Marty Small, the city mayor who had described the abandoned building as an eyesore, told the Associated Press: “I got chills. There were cheers from a viewing party of people who had paid $10 to watch from their cars. The building imploded and a huge cloud of dust consumed the beach and famed Atlantic City boardwalk. The Plaza’s end came at around 9am with a series of explosions. A year later, Trump announced his world-changing run for US president, often citing Atlantic City as proof of his business acumen. But after a string of bankruptcy filings, the New York property tycoon and reality TV host cut ties with it in 2009.īy the time it finally closed its doors in 2014, Trump Plaza was the worst-performing casino in Atlantic City, taking in as much money from gamblers in eight and a half months as the Borgata casino did every two weeks.
It hosted parties for countless Hollywood actors, rock stars and sportspeople. The casino opened in 1984 during a decade of excess for Trump and other kings of capitalism.
