambling in Atlantic City traces back to

and the 1920s, with racketeer

Louis Kuehnle Louis Kuehnle, (; December 25, 1857 – August 6, 1934), known as "Commodore Kuehnle," was an American businessman and politician of German descent. He is considered a pioneer in the growing resort town of Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the late 1 ...

running an underground hotel and casino.

Enoch "Nucky" Johnson Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson (January 20, 1883December 9, 1968) was an Atlantic City, New Jersey, political boss, a sheriff of Atlantic County, New Jersey, a businessman and a crime boss who was the leader of the political machine that control ...

followed and furthered Atlantic City's rise through the

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the U ...

as a destination for drinking, gambling, and nightlife.Atlantic City Casinos Through the Years
Great.com. Accessed June 18, 2021. In 1974, New Jersey voters voted 60%–40% against legalizing casino gambling at four sites statewide, but two years later approved by 56%–44% a new referendum which legalized casinos, but restricted them to Atlantic City.

was the first casino to open, in May 1978, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring

Brendan Byrne Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American politician, statesman, and prosecutor, serving as the 47th governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrne started his career as a privat ...

. Atlantic City is considered the "Gambling Capital of the East Coast", and currently has nine large casinos. In 2011, New Jersey's then 12 casinos employed approximately 33,000 employees, had 28.5 million visitors, made $3.3 billion in gaming revenue, and paid $278 million in taxes. They are regulated by the

New Jersey Casino Control Commission The Casino Control Commission is a New Jersey state governmental agency that was founded in 1977 as the state's Gaming Control Board, responsible under the Casino Control Act for licensing casinos in Atlantic City. The commission also issues lic ...

and the

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that was established in 1977 under the Casino Control Act, N.J.S.A. to ensure the integrity of the casino gaming industry, including spor ...

.About the Division of Gaming Enforcement

. Accessed August 23, 2013. In the wake of the economic downturn following the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

and the legalization of gambling in adjacent and nearby states (including

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and

), four casino closures took place in 2014: the Atlantic Club on January 13; the

Showboat A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a ...

on August 31; the Revel, which was Atlantic City's second-newest casino, on September 2; and Trump Plaza, which originally opened in 1984, and was the poorest performing casino in the city, on September 16. Executives at Trump Entertainment Resorts, whose sole remaining property at the time was the Trump Taj Mahal, said in 2013 that they were considering the option of selling the Taj and winding down and exiting the gaming and hotel business. Trump Taj Mahal closed October 10, 2016, after failing to come to terms with union workers.

Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpora ...

executives have been reconsidering the future of their three remaining Atlantic City properties (Bally's, Caesars and Harrah's), in the wake of a

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

filing by the company's casino operating unit in January 2015. In 2020, Bally's Atlantic City was acquired by

Bally's Corporation Bally's Corporation is a gaming, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. It owns and operates 15 casinos across ten states, a horse track in Colorado, and online sports betting operations in 14 st ...

Current casinos

:^a The Wild Wild West Casino, which opened on July 2, 1997, and has an

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

theme, was part of Bally's Atlantic City until 2020, when it became part of Caesars.

Renamed casinos

Closed casinos

Cancelled casinos

Boardwalk

The Atlantic City Boardwalk opened on June 26, 1870,Today in History: June 26

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. Accessed June 23, 2016. "On June 26, 1870, the first section of the Atlantic City Boardwalk opened along the New Jersey beach." a temporary structure erected for the summer season that was the first

in the United States. The Boardwalk starts at Absecon Inlet in the north and runs along the beach south-west to the city limit away then continues into Ventnor City. Casino/hotels front the boardwalk, as well as retail stores, restaurants, and amusements. Notable attractions include the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at ...

, and the

Ripley's Believe It or Not! ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' feat ...

museum. In October 2012,

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

destroyed the northern part of the boardwalk fronting Absecon Inlet, in the residential section called South Inlet. The oceanfront boardwalk in front of the Atlantic City casinos survived the storm with minimal damage. The first pier along the boardwalk, Applegate's Pier, opened in 1884. It was acquired by John L. Young in 1891, who expanded and operated it as Young's Ocean Pier, but it was mostly destroyed in a 1912 fire. The remaining part of the pier was rebuilt in 1922 as the Central Pier, which is still in operation. A

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...

-owned pier named Heinz Pier was destroyed in the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane. The most famous Atlantic City pier was

Steel Pier The Steel Pier is a 1,000-foot-long () amusement park built on a pier of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City (formerly the Trump Taj Mahal). Begun in 1898, it was one of the most po ...

, which opened in 1898, and which once billed itself as "The Showplace of the Nation". It closed in 1978, and was mostly destroyed in a 1982 fire. It was rebuilt in the late 1980s and is now operated as an amusement pier across from the

Hard Rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

. Steeplechase Pier opened in 1899 and operated until 1986. It suffered significant damage in a 1988 fire, and the remnants of the pier were removed in 1996. The "Steeplechase Pier Heliport" on Steel Pier is named in its honor. Captain John L. Young opened "Young's

Million Dollar Pier Playground Pier is a four-story pier located on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey that houses a luxury shopping and restaurant mall. Located at the foot of Arkansas Avenue, it is connected to Caesars casino via a second-story skybridg ...

" in 1906, and on the seaward side "erected a marble mansion", fronted by a formal garden, with lighting and landscaping designed by Young's longtime friend

Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

. Million Dollar Pier once rivaled Steel Pier as Atlantic City's leading pier, but after suffering decades of decline, was rebuilt into a shopping mall in the 1980s, known as "Shops on Ocean One". In 2006, the Ocean One mall was bought, renovated and re-branded as "The Pier Shops at Caesars" and in 2015, it was renamed "

Playground Pier Playground Pier is a four-story pier located on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey that houses a luxury shopping and restaurant mall. Located at the foot of Arkansas Avenue, it is connected to Caesars casino via a second-story skybridge ...

Garden Pier The Garden Pier was a historic pier located in uptown Atlantic City, New Jersey at the northern end of the boardwalk and South New Jersey Ave. The pier was opened on July 19, 1913, and was home to the B.F. Keith's Theatre, Atlantic City Historical ...

, located opposite

Ocean Casino Resort Ocean Casino Resort (formerly Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City) is a resort, hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is the northernmost casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, located on of land, adjacent to the Showboat Hotel. It i ...

, once housed a movie theater, and is now home to the Atlantic City Historical Museum.

Shopping

The Quarter at Tropicana in Atlantic City

Atlantic City has many different shopping districts and malls, many of which are located inside or adjacent to the casino resorts. Several smaller themed retail and dining areas in casino hotels include the Borgata Shops and The Shoppes at Water Club inside Borgata, the Waterfront Shops inside of Harrah's, Spice Road inside the Trump Taj Mahal, while Resorts Casino Hotel has a small collection of stores and restaurants. Major shopping malls are also located in and around Atlantic City. In Atlantic City, shops include: *

, an underwater-themed indoor high end shopping center located on the Million Dollar Pier formerly known as "Shops on Ocean One". The four-story shopping mall contains themed floors. * Tanger Outlets The Walk, an outdoor outlet shopping center spanning several blocks. The only outlet mall in Atlantic County, The Walk opened in 2003 and is undergoing an expansion. *

The Quarter at Tropicana The Quarter at Tropicana is an Old Havana-themed enclosed shopping mall located at the Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City Tropicana Atlantic City, also known as The Trop and previously as TropWorld Resort, is a resort, casino hotel located ...

