Quotes about the 25th anniversary of gambling in Atlantic City

Saturday, May 3, 2003 | 2:45 a.m.

"We're a little like that ink blot test you took in college. Some look at us and see a butterfly, some look at us and see a cockroach." - Former Atlantic City Mayor James Whelan.

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"Is Atlantic City 25 years later a shining city on the hill, with no economic problems and no social strains? Of course not. Gambling was not a 100 percent cure-all. But if the question is `Was it an efficient and effective tool of economic redevelopment and is it responsible for the continued existence - much less the flourishing - of the city?' the answer is categorically yes." - Steven Perskie, former assemblyman who campaigned across New Jersey to persuade voters before 1974 casino gambling referendum.

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"If this is truly an entertainment business, let's make it an entertainment business and not allow a father to wipe out a family's credit cards in one sitting." - Edward Looney, executive director of Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey.

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"Atlantic City was ready to drift into the Atlantic Ocean. The casinos definitely stopped that decline. They put new life into the town and kept us in business. The island was going the way of Asbury Park." - Charles Fischer Jr., Atlantic City florist.