How Atlantic City went from a bustling tourist hub to a ghost town

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Signage from the Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City is removed after its closing in 2014.Mark Makela/Reuters

This week, The New York Times reported that Republican nominee Donald Trump "avoided reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable income" by stretching a loophole in a way they say was legally questionable.

Much of that money can be traced back to Trump's investments in his three Atlantic City casinos, which The Times said were "failing in Atlantic City long before Atlantic City itself was failing." All three of the casinos had filed for bankruptcy by 1992, and the last one bearing his name, the Trump Taj Mahal, closed at the beginning of October. Trump Entertainment Resorts had become a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises in February 2016.

Atlantic City was once New Jersey's largest tourist attraction. As the first city to provide gambling outside of Nevada, it provided those on the East Coast a place to vacation on the beach and gamble. 

But the city has seen hard times these past few years; five of the city's 12 casinos closed between 2013 and 2016. Atlantic City's unemployment rate is 7.1% (well above the national rate of 5%), and its mortgage-foreclosure rate is America's highest. 

Now coming into winter, typically the city's off-season, the streets and boardwalk of Atlantic City look more like a ghost town than a tourist hub.

Atlantic City's true heyday was in the early 1960s, when traveling cross-country was not economical for most families.

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Even before gambling was legal in the area, the city served as the East Coast's go-to beach destination. Now, even on a 90-degree day the beaches can feel eerily empty.

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Opening its doors in the summer of 1978, the Resorts International Casino was the first casino to open in Atlantic City. It was the first time gambling was legal outside of Nevada, and it was a bold attempt to bring more tourists to the area.

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Major casino operators including Caesars, Bally's, and Harrah's flocked to Atlantic City once gambling was legal. All three are still open and operating.

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Donald Trump also had high hopes for the city. He got an Atlantic City casino license in 1982 and opened three casinos, all of which are now closed.

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Source: Newsweek

In 1991, just a year after opening, the Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy. Trump had financed it with $900 million in junk bonds.

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In the mid-1990s, Atlantic City's casino industry employed almost 50,000 people.

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This year, a study found that Atlantic City's casinos provide 20% fewer jobs than they did in 2014.

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In May 2012, Revel, a 57-story, $2.2 billion resort and casino, opened after a nearly six-year struggle marked by construction halts, union protests, and government interference. The casino had to file for bankruptcy two times within the first two years of operating, and it officially closed in September 2014.

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The nonprofit marketing organization Atlantic City Alliance has been in charge of branding Atlantic City since 2011.

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In 2012, the Alliance announced a new slogan for Atlantic City: "Do AC."

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It hasn't helped turn the city's economy around. Between 2013 and 2016, five casinos have had to shut down: Revel AC, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, Showboat Atlantic City, and the Taj Mahal.

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

These closings cost the city more than 10,000 jobs.

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

On November 8, along with voting in the presidential election, the state of New Jersey will vote on the possible opening of two new casinos, but they must be located at least 72 miles from Atlantic City.