Marty Small, Sr.

Mayor, Atlantic City, New Jersey

For many years, Atlantic City, New Jersey enjoyed a virtual lock on East Coast gaming. Today, surrounded by legal casinos, the city and state face what may be their steepest competition yet: new casinos under development in New York City. Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, Sr. recently spoke with GGB Editor-at-Large Roger Gros on challenges facing the shore resort and how leaders and the business community are preparing for a more crowded marketplace. To hear the full interview, visit GGBMagazine.com.

GGB: Marty, you’ve been doing a great job here in Atlantic City. With this threat from New York, your role is going to be even more crucial.

Small: Yes. Now more than ever, it’s important that all the stakeholders row in the same direction, be on the same page and work together for the betterment of the great city of Atlantic City. We’ve enjoyed this monopoly. We’re the only destination on the East Coast. But any competition is a threat. Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, (have all) chipped away from our business.

But I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as people think. From a government side, we’re going to make sure we keep Atlantic City clean and safe. This administration has invested a quarter billion dollars in infrastructure that’s going to affect and impact the main roads leading to the casinos. We’re working together to beautify the city as much as we can. Our public works do a yeoman’s job. The crime stats are declining year by year.

What should be the role of Atlantic City casinos in the near term and also the future?

Well, listen, they’ve invested back in the community. They’re our biggest employer. But everyone can do more, and we’ve had that conversation. They’re the professionals and have to market to get people here. And I don’t care where you are, you don’t have what we have here in Atlantic City: the world-famous Boardwalk, the beach, world-class restaurants and world-class facilities.

I believe it’s 10 years now that the finances of Atlantic City have been controlled by the state of New Jersey. How does that impact what you want to do with the city?

The state has faith and confidence in this administration, and we’ve been able to govern. The state is not here sitting next to me saying, “Hey, well, turn to this page and do this.” It’s communication. Of course, we check in with them, but the city is run in my vision, and we’ve come a long way.

On Wall Street, both Moody’s and (S&P Global Ratings) have put Atlantic City at investment grade. The future is bright, we’re getting a lot of things done, and now is the opportunity.

The city has all the momentum in the world. We’re working with all of our stakeholders and partners, and we’re going to continue to make it a great day here in the city of Atlantic City.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Casino Control Act, which created casinos in Atlantic City. So it’s time to celebrate what casinos have done. What should be the role of the city in helping to promote that?

We’re the best hospitality town around and we do extremely well with special events. And kudos to my special adviser, Judge (Steven) Perskie, who wrote the legislation. It’s been an up-and-down 50 years.

But one thing I’d like to say for the naysayers is that the rumors of Atlantic City’s demise are greatly exaggerated. We’ve been down this road before. In 2012, the national media did a hit piece saying that the Boardwalk was destroyed when that was Seaside Heights. In 2014, when a plethora of casinos closed, people said Atlantic City was done. In 2016, when the state took over, they said Atlantic City is done. This is 2026 going on 2027, and we’re still standing.

No question about that. As a former dealer, I’m a big supporter of CEASE (Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects), which seeks to extend Atlantic City’s smoking ban to the casinos. Is there something city council can do to pass something like that and bypass the state, which seems to be dragging its feet at every juncture?

Right now that’s a state issue, and you and I are respectfully on (opposite) sides of that issue. When I testified in front of senate committees and assembly committees, I said both my mother and grandmother passed away due to cancer, so I’m definitely sensitive. But sometimes you have to make decisions that aren’t popular. You have to stand for something. And I know the damage (a smoking ban) will cause if it means lost jobs to families in Atlantic City and Atlantic County. I don’t want to do a full ban right now.

In the ’70s, before casinos, Judge Perskie put together the Committee to Rebuild Atlantic City. It got the business community and city and state officials of Southern New Jersey together to get on the same page. Everybody had the same goal and wanted to achieve the same thing. Could we do that again to mitigate the impact from New York casinos?

I’m always a fan of collaboration, but there have been a lot of committees through the years with grand plans that never materialized. If it’s something that’s going to materialize and benefit the residents of Atlantic City and tourists, I’m all for it.