We find it astounding that people are still asking a question as dumb as this: Can Atlantic City survive?
What the hell are these people thinking?
Atlantic City has reinvented itself more than Tony Bennett, Madonna, Prince, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Lady Gaga combined. The town has been counted out more times than we can remember and it always comes back stronger than before.
Even in 2014 (not one of the best years in AC's history) the town posted record numbers in many key tourism and travel categories. And it's fitting to note that in terms of revenue, Atlantic City is still second only to Vegas among towns that permit gambling.
Sure, casinos have closed and sure, the town has problems.
But AC isn't relying solely on gambling -- not now, not tomorrow, not anymore.
Atlantic City is transitioning to an entertainment, shopping and dining mecca and gearing up for new investments, new attractions and even many more new hotel rooms.
And the simple truth of the matter is that none of this would have happened without New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Soon after he became Governor, Christie set in motion the plan for AC's transition. Without Christie, the innovative Atlantic City Alliance would never have been born and millions of dollars in promotional funding would have been lost. Then, Atlantic City's problems would have been a lot worse than they are now.
In fact, someone very close to the situation at Jersey's most famous shore town recently characterized Christie as a "rock star" when we asked how he assessed the Governor through this whole period.
Make no mistake about this: Chris Christie is committed to the future of Atlantic City and he's bound and detrmined to do what's right for the city and continue to chart its path forward.
Governor Christie knows that Atlantic City's best days are yet to come -- sooner, rather than later.
And so do we!
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