Langford says state has made Atlantic City a scapegoat for casino industry troubles

    N.J. Gov. Chris Christie criticized Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford earlier this month when Langford equated the city’s state-run tourism district with the South African apartheid. But Langford’s not backing down.

    The district, he wrote in a guest column for the Press of Atlantic City, would receive special consideration not given to the rest of the city, creating an apartheid-like separate but unequal existence.

    In his continued fight against Christie’s approach to creating the district, Langford said the state would not take well to the idea of the federal government interfering in New Jersey’s operations without notice or request, which is what the mayor has accused the state of doing.

    Citing declining crime rates and a safe Boardwalk, Langford said the state’s claims of wanting to make the area “clean and safe” are bogus.

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    Feed the Feed: Is Langford upset about losing control of the winningest (literally) portion of the city? Or is there truth to his argument?

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