Atlantic City casino operators are fed up. Top execs like Hard Rock’s Joe Lupo loudly voicing displeasure with CRDA and those in charge. Publicly blaming both for allowing Atlantic City to waste a 40 year head start in the casino business.
Some Atlantic City casino execs are so pissed, they’re bankrolling a move to clean house within City Hall.
Public rhetoric getting amplified in the newspapers, and on the radio. Outrage also shared on stage at a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting. Casino execs are taking off the gloves. They want change… now.
Dark and dangerous. That pretty much sums up many streets within Atlantic City’s Tourism District, controlled by the infamous CRDA.
CRDA board members get a salary & pension? So glad Joe Lupo of Hard Rock reminded us of that fact during a WOND Radio interview.
Some on CRDA get stipends and other perks. Key CRDA decision makers don’t live here.
AC Mayor Marty Small and socialite Gary Hill considered poor representatives for taxpayers of Atlantic City.
Lupo: Why do we need 17 CRDA members? Members should live in Atlantic County.
Why do available CRDA dollars go to beach concerts, a failed football league, and stuff like ‘Broadway on the Boardwalk’ at Kennedy Plaza?
CRDA should not be involved with entertainment and concerts.
Major CRDA dollars always being pumped into Boardwalk Hall & Convention Ctr. The unions like this, even though both properties sit empty far too often. Both still operate in the red. Very little money left over for city infrastructure upgrades like paved streets, new street lights and Boardwalk repairs.
No Atlantic City casino operators support CRDA’s beach concert strategy.
August is a bad time for expensive beach concerts. We don’t need the help. AC is already packed. Experts say June or Sept is better for AC beach concerts.
Why would CRDA give LIVE NATION concert promoter millions for Phish? It costs approx $1mil to build a beach stage. Lupo thinks it’s a poor use of tax dollars. Better to have Phish play Boardwalk Hall over 3 nights.
Hard Rock’s Joe Lupo: What a bad experience at the beach concerts. People forced into ocean to go to bathroom. Not enough concessions. It’s great if you have a VIP ticket and you‘re sitting under a tent with free food & drink. Otherwise, going to a beach concert is a hassle.
Casino taxes should not go to concerts and parties. Rather CRDA tax monie should be used for new streets lights and upgraded infrastructure. We need to fix our world famous Boardwalk, too.
Clean up the blight. Bulldoze those empty rooming houses. Take down former Trump Plaza.
Lupo asks: Where’s the Master Plan? Answer: Lance Landgraf of CRDA has it. He wrote most of it too. City got hosed. Big time.
Lupo: Those in charge of boosting mid-week & off-season conventions need to step up. Xfinity Live in Philly will open soon. Gross operating profits are down over past few quarters.
Lupo warns: A place (casino?) is gonna close. Employment is gonna go down. Housing prices gonna go down.
“Our buildings can’t be surrounded by drug addicts and prostitutes,” said Hard Rock President Joe Lupo. “The street lights need to work. Go out and buy the biggest bulldozer the county has to offer, and you could probably make a lot of positive changes.”
Atlantic City casino execs say city must become cleaner & safer.
Jim Allen of Hard Rock says Atlantic City is going in the wrong direction. It’s in worse shape today, than when his company came here 3 years ago.
“We’re not pleased with the Tourism District,” admits Resorts President Giannantonio.
Ron Baumann of Caesars reported that Atlantic City has not significantly improved in the last 10 years.
Families will not invest in Atlantic City until taxes are stable, crime is down, and schools get dramatically better at teaching kids.
We need to get rid of crime and blight from areas most tourists see, making them feel safer and creating a better imagine of Atlantic City that could help spur future investment.
Matt Doherty, CRDA executive director defending questionable expenditures.
CRDA controls zoning, planning and development in the Atlantic City Tourism District. Hard Rock’s Lupo suggesting the CRDA, Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, needs to focus more on helping solve homelessness, crime, other social issues plaguing Atlantic City.
Supporting change of Atlantic City Government:
- Resorts Casino owner, Morris Bailey.
- Head of Local 54 Union, Bob McDevitt
- Retired NJ state senator, Ray Lesniak
- 3,000 residents who signed the petition.
A government change in Atlantic City could be decided by voters on March 31.
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