Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city has a population of 39,558.[3] There were 274,549 people living in the Atlantic City–Hammonton metropolitan statistical area.
The three routes into Atlantic City are the Black Horse Pike/Harding Highway (US 322/40), White Horse Pike (US 30) and the Atlantic City Expressway. Atlantic City is roughly 120 miles south of New York City by road, 62 miles southeast of Philadelphia, and borders Absecon, Brigantine, Pleasantville, Ventnor and West Atlantic City (part of Egg Harbor Township).
History
Seascape with Distant Lighthouse, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1873, William Trost Richards. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Because of its location in South Jersey, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, Atlantic City presented itself as prime real estate and a potential resort town for developers. In 1853, the first commercial hotel, The Belloe House, located at Massachusetts and Atlantic Avenue, was built.
The city was incorporated in 1854, the same year in which the Camden and Atlantic Railroad train service began. Built on the edge of the bay, this served as the direct link of this remote parcel of land with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By 1874, almost 500,000 passengers a year were coming to Atlantic City by rail.
The first boardwalk was built in 1870, along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. Because of its effectiveness and popularity the boardwalk was expanded and modified several times in the following years. The historic length of the boardwalk, before the 1944 hurricane, was about 7 miles (11 kilometres) and it extended from Atlantic City to Longport, through Ventnor and Margate.
The first official road from the mainland to the island was completed in 1870, after 17 years of construction. The road, which ran from Pleasantville, had a $0.30 toll. The first free road was Albany Avenue, constructed over the meadows from Pleasantville.
By 1878 because of the growing popularity of the city, one railroad line could no longer keep up with demand. Soon, the Philadelphia-Atlantic City railroad and the Reading railroad were constructed to transport tourists to Atlantic City. At this point massive hotels like The United States and the Surf House, as well as smaller rooming houses, had sprung up all over town. The United States Hotel took up a full city block between Atlantic, Pacific, Delaware, and Maryland Avenues. These hotels were not only impressive in size, but featured the most updated amenities, and were considered quite luxurious for their time. On Wednesday June 16, 1880, Atlantic City was formally opened.
In the 1920s, with tourism at its peak, many historians consider this decade Atlantic City's golden age. During prohibition, liquor flowed freely and gambling regularly took place in the back rooms of nightclubs and restaurants. This era in the city's history has inspired the HBO Original Series Boardwalk Empire.
During the early part of the 20th century, Atlantic City went through a radical building boom. Many of the modest boarding houses that dotted the boardwalk were replaced with large hotels. Two of the city’s most distinctive hotels were the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel and the Traymore Hotel.
In 1903, Josiah White III bought a parcel of land near Ohio Avenue and the boardwalk and built the Queen Anne style Marlborough House. The hotel was a hit and, in 1905–06, he chose to expand the hotel and bought another parcel of land next door to his Marlborough House. In an effort to make his new hotel a source of conversation, White hired the architectural firm of Price and McLanahan. The firm made use of reinforced concrete, a new building material invented by Jean-Louis Lambot in 1848 (Joseph Monier received the patent in 1867). The hotel’s Spanish and Moorish themes, capped off with its signature dome and chimneys, represented a step forward from other hotels that had a classically designed influence. White named the new hotel the Blenheim and merged the two hotels into the Marlborough-Blenheim. Bally's Atlantic City was later constructed at this location.
File:24142.JPGA sky-view picture of a woman in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on the roof of a hotel. Circa August, 1948
The Traymore Hotel was located at the corner of Illinois Avenue and the boardwalk. Begun in 1879 as a small boarding house, the hotel grew through a series of uncoordinated expansions. By 1914, the hotel’s owner, Daniel White, taking a hint from the Marlborough-Blenheim, commissioned the firm of Price and McLanahan to build an even bigger hotel. Sixteen stories high, the tan brick and gold-capped hotel would become one of the city’s best-known landmarks. The hotel made use of ocean-facing hotel rooms by jutting its wings farther from the main portion of the hotel along Pacific Avenue.
