Casino smoking and boosting in-person gambling are among challenges for Atlantic City in 2024

What to do about smoking in the casinos, and how to keep gamblers coming to the resort are among the challenges that Atlantic City faces in the new year. State lawmakers, backed by many casino workers, will renew a push to ban smoking in the nine casinos next year, even as the industry proposes enclosed smoking areas. Whether the resort can continue to attract large numbers of in-person gamblers to the resort — or whether they will migrate to internet gambling and sports betting — is also a key question. Another one is whether a pedestrian safety project to narrow the main road through the city's downtown will succeed, or tie the city into gridlock during busy periods.