Brick and mortar gaming is not doing particularly well in the state of New Jersey. Currently the state has 11 casinos operating in Atlantic City but if things go as planned, there will only be 8 casinos remaining in the state. Jim Whelan is the State Senator of New Jersey and the Senator is now asking for the shutdown of two casinos to be delayed. Whelan is working with two colleagues to try and convince the Casino Control Commission to delay the closures.
A letter was penned by Whelan, Vince Mazzeo and Chris Brown, both Assemblymen in the state, to try and convince the commission to delay the closures of two casinos on the verge of shutdown. On August 31st, the Showboat Casino is supposed to close and by mid-September, the Trump Plaza is set to close a well.
The lawmakers are asking for a four month reprieve in the hopes of allowing the workers of the casinos to continue to earn a paycheck. Matthew Levinson, the Chairman of the Commission stated that the commission will consider the request while still acting under the limitations of the Casino Control Act.
With the delay in closure, casino workers would be allowed to remain employed for a longer period of time and also give companies who may be interested in the properties to make an offer. This would hopefully allow the casinos to continue to operate after a purchase which would help the city instead of harming as an impending closure would.
As of now, if the two casino close, the number of casinos would be down to 9 and then with the Revel Casino facing shutdown in the future, this would mean a total of 8 casinos in the city if the Revel does not bounce back after the second filing of bankruptcy.
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