One by one, additional large hotels were constructed along the boardwalk, including the Brighton, Chelsea, Shelburne, Ambassador, Ritz Carlton, Mayflower, Madison House, and the Breakers. The Quaker-owned Chalfonte House, opened in 1868, and Haddon House, opened in 1869, flanked North Carolina Avenue at the beach end. Their original wood-frame structures would be enlarged, and even moved closer to the beach, over the years. The modern Chalfonte Hotel, eight stories tall, opened in 1904. The modern Haddon Hall was built in stages and was completed in 1929, at eleven stories. By this time, they were under the same ownership and merged into the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel, becoming the city's largest hotel with nearly 1,000 rooms. By 1930, the Claridge, the city's last large hotel before the casinos, opened its doors. The 400-room Claridge was built by a partnership that included renowned Philadelphia contractor John McShain. At 24 stories, it would become known as the "Skyscraper By The Sea."
Piers
Piers played a large part of Atlantic City's history. The first pier, Ocean Pier, was built in Atlantic City in 1882.[6] Another famous pier built during that time was Steel Pier, opened in 1898, which once billed itself as "The Showplace of the Nation." It is now located opposite Trump Taj Mahal and is used as an amusement pier. The Million Dollar Pier opened in 1906 and is now opposite Caesars Casino and houses the Pier Shops at Caesars. The final pier that still exists today is Garden Pier, located opposite Revel Casino, which once housed a movie theater, and is now home to the Atlantic City Historical Society and Arts Center. Steeplechase Pier, another amusement pier, once existed just west of Steel Pier. Heinz Pier, located just east of the Garden Pier, was famous for its Pickle Pins, but was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1944.
Like many older east coast cities after World War II, Atlantic City became plagued with poverty, crime, corruption, and disinvestment in the mid-to-late 20th century. The neighborhood known as the "Inlet" became particularly impoverished. The reasons for the resort's decline were multi-layered. First of all, the automobile easily available to many Americans after the war. Atlantic City had initially relied upon visitors coming by train and staying for a couple of weeks. The car allowed them to come and go as they pleased, and many people would spend only a few days, rather than weeks. Also, the advent of suburbia played a huge role. With many families moving to their own private houses, luxuries such as home air conditioning and swimming pools diminished their interest in flocking to the luxury beach resorts during the hot summer. But perhaps the biggest factor in the decline in Atlantic City's popularity came from cheap, fast jet service to other premiere resorts. Places such as Miami Beach and Nassau, Bahamas superseded Atlantic City as favored vacation spots.
The city hosted the 1964 Democratic National Convention which nominated Lyndon Johnson for President and Hubert Humphrey as Vice President. The convention and the press coverage it generated, however, cast a harsh light on Atlantic City, which by then was in the midst of a long period of economic decline. Many felt that the friendship between Johnson and the Governor of New Jersey at that time, Richard J. Hughes, led Atlantic City to host the Democratic Convention.
By the late 1960s, many of the resort's once great hotels were suffering from embarrassing vacancy rates. Most of them were either shut down, converted to cheap apartments, or converted to nursing home facilities by the end of the decade. Prior to and during the advent of legalized gaming, many of these hotels were demolished. The Breakers, the Chelsea, the Brighton, the Shelburne, the Mayflower, the Traymore, and the Marlborough-Blenheim were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s. Of the many pre-casino resorts that bordered the boardwalk, only the Claridge, the Dennis, the Ritz-Carlton, and the Haddon Hall survive to this day as parts of Bally's Atlantic City, a condo complex, and Resorts Atlantic City. The old Ambassador Hotel was gutted to become the Tropicana Casino and Resort Atlantic City, only reusing the steelwork of the original building. Smaller hotels off the boardwalk also survived.
Borgata is Atlantic City's highest grossing casino.
Legalized gambling
In an effort at revitalizing the city, New Jersey voters in 1976 approved casino gambling for Atlantic City; this came after a 1974 referendum on legalized gambling failed to pass. Immediately after the legislation passed, the owners of the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel began converting it into the Resorts International. It was the first legal casino in the eastern United States when it opened on May 26, 1978.[7] Other casinos were soon constructed along the Boardwalk and, later, in the marina district for a total of eleven today. The introduction of gambling did not, however, quickly eliminate many of the urban problems that plagued Atlantic City. Many have argued that it only served to magnify those problems, as evidenced in the stark contrast between tourism-intensive areas and the adjacent impoverished working-class neighborhoods.[8] In addition, Atlantic City has played second-fiddle to Las Vegas, as a gambling city in the United States, although in the late 1970s and 1980s, when Las Vegas was experiencing a massive drop in tourism due to crime, particularly the Mafia's role, and other economic factors, Atlantic City was favored over Las Vegas. The rise of Mike Tyson in boxing, having most of his fights in Atlantic City in the '80s, also helped Atlantic City burst into the national spotlight as a gambling resort.
