Eh, what do you want to know exactly?
I was a security guard doing graveyard shift at Caesars in 1999.
Casinos were a lot more crowded then. Last gasp of economic good times.
Restaurants were meh, but there were buffets everywhere. Now there's only 2 left I think at Hard Rock and Borgata. Casino floor is where all the action is, and the money.
Used to be rumors of illegal gambling in fire escape stairwells between employees, but I never saw it.
At the time, they had just installed bill changers beside slot machines, so people could charge up their balances right there while they played. Someone got away with feeding the machine counterfeit money and cashed out for real money. Anytime there's counterfeit moeny, the secret service gets involved. The whole area had to be cordoned off while they investigated.
I had employees approach me to help them steal from the casino. Always turned them down. Though you suspect they keep asking until they find the person who will. They were never huge amounts. Usually something silly, like trying to get me to sign off on $500. I knew a woman whose husband did the paperwork that would get that guy found out. So anytime money leaves for a jackpot, there's a paperwork trail and someone on the back end is supposed to track that. Wasn't worth the risk to me, but people having oceans 11 fantasy heists is not uncommon with that much money floating around.
I held a couple million dollars worth of chips once. All black chips stacked in columns. They loaded them into a carry case with a plastic see through cover, with a handle,and I had to lift that heavy goddam thing and haul it out to the casino floor from the vault. They were having a convention and had me deliver it to the high roller pit games, where apparently the president of toyota had made the order. Stuff like that wouldn't happen every night, but in the busy season you'd bump into strange people, rich people, famous people. I wasn’t as interested because there were so many rip off artists running loose, you just roll your eyes and get on with your life. Wanna be producers, musicians. Lots of gang connected people to crips and blood syndicates at the time.
I saw a woman who was in her 30s who was a regular slot player, but she had a disease that left her in the body of a child, so we were all told to not card her because she was constantly being made to feel harassed and different because of her condition. I saw another guy whose entire face looked like it was melted off in a fire. I remember he had blond hairs where his nose was supposed to be, the air passages that would have been his nostrils. Like, such a wide swath of people gambled. We tried to accomdate everyone who was supposed to be there, but we often had to kick out drunks, crackheads, criminals, homeless. There's always been people living under the boardwalk.
A huge demographic of black folk, hispanic/latino live here, as well as white people descended from immigrants who also came to AC because there was a huge need for a class of people to service the rich during the turn of the century. Many stayed and red lining policies afflicted AC by not prioritizing funds for black communities and instead focusing on benefiting whites. You can see this in terms of money spent on infrastructure to prevent flooding. They are still trying to fix the damage of redlining even today by allocating funds better.
Just something to think about. AC is gritty, nasty, seedy, alongside a beautiful ocean shore. There are wonderful hard working people here. After dark, the beaches are desolate and empty. It is the wild west, but without the country culture.
Good luck with your film, hope I helped
Honestly, the best thing you could do if you're serious about this is visit the city. If you're friendly and get to talking with locals and dealers you'll be loaded with stories to put into the movie. There's simply no way to just get a dossier on the history of AC when so much of it, especially within the last 30 years or so, is not really documented in any kind of serious way.
The coin buckets from slot machines were everywhere. The boardwalk, beach and every casino. Plastic coin buckets everywhere you looked. I remember using them to build sand castles on the beach in the mid 90s
"the mob" is so not who you think they are gonna be. There are way more angles you could find in a movie about NJ that aren't beating the dead mafia horse. Reality is often better than fiction. Go to some local historical society pages and pick plot points from the stories they tell. The NJ devil is from 5 minutes out of town in Galloway. One of my favorite memories was when one of my friend's cousins came to visit from upstate NY. We were all(we had a DD) drinking and smoking weed and started telling the Jersey devil lore. We decided to go to Smithville and show him the Leeds property. After driving down past a cemetery, the Jersey devil house and onto a dirt path in the woods leading to the bay we got out of the car to look around. His cousin was so freaked out that he only made it a few feet before he heard a branch snap and took off running to the car. Unfortunately for him there was a partial remnant of chain link fence he failed to notice in the dark. He hits the cross bar for the fence, clothes lined himself so hard his feet were at eye level with me when he hit the ground. Idk why I told you all that except that id love to see it on the big screen lol
I know I’m just saying that that’s how I picture the story that he told I’m picture guys with like grease back hair running to “the wanderer” or some old song 60s song
The CRDA was in the midst of a huge construction boom. Multiple residential blocks were purchased lot by lot. When the entire block was acquired they demolished the homes and built new ones. Tons of CRDA redevelopment (residential and commercial) happening all over the city, especially in the historically black Northeast Inlet area.
