The May 2015 edition of the monthly Atlantic City Boardwalk Committee meeting took place today inside the ‘media’ room of historic Boardwalk Hall. The impressive gathering was lead by Pinky Kravitz who has presided over the organization as chairman for the past 10 years.
Atlantic City’s Director of Licensing and Inspection; Dale Finch, gave recap of what his department is working on.
One of Finch’s priorities is to stop price gouging at parking lots. ‘No more than $25. Let me know if you see anyone charging more’ said Finch.
Is every casino on board with the $25 max parking rate? Nope. Seems that Caesars is debating who has jurisdiction over this parking price issue.
Caesar’s want to have ability to raise parking rates at their lots, no matter what the price. We’re gonna lay money that Finch & the City will win that one. All of AC looks bad when visitors get socked with $30, $40 or $50 dollar parking….even if just one casino is doing it. Speaking of parking lots, private enterprise is starting to lease un-used lots where it makes financial sense.
Updating Rolling Chairs and Trams Ordinance. (needs council approval)
- Trams should go to Albany Ave. They seem to turn around almost anywhere.
- Center panels of boardwalk should be main road for trams & push chairs.
- Higher level of accountability for chair owners. Limit shift hours to 10. No more. There are 305 chairs now. ‘Too many’ says Finch.
- Chair pushers will eventually be required to undergo training. Chair pushers will need to wear uniforms.
- Trams have been running since February with great feedback so far. 5 trams are running now…but that’s not enough. Let market decide on appropriate mix of chairs & trams.
- So far, people like both. Push chairs are great nostalgic ride, even if a bit more expensive to ride.
Updated taxi ordinance, a work in progress.
- AC taxi drivers could possibly be mandated to install & use credit card readers. Very few credit card enabled cabs currently exist in Atlantic City.
Boardwalk Hall / AC Convention Center – Fran Rodowicz (General Manager)
- Looking to add more brands for food stands, Pre-Parties before major concerts have been very successful.
- Good concert series/events planned – WWE, Indoor Football, The Who, Romeo Santos, The Eagles, Kapil Sharma, Chayenne, Madonna. Chairman of the Boardwalk Contest to win 2 tickets to every event for one year.
- Erin Bilton is new Director of Marketing and Advertising. Meet AC – bringing in the Meeting Professionals International Conference in June 2016. Jim Woods and Gary Musich working hard to bring more conventions to town.
CONCERTS
- May 22 – The Who Hits 50
- May 30 – Boardwalk Bowl – DraftKings Inaugural Boardwalk Bowl event. DraftKings is a fantasy football powerhouse. In conjunction with Ron Jaworski’s Arena Football League franchise, this nationally televised professional football event features the Philadelphia Soul vs. the Las Vegas Outlaws.
Rick Santoro (Director)
- Deep cleaning of the dunes and trimming of dune grass to standard height of 12 inches from 14 inches. The first sections completed are between the Steel Pier and Central Piers. Down beach should be completed by June. Prior to trimming, dunes are hand picked and all trash and debris from in-between layers of grass removed. Average one full pick-up bed truck of debris for each block of dune.
- Shower Towers will be installed and operational by Memorial Day. Inspecting and prepping units. All restrooms, including the satellite locations will be open and operational before May 29th. 7A-9P daily. Extended hours for special events.
- Yearly training per all GM’s and Ambassadors – Near completion with the following topics conducted…OSHA Safety, customer service, etc.
- Flags and Flagpoles – 52 American Flags will be placed on the boardwalk arbors and also at Jackson and O’Donell Park within the week Fire hydrants on boardwalk are being painted, 53 before July. Old boardwalk wood will be used for building more benches for the boardwalk.
CRDA – Karen Martin (Media Relations Manager)
- The 2015 summer season will see many new attractions. Regular entertainment will be featured at Kennedy Plaza (in front of Boardwalk Hall) and on the beach.
- Bass Pro Shops now open & doing great. More than just hunting & fishing. An aquarium, a waterfall, boats, beach gear, summer clothing, shoes, gifts and more. Visitors travel from other states, like Connecticut and Delaware, to visit this one-of-a-kind retail destination.
- Tropicana additions and room renovations. Complete renovation of 434 guest rooms, a renovated casino floor, and a fitness center that will be open to the public. The Tropicana Multimedia Light and Sound Show on the Boardwalk will kickoff on May 22 at 6P.
New Atlantic City Air Service
- Choice Air’ will offer service from both Nashville and Miami Airport, with connections from Miami to Cuba and Curacao, starting May 21. Non-stop flights will run Thursday through Monday. Air Canada will offer service from Toronto to ACY starting May 22.
Entertainment
- CRDA will provide $1.35 million to fund summer entertainment:
- $1 million will go towards two major beach concerts (one free & one with ticket price) in conjunction with the Atlantic City Alliance – details soon. It will also help fund live entertainment at Kennedy Plaza.
- CRDA approved $150,000 in funding for Gardner’s Basin Free Summer Concert Series. Shows are tentatively scheduled for June 20, July 18 and August 22 featuring “old school” music groups from the 70 and 80’s.
The Atlantic City Convention Center
- May 3-5> Value Merchandise Expo (trade show)
- May 15-17> AC Boardwalk Con (public show) AC is getting its own comic convention.
- May 19-21> CHAMPS Trade Show East, 3,000 attendees (trade show)
- May 19-20> NJAA Conference and Expo 1,350 attendees (trade show)
CRDA Projects
- Pacific Avenue Update The project is almost complete. Progress continues on the lanes that go toward Chelsea. On target to have it completely paved by Memorial Day.
- BET Project – that’s the Bruce Toll retail project on the Boardwalk next to the West Hall of Boardwalk Hall. The foundation finished. Steel is going up and the project is taking shape.
Other
- It was noted that the Press of Atlantic City does not cover this monthly boardwalk committee event. Pinky has been sharing highlights of this information packed meeting in his weekly newspaper column & local radio talk show. ACprimetime will ensure this information also gets shared with visitors, investors and others located outside of the Atlantic City Market, via ACprimetime’s email database, website network, and social media channels. The ACprimetime network reaches over 20,000 readers each month, most of whom reside in the South Jersey, New York & Philadelphia regions.
- What is status of the Atlantic City Alliance? NJ Legislature will vote on bills that could eliminate the ACA by June 30th.
- 50 ft Pinky Kravitz statue with animated LED sweater was quietly discussed. Prominent boardwalk ‘corner’ location is mandatory. Voice activated, audio programming that says ‘Welcome to Atlantic City’ as you pass the statue.
- The rumored Bart Blatstein ‘TV Station’ at The Playground Pier should be launched by JULY 4. Not exactly a TV station…..but a 24/7 ‘web streaming’ station. (much better)
SHERRI KENDALL contributed to this article.
Next meeting will be Wednesday, June 10th, at 9:30 A.M. Boardwalk Hall Room 150.
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