, an old

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

-themed indoor shopping center at the Tropicana, which contains over 40 stores, restaurants, and nightclubs.

Exhibition

, formally known as the "Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall", is an

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

in Atlantic City along the boardwalk. Boardwalk Hall was Atlantic City's primary

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

until the opening of the

Atlantic City Convention Center The Atlantic City Convention Center is a large convention center located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Opened on May 1, 1997, the center includes of showroom space, 5 exhibit halls, 45 meeting rooms with of space, a garage with 1,400 parking sp ...

in 1997. The Atlantic City Convention Center includes of showroom space, 5 exhibit halls, 45 meeting rooms with of space, a garage with 1,400 parking spaces, and an adjacent Sheraton hotel. Both the Boardwalk Hall and Convention Center are operated by the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority.

Arts and culture

''Monopoly''

Atlantic City (sometimes referred to as "Monopoly City") has become well-known over the years for its portrayal in the U.S. version of the popular board game ''

'', in which properties on the board are named after locations in and near Atlantic City. While the original incarnation of the game did not feature Atlantic City, it was in Indianapolis that Ruth Hoskins learned the game, and took it back to Atlantic City. After she arrived, Hoskins made a new board with Atlantic City street names, and taught it to a group of friends, who ultimately passed in on to

Charles Darrow Charles Brace Darrow (August 10, 1889 – August 28, 1967) was an American board game designer who is credited as the inventor of the board game Monopoly. Although the original idea for the game came from Lizzie Magie's '' The Landlord's Game'', ...

, who made some modifications to the game and claimed it as his own invention. The relative prices of the places on the board reflect to some extent the social status of neighborhoods at the time, with wealthy white streets being worth more, and streets where Black and Asian residents lived being cheaper. Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, " Marven Gardens". The misspelling was said to have been introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made ''Monopoly'' board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence Parker Brothers. It was not until 1995 that Parker Brothers acknowledged this mistake and formally apologized to the residents of Marven Gardens for the misspelling, although the spelling error was not corrected. Some of the actual locations that correspond to board elements have changed since the game's release. Illinois Avenue was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in the 1980s. St. Charles Place no longer exists, as the

Showboat Casino Hotel The Showboat Atlantic City is a resort hotel and former casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Showboat opened as a casino hotel in 1987 and closed in 2014; the hotel reopened in 2016. It is owned by developer Bart Blatstein. History On Marc ...

was developed where it once ran. The "Short Line" is believed to refer to the Shore Fast Line, a

streetcar line A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

that served Atlantic City. The

B&O Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

did not serve Atlantic City. A booklet included with the reprinted 1935 edition states that the four railroads that served Atlantic City in the mid-1930s were the Jersey Central, the Seashore Lines, the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly calle ...

, and the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

Attractions

Ever since Atlantic City's growth as a resort town, numerous attractions and

tourist trap A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) that has been created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps will typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenir ...

s have originated in the city. A popular fixture in the early 20th century at the Steel Pier was horse diving, which was introduced by William "Doc" Carver.Dedicated to The Diving Horses
The Steel Pier featured several other novelty attractions, including the Diving Bell, human high-divers and a water circus. Advertisements for the Steel Pier in its heyday featured plaster sculptures set upon wooden bases along roads leading up to Atlantic City. By the end of World War II, many animal demonstrations declined in popularity after criticisms of animal abuse and neglect. Rolling chairs, which were introduced in 1876 and in continuous use since 1887, have been a boardwalk fixture to this day. While powered carts appeared in the 1960s, the original and most common were made of wicker. The wicker canopied chairs-on-wheels are manually pushed the length of the boardwalk by attendants, much like a

Rickshaw A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...

. The Absecon Lighthouse is a coastal

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

located in the South Inlet section of Atlantic City overlooking

Absecon Inlet Absecon Inlet is a narrow strait on the southeastern coast of New Jersey in the United States.''Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition'', pp. 3-4. Geography Absecon Inlet leads from the Atlantic Ocean through barrier islands in ...

. It is the tallest lighthouse in the state of New Jersey and is the third tallest masonry lighthouse in the United States. Construction began in 1854, with the light first lit on January 15, 1857. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1933 and although the light still shines every night, it is no longer an active navigational aid. Gardner's Basin, which is home to the Atlantic City Aquarium as well as small shops and restaurants, is located a short distance north of Absecon Light. Since 2003, Atlantic City has hosted

Thunder over the Boardwalk Thunder Over the Boardwalk (also known as the Atlantic City Airshow) is an annual airshow held over the Atlantic City boardwalk every summer. Since 2003, it has set the bar for beachfront airshows across the United States and is currently one of ...

, an annual

airshow An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

over the boardwalk. The yearly event, a joint venture between the

New Jersey Air National Guard The New Jersey Air National Guard (NJ ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of New Jersey, United States of America. It is, along with the New Jersey Army National Guard, an element of the New Jersey National Guard. As state militia units, the ...

's 177th Fighter Wing along with several casinos, attracts over 750,000 visitors each year. While located south of Atlantic City in

Margate City Margate City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Margate City's population was 5,317, a reduction of 1,037 over the previous decade.Lucy the Elephant Lucy the Elephant is a six-story elephant-shaped example of novelty architecture, constructed of wood and tin sheeting in 1881 by James V. Lafferty in Margate City, New Jersey, approximately five miles (8 km) south of Atlantic City. Origina ...

has become almost an icon for the Atlantic City area. Lucy is a six-story elephant-shaped example of

novelty architecture Novelty architecture, also called programmatic architecture or mimetic architecture, is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes for purposes such as advertising or to copy other famous buildings w ...

, constructed of wood and tin sheeting in 1882 by

James V. Lafferty James Vincent de Paul Lafferty, Jr. (1856–1898) was an Irish-American inventor, most famous for his construction of Lucy the Elephant, the Elephantine Colossus and The Light of Asia (also known as "Old Dumbo"). Born to Irish parents in Philadelph ...

in an effort to sell real estate and attract tourism. Over the years, Lucy had served as a restaurant, business office, cottage, and tavern (the last closed by

). Lucy had fallen into disrepair by the 1960s and was scheduled for demolition. The structure was moved and refurbished as a result of a "Save Lucy" campaign in 1970 and received designation as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1976, and is open as a museum.

Miss America pageant

Atlantic City was the home of the

competition, hosting the event from its inception until 2004, and again from 2013 to 2018. The Miss America competition originated on September 7, 1921, as a two-day beauty contest, and it included state contestants as well as women from various cities around the country. The event that year was called the "Atlantic City Pageant", and the winner of the grand prize, Margaret Gorman, took home the 3-foot Golden Mermaid trophy. Gorman was not called "Miss America" until 1922, when she re-entered the pageant and lost to Mary Campbell. The pageant was initiated to extend the tourist season after the

Labor Day weekend Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

. The pageant has been nationally

televised Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

since 1954. It peaked in the early 1960s, when it was repeatedly the highest-rated program on American television. It was seen as a symbol of the United States, with Miss America often being referred to as the female equivalent of the President. The pageant's longtime emcee,

Bert Parks Bert Parks (born Bertram Jacobson; December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979. Early life Parks was bor ...