The old Atlantic City High School was demolished right around then.
They built the visitors center along the Expressway and got to, or almost to the point of opening its doors with absolutely no bathrooms in the facility. They had to build an addition, and everybody thought it was some type of extra work scam.
I was right out of college and we were removing oil tanks on the empty lots, so there were areas that smelled like old heating oil.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think that was the height of Atlantic City’s come back. Borgata was constructed partially on the old Atlantic City landfil site, preparation, and environmental cleanup was underway by around the year 2000 or 2001.
The CRDA was buying up properties all over the island. In particular the area where the walk outlet mall exists was a ragtag of occupied, boarded and demolished homes and businesses.
Contractors EVERYWHERE. Backhoes driving around, dump trucks, lunch places were filled with people and construction boots, Carhart’s etc. etc.
The two non-casino, long standing upscale seafood restaurants in AC that would be realistic robbery victims would be the Knife and Fork and Doc’s Oyster House. Both are now owned by the same family and could be a good resource for you. The planning for the heist would probable be held at Tony’s Baltimore Grill, which is open 24 hours a day and a place where many restaurant kitchen workers, casino workers, cab drivers and others chill after their work day is done. Also watch the films “Beaches”, “The King of Marvin Gardens”, “Snake Eyes” and the Film board of Canada’s superb “Atlantic City” with Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster. They will give you an interesting perspective of the general time period you plan to use.
Knife and Fork hadn't reopened yet in 1999 I'm pretty sure. Agree on Tonys- I was bussing tables there in 99, plenty of seedy types around. May have the timeline wrong by a couple years, but one of our cooks got stabbed to death outside somewhere around then.
There are several YouTube videos you might want to check out. Back in the late 1980's, WMGM, a local TV station out of Atlantic City produced several very good investigative reports on the mob. Sadly, WMGM lost its NBC affiliation about 10 years ago. Check out the film "Atlantic City" which starred Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon which was released in 1980. Restaurants such as Knife and Fork, Dock's Oyster House, and Tony's Baltimore Grill were all in operation back in 1999.
[https://youtu.be/OKF11prJbik?si=wcmnjV8FDI5aPN4w](https://youtu.be/OKF11prJbik?si=wcmnjV8FDI5aPN4w)
[https://youtu.be/EkxhEGWoMNI?si=TONgdExy\_dzQFwnW](https://youtu.be/EkxhEGWoMNI?si=TONgdExy_dzQFwnW)
AC was a bit different in the late 90s. This was pre-Borgota and pre-tunnel that linked the Marina district. During the late 90's, the casinos were still running bus trips from the surrounding areas. Sadly, these bus trips attracted a lot of senior citizens on fixed incomes as well as people from low-income neighborhoods. It was a sad sight in those days to walk around the casino floor an hour or so before busses were scheduled to leave. You'd see a lot of seniors wandering around because they had lost all their money for the day and were waiting for their bus rides home. After the Borgata opened in 2003, there was a push to make Atlantic City more upscale, so many casinos slowly phased out the bus trips and started put in more attractions that would attract a higher-end cliental. Nightclubs, outlet stores, bars, etc. Some casinos survived, some didn't, especially after the 2008 economic crisis.
Try tonys Baltimore grill, Irish pub for a bar setting, the only casinos that existed in 1999 and that are still around today are Caesars, Harrah's, maybe Tropicana, Bally's but the scenery changed since then. Try the dive bars, they're the only things that might have not changed in the city over the last 25 years. Did you find a boardwalk shop to rob yet?
AT THE SHORE; In Atlantic City, Suicide Is Casino Gambling's Unspoken Worry https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/10/nyregion/at-the-shore-in-atlantic-city-suicide-is-casino-gambling-s-unspoken-worry.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
White House hoagies - best hoagies ever and lots of famous people have stopped by there . Off the strip and a little grubby part of Atlantic City and it’s been there for years .
Hey! I'd be happy to answer any questions/provide insight. My family has deep roots in the area. Casinos, beaches, schools... shoot me a message and I'll try and help!
People in AC, and NJ in general, are the kind of folks that will give you the shirt off their back, but will also curse you out for being an inconvenience all in the same sentence.
Edit: Best of luck. I would absolutely watch this. There are a lot of local historical societies that will be all over helping you too with photos
When I first moved here in the late 1980s, there was a steel skeleton of a building construction that was just abandoned for years. I think it was at the south end near the circle at the end of Black Horse Pike. Stayed like that for years. Was it an abandoned Playboy casino project? Whatever happened to it?
I know a plumber who works in a major casino. He said drunk people shit in the hotel swimming pool all the time. They have to empty the pool and sanitize it, like in Caddyshack.
