Trump Taj Mahal might be open until Dec. 20 - for now

The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City is likely to remain open until Dec. 20, as its parent company continues to negotiate for financial aid from the city or the State of New Jersey, the bankrupt Trump Entertainment Resorts said Friday.

However, some employees already started working fewer hours this week, Kathleen McSweeney, senior vice president of market operations for Trump Entertainment, said in a statement.

The Taj Mahal closed one of its hotel towers Monday, and at that point still planned to close the casino next Friday, according to a Nov. 26 petition on its closing plans filed with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Friday is the company-imposed deadline for its biggest union, Unite Here Local 54, to drop an appeal of an October bankruptcy-court ruling that stripped the union of company-sponsored health insurance.

Representatives of Gov. Christie, State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, and the union did not respond to requests for comment on Trump Entertainment's continued effort to win government aid as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection in September, a week before closing Trump Plaza on Sept. 16. Trump Entertainment's bankruptcy plan called for $175 million in state and local aid over the next five years, including $55 million immediately after the company emerges from bankruptcy.

This week, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross postponed a hearing on whether the Trump bankruptcy should be converted to a liquidation from a reorganization. That hearing is now scheduled for Thursday in Wilmington.

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