The Trouble with Taj

If a tough decision isn't made soon, the Trump Taj Mahal will become its namesake: a giant tomb.

I write this from room 6804 in the Chairman Tower of the Taj: a beautiful accommodation up there with Borgata, Golden Nugget and ex-Revel. A room also given to me for two nights, completely free. (Barring taxes, but you can't avoid those or death.) This is at least my third time at the Taj on their tab, as they've been giving me free weeknights since September. High roller I am not: I only received a TrumpOne (loyalty) account last year from a single visit. Now a full year later I'm getting every single weeknight for Fall 2014 for free? With possible upgrades?! And slot play??!

Something is definitely not right here. The Taj is hurting, and bad.

Macabre as it sounds, I compare Trump Plaza and Taj Mahal as the Twin Towers on 9/11. The Plaza has already been closed (i.e. the south tower is down) and these past few weeks have been like the half hour where the north tower stood alone. The Taj is still here, existing somehow, while its Plaza twin has met its fate. All eyes are on the Mahal, the proverbial north tower, hoping it survives but ready to watch it fall.

It may as well have a giant hole in it too, bleeding money.

I honestly did not think the Taj Mahal was in such a bad position. Sure, we all knew the Plaza was going to hell in a handbasket, but the Taj was different. It was the Borgata before the Borgata was built. It might not have been top dog any longer, but come on, it was the Taj! It was the resort for Trump Entertainment Resorts to fall back on, their only existing property. Its Chairman Tower had just opened in 2006, made a big splash by recently opening Scores, and always had the Steel Pier right across the boardwalk. They even changed their logo to keep up with the times. (Those whitewashed minarets and elephants always had to go, though.) With the Plaza's closure, one would think the Taj could buoy itself, and the surviving resort was relaunched as the secure 'new home' for displaced Plaza patrons.

The big question is: How could Trump ER have messed up so badly these past few years??

Back when casinos didn't mind having a garish theme.

Much more contemporary. My millennial mindset greatly prefers this.

Finger-pointing aside, here's the quandary the Taj Mahal faces currently. The resort cannot support itself any longer, and for months has been cruising on loans that will never be repaid. This is it, it's done. For the Taj to still exist, billionaire investor (and now owner of Tropicana) Carl Icahn will agree to buy it for $100 million and keep it afloat. IF... and only if... the workforce (mostly unionized) past and present agree to relinquish their health and pension plans. Such a move would be disastrous to the hotel/casino workers, whose pay rates barely cover basic living expenses. The perks on insurance and pension were the main draw for working there in the first place, and for staying there for decades. Again, it's that feeling of security that the Taj projected that is quickly unraveling. If no agreement is met, Icahn backs out and the Taj is left to die, closing as soon as possible. As for Donald Trump himself, he's stated he's 'looking into' possibly saving his former pet projects on the boardwalk, but it's all talk. His name was physically removed from the Plaza last week, why would he suddenly start caring again? And what, put the letters back?

Either the Taj Mahal stays open through the graces of a man with way too much money, with its employees eating dirt, or the place closes and all the jobs are lost. Another hulking monstrosity will stand empty in a distressed city's tourism district, and even more morale will be lost. But if the Taj is granted permission to back out of its union contracts, it sets a very bad precedent that the other casinos could easily follow. I'm sure Caesars would love to cut some corners, as suddenly now they may also be on the verge of bankruptcy, if the analysts are to be believed. Not to mention it will make a single person, already worth billions, just a little bit richer while thousands of working-class employees suffer even more. It's the very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face, from both sides of the issue.

Just wrong enough to be right. All of that gold, my god...

While neither option is inherently good, I think the right decision is the one that supports the best future for Atlantic City. In less than a year, the city has lost a legitimate fraction of its casino force, aka its major source of income. Closing the Taj will not help those matters, and displace even more gamblers who may not even return to the city again. Perhaps AC did not need 12 casinos, but it should comfortably be able to support eight. Three in the marina, two midtown, one downbeach and two uptown. Speaking of uptown, with no Mahal the boardwalk would be effectively dead from Resorts northward. A solid chunk of Atlantic City would be a ghost town; they may as well end the boardwalk right there. Icahn should stop worrying about millions when he has billions, purchase the Taj as it is, and leave the union contracts in place. Perhaps even merge the corporate interests of the Taj and Tropicana, helping to strengthen and unify the new bookends of the boardwalk, and give the casino district a shot at staying alive.

My opinions aside, the final verdict from the judge will come in soon. To be perfectly honest, I don't think it's looking good.

Grand Opening 1990. The year the Taj entered the world, as did I.