Over time, however, the City's appeal to visitors declined as newer resorts, particularly those in the south and west accessible by affordable air travel, grew in popularity as the City's hotels and other visitor amenities deteriorated. If the majority of the people didn’t want them, they wouldn’t be profitable and they would not exist.” As Johnson suggested, gambling was one of the key attractions boosting the City's popularity, fueling the profits of hotels and taverns, as well as bribes and kickbacks to local police and politicians.

I won’t deny it and I won’t apologize for it. By the 1930s, Enoch 'Nucky' Johnson, Its famous long-time political boss, defended its reputation: “We have whisky, wine, women, song and slot machines. Through much of its history following its incorporation as a city in 1854, Atlantic City was known not only as a 'family' resort, but also for its tolerance of vice.