Many AC gamblers stranded

John Curran

Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001 | 9:42 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- New Jerseyans struggled with fear, anger and uncertainty Tuesday in the wake of terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Centers and rocked the Pentagon.

Airports shut down, traffic backed up at crossings into New York and telephone lines were overwhelmed as people sought word on loved ones living or working in Manhattan.

As television reports showed the smoky wreckage of bombings in New York and Washington, edgy workers worried about their own security.

"I want to go home," said Terry Rossi, a law office employee in Trenton. "I don't want to be in this building, the highest building in Trenton."

A crew of workers refurbishing a building across the street from the Statehouse said they were slightly concerned about being so near the capitol building.

Mostly, though, they were angry.

"Before the end of the day, it should be declared an act of war," said Jim Henrichsen, of East Rutherford. "They've effectively shut down the United States," he said. "The ripple effect is going to be unreal."

In Atlantic City, casinos remained open but an unknown number of New York-area gamblers were stranded, unable to get buses back to New York.

"We're being as accommodating as we can be," said Brian Cahill, spokesman for Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas, which has four casinos here.

Police Chief Arthur Snellbaker said there was no reason to believe casinos would be targeted by terrorists, but said street patrols around them were increased as a precaution.

At Trump Plaza, anyone carrying a bag and trying to enter the casino was detained and then escorted across the floor by a uniformed security guard.

Trump Hotels spokeswoman Suze DiPietro-Stewart said all bus traffic in and out of Trump's three Atlantic City casinos had been halted because of the attacks.

"We're trying to find space for people, if they have to stay over," she said.

The head of the Miss America Pageant said there was a chance the competition -- scheduled for Sept. 22 -- would be canceled for the first time since the 1930s.

No decision has been made yet, said CEO Robert M. Renneisen Jr.

Pageant officials canceled Tuesday's schedule for the 51 contestants and security was tightened at Boardwalk Hall, the site of the event.

Renneisen worried that the pageant could be a target because of its status as a "national icon."

"We have no specific reason to believe we're a target, but we've always considered ourselves a target for that reason. We'd be foolish not to now," Renneisen said.

"Speechless," said a handwritten sign on the Boardwalk at Atlantic City Miniature Golf.

"I'm numb," said Corinne Zuege, 49, of West Lafayette, Ind. "This is such a tragedy. They always said there would never be another Pearl Harbor, and here it's happened on our shores."

About 260 travelers were stranded at Atlantic City International Airport when U.S. air travel was halted in the aftermath of the attacks. Even the Federal Aviation Administration's William J. Hughes Technical Center, a research-and-development arm of the FAA, was closed. Workers were sent home at noon, spokeswoman Holly Baker said.

Rob Halsey, a physical education teacher at St. John Vienney High School in Holmdel, didn't believe the first reports of the attack.

"We all thought it was a joke at first," said Halsey, interviewed at a South Brunswick convenience store.

"Of course I'm angry because it's such a cowardly thing. I agree with the president that we should hunt them down and punish them.

"If we let this go that sends the wrong signal. The most disturbing part of the whole thing is that people have been warning us for years that New York City was vulnerable," Halsey said.

Paula Cap, of South Brunswick, was home with her children when she heard the first reports.

"It's very sad and the great impact this will have on people both directly and indirectly will be tremendous," she said. "I hope as a nation we can pull through and correct our shortcomings and complacency about who we are."

Joe Brown, of Trenton, said he didn't understand how the attacks could have happened.

"I just thought intelligence had more people in place to detect these incidents before they happen," he said, filling up his car with gas. "It seems they would have had security in place, especially in New York and Washington."