Modern day Atlantic City
Atlantic City at night
With the redevelopment of Las Vegas and the opening of two casinos in Connecticut in the early 1990s, Atlantic City's tourism began to slide. Determined to expand, in 1999 the Atlantic City Redevelopment Authority partnered with Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn to develop a new roadway to a barren section of the city near the Marina. Nicknamed "The Tunnel Project", Steve Wynn planned the proposed 'Mirage Atlantic City' around the idea that he would connect the $330 million, 2.5-mile (4.0 km) tunnel from the Atlantic City Expressway to his new resort. The roadway was later officially named the Atlantic City-Brigantine Connector. The highway funnels incoming traffic off the expressway into the city's marina district and Brigantine, New Jersey.
Although Wynn's plans for development in the city were scrapped in 2002, the tunnel opened in 2001. The new roadway prompted MGM Mirage to build Atlantic City's newest casino. The Borgata opened in July 2003, and its success brought an influx of developers to Atlantic City with plans on building grand Las Vegas style mega casinos to revitalize the aging city.[9]
Due to economic conditions and the late-2000s recession, many proposed mega casinos never moved further than the initial planning stages. One of these developers Pinnacle Entertainment, who purchased the Sands Atlantic City, permanently closing it on November 11, 2006. The following year, the resort was demolished in a dramatic, Las Vegas styled implosion, the first of its kind in Atlantic City. While Pinnacle Entertainment intended to replace it with a $1.5–2 billion casino resort, the company canceled its construction plans and plans to sell the land. The biggest disappointment was when MGM Resorts International announced that it would pull out of all development for Atlantic City, effectively killing their plans for the MGM Grand Atlantic City.[10][11]
View of Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall (top left) and ocean, 2011
In 2006, Morgan Stanley purchased 20 acres directly north of the Showboat Atlantic City Hotel and Casino for a new $2 billion-plus casino resort.[12]Revel Entertainment Group was named as the project's developer for the Revel Casino. Revel was hit with many problems, with the biggest blow to the company being in April 2010 when Morgan Stanley, the owner of 90% of Revel Entertainment Group, decided to discontinue funding for continued construction and put its stake in Revel up for sale. Early in 2010 the N.J. state legislature passed a bill offering tax incentives to attract new investors and complete the job, but a poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind released in March 2010 showed that three of five voters (60%) opposed the legislation, and two of three of those who opposed it "strongly" opposed it.[13] Ultimately, Governor Chris Christie offered Revel $261 million in state tax credits to assist the casino once it opens.[14] As of March 2011, Revel has completed all of the exterior work and has continued work on the interior after finally receiving the funding necessary to complete construction. It is scheduled to be opened for summer 2012.
Tourism district
In July 2010, Governor Chris Christie announced that a state take over of the city and local government "was imminent". Comparing regulations in Atlantic City to an "antique car", Atlantic City regulatory reform is a key piece of Gov. Chris Christie's plan, unveiled on July 22, to reinvigorate an industry mired in a four-year slump in revenue and hammered by fresh competition from casinos in the surrounding states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and more recently, Maryland. In January 2011, Chris Christie announced the Atlantic City Tourism District, a state-run district encompassing the boardwalk casinos, the marina casinos, the Atlantic City Outlets, and Bader Field.[15][16]Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind poll surveyed N.J. voters' attitudes on the takeover. The February 16th, 2011 survey showed that 43% opposed the measure while 29% favored direct state oversight.[17] Interestingly, the poll also found that even South Jersey voters expressed opposition to the plan; 40% reported they opposed the measure and 37% reported they were in favor of it.[17]
On April 29, 2011, the boundaries for the state-run tourism district were set. The district would include heavier police presence, as well as beautification and infrastructure improvements. The CRDA would oversee all functions of the district and will make changes to attract new businesses and attractions. New construction would be ambitious and may resort to eminent domain.[18][19]
The tourism district would comprise several key areas in the city; the Marina District, Ducktown, Chelsea, South Inlet, Bader Field, and Gardner's Basin. Also included are 10 roadways that lead into the district, including several in the city's northern end, or North Beach. Gardner's Basin, which is home to the Atlantic City Aquarium, was initially left out of the tourism district, while a residential neighborhood in the Chelsea section was removed from the final boundaries due to complaints from the city. Also, the inclusion of Bader Field in the district was controversial and received much scrutiny from mayor Lorenzo Langford, who cast the lone "no" vote on the creation of the district citing its inclusion.[20]
Birthplace of Offshore Wind Energy in the Americas
The development of wind power in New Jersey could lead to the construction of the first American windfarm using offshore wind power off the coast at Atlantic City as early as 2012. The Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm, opened in 2005 is the first coastal wind farm in the United States.[21] In October 2010, North American Offshore Wind Conference was held in the city and included tours of the facility and potential sites for further development.[22] In February 2011, the state passed legislation permitting the construction of windmills for electricity along pre-existing piers, such as the Steel Pier.[23][24] The first phase of the Atlantic Wind Connection, a planned electrical transmission backbone along the Jersey Shore is planned to be operational in 2013.
In May 2011, Cape May-based Fisherman's Energy gained New Jersey approval for a demonstration project to built six wind turbines 2.5 miles (4.0 km) off the coast called Fisherman's Atlantic City Windfarm.[25]The project still needs a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit before construction can begin. Sited in state waters, less than 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) from shore, it will not require other federal approval. . It will have power generation capacity of less than 25 megawatts and will cost between $250 million to $300 million. The project may come on line late 2012, making the first commercial offshore wind farms in the USA,[26][27][28] earning the city the title of Birthplace of Offshore Wind Energy in the Americas[25]
Atlantic City is considered the "Gambling Capital of the East Coast" and is second to Las Vegas in number of casinos, yearly gaming revenue, & number of rooms. The Atlantic City Skyline has been transformed by construction of new casino hotels.
The city has a total area, according to the United States Census Bureau, of 17.4 square miles (45 square kilometres), of which, 11.4 square miles (30 square kilometres) of it is land and 6.0 square miles (16 square kilometres) of it (34.58%) is water.
Summers are typically warm and humid with a July daily average of 75.2 °F (24.0 °C). During this time, the city gets a sea breeze off the ocean that often makes daytime temperatures cooler than inland areas. Near the coast, temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on only 5 days a year.[30] Winters are cool, with January averaging 35.2 °F (1.8 °C), with 12 or 13 days with highs that do not break the freezing mark.[30] Spring and autumn are erratic, although they are usually mild with low humidity.
Annual precipitation is 38 inches (965 mm) which is fairly spread throughout the year. Due to its close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and its location in South Jersey, Atlantic City receives less snow than a good portion of the rest of New Jersey. Even at the airport, snow averages only 14 inches (36 cm) each winter. It is not uncommon for rain to fall in Atlantic City while the northern and western parts of the state are receiving snow.
As of the 2006–2008 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates,[37] Atlantic City had 34,769 people. The racial makeup of the city was 24.0% White, 40.0% Black or African American, 10.0% Asian, 1.8% Native American, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 18.3% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. 24.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.2% of the population was non-Hispanic whites.
There were a total of 20,637 housing units, with 23.9% of them vacant. Atlantic City's unemployment rate was 12.8%. The city had 26.3% of all people living below the poverty line, including 35.2% of those under 18 and 22.5% of those over 65. 61.2% speak only English, while 21.3% of the population speaks Spanish.
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 40,517 people, 15,848 households, and 8,700 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,569.8 people per square mile (1,378.3/km2). There were 20,219 housing units at an average density of 1,781.4 per square mile (687.8/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 44.16% black or African American, 26.68% White, 0.48% Native American, 10.40% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 13.76% other races, and 4.47% from two or more races. 24.95% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.44% of the population was non-Hispanic whites.
There were 15,848 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.8% were married couples living together, 23.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.1% were non-families. 37.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.26.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,969, and the median income for a family was $31,997. Males had a median income of $25,471 versus $23,863 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,402. About 19.1% of families and 23.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.1% of those under age 18 and 18.9% of those age 65 or over.