, hosted the event from 1955 to 1979. At the

, there is a interactive statue of Parks holding a crown. When a visitor puts their head inside the crown, sensors activate a recorded playback of his ''"There She Is..."'' line through speakers hidden behind nearby bushes. An

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

event known as the " Miss'd America Pageant" is held annually. Originally started in 1994 as a fundraiser for local LGBT charities, the event features

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

s on the runway in a similar manner to the Miss America pageant.

''Boardwalk Empire''

Atlantic City boardwalk looking north at Brighton Avenue

Since 2010, ''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...

'', an American television series from cable network

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

set in Atlantic City during the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

, has cast a new light on the city. Starring

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

, the show was adapted from a chapter about historical criminal kingpin

(who is renamed "Enoch Thompson" in the show) in Nelson Johnson's book, ''Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City''. The series was filmed in New York City at various locations that captured Atlantic City's period architecture and on a set built to resemble the Atlantic City boardwalk in the 1920s. Around the same time of the September 2010 premiere of the show, the ''Press of Atlantic City'' created ''Boss of the Boardwalk'', a 45-minute documentary which premiered on August 21, 2010, on NBC TV-40 and aired six additional times in the following weeks. After the premiere of ''Boardwalk Empire'', interest in

-era Atlantic City has grown. In October 2010, a plan was revealed to renovate the ailing

Resorts Casino Hotel Resorts Casino Hotel is a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Resorts was the first casino hotel in Atlantic City, becoming the first legal casino outside of Nevada in the United States, when it opened on May 26, 1978. The resort comp ...

into a Roaring Twenties theme. The re-branding was proposed by current owner Dennis Gomes, and was initiated in December 2010 when he took over the casino. The changes accentuate the resort's existing art deco design, as well as presenting new 20s-era uniforms for employees and music from the time period. The casino also introduced drinks and shows reminiscent of the period. The actual building where he lived,

The Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addi ...

, offer tours. In 2011,

Academy Bus Academy Bus Lines is a bus company in New Jersey providing local bus services in northern New Jersey, line-run services to/from New York City from points in southern and central New Jersey, and contract and charter service in the eastern United ...

began a trolley tour called "Nucky's Way", a

tour bus service A tour bus service is an escorted tour (sometimes a package holiday) or bus service that takes visitors sightseeing, with routes around tourist attractions. Information Double-decker buses and open top buses are commonly used, for providin ...

that features actors portraying Nucky, as well as other characters, as it loops around the city. Nucky's Way is the second trolley tour to capitalize off of ''Boardwalk Empire'', after The Great American Trolley company started a weekly tour of Atlantic City with a Roaring Twenties theme in early June 2011. On August 1, 2011, a façade modeled after the set of ''Boardwalk Empire'' was unveiled on the boardwalk in front of an empty lot at the former site of the

Trump World's Fair Trump World's Fair at Trump Plaza was a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey that occupied 280 feet (85.3 m) of the Atlantic City boardwalk and was 21 floors in height. It had 500 guest rooms. It opened on April 14, 1981 as the Playboy H ...

resort. The façade of storefronts, which consists of vinyl tacked onto three large sections of plywood, was the brainchild of longtime area radio host

Pinky Kravitz Seymour "Pinky" Kravitz (July 11, 1927 – October 31, 2015) was an Atlantic City, New Jersey based American radio broadcaster and print journalist. He was known simply as "Pinky," and he reportedly refused to answer to his given name. Kravitz was ...

, who was also a columnist for ''

'' and host of ''WMGM-TV Presents Pinky'' on NBC40.

Beach concerts

In 2014, it was announced that Atlantic City would host two major beach concerts. The two headliners were

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

, which took place on July 31, 2015, and

Lady Antebellum Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...

, which took place on August 3, 2014. On June 22, 2015, it was announced that

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

with special guest

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

and

Matt McAndrew Matthew Brendan McAndrew (born September 6, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his appearance in Season 7 of NBC's reality TV singing competition ''The Voice'', where he finished as the runner-up as part of team Adam. In Janu ...

would headline on August 16, 2015. A few weeks later, it was announced that

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

would play the second major beach concert of the summer season on August 20, 2015, with special guest

Ashley Monroe Ashley Lauren Monroe (born September 10, 1986) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Monroe has released two solo singles, "Satisfied" and "I Don't Want To" (which featured Brooks & Dunn singer Ronnie Dunn), that reached the U.S. '' ...

. This concert would be part of their

Riot Tour The Riot Tour was the thirteenth headlining concert tour by American country music trio Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass gu ...

. Both concerts charged admission.

Sports

The

Atlantic City Race Course The Atlantic City Race Course (ACRC), formerly the Atlantic City Race Track, was a Thoroughbred horse race track located in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The track is located off th ...

in Hamilton Township was a horse racing track that operated from 1946 to 2015. The

ShopRite LPGA Classic The ShopRite LPGA Classic, known in full for sponsorship reasons as The ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer, is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in Galloway, New Jersey, near Atlantic City. It took place annually from ...

is an

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

women's golf tournament held near Atlantic City since it started in 1986.

Professional boxing

Since February 2, 1887, the city of Atlantic City has seen 2,538 (as of September 2018) professional boxing fight programs, the first one being one with a main event fight between Willie Clark, 3-0-3, and debuting Horace Leeds, won by Clark on points over four rounds. During the 1980s, professional boxing activity boomed in Atlantic City, at times rivaling

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, in staging major boxing fights. Fighters who fought in Atlantic City at that era include

Marvelous Marvin Hagler Marvelous Marvin Hagler (born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; May 23, 1954 – March 13, 2021) was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight divi ...

Thomas Hearns Thomas Hearns (born October 18, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and oversized arms and shoulders allowe ...

Wilfredo Gómez Wilfredo Gómez RiveraJeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; yi, יראַ גראָססעל; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor, film producer, and singer, best remembered for playing Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was no ...

Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which led to his boxing nickname of the "Eas ...

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...

and others. Fights included

The Brawl For it All Michael Spinks vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi, billed as "The Brawl for it All", was a professional boxing match contested on March 18, 1983 for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship. Background "The Brawl for it All" was a long-awaited match ...

, Tyson versus Holmes, Tyson versus

Michael Spinks Michael Spinks (born July 13, 1956) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal ...

, and

Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...

versus

Iran Barkley Iran Barkley (born May 6, 1960) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1999. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the WBC middleweight title from 1988 to 1989, the IBF super middleweight tit ...

. Many boxing matches were held at

's Trump Plaza, promoted either by

Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...

Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction and civil cases against him, as well a ...

Parks and recreation

Atlantic City is one of five municipalities in the state—and the only one outside of

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are f ...

—that offer free public access to oceanfront beaches monitored by lifeguards, joining Wildwood,

North Wildwood North Wildwood is a city located on the Jersey Shore in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 3,621, a decre ...