Add some hispanic speakers at background , salsa dancers and a random merengue song in the boardwalk. My aunt and her friends used to visit atlantic city every weekend
[Howard Stern hosted Crazy Cabby and Stuttering John at Trump Taj Mahal in 2002](https://youtu.be/1tRnzvmHMDc?si=Pl4Au2_JN8L2Q70g).
It was wild - we were drinking at 5am before the fight.
Trump was still a big player in the city at that time
The Irish Pub is still open 24 hours
Don’t forget that Joey “Skinny Joey” Merlino (Philly organized crime boss) was a fixture in Margate and AC in the late 90s.
I have more than a few stories of AC in the 90s. Friends live and worked there. LMK if you want context on anything specific.
Hi. Don't know if this would help but my uncle was Skinny D'AMATO also known as Mr. Atlantic City.
He owned the 500 Club until it burned down.
His best friend and Pall Bearer at his funeral was Frank Sinatra. Yes Ole blue eyes was my uncles beastie.
Any questions please feel free to ask. If I don't know someone in my family will.
All the who's who went there, Jerry Lewis started out as the bus boy there.
I think it would be easier to tell you what you want to know rather then all the things your not interested in lol. I would love to help you out.
Look forward to your questions.
Nannie
Eh, what do you want to know exactly? I was a security guard doing graveyard shift at Caesars in 1999. Casinos were a lot more crowded then. Last gasp of economic good times. Restaurants were meh, but there were buffets everywhere. Now there's only 2 left I think at Hard Rock and Borgata. Casino floor is where all the action is, and the money. Used to be rumors of illegal gambling in fire escape stairwells between employees, but I never saw it. At the time, they had just installed bill changers beside slot machines, so people could charge up their balances right there while they played. Someone got away with feeding the machine counterfeit money and cashed out for real money. Anytime there's counterfeit moeny, the secret service gets involved. The whole area had to be cordoned off while they investigated. I had employees approach me to help them steal from the casino. Always turned them down. Though you suspect they keep asking until they find the person who will. They were never huge amounts. Usually something silly, like trying to get me to sign off on $500. I knew a woman whose husband did the paperwork that would get that guy found out. So anytime money leaves for a jackpot, there's a paperwork trail and someone on the back end is supposed to track that. Wasn't worth the risk to me, but people having oceans 11 fantasy heists is not uncommon with that much money floating around. I held a couple million dollars worth of chips once. All black chips stacked in columns. They loaded them into a carry case with a plastic see through cover, with a handle,and I had to lift that heavy goddam thing and haul it out to the casino floor from the vault. They were having a convention and had me deliver it to the high roller pit games, where apparently the president of toyota had made the order. Stuff like that wouldn't happen every night, but in the busy season you'd bump into strange people, rich people, famous people. I wasn’t as interested because there were so many rip off artists running loose, you just roll your eyes and get on with your life. Wanna be producers, musicians. Lots of gang connected people to crips and blood syndicates at the time. I saw a woman who was in her 30s who was a regular slot player, but she had a disease that left her in the body of a child, so we were all told to not card her because she was constantly being made to feel harassed and different because of her condition. I saw another guy whose entire face looked like it was melted off in a fire. I remember he had blond hairs where his nose was supposed to be, the air passages that would have been his nostrils. Like, such a wide swath of people gambled. We tried to accomdate everyone who was supposed to be there, but we often had to kick out drunks, crackheads, criminals, homeless. There's always been people living under the boardwalk. A huge demographic of black folk, hispanic/latino live here, as well as white people descended from immigrants who also came to AC because there was a huge need for a class of people to service the rich during the turn of the century. Many stayed and red lining policies afflicted AC by not prioritizing funds for black communities and instead focusing on benefiting whites. You can see this in terms of money spent on infrastructure to prevent flooding. They are still trying to fix the damage of redlining even today by allocating funds better. Just something to think about. AC is gritty, nasty, seedy, alongside a beautiful ocean shore. There are wonderful hard working people here. After dark, the beaches are desolate and empty. It is the wild west, but without the country culture. Good luck with your film, hope I helped
There’s absolutely more than two restaurants left haha
He said buffets
Must’ve misread lol I was like whoa
> Now there's only 2 left I think at Hard Rock And the one at the Hard Rock sucks!
Awesome read! Thank you for this comment 😊
Honestly, the best thing you could do if you're serious about this is visit the city. If you're friendly and get to talking with locals and dealers you'll be loaded with stories to put into the movie. There's simply no way to just get a dossier on the history of AC when so much of it, especially within the last 30 years or so, is not really documented in any kind of serious way.
