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- <text id=89TT2530>
- <title>
- Sep. 25, 1989: From The Publisher
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
- Sep. 25, 1989 Boardwalk Of Broken Dreams
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- FROM THE PUBLISHER, Page 4
- </hdr><body>
- <p> Correspondent Priscilla Painton had been in New York City
- only a few months when it began to dawn on her that perhaps all
- roads led to Atlantic City. When Gaddafi-linked terrorists
- threatened to attack the U.S., what city were they rumored to
- have chosen? When casino owner Donald Trump insulted hotel queen
- Leona Helmsley, what were they fighting over? When Cher made a
- concert tour comeback after eight years, where did she open? The
- answer every time: Atlantic City. So Painton set out to discover
- the lure. "The only thing I knew about Atlantic City was that
- Louis Malle had made a movie about it," she says. Painton, an
- American, grew up in Paris and attended French schools until
- college and, like the French director, found the famous U.S.
- resort something exotic. "I approached this American shrine --
- and Atlantic City is one -- with the intense curiosity of a
- foreigner," she says.
- </p>
- <p> Trump, who owns a sizable chunk of the city, conveniently
- popped up on her first visit. Painton had booked a flight
- aboard the Trump Air helicopter service, only to discover the
- tycoon himself was a passenger. Trump pointed out the town's
- attractions and even gave her a ride from the airport in his
- limousine. On other visits, Painton traveled less grandly aboard
- the buses that carry many of the millions of gamblers who
- constitute Atlantic City's primary source of income.
- </p>
- <p> Though she definitely does not qualify as a high roller,
- Painton could hardly have reported and written our story on one
- of America's gambling capitals without sampling a bit of the
- action. Estimated slot-machine losses in the course of two
- evenings: $50. But Painton did taste one of the luxuries the
- casinos lavish on their best customers. With all its regular
- rooms occupied, Bally's Grand Casino Hotel one evening assigned
- her to a suite with a Jacuzzi and a TV hidden in a marble
- plinth. Unhappily, the upgrade did not result in a night of
- rest. Explains Painton: "The man in the next room was a lucky
- gambler who celebrated his big win by singing reggae tunes at
- the top of his voice." That's Atlantic City for you.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
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