Wildwood Crest Wildwood Crest is a borough in Cape May County, New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area in the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,101, a decrease ...

and Upper Township's Strathmere section.

Government

Local government

Atlantic City is governed within the Faulkner Act (formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law) under the Mayor-Council system of municipal government (Plan D), implemented by direct petition effective as of July 1, 1982.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers University (The Bloustein School) serves as a center for the theory and practice of urban planning, public policy and public health/health administration scholarship. The sc ...

, March 2013, p. 12. The city is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide governed under this form. The governing body of Atlantic City is the Mayor and the City Council, all elected on a partisan basis to serve four-year terms of office as part of the November general election. The council is comprised of nine members, who are elected on a staggered basis, with one member from each of six

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

and three serving

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

. The six ward seats are up for election together and the mayoral seat and the council at-large seats are up for vote together two years later. The City Council exercises the legislative power of the municipality for the purpose of holding Council meetings to introduce ordinances and resolutions to regulate City government. In addition, Council members review budgets submitted by the Mayor; provide for an annual audit of the city's accounts and financial transactions; organize standing committees and hold public hearings to address important issues which impact Atlantic City. Former Mayor Bob Levy created the Atlantic City Ethics Board in 2007, but the Board was dissolved two years later by vote of the Atlantic City Council. , the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

is Marty Small Sr., whose term of office ends December 31, 2025. Small succeeded Frank M. Gilliam Jr. following his resignation on October 3, 2019. Small initially served as mayor on an interim basis for an unexpired term ending on December 31, 2021. Members of the City Council are Council President George Tibbitt (D, 2025; At-Large), Council Vice President Kaleem Shabazz (D, 2023; 3rd Ward), LaToya Dunston (D, 2023; Second Ward – elected to serve an unexpired term), Jesse O. Kurtz ( Republican Party, 2023; 6th Ward), Stephanie Marshall (D, 2025; At-Large), MD Hossain Morshed (D, 2023; 4th Ward), Aaron "Sporty" Randolph (D, 2023; 1st Ward), Bruce Weekes (D, 2025; At-Large) and Muhammad "Anjum" Zia (D, 2023; 5th Ward).Directory
City of Atlantic City. Accessed April 24, 2022.Municipal Government

Atlantic County, New Jersey Atlantic County is a county located along the southern coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 274,534.council-manager form of government which would have reduced the size of the city council and shifted responsibility for day-to-day operation from an elected mayor to an appointed

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

. In December 2019, LaToya Dunston was selected from a list of three candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee to serve the remainder of the term of the Second Ward seat that had been held by Marty Small until he stepped down when he was appointed as mayor. In January 2020, Dunston was appointed to fill the Second Ward seat expiring in December 2023 that Small had won in November 2019 but declined to fill; Dunston will serve on an interim basis until the November 2020 general election, when voters will select a candidate to serve the balance of the term of office.

Mayoral disappearance and resignation

Following questions about false claims he had made about his military record, Mayor Bob Levy left City Hall in September 2007 in a city-owned vehicle for an unknown destination. After a 13-day absence, his lawyer revealed that Levy was in

Carrier Clinic Carrier Clinic is an American private, not-for-profit behavioral healthcare system located in Belle Mead, New Jersey specializing in psychiatric and addiction treatment. Carrier's system includes a 281 licensed bed inpatient psychiatric hospital ...

, a rehabilitation hospital. Levy resigned in October 2007 and then-Council President William Marsh assumed the office of Mayor and served six weeks until an interim mayor was named.

Federal, state and county representation

Atlantic City is located in the 2nd Congressional districtPlan Components Report

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington; t ...

, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 2nd state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as we ...

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019. Atlantic County is governed by a directly elected

county executive A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county. The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...

and a nine-member Board of County Commissioners, responsible for legislation. The executive serves a four-year term and the commissioners are elected to staggered three-year terms, of which four are elected from the county on an

basis and five of the commissioners represent equally populated districts.Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders
Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed June 5, 2018. , Atlantic County's Executive is

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Dennis Levinson, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023. Members of the Board of County Commissioners are: Ernest D. Coursey, District 1, including

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

(part),

(part), and Pleasantville (D, 2022, Atlantic City), Chair Maureen Kern, District 2, including

(part),

Linwood Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia *Linwood, South Australia * Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario * Linwood, ...

, Longport,

Margate City Margate City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Margate City's population was 5,317, a reduction of 1,037 over the previous decade.Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

Somers Point Somers Point is a city that is the oldest settlement in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was settled by Europeans in 1693 and was incorporated as a borough in 1886. Somers Point was incorporated as a city in 1902. As of the 2 ...

and Ventnor City (R, 2024, Somers Point), Andrew Parker III, District 3, including

(part) and Hamilton Township (part) (R, Egg Harbor Township, 2023), Richard R. Dase, District 4, including Absecon,

, Galloway Township and Port Republic (R, 2022, Galloway Township), James A. Bertino, District 5, including Buena, Buena Vista Township, Corbin City,

Egg Harbor City Egg Harbor City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 4,396, an increase of 153 from the 2010 Census.Estell Manor,

Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jerse ...

, Hamilton Township (part), Hammonton, Mullica Township and Weymouth Township (R, 2018, Hammonton), Caren L. Fitzpatrick, At-Large (D, 2023,

), Frank X. Balles, At-Large (R, Pleasantville, 2024) Amy L. Gatto, Freeholder (R, 2022, Hamilton Township) and Vice Chair John W. Risley, At-Large (R, 2023, Egg Harbor Township) Atlantic County's constitutional officers are: County Clerk Joesph J. Giralo (R, 2026, Hammonton), Sheriff Eric Scheffler (D, 2024, Northfield) and Surrogate James Curcio (R, 2025, Hammonton).

Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 20,001 registered voters in Atlantic City, of which 12,063 (60.3% vs. 30.5% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,542 (7.7% vs. 25.2%) were registered as Republicans and 6,392 (32.0% vs. 44.3%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 4 voters registered to other parties.Voter Registration Summary – Atlantic

Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed December 24, 2014. Among the city's 2010 Census population, 50.6% (vs. 58.8% in Atlantic County) were registered to vote, including 67.0% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 76.6% countywide). In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

received 9,948 votes (86.6% vs. 57.9% countywide), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

with 1,548 votes (13.5% vs. 41.1%) and other candidates with 49 votes (0.4% vs. 0.9%), among the 11,489 ballots cast by the city's 21,477 registered voters, for a turnout of 53.5% (vs. 65.8% in Atlantic County). In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 10,975 votes (82.1% vs. 56.5% countywide), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

with 2,175 votes (16.3% vs. 41.6%) and other candidates with 82 votes (0.6% vs. 1.1%), among the 13,370 ballots cast by the city's 26,030 registered voters, for a turnout of 51.4% (vs. 68.1% in Atlantic County). In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

received 8,487 votes (74.5% vs. 52.0% countywide), ahead of Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

with 2,687 votes (23.6% vs. 46.2%) and other candidates with 96 votes (0.8% vs. 0.8%), among the 11,389 ballots cast by the city's 23,310 registered voters, for a turnout of 48.9% (vs. 69.8% in the whole county). In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

received 4,293 ballots cast (52.6% vs. 34.9% countywide), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 2,897 votes (35.5% vs. 60.0%) and other candidates with 63 votes (0.8% vs. 1.3%), among the 8,155 ballots cast by the city's 23,049 registered voters, yielding a 35.4% turnout (vs. 41.5% in the county). In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

received 4,988 ballots cast (69.9% vs. 44.5% countywide), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 1,578 votes (22.1% vs. 47.7%), Independent

Chris Daggett Christopher Jarvis Daggett (born March 7, 1950) is an American businessman who is the president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, one of the largest foundations in New Jersey. A former regional administrator of the United States En ...

with 157 votes (2.2% vs. 4.8%) and other candidates with 99 votes (1.4% vs. 1.2%), among the 7,141 ballots cast by the city's 22,585 registered voters, yielding a 31.6% turnout (vs. 44.9% in the county).

