Opening Day Is Nigh for N.Y.’s Rivers Casino

The third of the Empire State’s four new casinos is scheduled to open its doors on February 8 and a spokesman expects it will be “big.” The $330 million Rivers Casino and Resort (l.) in Schenectady will feature 1,150 slots and 82 table games. A hotel and spa are on tap for later this year.

[mkdf_separator class_name=”” type=”normal” position=”center” color=”” border_style=”” width=”” thickness=”” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=””]

New York’s new Rivers Casino and Resort is looking forward to a warm public reception at its debut on February 8.

The Schenectady venue, the latest of four full-scale commercial casinos destined to change the New York gaming landscape, will feature a 51,000-square-foot gaming floor encompassing 1,150 machine games, 67 live table games and a 15-table poker room.

The entertainment offering includes a lounge and meetings and events space and an array of eateries and is slated to grow significantly with the addition this summer of a 165-room hotel and spa.

The property, whose total cost is pegged at $330 million, will employ 1,150 at full build-out.

“It’s going to be big,” said Charles Wiff of Gramercy Communications in Troy, which handles media relations for Rivers owner Rush Street Gaming of Chicago. “How big it is remains to be seen.”

Rivers, hyped as one of the anchors of Schenectady’s new Mohawk Harbor development of hotels, shopping outlets, office buildings and residences, will come on line a week after the planned opening of del Lago Resort and Casino in the state’s Finger Lakes region.

The first of the four casinos, Tioga Downs Casino & Racing, opened in December in the south-central part of the state. The last, Montreign, is slated to open in the Catskills in 2018.

Recent Articles

History Playbook

On This Day In Sports History

On August 18, 1982, the Dodgers and Cubs completed a 21-inning marathon (suspended after 17 innings the previous day due to darkness) with LA winning 2-1. Tommy Lasorda used all 25 players, including pitchers Bob Welch and Fernando Valenzuela in the outfield. Jerry Reuss closed out the 21-inning game for the win, then started the regularly scheduled game immediately after, pitching five innings for a 7-4 victory to earn two wins in a single day.

On This Day In Sports History

On August 17, 1984, "Charlie Hustle" returned to the Reds as player-manager, reinvigorated the franchise, and set the stage for Rose to eventually break Ty Cobb's all-time hits record in a Reds uniform at Riverfront Stadium just a year later.