Crime, Dark Streets and Loss of Gaming Monopoly Thwart Atlantic City Recovery

Karen Petitt-Bohrer I’ve driven on Pacific Avenue lately and am floored that traffic signal lights are missing. It’s bizarre. Drivers cannot tell who has the light and can’t see when the light changes. It’s so unsafe.

CRDA Casino Reinvestment Development Authority scoffed. It’s always the other guy’s problem. Issues are deflected again and again while publicly asked questions go unanswered for years.

Mayor still has authority over city mercantile licenses.

Major Drug Bust Near Atlantic and Tennessee Ave in Atlantic City.

On September 20, the Atlantic City Police Department raided the 24 Seven Food Mart at 1406 Atlantic Avenue.

  • They recovered 26 grams of cocaine
  • 87 bags of heroin
  • $2,006 from alleged drug sales.
  • One was identified by police as a store clerk.

Atlantic City’s War on Drugs.

The market was raided and shut down.

Dale Finch is the Director of Licensing & Inspections.

Finch revoked the mercantile license and kept the market closed.

Mayor Gilliam forced Finch to give back the mercantile license.

At the November 7 City Council meeting, after another city resident (Victor Jenkins) described the conditions on Atlantic Avenue (“emergency” conditions),

Councilmen said the shop had been closed after the clerk was arrested for selling drugs from behind the cash register.

“Why are they back in business, Mr. Finch (the Licensing & Inspections Director.)

How do we expect our police to continue doing their job, when they go raid the place, catch ownership involved in the distribution of drugs, and we give mercantiles back? I don’t get that.”