Route 40 (https://rtforty.com/author/elinor-comlay/)
On a recent afternoon, Friday before the Super Bowl, a group of workers at the Atlantic City Contact Center stood in a low-ceilinged office in a corner of The Claridge’s parking garage. The place smelled of onions and pasta salad.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority handed out more than $200 million in tax credits to Atlantic City developers and businesses over three years.
Street flooding in Atlantic City has never been so bad, according to fire chief Scott Evans. Evans and others are working on a plan they hope will help the city tackle some flooding by raising houses, improving bulkheads and installing stormwater pumps. The “Atlantic City Floodplain Management Plan”, unveiled at a public meeting earlier this month, is designed to help city residents qualify for a bigger discount on flood insurance premiums.
The Hispanic Association of Atlantic County wants to know why the Atlantic City Board of Education plans to transfer the city’s first Latina principal to an elementary school, according to a letter sent by the Alliance to the board.
You’d be hard pressed to say it was a thriving Main Street, but the barbershop, Mexican restaurant, pizza place, tobacco store, mini-mart and even the closed-looking gift store are all open on the short span of Atlantic City’s Ventnor Ave, between Harrisburg and Trenton. In an age of dying malls and online shopping, something is working here.
Laurie Egrie is walking down the hallway of Sovereign Avenue School carrying a cardboard box filled with odd little balls and popsicle sticks with notelets stuck to them, and she’s wedged an easel-sized writing pad under one arm. The corridor is half dark. School let out 15 minutes ago.
eorge Norcross has lawyered up – or his company, Conner Strong & Buckelew has – to tell us all that the task force investigating recent EDA credits and grants (many of which went to Norcross-related companies) was “unlawfully constituted” the Inquirer reports. NJ Spotlight reports the lawyers also say the process is “tainted” and political retribution.
It is still possible to buy discounted tickets to Atlantic City from the Port Authority bus terminal in New York. But you have to know where to look. Greyhound ended its discounted first-come, first-served policy for the Atlantic City-New York route on April 1. Now tourists and commuters using Greyhound buses have to buy tickets for specific departure times and dates, and the minimum cost of a round trip between the Port Authority and the Atlantic City bus terminal is $26. It is, however, still possible to get a discounted ticket if you select a specific casino to travel to and from.
The New Jersey Tree Recovery Program will be handing out free trees around the state over the next few weeks. The program, a joint venture between the state’s Forestry Service and the Arbor Day Foundation, aims to provide trees to communities that lost urban canopies after Superstorm Sandy. To date, more than 300,000 trees have been handed out.
Healthcare
Colt Shaw of the Press of AC reports on cuts to Atlantic City’s healthcare department that have left the city with a fraction of its previous support for services such as cancer screenings and immunizations. Funnily enough, over the period of time the cuts were being implemented, emergency-room visits in Atlantic City increased, Shaw found. Back Bay Flooding
New Jersey’s coastal communities could see $1.6 billion a year in damages from back bay flooding if action isn’t taken soon, according to last week’s Army Corps of Engineers report written up here by the Inquirer. The engineers believe flood gates could be possible in some inlets (including Absecon and Great Egg Harbor), Avalon Zoppo reports. The Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public comment on the report (full version here).