Monopoly vs. the City

By Rebecca Myers

Monopoly players have cruised the streets of Atlantic City, N.J.--Baltic Avenue? I'll buy it!--since Charles Darrow created the board in 1935. But a new version out this summer has the casino town fuming. Gamemaker Hasbro held an online vote to pick landmarks from 22 U.S. cities for the Here & Now edition--and left Atlantic City out. "We don't have a monopoly on Monopoly," says Jeff Vasser, who heads the city tourist authority. "But we were a little put off." He's sending Hasbro a petition with 5,000 signatures calling for a Here & Now square to feature A.C. Hasbro spokeswoman Pat Riso says the flagship game will stay all A.C., and no tweaks to the new one will be made. Vasser offers a compromise: Instead of "just visiting the jail, how about 'just visiting Atlantic City'?"