The City Council is the governing body of Atlantic City. Members of Council are elected to serve for a term of four years. There are nine Council members, one from each of six wards and three serving at-large. The City Council exercises the legislative power of the municipality for the purpose of holding Council meetings to introduce ordinances and resolutions to regulate City government. In addition, Council members review budgets submitted by the Mayor; provide for an annual audit of the City’s accounts and financial transactions; organize standing committees and hold public hearings to address important issues which impact Atlantic City.[39] Former Mayor Bob Levy created the Atlantic City Ethics Board in 2007, but the Board was dissolved two years later by vote of the Atlantic City Council.
As of 2011[update], the Mayor is Lorenzo T. Langford. Members of the City Council are Aaron Randolph (1st Ward),[40] Marty Small (2nd Ward), Vice-President Steven L. Moore (3rd Ward), President William "Speedy" Marsh (4th Ward), Dennis Mason (5th ward), Timothy Mancuso (6th Ward), Moisse Delgado (at-large), Frank M. Gilliam, Jr. (at-large) and George Tibbitt (at-large).[41][42]
Mayoral disappearance and resignation
Following questions about false claims he had made about his military record, Mayor Bob Levy left City Hall in September 2007 in a city-owned vehicle for an unknown destination. After a 13 day absence, his lawyer revealed that Levy was in Carrier Clinic, a rehabilitation hospital.[43] Levy resigned in October 2007 and then-Council President William Marsh assumed the office of Mayor[44] and served the six-week remainder of his term.
Federal, state and county representation
Atlantic City is in the 2nd Congressional district and is part of New Jersey's 2nd state legislative district.[45] The legislative district was unchanged based on the results of the 2010 Census.[3]
The New Jersey Casino Control Commission is a New Jersey state governmental agency that was founded in 1977 as the state's gaming control board, responsible for administering the Casino Control Act and its regulations to assure public trust and confidence in the credibility and integrity of the casino industry and casino operations in Atlantic City. Casinos operate under licenses granted by the Commission. The commission is headquartered in the Arcade Building at Tennessee Avenue and Boardwalk in Atlantic City.[51]
Casino Reinvestment Development Authority
The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) was founded in 1984 and is responsible for directing the spending of casino reinvestment funds in public and private projects to benefit Atlantic City and other areas of the state. From 1985 through April 2008, CRDA spent US$1.5 billion on projects in Atlantic City and US$300 million throughout New Jersey.[52]
Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority
The Convention & Visitors Authority (ACCVA) was in charge of advertising and marketing for the city as well as promoting economic growth through convention and leisure tourism development. The ACCVA managed the Boardwalk Hall and Atlantic City Convention Center, as well as the Boardwalk Welcome Center inside Boardwalk Hall as well as a welcome center on the Atlantic City Expressway. In 2011, the ACCVA was absorbed into the CRDA as part of the state takeover that created the tourism district.[53]
Atlantic City Special Improvement District
The Atlantic City Special Improvement District (SID) was a nonprofit organization created in 1992, which funded by a special assessment tax on businesses within the improvement district and carries out various activities to improve the city's business community, including street cleaning and promotional efforts. In 2011, the SID was absorbed by the CRDA, in which the former SID boundaries would be expanded to the include all areas in the newly-formed tourism district. Under the new structure, established by state legislation, the CRDA assumed the staff, equipment and programs of the SID. The new SID division is accompanied by a SID committee made up of CRDA board members and an advisory council consisting of the current trustees and others.[54]
Education
The Atlantic City School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grades. Schools in the district (with 2005–06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[55]) are
Brighton Avenue School for preschool (72 students),
eight K-8 elementary schools —
Chelsea Heights School (383),
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School Complex (613),
New Jersey Avenue School (403),
New York Avenue School (587),
Richmond Avenue School (378),
Sovereign Avenue School (792),
Texas Avenue School (411) and
Uptown School Complex (732) —
Atlantic City High School for grades 9–12 (2,574), along with
Venice Park School (35) and
Viking Academy.[56]
On November 16, 2006, Hal Handel, CEO of Greenwood Racing, announced that the Atlantic City Race Course would increase live racing dates from four days per year, to up to 20 days per year. www.saveacrc.com has been actively involved in expanding racing at the Atlantic City Race Course and created the movement to bring full time racing back to ACRC in 2005.
