N.J. takeover of Atlantic City spares town from going broke, Moody's says

TRENTON -- The state takeover of Atlantic City was seen as a "credit positive" for the financially struggling city, a bond credit rating agency said Monday.

Moody's Investors Service cited the unlikely threat of immediate default through 2017 as the largest contributing factor in its outlook.

The news comes two weeks after Gov. Chris Christie's administration said it tapped Jeffrey Chiesa, a longtime Christie friend and ally who has served as New Jersey's attorney general and a U.S. senator, to oversee the state takeover.

Chiesa has been given wide-ranging authority in the state's controversial effort to keep the seaside gambling resort from falling into bankruptcy. Chiesa was the designee of Timothy Cunningham, director of the Division of Local Government Services in the state's community affairs department, who, under state law, was given reins of the city once the state took over.

Read more: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/11/state_takeover_of_atlantic_city_credit_positive_fo.html