AP β What if, after seven years of plunging casino revenues and fleeing customers, Atlantic City's real problem was this: People are wearing too much clothing? Scores, the famous New York strip club, will open a satellite establishment inside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort next month β the first strip club inside an Atlantic City casino in the 35 years of legal gambling here.
Since , when the first casino opened in Pennsylvania and began taking away business that had gone to New Jersey for three decades, Atlantic City has been struggling with new competition popping up all around it. In addition to family-friendly attractions like a revamped Steel Pier amusement park, the return of the Miss America pageant and free outdoor light shows on Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City has been looking for other ways to separate people and their money.
The seaside resort has a century-old reputation as an adult playground, so it's somewhat surprising it took this long for strippers to make their way inside the gambling halls. Patrons and employees will have to behave; New Jersey laws governing casinos prohibit total nudity. In approving the club in December , the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement issued a ruling that bordered on an anatomy lesson, governing in explicit detail what can be shown and what needs to stay covered.
In short, dancers may strip down only to a G-string and pasties, small fabric patches that cover the nipples. Lap dances are prohibited, as is any simulation of sexual activity. While Las Vegas is known for its racy offerings, there are no strip clubs inside any Sin City casinos.
Several offer topless stage shows and topless pools, and strip clubs regularly offer free transportation from anywhere near the Strip, including casinos. One pool venture didn't fare as well. Gans is confident Scores will succeed, even in a city with four other strip clubs, including one with all-nude dancers.
