Atlantic City got a promising start as a rail-accessible getaway for nearby New Yorkers and Philadelphians in the late 1800s, a resort town rife with architecturally decorative hotels along a bustling boardwalk. It doubled down on its hedonistic appeal in the Prohibition era, turning a blind eye to bootleggers and becoming a hub for illegal drinking and gambling.
The emergence of commercial air travel after World War II, however, sent the region’s vacationers to Florida and the Caribbean instead of AC for their long weekends. By the 1970s, the town that experienced its glory days under the watch of mobster and political boss Nucky Johnson was desperate for a savior. It thought it found one in Trump. [...]
But in Rose’s new book Atlantic City (Circa Press), the photographer sees Trump’s trail of architectural and financial ruin in the troubled resort town as a warning for the rest of the United States now that he leads its executive branch. Rose’s stark photographs show urban scenes devoid of life, overrun by soul-sucking architecture commissioned with bad money, poor taste, and little regard for the people who live in its shadows. The images are accompanied by relevant news blurbs, song lyrics, movie quotes, and Trump tweets that, combined, offer a picture of a deeply troubled city with little to show for the risks it took. [...]
Trump was the biggest player in Atlantic City for years, whether he owned casinos or licensed his name; his presence was dominant. The remarkable thing is that [his companies] went bankrupt several times. None of his properties ever made money in the conventional sense, yet he managed to keep things afloat for years. Where did the money come from? The Trump Taj Mahal, by the way, was fined $10 million by the Treasury Department for money laundering.
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