WAYV 95.1 FM – Top 40
WTTH 96.1 FM – Urban AC (The Touch)
WFPG 96.9 FM – AC (Lite Rock 96.9)
WENJ 97.3 FM – ESPN Radio/Sports
WTKU 98.3 FM – Oldies (Kool 98.3)
WZBZ 99.3 FM – Rhythmic (Kiss FM)
WZXL 100.7 FM – Rock (The Rock Station)
WWAC 102.7 FM – Rhythmic Top 40/Dance (Wild 102.7)
WMGM 103.7 FM – Classic Rock (The Shark)
WSJO 104.9 FM – Hot AC (Sojo 104.9)
WPUR 107.3 FM – Country (Cat Country 107.3)
WWJZ 640 AM – Kids (Radio Disney)
WMID 1340 AM – Oldies
WOND 1400 AM – News/Talk
WENJ 1450 AM – ESPN Radio/Sports
WBSS 1490 AM – Spanish
The Federal Communications Commission has recently awarded a license for a full-power digital TV station at Atlantic City on VHF channel 4.
Transportation
Rail and bus
The Atlantic City Convention Center is adjacent to the Atlantic City Rail TerminalACJA "Jitney" #29 on a casino shuttle run.NJ Transit #2514 on the 505.
On June 20, 2006, the board of New Jersey Transit approved a three-year trial of express train service between New York Penn Station and the Atlantic City Rail Terminal. The approximate travel time is 2½ hours with a stop at Newark's Penn Station and is part of the Casinos' multi-million dollar investments in Atlantic City. Most of the funding for the new transit line is provided by Harrah's Entertainment (owners of both Harrah's Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City) and the Borgata. The line, known as ACES (Atlantic City Express Service), began service on February 6, 2009.[60]
The Atlantic City Bus Terminal is the home to local, intrastate and interstate bus companies including New Jersey Transit and Greyhound bus lines. The Greyhound Lucky Streak Express offers service to Atlantic City from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C..
Highways
Access to Atlantic City by car is available via the 44 miles (71 kilometres) Atlantic City Expressway, US 30 (commonly known as the White Horse Pike), and US 40/322 (commonly known as the Black Horse Pike). Atlantic City has an abundance of taxi cabs and a local jitney providing continuous service to and from the casinos and the rest of the city.
In 2005, the Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm opened as New Jersey's first wind farm. The wind farm consists of five 1.5 megawatt turbine towers, each almost 400 feet (120 metres) high, and can be seen for miles upon entering the city. The wind farm was constructed on the property of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority Wastewater Treatment Plant, which also contains a 500-kilowatt solar generation facility.[61]
Jack Abramoff (born 1959), former lobbyist who was embroiled in high-profile political scandals. Abramoff was born in Atlantic City and lived there until the age of ten.[62]
Karen S. Davis (born 1955), photographer and author of Santa Anita Morning Rhapsody, the first art book documenting morning thoroughbred racetrack training; also noted musician, performer, editor, and former Thomson Organization journalist. Davis was born in Atlantic city and lived in the area 17 years.[66]
^Biography of Bob Menendez, United States Senate, January 26, 2015. "Menendez, who started his political career in Union City, moved in September from Paramus to one of Harrison's new apartment buildings near the town's PATH station.."
^Monk, Cody. "New trend: 'The Body' politico", The Dallas Morning News, November 7, 1998. Accessed June 2, 2011. "What's next? Hollywood Hulk Hogan as mayor of Los Angeles? King Kong Bundy, whose hometown is Atlantic City, as governor of New Jersey?"
^Wakin, Daniel J. "Alfredo Silipigni, 74, Who Founded An Opera Company ", The New York Times, March 29, 2006. Accessed June 2, 2011. "Alfredo Silipigni was born in Atlantic City on April 9, 1931, a son of Italian immigrants. He attended the Westminster Choir College in Princeton and the Juilliard School."
^Honoring the Life of Dave Thomas, Senator Carl Levin, Congressional Record 107th Congress Second Session Wednesday, January 23, 2002. Accessed June 23, 2007. "Rex David "Dave" Thomas was born on July 2, 1932, in Atlantic City, NJ, and was adopted soon afterward by Rex and Auleva Thomas, who lived in Kalamazoo, MI."
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