City and state agencies

New Jersey Casino Control Commission

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission is a New Jersey state governmental agency that was founded in 1977 as the state's

Gaming Control Board A gaming control board (GCB), also called by various names including gambling control board, casino control board, gambling board, and gaming commission, is a government agency charged with regulating casino and other types of gaming in a defined ...

, responsible for administering the Casino Control Act and its regulations to assure public trust and confidence in the credibility and integrity of the casino industry and casino operations in Atlantic City. Casinos operate under licenses granted by the commission. The commission is headquartered in the Arcade Building at Tennessee Avenue and Boardwalk in Atlantic City.

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement

The

is a division of the

New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety The New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by ...

and is responsible for certifying casino gaming revenue, registering casino employees and non-gaming vendors, licensing gaming vendors, and handling all casino patron complaints.

Casino Reinvestment Development Authority

The CRDA was founded in 1984 and is responsible for directing the spending of casino reinvestment funds in public and private projects to benefit Atlantic City and other areas of the state. From 1985 through April 2008, CRDA spent US$1.5 billion on projects in Atlantic City and US$300 million throughout New Jersey.

Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority

The Convention & Visitors Authority (ACCVA) was in charge of advertising and marketing for the city as well as promoting economic growth through convention and leisure tourism development. The ACCVA managed the

and

, as well as the Boardwalk Welcome Center inside Boardwalk Hall and a welcome center on the

. In 2011, the ACCVA was absorbed into the CRDA as part of the state takeover that created the tourism district.

Atlantic City Special Improvement District

The Atlantic City Special Improvement District (SID) was a nonprofit organization created in 1992, funded by a special assessment tax on businesses within the improvement district. It carried out various activities to improve the city's business community, including street cleaning and promotional efforts. In 2011, the SID was absorbed by the CRDA; the former SID boundaries would be expanded to the include all areas in the newly formed tourism district. Under the new structure, established by state legislation, the CRDA assumed responsibility for the staff, equipment and programs of the SID. The new SID division includes a SID committee made up of CRDA board members and an advisory council consisting of the current trustees and others.

Fire department

The Atlantic City Fire Department (ACFD) provides

fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...

and first responder

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

to the city. The ACFD operates out of six fire stations, located throughout the city in one battalion, under the command of a

Battalion Chief A battalion chief is the rank and title of a subordinate fire chief or commanding officer in the firefighting command structure. The title of battalion chief is usually synonymous with firefighting in the United States and Canada. A battalion chi ...

, who in-turn reports to an on-duty Deputy Chief, or Tour Commander each shift.Atlantic City Firefighters – ACFD History
Atlantic City Fire Fighters. Accessed November 15, 2013.

Fire station locations

Image:Atlantic_City,_NJ_Fire_Department_Headquarters.jpg, Headquarters;
2715 Atlantic Ave Image:Station_1_-_E1-T1_-_Atlantic_Ave_&_Maryland_Ave.jpg, Station 1; Atlantic Ave & Maryland Ave. Engine 1, Tower Ladder 1, Battalion Chief 1, Haz-Mat 1 Image:NJ - Atlantic City Station 2.jpg, Station 2; Baltic Ave & North Indiana Ave. Engine 2, Rescue 1, Collapse Rescue Unit, Fire Boats 1&2 Image:Station_3_-_Engine_3-Ladder_3_(tiller).jpeg, Station 3; North Indiana Ave & Grant Ave. Engine 3, Ladder 3 (Tiller) Image:Station_4_-_Engine_4-Ladder_2_(tiller)_Atlantic_Ave_&_S_Carolina_Ave.jpg, Station 4; Atlantic Ave & South Carolina Ave. Engine 4, Ladder 2 (Tiller), Deputy Chief 1 Image:Station 5 - Engine 5 Bader Field.jpg, Station 5;

. Engine 5, Air Cascade Unit 1 Image:Station_6_-_Engine_6-Engine_7.jpg, Station 6; Atlantic Ave & South Annapolis Ave. Engine 6, Engine 7

Police department

The city is protected by the Atlantic City Police Department, which handles 150,000 calls per year. The Chief of Police is Henry White.

Education

The

Atlantic City School District Atlantic City School District is a comprehensive community public school district in Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The district serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2020–21 sch ...

serves students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

s. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of 11 schools, had an enrollment of 6,553 students and 617.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 10.6:1.District information for Atlantic City School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance ...

. Accessed February 15, 2022. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the

) are Venice Park School (36 students in PreK), Brighton Avenue School (315 students; in grades PreK-5), Chelsea Heights School (332; PreK-8), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School Complex (543; PreK-8), New York Avenue School (548; PreK-8), Pennsylvania Avenue School (549; PreK-8), Richmond Avenue School (615; PreK-8), Sovereign Avenue School (696; PreK-8), Texas Avenue School (499; K-8), Uptown School Complex (536; PreK-8) and

(1,771; 9–12).School Site Directory
Atlantic City School District. Accessed July 8, 2022. Pennsylvania Avenue School opened for the 2012–2013 school year, with most students shifting from New Jersey Avenue School, which had been one of the district's oldest and most rundown schools. Students from

, Longport,

Margate City Margate City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Margate City's population was 5,317, a reduction of 1,037 over the previous decade.Ventnor City attend Atlantic City High School as part of

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

s with the respective school districts. City public school students are also eligible to attend the

Atlantic County Institute of Technology The Atlantic County Institute of Technology (ACIT) is a four-year countywide vocational public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Atlantic County Vocatio ...

in the

Mays Landing Mays Landing is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

section of Hamilton Township or the

Charter-Tech High School for the Performing Arts Chartertech High School for the Performing Arts is a public charter high school for students in ninth through twelfth grades in Somers Point, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, that focuses on education in the performing arts. The sch ...

, located in

. Oceanside Charter School, which offered pre-Kindergarten through

eighth grade Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

, was founded in 1999 and closed in June 2013 when its charter wasn't renewed by the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

. Founded in 1908, Our Lady Star of the Sea Regional School is a Catholic elementary school, operated under the jurisdiction of the

Diocese of Camden The Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden is a Roman Catholic diocese of the Latin Church in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It consists of 62 parishes and about 475,000 Catholics in the Southern Jersey counties of Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumber ...