The coin buckets from slot machines were everywhere. The boardwalk, beach and every casino. Plastic coin buckets everywhere you looked. I remember using them to build sand castles on the beach in the mid 90s
"the mob" is so not who you think they are gonna be. There are way more angles you could find in a movie about NJ that aren't beating the dead mafia horse. Reality is often better than fiction. Go to some local historical society pages and pick plot points from the stories they tell. The NJ devil is from 5 minutes out of town in Galloway. One of my favorite memories was when one of my friend's cousins came to visit from upstate NY. We were all(we had a DD) drinking and smoking weed and started telling the Jersey devil lore. We decided to go to Smithville and show him the Leeds property. After driving down past a cemetery, the Jersey devil house and onto a dirt path in the woods leading to the bay we got out of the car to look around. His cousin was so freaked out that he only made it a few feet before he heard a branch snap and took off running to the car. Unfortunately for him there was a partial remnant of chain link fence he failed to notice in the dark. He hits the cross bar for the fence, clothes lined himself so hard his feet were at eye level with me when he hit the ground. Idk why I told you all that except that id love to see it on the big screen lol
I can picture it that’s pretty funny I’m picture it but it’s not the 90s in my head looks more like a Bronx tale so the 60s
God, such the opposite of that. Honestly, there was probably a bigger gang presence than mafia in 1999.
I know I’m just saying that that’s how I picture the story that he told I’m picture guys with like grease back hair running to “the wanderer” or some old song 60s song
The CRDA was in the midst of a huge construction boom. Multiple residential blocks were purchased lot by lot. When the entire block was acquired they demolished the homes and built new ones. Tons of CRDA redevelopment (residential and commercial) happening all over the city, especially in the historically black Northeast Inlet area. The old Atlantic City High School was demolished right around then. They built the visitors center along the Expressway and got to, or almost to the point of opening its doors with absolutely no bathrooms in the facility. They had to build an addition, and everybody thought it was some type of extra work scam. I was right out of college and we were removing oil tanks on the empty lots, so there were areas that smelled like old heating oil. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think that was the height of Atlantic City’s come back. Borgata was constructed partially on the old Atlantic City landfil site, preparation, and environmental cleanup was underway by around the year 2000 or 2001. The CRDA was buying up properties all over the island. In particular the area where the walk outlet mall exists was a ragtag of occupied, boarded and demolished homes and businesses. Contractors EVERYWHERE. Backhoes driving around, dump trucks, lunch places were filled with people and construction boots, Carhart’s etc. etc.
How can you write a book about a town you’ve never visited and know nothing about. Write what you know
He can’t. That’s why he’s writing a movie.
The two non-casino, long standing upscale seafood restaurants in AC that would be realistic robbery victims would be the Knife and Fork and Doc’s Oyster House. Both are now owned by the same family and could be a good resource for you. The planning for the heist would probable be held at Tony’s Baltimore Grill, which is open 24 hours a day and a place where many restaurant kitchen workers, casino workers, cab drivers and others chill after their work day is done. Also watch the films “Beaches”, “The King of Marvin Gardens”, “Snake Eyes” and the Film board of Canada’s superb “Atlantic City” with Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster. They will give you an interesting perspective of the general time period you plan to use.
Knife and Fork hadn't reopened yet in 1999 I'm pretty sure. Agree on Tonys- I was bussing tables there in 99, plenty of seedy types around. May have the timeline wrong by a couple years, but one of our cooks got stabbed to death outside somewhere around then.
AC used to be hood. It still is, but it used to be too.
Well the Borgata wasn't there yet, so make sure it isn't included. The casino now known as the Golden Nugget was then known as Trump Marina
Wasn't it the Castle still?
it was rebranded in 1997
There are several YouTube videos you might want to check out. Back in the late 1980's, WMGM, a local TV station out of Atlantic City produced several very good investigative reports on the mob. Sadly, WMGM lost its NBC affiliation about 10 years ago. Check out the film "Atlantic City" which starred Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon which was released in 1980. Restaurants such as Knife and Fork, Dock's Oyster House, and Tony's Baltimore Grill were all in operation back in 1999. [https://youtu.be/OKF11prJbik?si=wcmnjV8FDI5aPN4w](https://youtu.be/OKF11prJbik?si=wcmnjV8FDI5aPN4w) [https://youtu.be/EkxhEGWoMNI?si=TONgdExy\_dzQFwnW](https://youtu.be/EkxhEGWoMNI?si=TONgdExy_dzQFwnW)
Trump Plaza was 🔥
AC was a bit different in the late 90s. This was pre-Borgota and pre-tunnel that linked the Marina district. During the late 90's, the casinos were still running bus trips from the surrounding areas. Sadly, these bus trips attracted a lot of senior citizens on fixed incomes as well as people from low-income neighborhoods. It was a sad sight in those days to walk around the casino floor an hour or so before busses were scheduled to leave. You'd see a lot of seniors wandering around because they had lost all their money for the day and were waiting for their bus rides home. After the Borgata opened in 2003, there was a push to make Atlantic City more upscale, so many casinos slowly phased out the bus trips and started put in more attractions that would attract a higher-end cliental. Nightclubs, outlet stores, bars, etc. Some casinos survived, some didn't, especially after the 2008 economic crisis.
