'Before this year, I never had a day without a single ride,' Mr Lochs said, rolling a cigarette outside the bankrupt Trump Plaza casino. 'This year, I've had three of them.' -- PHOTO: REUTERSATLANTIC CITY - IN THE 20 years he's worked on the Atlantic City boardwalk, Mr Joe Lochs has never seen business this bad.
Mr Lochs, 54, makes his living giving rides to casino patrons in a 'rolling chair,' a three-wheeled, wicker-sided buggy that he pushes up and down the boardwalk between casinos, shops and restaurants.
In good times, he can make US$1,000 (S$1,520) a week but since the beginning of winter, business is off by around 60 per cent, and some days, there is no work at all.
Business at Atlantic City's 11 casinos is falling at a record pace. Aggregate revenue plunged 19.2 per cent in February from a year earlier, the sharpest decline in the 30 years since gambling was legalised in the city, according to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
'Before this year, I never had a day without a single ride,' Mr Lochs said, rolling a cigarette outside the bankrupt Trump Plaza casino. 'This year, I've had three of them.'
Nearby, six of Lochs' competitors dozed in their chairs as potential clients strolled by in the late-winter sunshine.
Like everyone else in New Jersey's gambling capital, Mr Lochs has been hit by the contracting national economy and by increased competition from a growing gaming industry in surrounding states, particularly neighboring Pennsylvania, where casinos allow slot machines but not table games.
Three of the city's casinos, those operated by Trump Entertainment, are in bankruptcy following a court filing by Trump on Feb 17. Two new resorts planned by Pinnacle and MGM Mirage have been scrapped because financing is unavailable in the tight credit market.
Pinnacle said its plans for a US$1.5 billion beachfront resort had been postponed indefinitely and that it may consider selling the land once the economy improves.
Revel Entertainment is moving ahead with plans to build a US$2 billion resort but the project has been delayed because of difficulty securing financing. -- REUTERS
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