. Nearby college campuses include those of

Atlantic Cape Community College Atlantic Cape Community College is a public community college in Atlantic County and Cape May County in New Jersey. Atlantic Cape enrolls more than 6,000 students. Its main campuses are in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township in Atlant ...

and

Stockton University Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence ...

, the latter of which offers classes and resources in the city such as the Carnegie Library Center, which was turned back to the control of the city in April 2022.

Media outlets

Newspapers and magazines

* ''

'' * ''Atlantic City Insiders'' * ''

Atlantic City Weekly ''Atlantic City Weekly'' (''ACW'') is a free newspaper in Atlantic City, New Jersey. ''Atlantic City Weekly'' is the source for what's happening in South Jersey. Published every Thursday, it covers entertainment, casinos, dining, real estate, spor ...

'' * ''Casino Connection''

Radio stations

WEHA WEHA (88.7 FM) is a Stellar Award winning radio station broadcasting an Urban Gospel format. Licensed to the suburb of Port Republic, New Jersey, it serves the Atlantic City metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 2003 under the call ...

88.7 FM – Gospel *

WAYV WayV ( zh, s=威神V, hp=WēiShén V; an initialism for We are your Vision) is a Chinese boy band and the fourth overall sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT, managed by SM Entertainment's Chinese sub-label, Label V. The group is composed o ...

95.1 FM – Top 40 *

WTTH WTTH (96.1 FM) is an urban adult contemporary music formatted radio station licensed to Margate City, New Jersey. It serves the general Atlantic City, New Jersey, metro area. Its studios are located at the Bayport One complex in West Atlantic ...

96.1 FM – Urban AC *

WFPG WFPG (96.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in Atlantic City, New Jersey, known as "Lite 96.9 WFPG" It is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and Dece ...

96.9 FM – AC (Lite Rock 96.9) *

WENJ WENJ (97.3 FM) is a radio station that airs a sports radio format, licensed to Millville. Its transmitter is located in Corbin City, New Jersey, where it shares a tower with WRTQ. The station is affiliated with ESPN Radio. Its studios are in ...

97.3 FM – Sports *

WTKU WTKU-FM (98.3 FM) is a radio station in Atlantic City, New Jersey known as "Kool 98-3," playing a classic hits format. Operating with 6,000 watts, the station can be heard from Beach Haven, New Jersey, Beach Haven and Tuckerton, New Jersey, Tucker ...

98.3 FM – Classic hits (Kool 98.3) *

WZBZ WZBZ ("99.3 The Buzz") is an urban-leaning Rhythmic Contemporary station in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Its studios are located at the Bayport One complex in West Atlantic City, and its transmitter is located north of the Casino district in At ...

99.3 FM – Rhythmic (The Buzz) *

WZXL WZXL (100.7 FM, "100.7 ZXL") is a radio station also known as "South Jersey's Rock Station", playing classic rock. WZXL is licensed to Wildwood, New Jersey. Operating with 38,000 watts, WZXL serves the greater South Jersey area including Atlanti ...

100.7 FM – Rock (The Rock Station) * WLRB 102.7 FM – Contemporary Christian (K-Love) * WMGM 103.7 FM – Active rock (WMGM Rocks) *

WSJO WSJO (104.9 FM, "SoJO 104.9") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, through licensee Townsquare License, LLC, and broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) format. WSJO broad ...

104.9 FM – Top 40 (Sojo 104.9) *

WPUR WPUR (107.3 FM) is a country music formatted radio station in Atlantic City, New Jersey. WPUR is more commonly known as "Cat Country 107.3". Its transmitter is located in Atlantic City, while studios are in Northfield, New Jersey. History 107.3 ...

107.3 FM – Country (Cat Country 107.3) * WWJZ 640 AM – Religious *

WMID WMID (1340 kHz) is a radio station licensed to Atlantic City, New Jersey, which plays "the classic oldies". Its parent company is Equity Communications (the station was at one time owned by entertainer Merv Griffin). WMID also carries the Phil ...

1340 AM – Oldies *

WOND WOND (1400 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pleasantville, New Jersey, and serving the Atlantic City radio market. It is owned by Longport Media and broadcasts a news/talk radio format. The radio studios and offices are located of ...

1400 AM – News/Talk *

WPGG WPGG (1450 AM; "WPG Talk Radio 95.5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Atlantic City, New Jersey. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and it broadcasts a talk radio format. The radio studios and offices are on Tilton Road in No ...

1450 AM – Talk * WBSS 1490 AM – Sports betting talk

Television stations

Atlantic City is part of the Philadelphia television market. There, six stations licensed in the area. *

WACP WACP (channel 4) is a religious television station licensed to Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, serving southern New Jersey and the Philadelphia television market as an owned-and-operated station of Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). ...

Channel 4 Atlantic City (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

) *WMGM-LP Channel 7 Atlantic City ( Silent) *

WMGM-TV WMGM-TV (channel 40) is a television station licensed to Wildwood, New Jersey, United States, affiliated with the True Crime Network. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision alongside Vineland, New Jersey–licensed Univision owned-and-operated statio ...

Channel 40 Wildwood (

Justice Network True Crime Network (formerly Justice Network) is an American digital multicast television network that is operated by True Crime Network, LLC, a limited liability company, which is owned by Tegna Inc. The network specializes in true crime, in ...

) *W45CP-D Channel 45 Atlantic City ( Daystar) *W48DP-D Channel 48 Atlantic City (EICB TV)

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the city had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Atlantic County, by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

and by the

South Jersey Transportation Authority The South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) is a quasi-private agency created by the New Jersey Legislature in 1991 to manage transportation-related services in the six southern New Jersey counties: Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, G ...

. The three roadways into Atlantic City are the

Black Horse Pike The Black Horse Pike is a designation used for a number of different roadways that had been part of a historic route connecting the Camden area to the area of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Roadways now bearing the Black Horse Pike designation include ...

/Harding Highway (

US 322 U.S. Route 322 (US 322) is a long, east–west United States Highway, traversing Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The road is a spur of U.S. Route 22 and one of the original highways from 1926. A portion of it at one time was concurrent with ...

/ 40 via the Albany Avenue

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

), White Horse Pike (

US 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

), and the

(including the Brigantine Connector). Atlantic City is roughly south of New York City by road (via the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey ...

) and southeast of

Public transportation

Interior of Atlantic City Rail Terminal, August 2014

Atlantic City Jitney Association Champion 29

Atlantic City is connected to other cities in several ways.

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

Atlantic City Rail Terminal The Atlantic City Rail Terminal is Atlantic City, New Jersey's train station, located inside of the Atlantic City Convention Center. It has five tracks served by three platforms and functions as the easternmost terminus of the NJ Transit Atlanti ...

at the

provides service from

30th Street Station 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

through several smaller South Jersey communities via the

Atlantic City Line The Atlantic City Line (ACL) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit (NJT) in the United States between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, operating along the corridor of the White Horse Pike. It runs over trackage ...

. On June 20, 2006, the board of NJ Transit approved a three-year trial of express train service between

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...

and the Atlantic City Rail Terminal. The line, known as ACES ( Atlantic City Express Service), ran from February 2009 to March 2012. The approximate travel time was hours, with a stop at

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...

