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>> The story of the Taj Mahal is

really a cautionary tale.

When the Taj Mahal opened,

Donald Trump was the sole owner.

He put $1 billion into the

property.

And it was the premier property

in Atlantic City for many, many

years.

It was a big, well-constructed

property that since around 2004

has begun to degrade.

There's water stains on the

ceiling.

There's urinals and toilets that

have plastic bags over them

because they're not being fixed.

And part of the reason was

Trump sold his interest in it,

which changed the whole dynamic

of these properties, from a real

vibrant place, where he would

show up with Michael Jackson in

tow and go through the casino

floor.

There was always something going

on at the Taj Mahal.

>> I mean, back in the '80s,

they used to have buses.

Every bus that came down here

used to get slot tokens or cash

back as an incentive to come

down.

I don't even believe that the

bus lot is still here.

We don't have any of our

customer base that we had

before I think because of the

decline in our services and our

appearance.

They're gradually making cuts.

They try to cut your workweek

back.

But I didn't think it would ever

come to this.

>> Donald Trump really pioneered

in some sense a problem that we

identify, which is this trend

towards financialization in the

industry.

He financed the Trump Taj Mahal

with junk bonds.

And he was constantly creating

new financial schemes in order

to, in a sense, take as much

money, it seems like, as he

could out of the casinos for

himself and his companies but

not leaving strong businesses in

his wake.

And that's been the trend that

we've seen in Atlantic City in

recent years.

We see more hedge funds, more

private-equity companies coming

in and buying casinos in order

to extract short-term profits,

but not as much concern with

building up the long-term

viability of these businesses.

>> I think Donald Trump's

impact, when he was actually

hands-on, was very positive in

the city.

I'm not trying to make him out

to be some kind of saint.

A lot of people who were waiting

to get paid for construction or

vendors, they got hosed.

There's no question about it.

But they never went after the

employees.

They never tried to take the

employees' wages or take the

employees' benefits.

And it was a place where, for

the most part, you felt

appreciated as a worker.

You really did.

In the last bankruptcy, which

was the third Taj Mahal

bankruptcy, Carl Icahn became

involved, and the story became,

"We just can't operate with

these rich union contracts."

You know, $15 an hour.

Starting wage of $8.50 an hour.

These are big, fat union

contracts.

The only thing they had was

healthcare.

>> Gross gaming revenue peaked

in Atlantic City in 2006.

And then it began to fall

gradually.

And there are three major

reasons for that fall.

The first is that casinos were

popping up in other states and

localities.

It's fewer and fewer miles to

drive to the closest casino

than it was when Atlantic City

had an East Coast monopoly.

The second reason gaming revenue

fell is the financial crisis of

2008 to 2009.

It was like a one-two-three

punch.

There was the market saturation

and competition elsewhere.

There was the great recession.

And then, bang, Atlantic City

got hit with another black eye

with Superstorm Sandy, when the

casinos had to shut down for a

week, and everything was

flooded.

And we're still coming back from

Superstorm Sandy in the

Atlantic City region.

After gross gaming revenue

peaked in 2006, some brain trust

got the idea that we could build

something bigger and better to

bring customers back, something

like one of the best resorts in

Vegas.

And that's where the Revel idea

came from.

Building the Revel was supposed

to be the great savior to

Atlantic City.

>> When they first started

talking about the new casino for

Atlantic City, the whole, big

thing was to make Atlantic City

better.

It was gonna be better for

everybody financially,

popularity.

They were gonna rebuild our

community.

>> Coming home from prison, I

got hired within a month at

Borgata.

The Borgata has some type of

thing with they don't

discriminate against people with

felonies and stuff.

They'll give you a chance.

Then I resigned because Revel

was being built, and I had an

opportunity to make double what

I was making at Borgata.

So, I jumped ship, resigned, and

went over there to do

construction.

And then the recession came in

2008.

Now the real big trouble starts.

>> I didn't see the writing on

the wall.

I worked at Trump Plaza for

28 years, and I decided to take

a leap of faith and open the

Revel because it was the newest,

most beautiful casino in

Atlantic City, and I wanted to

be a part of that.

>> I started on opening day.

And it was awesome.

I've been to Vegas.

I've lived in Atlantic City so I

know the feels of the different

casinos.

When I walked in the Revel, it

was definitely, definitely a

beautiful place to be a part of.

>> They had a no-smoking policy,

which was very nice for a

casino and had windows, where

most casinos don't have windows

'cause they don't want you to

see the daylight.

We had great views of the ocean

and the moon coming up over the

ocean at night.

And if you played into the wee

hours, you could see the sun

rising.

It was a beautiful sight.

They gave us high hopes when we

signed on at the Revel.

Many promises -- bonuses,

incentives -- which they never

followed through on because they

weren't turning a profit.

>> When the Revel started having

their difficulties and now

they're financially in a rut,

they started cutting back our

hours.

And when they did that, then we

lost our benefits, because now

everybody was considered

part-time.

>> We were really turning a

corner and becoming successful

when they sent out a warn notice

to let us know they were closing

within 60 days.

We opened in April of 2012, and

it closed September 1, 2014 --

about 2 1/2 years.

>> Pink slips went out to

Trump Plaza workers today.

The casino plans to close.

>> The Atlantic Club casino did

close half a year ago, and

Showboat's 2,000 workers?

They got their bad news today.

>> I call it the year of the ax.

Four casinos closed -- one after

the other after the other.

8,000 employees lost their job

over the course of the year.

But 8,000 employees is just the

minimum number, because of the

ripple effect or the multiplier

effect, because one person in

the casino loses their jobs, and

it affects other people outside

of the industry.

It affects people who do their

dry-cleaning.

It affects people who do their

hair.

It affects childcare workers.

So, it really is a downward

spiral.

>> There's a real human tragedy

going on here, and it's the same

that's been played out all over

the country over the last

30 years.