On the edge of Atlantic City’s boardwalk, synonymous for a century with freewheeling times, the only visitors were two desolate bulldozers parked on the ragged sand.
Next to closed popcorn stands, a video game arcade advertised as open 365 days a year had pulled down its shutters. A short stroll away, a jewelry shop window was sealed by a board on which was spray-painted: “F*** you, Sandy!”
Mega-storm Sandy made landfall in Atlantic City on Monday before tearing through east coast American communities, killing nearly 100 people.
The physical toll here was comparatively mild — flooding and chipped signs were the most common damage — but residents of the Las Vegas of the East fear a hefty economic blow.
“This weekend’s shot and last weekend was shot. When the casinos aren’t working, no one comes down here,” said Dino Dounoulis in the swamped basement of his restaurant, which serves Mediterranean food with a view of the Atlantic.
The first casinos reopened their doors Friday after a green light by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who said the state assessed safety conditions and the gaming equipment.
But bringing back the tourists could take much longer. Dounoulis said that the disappearance of tourists could cost his business between five and 10 percent of its annual revenue.
Atlantic City, a day-trip from New York and Philadelphia, saw its heyday in the 1920s as a haven for pleasure seekers when local power brokers refused to implement America’s short-lived nationwide ban on alcohol.
The city, whose streets inspired the names on the original edition of the board game Monopoly has been trying to revitalize itself as a destination for music, boxing and gambling.
But its casinos, whose gaudy motifs range from the Taj Mahal in India to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, are now eerily quiet.
But the expressway that was supposed to provide easy access to the city was clogged on Thursday as motorists waited at police checkpoints, underneath billboards advertising upcoming shows by Olivia Newton-John and Chaka Khan.
Industry analyst Andrew Zarnett of Deutsche Bank said the hurricane was a further blow to a struggling city, with revenue now expected to fall 25 percent this month from last year when excluding the impact of a new resort.
Tony Rodio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, estimated the industry was losing about $5 million a day in revenue for each day that the casinos stayed shut, according to the local Press of Atlantic City.
Among those most afraid of a prolonged shutdown are the workers of the ethnically diverse city, many of whom said they saw no option but to stay despite a mandatory evacuation order ahead of Sandy by the governor.
The city’s mayor, Lorenzo Langford, opened up shelters in spite of the evacuation order, setting up a confrontation with Christie.
With their jobs at a standstill, two young women from Russia who work at a hotel strolled on the damaged beach and took pictures. Bangladeshi taxi drivers headed to a local mosque, while other residents packed bars that had power.
Israel Murillo, a Honduran hairdresser, went to his empty salon with his friends as they cracked open cans of beer and listened to music, recalling the terror as their homes trembled violently on Sunday night.
“This is a casino city, so a lot of business comes from the people from other cities. But this time, we don’t have nobody,” he said.
“We have five days without work, but we have got to pay the rent, we have to buy food, we have to buy everything. It’s gone and we have nothing,” he said.
Gamage Gunadasa, a Sri Lankan who sells costumes and toys, doubted that many customers would be in the mood to come to his shop at a time that millions of people are trying to get their lives back on track after the hurricane.
“It all depends on New York and other cities to see how soon it restarts in Atlantic City,” he said.
Sandy turns festive Atlantic City somber