, and was part of the casinos' multimillion-dollar investments in Atlantic City. Most of the funding for the transit line was provided by

Harrah's Entertainment Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven go ...

(owners of both

Harrah's Atlantic City Harrah's Resort Atlantic City is a casino hotel in the marina district of Atlantic City, New Jersey, owned by Vici Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment. Harrah's is one of the largest hotels in New Jersey. The casino is one of three i ...

and Caesars Atlantic City) and the

. The

Atlantic City Bus Terminal The Atlantic City Bus Terminal is a regional bus station and a major stop for New Jersey Transit buses in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Located at the 1900 block of Atlantic Avenue, the station is now only half its original size, as part of it was ca ...

is the home to local, intrastate and interstate bus companies including NJ Transit,

OurBus OurBus Inc. is is a broker for motor carriers of passengers, and arranges for the transportation of passengers. The company offers intercity and commuter bus routes serving cities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virgini ...

and

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

bus lines. The Greyhound Lucky Streak Express offers service to Atlantic City from New York City,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. In addition to stopping at the Atlantic City Bus Terminal, Greyhound buses stop at various casinos in Atlantic City. Martz Group, Martz Trailways provides bus service to various casinos in Atlantic City from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Pennsylvania, Scranton, and White Haven, Pennsylvania, White Haven in

. Klein Transportation provides bus service to various casinos in Atlantic City from Shillington, Pennsylvania, Shillington, Douglassville, Pennsylvania, Douglassville, Royersford, Pennsylvania, Royersford, and Audubon, Pennsylvania, Audubon in Pennsylvania. Within the city, public transportation is provided by NJ Transit Bus Operations, NJ Transit along 13 routes, including service between the city and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on the 319 (New Jersey bus), 319 route, and service to and from Atlantic City on routes 501 (New Jersey bus), 501 (to Brigantine Beach, New Jersey, Brigantine Beach), 502 (New Jersey bus), 502 (to

), 504 (New Jersey bus), 504 (to Ventnor Plaza), 505 (New Jersey bus), 505 (to Longport), 507 (New Jersey bus), 507 (to Ocean City, New Jersey, Ocean City), 508 (New Jersey bus), 508 (to the Hamilton Mall), 509 (New Jersey bus), 509 (to Ocean City), 551 (New Jersey bus), 551 (to Philadelphia), 552 (New Jersey bus), 552 (to Cape May, New Jersey, Cape May), 553 (New Jersey bus), 553 (to Upper Deerfield Township, New Jersey, Upper Deerfield Township), 554 (New Jersey bus), 554 (to the Lindenwold station, Lindenwold PATCO station) and 559 (New Jersey bus), 559 (to Lakewood Township, New Jersey, Lakewood Township). The Atlantic City Jitney Association (ACJA) offers service on four fixed-route lines and on shuttles to and from the rail terminal.

Airline service

Commercial airlines serve Atlantic City via Atlantic City International Airport, located northwest of the city in

. Many travelers also fly into Philadelphia International Airport, Trenton-Mercer Airport, or Newark Liberty International Airport, where there are wider selections of carriers from which to choose. The historic downtown

airport is now permanently closed and plans are in the works to redevelop the land. Atlantic City International Airport is a focus city for Spirit Airlines. The airport is also served by various scheduled chartered flight companies.

Healthcare

AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center Atlantic City, NJ

The AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center City Division, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center is a health system based in Atlantic City. Founded in 1898, it includes two hospitals; the Atlantic City Campus and the Mainland Campus in Pomona, New Jersey. It has Atlantic City's only cancer institute, heart institute, and neonatal intensive care unit.

Utilities

South Jersey Industries provides natural gas to the city under the South Jersey Gas division. Marina Energy and its subsidiary, Energenic, a Joint venture, joint business venture with a long-time business partner, operate two thermal power stations in the city. The Marina Thermal Plant serves the Borgata while a second plant serves the Resorts Hotel and Casino. Another thermal plant is the Midtown Thermal Control Center on Atlantic and Ohio Avenues built by Conectiv, which opened in 1997 and provides chilled water for hotels and other facilities along the Boardwalk. Electrical power in Atlantic City as well as the surrounding area is primarily served by Pepco Holdings, Atlantic City Electric, which was incorporated in 1924 and provides power from the Beesley's Point Generating Station in Upper Township, as well as other locations. Atlantic-Jersey Wind Farm

The Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm, opened in 2005, is the first onshore coastal wind farm in the United States. In October 2010, North American Offshore Wind Conference was held in the city and included tours of the facility and potential sites for further development. In February 2011, the state passed legislation permitting the construction of windmills for electricity along pre-existing piers, such as the

. The first phase of the Atlantic Wind Connection, a planned Electric power transmission, electrical transmission backbone along the Jersey Shore was planned to be operational in 2013.

In popular culture

Atlantic City has been featured in several aspects of pop culture. Films such as ''The King of Marvin Gardens'' (1972), ''Atlantic City (1980 film), Atlantic City'', ''The Godfather Part III'', ''Rounders (film), Rounders'' and ''Snake Eyes (1998 film), Snake Eyes'' have featured the city, as have television programs such as ''Mr. Belvedere'', ''The Simpsons'', ''How I Met Your Mother'', and ''

''.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Atlantic City include: * Hakeem Abdul-Shaheed (born 1959), convicted drug dealer and

leader * Jack Abramoff (born 1958), former lobbyist who was embroiled in high-profile political scandals. Abramoff was born in Atlantic City and lived there until age 10 * Robert Agnew (criminologist), Robert Agnew (born 1953), professor of sociology at Emory University and president of the American Society of Criminology * Joe Albany (1924–1988), jazz pianist * Abdullah Anderson (born 1996), defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons * James Avery (actor), James Avery (1945–2013), actor best known for portrayal of patriarch Philip Banks, Will Smith's character's uncle, in TV series ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' * Harry Bacharach (1873–1947), mayor of Atlantic City in 1912 for six months, again from 1916 to 1920, and again from 1930 to 1935 * Isaac Bacharach (1870–1956), represented from 1915 to 1937 *

(1874–1927), mayor from 1920 to 1927 * Joseph Carleton Beal (1900–1967), co-writer of the Christmas song ''Jingle Bell Rock'' * Barry Beckham (born 1944), playwright and novelist * Edwin Blum (1906–1995), screenwriter for films ''Stalag 17'' and ''The New Adventures of Tarzan'' * Jack Boucher (1931–2012), photographer for National Park Service for more than 40 years beginning in 1958, chief photographer for the Historic American Buildings Survey * Horace J. Bryant (1909–1983), first African American to serve in a State Cabinet position in New Jersey * Benjamin Burnley (born 1978), musician, best known as lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for band Breaking Benjamin * Greg Buttle (born 1954), linebacker who played in the NFL for the New York Jets * Mark H. Buzby (born 1956), former United States Navy rear admiral (United States), rear admiral who serves as Administrator of the United States Maritime Administration * Carole Byard (1941–2017), visual artist and illustrator of children's books, who was the recipient of a Caldecott Medal and multiple Coretta Scott King Awards * Harry Carroll (1892–1962), songwriter who composed music for "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (song), The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" and "By the Beautiful Sea (song), By the Beautiful Sea" * Rosalind Cash (1938–1995), actress nominated for an Emmy Award for PBS production of ''Go Tell It on the Mountain'' * Rocky Castellani (1926–2008), middleweight boxer best known for split-decision loss to Sugar Ray Robinson in which he knocked Robinson down in the sixth round * Vera Coking, property owner who prevailed in her battle to oppose

