The Trump Taj Mahal, originally founded by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for a cost of $1 billion, yesterday announced that it will be closing its doors following Labor Day Weekend in early September.
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We have said from the outset that the Taj would never be profitable unless it partnered with the union.
Tony Rodio, president of Tropicana Entertainment, which runs the Taj Mahal, said the company needs to maintain the physical integrity of the building, whether it is open or not.
The closure of the Trump Taj Mahal will leave only seven casinos in Atlantic City.
Icahn swapped his $292 million in the Taj’s debt for control of the casino.
The potential turnaround for the casino was further thwarted when the almost 1,000 union workers went on strike on July 1 demanding certain benefits to be restored and better conditions.
New Jersey Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo (D., Atlantic) criticized the closure announcement as “an act of corporate Wall Street greed”.
Had the Taj closed in 2014, it would have been the capper on a awful year for Atlantic City, which, because of an economic downturn plus growing competition from casinos in other states, could no longer support a dozen casinos. “This is the only thing they understand on a July 4 weekend when they could be making millions and millions of dollars”, said food server Al Kare last month.
Until the the upscale Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa opened in 2003, the Taj was one of the more successful casinos in Atlantic City, despite the gambling decline in New Jersey in the 1990s. This number adds to the 8,000 workers who lost their jobs when four Atlantic City casinos shuttered in 2014.
“For a few million bucks, he could have had labor peace and a content workforce, but instead he’d rather slam the door shut on these long-term workers just to punish them and attempt to break their strike”, McDevitt said in a statement. Icahn previously said the company offered a contract that would have temporarily restored health care, but at a lesser level than employees of the city’s other seven casinos.
Atlantic City, once the U.S. East Coast’s only casino gambling site, is struggling to pay its bills and has until November to devise a fiscal recovery plan or else face possible state takeover.
Parent company Icahn Enterprises released a statement saying they have “lost nearly $100 million trying to save the Taj” and are losing “multi-millions” more a month.
Carl Icahn of Icahn Enterprises. Thru the first six months of 2016, the Taj Mahal won $85,180,273 from gamblers, a year-over-year decrease of 3.6 percent from $88,406,362.
Icahn wrote to the workers on Thursday, one day after deciding to shut down the casino.
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Like much of Atlantic City, Trump’s properties suffered mightily since the financial crisis.
