Editorial Atlantic City can survive, but goals must shrink

It seems like every time we write about Atlantic City, it’s hard to imagine how things could get much worse, unless it were to drift out into the ocean one night.Actually, given how the place and the politics have been run, that might qualify as an improvement.

The latest wave of bad news is about as dire as we’ve seen. The Revel buyer coming to its senses over acquiring the city’s shining mausoleum. The latest speed bump on sports betting. The report on our website earlier this week about the dismal returns of online gaming after its first year. And the possibility of Taj Mahal closing this month, further shrinking the number of casinos in town.

Meanwhile, political leadership has disappeared. Chris Christie is back in New Jersey after a successful run in the 2014 elections, but trying to tackle Atlantic City — a place where he demanded results within a five-year period — is too big a roll of the dice, so to speak, for someone with aspirations to a higher office. Steve Sweeney, the South Jersey guy who sees himself as Christie’s successor, has done little beyond offering a vague plan populated with well-thought-out specifics such as finding $72 million in savings.

The competition in Pennsylvania and New York has got to be laughing out loud by now. It really is proof that without its monopoly, the city stood no chance of succeeding in gaming. And the talk of turning it into a tourism destination that has family-friendly appeal is just as laughable. When the summer crowds go home, who will support the businesses? The seagulls?

Atlantic City has spent most of the time since 2006 waiting for Godot, who has sent an awful lot of half-baked ideas — express train service, Boardwalk light shows, airport improvements — in his stead. At this point, it seems unlikely he’s going to show up on a white horse.

What can be done to salvage the city at this point? It’s hard to take seriously any suggestion that relies on bringing the casino industry back to full strength. The state should shore up support for online gaming among credit card companies, because that’s an easy fix to a big problem holding this back. It needs to realize sports betting is going nowhere in the immediate term. And it needs to expand gaming operations outside of the city, if it cares about the industry. Atlantic City can hold its own as a summer destination. But expecting it to remain a year-round draw with better, closer gaming options everywhere is a mistake. It will shrink — but it will survive.