's efforts to acquire her boarding house using

* Jack Collins (New Jersey), Jack Collins (born 1943), Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1996 until 2002, making him the longest-serving speaker in Assembly history * Lawrence J. Delaney (born 1935), scientist and businessman who served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition) * Stuart Dischell (born 1954), poet and professor of English at University of North Carolina at Greensboro * Bruce Ditmas (born 1946), jazz drummer and percussionist * Sidney Drell (1926–2016), theoretical physics, theoretical physicist and arms control expert * Robert Ettinger (1918–2011), academic, known as "the father of cryonics" based on the impact of his 1962 book ''The Prospect of Immortality'' * Frank S. Farley (1901–1977), member of New Jersey Legislature for 34 years, boss of Republican political machine that controlled the Atlantic City and Atlantic County governments * Vera King Farris (1938–2009), third president of

* Andrew Fields, collegiate basketball coach and a retired professional basketball player * Chris Ford (born 1949), head coach of the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers * Helen Forrest (1917–1999), singer for three of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era, earning reputation as "the voice of the name bands" * Anne Francine (1917–1999), actress and cabaret singer * John F. Gaffney (1934–1995), politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the New Jersey's 2nd legislative district, 2nd Legislative District from 1992 until his death * John J. Gardner (1845–1921), represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district from 1885 to 1893, mayor of Atlantic City 1868–1875 * Patsy Garrett (1921–2015), actress * Milton W. Glenn (1903–1967), represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district from 1957 to 1965 * William Green (American football), William Green (born 1979), NFL running back who played for the Cleveland Browns * Marjorie Guthrie (1917–1983), dancer of the Martha Graham Company and dance teacher who was the wife of folk musician Woody Guthrie * John R. Hargrove Sr. (1923–1997), federal judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland * Celestine Tate Harrington (1956–1998), quadriplegic street musician known for playing keyboard with her lips, teeth and tongue on the Atlantic City boardwalk * James Hillman (1926–2011), developer of archetypal psychology * Pete Hunter (born 1980), cornerback who played in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks * Walter S. Jeffries (1893–1954), represented from 1939 to 1941 * Candy Jones (1925–1990), fashion model, writer and radio talk show host * Allan Kaprow (1927–2006), painter and pioneer in establishing concepts of performance art, who influenced Fluxus * Amy Kennedy (born 1978), educator, mental health advocate and politician who is the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party nominee in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in New Jersey, 2020 elections seeking to represent New Jersey's 2nd congressional district * Marie Kibler (1912–1978), artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast who competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics and placed fifth with the American team *

(1927–2015), radio broadcaster and print journalist who hosted "Pinky's Corner" on

from an array of Atlantic City locations from 1958 until a few months before his death in 2015, hosted "WMGM presents Pinky!" for years on

and wrote columns for many periodicals including ''

'' * Martha Krebs, Theoretical physicists, theoretical physicist who directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy for the United States Department of Energy and is the founding director for the California NanoSystems Institute at University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA * JoAnna LaSane (1935–2019), model, dancer and arts administrator * Lee B. Laskin (born 1936), attorney, politician and judge who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature before being appointed to serve on the New Jersey Superior Court * Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000), artist known for depicting African-American life in his paintings. Born on Arctic Avenue * E. Grey Lewis (1940–2005), lawyer who served as General Counsel of the Navy * Bill Libby (1927–1984), sportswriter and biographer best known for his books on sports, including 65 on sports figures * James J. McCullough (born 1942), politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2007 to 2008, where he represented the New Jersey's 2nd legislative district, 2nd Legislative District * Don McGahn (born 1968), White House Counsel and Assistant to the President for U.S. President

and a former Commissioner of the United States Federal Election Commission * Bob Merrill (1921–1998), songwriter and screenwriter * John P. O'Neill (1952–2001), FBI terrorist specialist who was director of security at the World Trade Center (1973–2001), World Trade Center and died in the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks * Joshua Ozersky (1967–2015), food writer and historian * King Kong Bundy, Chris Pallies (1957–2019), professional wrestler known as ''King Kong Bundy'' * Reese Palley (1922–2015), “Merchant to the Rich”, entrepreneur, art dealer, writer, and sailor * Joseph B. Perskie (1885–1957), Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1933 to 1947 * Monique Samuels, television personality best known as a cast member of the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of Potomac'' * Jeremy Slate (1926–2006), actor and songwriter * Alfredo Silipigni (1932–2006), conductor and founder of New Jersey State Opera * George Smathers (1913–2007), United States Senator from Florida * Dave Thomas (American businessman), Dave Thomas (1932–2002), founder of Wendy's fast-food restaurant, was born in Atlantic City * Jean Webster (cook), Jean Webster (1935–2011), cook who operated Sister Jean's Kitchen, a soup kitchen serving free meals to the poor of Atlantic City * Jim Whelan (1948–2017), member of New Jersey State Senate, State Senate who represented the New Jersey's 2nd legislative district, 2nd Legislative District until his death and was Mayor of Atlantic City from 1990 to 2001 * Norman Joseph Woodland (1921–2012), inventor of the barcode * Albert Zugsmith (1910–1993), film producerKutner, C. Jerry
"Albert Zugsmith's Opium Dreams: ''Confessions of an Opium Eater''"
''Bright Lights Film Journal'', November 1, 1997. Accessed July 27, 2017. "Albert Zugsmith was born on April 24, 1910, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and educated at the University of Virginia."

Notes

References

External links

*
The Real Boardwalk Empire
– slideshow by ''Life magazine'' * {{Authority control Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1854 establishments in New Jersey Cities in Atlantic County, New Jersey Faulkner Act (mayor–council) Gambling in New Jersey Jersey Shore communities in Atlantic County New Jersey culture Populated places established in 1853 Tourism in New Jersey

History

Settlement

Boom period

Prohibition era

Nightclub era

Decline and resurgence

Legalized gambling

Sports betting

Modern-day challenges

Geography

Climate

Ecology

Demographics

2010 Census

2000 Census

Economy

Tourism district

Casinos and gambling

Current casinos

Renamed casinos

Closed casinos

Cancelled casinos

Boardwalk

Shopping

Exhibition

Arts and culture

''Monopoly''

Attractions

Miss America pageant

''Boardwalk Empire''

Beach concerts

Sports

Professional boxing

Parks and recreation

Government

Local government

Mayoral disappearance and resignation

Federal, state and county representation

Politics

City and state agencies

New Jersey Casino Control Commission

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement

Casino Reinvestment Development Authority

Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority

Atlantic City Special Improvement District

Fire department

Fire station locations

Police department

Education

Media outlets

Newspapers and magazines

Radio stations

Television stations

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads and highways

Public transportation

Airline service

Healthcare

Utilities

In popular culture

Notable people

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links