Gov. Phil Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy recently took a jog on the Atlantic City boardwalk. Their three-mile effort told quite a story, he said.
“The North mile-and-a-half has a lot more wood to chop than the South mile-and-a-half,” the governor said.
The good news, Murphy said, is that the city is taking steps in the right direction.
Murphy, speaking last week at an event sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey at the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City, said the city — which remains under state control — still is a work in progress.
“I’m pleased but not satisfied,” he said of the efforts his administration has undertaken with the city during his nearly eight years in office.
“Nine casinos, 20,000 jobs: Is it in better shape than when we found it? No question. But it’s not been perfect.”
The good news: Gaming, the city’s calling card, has been strong. In fact, it has eclipsed pre-pandemic levels, thanks in part to an explosion of internet gaming.
The latest numbers, released last week, showed that the nine in-person casinos brought in $284.1 million in revenue in July — beating the total of online gaming ($247.3) for the first time in what is turning into a banner 2025.
The state already has brought in $3.2 billion in revenue.
But in order for that to rise further — and in order for the casino money to do what it always has been intended to do, help the community at large — more needs to be done, Murphy said.
The governor rattled off some recent steps in that direction:
- The state is upgrading the famed boardwalk by spending $20 million of the $100 million it received from federal government for such efforts;
- The city has embarked on a street-light replacement campaign, particularly on Atlantic and Pacific avenues;
- The city is working to improve public safety, which includes more officers on the boardwalk and being smarter when it comes to working with the homeless.
The governor gave thanks to AtlantiCare, one of the biggest businesses in the town, on the last initiative — while noting the city will only get better if more industry comes along.
That has happened a bit, too, he said.
Murphy noted the efforts of AC DEVCO, which helped bring South Jersey Industries to a new city location — and a new satellite campus for Stockton University. And he noted the efforts of Boraie Development, which opened the first market-rate housing complex in the city in generations.
The state is doing its part, too, Murphy said, noting an $8.6 million investment from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to support the development and construction of the Aerospace Innovation Center in Atlantic County.
And at the event, Murphy noted that funding is coming on a number of transportation issues in the region, including a year-long pilot program that connects the Vineland transit station to Atlantic City twice daily — synced to the casino shifts.
“We think that’ll be a big game-changer,” he said.
Murphy said Atlantic City is taking the diversification steps it needs to do to be successful on a wider scale — but he did so while noting there still is plenty of work to do.
“You have to continue to make Atlantic City itself and the experience here really compelling,” he said. “And I think we made a lot of progress on that front, with still a way to go.”
