Legal pub crawl on the Boardwalk? A.C. considering it
Despite all the news about Atlantic City's do-or-die financial predicament, a new idea every once in a while bubbles to the surface.
Despite all the news about Atlantic City's do-or-die financial predicament, a new idea every once in a while bubbles to the surface.
Taking an alcoholic beverage from one bar to another on the Boardwalk legally - as opposed to how it happens during the St. Paddy's Day and Miss America Parades - is one of them.
Atlantic City wants to bring the time-honored but furtive Boardwalk pub-crawl out in the open.
On Wednesday, the city council will consider a trial period for a law that would permit anyone over age 21 to take one plastic container of beer, wine, or another alcoholic drink, marked with the logo of the establishment that served it, onto the Boardwalk between Albany and Metropolitan Avenues.
The proposed change for this summer would not permit someone to take the open container to any street or to the beach, except to a beach bar. The container would have to have been purchased at a Boardwalk establishment.
The ordinance says the change would aim to facilitate pedestrian traffic from place to place along the Boardwalk.
Your basic pub-crawl, now legal.
The proposal will bring into sharper focus the debate about whether the future of Atlantic City lies in making it more family-friendly or less.
Markos Pandora commented on Facebook that he was against the move, but "if they go for this, A.C. should finally stop kidding itself that it is a family resort. Legalize prostitution within the city limits and make the Revel the East Coast's largest grow house to become Amsterdam by the Sea."
Mayor Don Guardian said this month that he would be open to legalizing marijuana use in the resort, but that it was a tough goal legally.
But he said relaxing some alcohol restrictions would encourage a festive atmosphere along the Boardwalk.
In other Atlantic City news, DO|AC - not to mention #doac and @visitac - has risen from the dead.
With the city being branded more as borderline bankrupt than as a bachelorette destination, and with the state dragging its feet on rescue bills that would redirect millions in marketing dollars, the Atlantic City Alliance has begun spending those unredirected marketing dollars again.
The alliance is a nonprofit, casino-funded marketing group required by a 2012 state law. Pending legislation, twice vetoed by Gov. Christie, would redirect the money to help the city pay off its crushing debt. The alliance's much-mocked but critically well-received $3 million Art Park was recently flattened for a parking lot.
Cashman & Associates, which has handled PR for the alliance since 2013, has begun marketing the destination again.
The DO|AC Twitter feed, @visitAC, dormant since an Oct. 28, 2015, tweet about Savor Borgata, began showing signs of life last week with a "Make this a summer you won't forget. We'll see you there. Book Now" tweet, liked by 25 people.
Melanie Sole, who handled publicity for the alliance, said she is now employed by Cashman, with the alliance as the client. She said the marketing campaign was planned through the summer.
The alliance has shed its well-paid executives (original CEO Liza Cartmell earned $400,000 annually) and has been holding off on spending the money that the state continues to say should be redirected to the municipal budget. But the legislative stalemate means the law requiring the group to spend on marketing still is in place.
"I'll be circling around A.C. for the next few months," Sole said in an email that went on to promote A.C as a "Must DO" destination with new nightclubs, restaurants, entertainment, shops, hotel renovations, and more.
The legislation would redirect two years of casino-pooled alliance money, totaling about $60 million. It would repeal the requirement that the alliance do citywide marketing, but would not prevent casinos from supporting such an effort voluntarily.
This spring, the city council approved Fourth of July fireworks sponsored by the alliance at a cost of about $300,000. That money is separate from the alliance funds that would be diverted by the legislation.
609-823-0453 @amysrosenberg