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The onlookers were numerous, they had even paid admission (ten dollars) and when the building fell, there was spontaneous applause: a former casino of former US President Donald Trump in Atlantic City was blown up with 3000 sticks of dynamite on Wednesday.
The former "Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino" closed its doors in 2014.
Since then, the 39-story building has not been or has hardly been maintained.
During storms, parts of the facade fell several times on the promenade in front of the building.
After the closure, Trump enforced in court that his name be removed from the facade.
The real estate mogul feared that the vacant skyscraper could damage its reputation.
He himself had largely withdrawn from Atlantic City in 2009 after several bankruptcy filings for companies from his casino empire.
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Now the controlled demolition took place.
TV pictures showed how a thick cloud of dust rose and pulled over the adjacent beach.
All that remained of the skyscraper was a large heap of rubble.
The building complex has belonged to billionaire Carl Icahn since 2016.
What Icahn wants to do with the area that is freed up is still unknown.
Much malice against the former owner
On the Internet, the symbolic images caused a lot of malice among Donald's opponents.
Many Twitter users shared pictures of the house being blown up and drew parallels with the career of the former US president who was voted out of office.
His long-time rival Hillary Clinton dropped a highly regarded tweet.
She shared a video of the demolition, laconically complemented by the wink-wink emoji.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small announced the demolition of the building last June after taking legal action over the danger to local residents.
In December he announced an auction for the right to pull the trigger on the detonation.
The proceeds should go to a youth organization.
The auction was later called off.
The blasting process in pictures
Source: REUTERS
Clouds of dust rise ...
Source: Getty Images
... then a pile of rubble remained
Source: REUTERS
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Nonetheless, Small proudly announced to the US financial broadcaster Bloomberg: "The Trump era in Atlantic City is officially ending".
As the "Guardian" reported, onlookers could watch the demolition from a safe distance for a fee of 10 dollars.
The Trump Plaza was Trump's first property in Atlantic City.
In the meantime, he owned four casinos in the gambling metropolis, in addition to Trump Plaza also the Trump World's Fair, Trump Marina and the Taj Mahal.
They were all closed between 1999 and 2016.
Trump Entertainment Resorts, the company that operated Trump's Atlantic City real estate, filed for bankruptcy three times between 2004 and 2014.