Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. rejects claims that the streets surrounding the nine casinos aren’t safe. On Monday (Oct. 19), the Democratic mayor appeared on the syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club and asserted that Atlantic City has never been safer, cleaner, or ready for economic development.
Small has been in office since October 2019. The Atlantic City Council handpicked Small to succeed Mayor Frank Gilliam, who resigned after pleading guilty to wire fraud for stealing $86,000 from a youth basketball program he founded.
Small made it his mission to clean up the local government and the streets, something casino executives said was desperately needed. Seven years and three elections later, Small says ongoing criticism about Atlantic City is unjustified.
People criticize Atlantic City for not being clean and for not being safe. The devil is a liar,” Small said.
“We got the best public works department in the world. Our police department—we got one homicide this year—crime is down at an all-time low. The shootings are down almost 80%,” the mayor continued.
Atlantic City Primed for Investment
Small told The Breakfast Club that Atlantic City has implemented various public safety initiatives that are cracking down on crime. The mayor highlighted a $9 million city contract with Axon to utilize ShotSpotter, a system that detects gunshots in real time.
“If a gunshot is fired, we know the address, but the drones get there before the officers and broadcast it live,” Small said. “We also have license plate readers, so it doesn’t pay to commit crime in Atlantic City. The whole city is under surveillance.”
Small acknowledged that the threat of three downstate New York casinos, two in Queens and one in the Bronx, is real. But the mayor remains confident that the beach, entertainment, and value Atlantic City offers will continue to attract guests from North Jersey and New York.
“We always reinvent ourselves,” Small said of the Atlantic City casino industry.
Trump Plaza Sold?
Speaking about one former casino—Trump Plaza—Small said the Boardwalk property was recently sold. The mayor, however, was tight-lipped on details.
I’m not going to mention their name, but one of the most powerful people in the state of New Jersey has purchased the Trump Plaza property. I can’t name them,” Small said.
In February 2021, billionaire Carl Icahn, who owns the Trump Plaza, agreed with Small and the city to demolish the former resort’s original 39-story hotel structure.
President Donald Trump opened Trump Plaza in 1984. The casino was once the top-grossing casino in Atlantic City before later going bankrupt. It ceased operations on Sept. 16, 2014.