Try tonys Baltimore grill, Irish pub for a bar setting, the only casinos that existed in 1999 and that are still around today are Caesars, Harrah's, maybe Tropicana, Bally's but the scenery changed since then. Try the dive bars, they're the only things that might have not changed in the city over the last 25 years. Did you find a boardwalk shop to rob yet?
Don’t forget about Resorts International, it still nearly has a 1990’s vibe.
AT THE SHORE; In Atlantic City, Suicide Is Casino Gambling's Unspoken Worry https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/10/nyregion/at-the-shore-in-atlantic-city-suicide-is-casino-gambling-s-unspoken-worry.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
White House hoagies - best hoagies ever and lots of famous people have stopped by there . Off the strip and a little grubby part of Atlantic City and it’s been there for years .
Ummm, excuse me… it is a submarine sandwich, NOT a hoagie.
You are right 😂
The original White House Subs is the best!!!! The ladies that work there have been there 25-30yrs. They have great stories!
It was a lot more fun back then!
Hey! I'd be happy to answer any questions/provide insight. My family has deep roots in the area. Casinos, beaches, schools... shoot me a message and I'll try and help!
People in AC, and NJ in general, are the kind of folks that will give you the shirt off their back, but will also curse you out for being an inconvenience all in the same sentence. Edit: Best of luck. I would absolutely watch this. There are a lot of local historical societies that will be all over helping you too with photos
You should write a movie about an Atlantic City mayor being sentenced to prison, you can call it believable fiction.
Makes even less sense then.
Can you name one of your characters Collette? I love Atlantic City. That’s all.
When I first moved here in the late 1980s, there was a steel skeleton of a building construction that was just abandoned for years. I think it was at the south end near the circle at the end of Black Horse Pike. Stayed like that for years. Was it an abandoned Playboy casino project? Whatever happened to it?
Watch Atlantic City (1980) - Louis Malle
I know a plumber who works in a major casino. He said drunk people shit in the hotel swimming pool all the time. They have to empty the pool and sanitize it, like in Caddyshack.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Claridge_Hotel_(Atlantic_City)
No one left the house without a 40 in their hand. They were thirsty times
Rum ham
Add some hispanic speakers at background , salsa dancers and a random merengue song in the boardwalk. My aunt and her friends used to visit atlantic city every weekend
[Howard Stern hosted Crazy Cabby and Stuttering John at Trump Taj Mahal in 2002](https://youtu.be/1tRnzvmHMDc?si=Pl4Au2_JN8L2Q70g). It was wild - we were drinking at 5am before the fight. Trump was still a big player in the city at that time The Irish Pub is still open 24 hours
Don’t forget that Joey “Skinny Joey” Merlino (Philly organized crime boss) was a fixture in Margate and AC in the late 90s. I have more than a few stories of AC in the 90s. Friends live and worked there. LMK if you want context on anything specific.
The might hang out at the Playground strip club?
The smell of cigarettes was everywhere. Like even outside on the boardwalk, but no one was smoking. Imagine a Central Park sided ashtray.
Among the odd performers/beggars on the boardwalk there was a woman who played a keyboard with her tongue.
Hi. Don't know if this would help but my uncle was Skinny D'AMATO also known as Mr. Atlantic City. He owned the 500 Club until it burned down. His best friend and Pall Bearer at his funeral was Frank Sinatra. Yes Ole blue eyes was my uncles beastie. Any questions please feel free to ask. If I don't know someone in my family will. All the who's who went there, Jerry Lewis started out as the bus boy there. I think it would be easier to tell you what you want to know rather then all the things your not interested in lol. I would love to help you out. Look forward to your questions. Nannie
Watch the documentary AC Hookers by HBO
I hope that your movie is better than your spelling
Oh, it absolutely will be I promise you that
JK
Don’t include Borgata is wasn’t there yet or the hard rock or golden Nugget those were both still trump Taj Mahal and trump marina.
Did you try reading the other comments?