Atlantic City's Hard Rock Cafe will remain open as long as the casino in which it operates does, the restaurant said Thursday after warning that it may close.
The restaurant and bar in the Trump Taj Mahal filed a warning notice late Wednesday with the New Jersey Labor Department of a potential April 22 closing, putting 73 people out of work.
But its parent company said the cafe plans to operate through its current lease, which expires at the end of 2016.
"Conditional notices required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act were issued to employees in the event that the Taj Mahal bankruptcy plan is not approved, resulting in the closure of the Taj Mahal," Hard Rock International said in a statement Thursday.
The Taj Mahal is trying to emerge from bankruptcy under a new owner, billionaire investor Carl Icahn.
It has been struggling to retain customers through the slow winter months, after repeated threats it was closing late last year.
A $20 million investment from Icahn is keeping it afloat.
The Hard Rock tried to get the bankruptcy court last fall to force the casino to say whether it will honor its lease.
It opened on Nov. 15, 1996. Its interior bar is shaped like a Gibson guitar.
___
Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC