Policy Analyst: New Jersey Free To Take Over Atlantic City
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Steve Malanga, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, spoke with Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, saying that the State of New Jersey is well within their right to take over Atlantic City.
Malanga says the state government in Trenton is free to do what they think is best regarding the shore town.
"States govern their municipalities. There are no cities mentioned in the United States Constitution. What the Constitution does, it says, we brought these states together, the states formed this union, states then have the right to govern themselves as long as they don't do things that violates the United States Constitution."
He also pointed out that it is clear the effect of the casino industry never reached the promise many had hoped for.
"Atlantic City once had a lot more residents and this is, again, part of the story of Atlantic City. They actually have, basically, only about the same number of residents they had today as before gambling. Everybody predicted, when you create this new industry, people are going to be swarming into the city to live. They, actually, back in the 80's, built housing anticipating casino workers would live there. The casino workers never chose to live there and that is a crucial thing to understand about the city."