Guess King Philip will be asking for more taxpayer money based on the lack of sold out shows for Ghost.  

I get it, today is onnly the 12th, the show starts Saturday, goes through next Friday except no show on Monday, and I understand that people do by tickets at the door.  Still it's an indicator that people are NOT FLOCKING to Proctors for this show.

But as of right now, if you are a couple or a single, you can get seats in the following rows

Show               Couples     Singles
Saturday p.m.          12          2
Saturday night         26          1
Sunday p.m.            22          3
Tuesday night          20          1
Wednesday night        18          7
Thursday p.m.          12          1
Thursday night         12          4
Friday night           22          1     



Wonder how the guy, the family, the extended family will do with the taxpayers subsidize his/their ticket prices.   Or a guy without a date.




But also can't help but copy this post from another thread

Quoted from Libertarian4life

The Holiday Inn is a division of Proctor's.

All the performer's buses are parked on Franklin St regularly.

True, there are some shows that run on Broadway in NYC and some people will say that it's better to go to Proctors.

Frankly, the overwhelming majority of people would choose to go to NYC for a show.  Yes, a little more expensive for the show prices, and most will take go via an organized bus tour so there is that price, but you it's fun, you get away for the day, there is time for a meal at a much better restaurant than what is in Schenectady, there are sights to see, and there is time for shopping.   Except for a very small selection of books (at a much higher price than you can get elsewhere, moist everything is "used" stuff.   There is Lennons if you are looking for coffee mugs and such with ONLY Irish theme.  Otherwise, there IS NO SHOPPING IN DOWNTOWN SCHENECTADY!!!!!!!

broadway theaters pack the house because some are much smaller than the Schenectady's money pit

note - they also sell discounted tickets at times square daily - fill the spaces

While a sold out performance is desired, the theater doesn't have to be sold out to make a profit.  

if nothing else, it will help the hurting businesses in the area........just with the cast alone. They  need a place to sleep, eat and drink. I don't know if it still stands, but the cast usually gets a free or discounted rate on all of the above.

This is what I don't understand, these shows have to be spending money locally, but why can't we ever see some numbers like here is the number of hotel rooms rented for x dollars, local restaurants showing we sold approximately x dollars worth of food higher than usual numbers? As for other businesses downtown, they aren't making money off these shows because THEY DO NOT EXIST. Downtown does not have stores as we know them any more. If some local business makes a few dollars when these shows are in town, the reason these places are 'hurting' is because they have to pay the taxes for the non-profit making Proctor's and the subsidized restaurants it supports. So, unless someone can show me the appropriate numbers to back this "economic engine" stuff up, I'm assuming it's a wash.I don't mind that we have a local theater that has shows, I think it is rather nice to have, but I don't like how it has grown into this big thing that we have to keep giving tax breaks to, and putting money into, with all these connected types making unwarranted large salaries and so forth, all because it is "good", when nobody can show the "good" in dollars and cents. It is a mysterious black hole that sucks in money. If it can turn a profit without filling all the seats, why isn't it a tax-paying, for profit business?
Why was Mr. Cuthbert escorted out under police guard for saying the city should get a bigger share of tax money? I'm thinking that the cast and crew are doing most of their spending in places like Crossgates and on Wolf Road, because they probably aren't purchasing used sofas an Jay Street to take back home with them. That's is probably why they expect to spend $30k on rental cars, so they can get the heck away from downtown to somewhere there are actually places to shop.

Businesses are hurting paying high taxes...
Taxes support Proctors etc that draw people to downtown...
Without something to draw people to downtown the businesses die...
A vicious circle.

I'm not a resident of Schdy county although I did work there for a number of years.  The ONLY reason
that I go to downtown is occasionally to Proctors (once or twice a year), and to shop at the Farmers
Market (GreenMarket) that is for the winter months located in the Proctors Bldg.

I make it a point when in town to stop at Villa Italia (for cannolis), at Perreca's for bread or lunch.
I've stopped at Bombers Burrito and I've shopped/eaten at a few of the Jay Street shops.

The point is... Proctors keeps us coming to downtown, and when there we discovered other places that
we now shop downtown.
I don't know if initially funding Proctors was a good idea, but now that you've all spent the money, why
not reap what little benefit there is from the project?

Schenectady is trying to buck the trend that "tax free" or "enterprise zones" actually do not benefit the entire city over the long run....
The only entities that seem to benefit are the business owners and out of town patrons... Box's post of when and why he comes to Schenectady is a perfect example of that.
An example of abuse of these zones  is Proctors "art" tax exemption that includes their side businesses of sub-contracting trash and heating services to other business in the corridor

The residents of the city don't benefit from those zones one bit, because there is no appreciable tax income that goes DIRECTLY to the city. So, we still have pools that can't open during the summer, parks that are dilapidated, and an essential bridge that will be closed for YEARS ..because the city doesn't have the money..
Now, I realize that Amtrak and/or Conrail is responsible for the bridge, but even McCarthy said himself, the city would have fixed the bridge and then sued the entities for reimbursement if  they had he money....but they don't.
The Erie Blvd beautification project is another example of the icing before the cake. The money that has been spent on that project could have been used to fix the oak street bridge as well.

Quoted from 55tbird

The residents of the city don't benefit from those zones one bit, because there is no appreciable tax income that goes DIRECTLY to the city.

Doesn't a portion of every dollar in sales tax that I and other out of town people like me
spend in Schdy, go to both Schdy county and the City of Schdy?

Quoted from Box A Rox

Doesn't a portion of every dollar in sales tax that I and other out of town people like me
spend in Schdy, go to both Schdy county and the City of Schdy?

A portion, yes, but not the entire portion like a property tax charge would ...
I stand by my claim that the vast majority of benefit from the money spent to build downtown goes to the businesses there and patrons (who are disproportionately from out of town) that frequent these businesses.

Quoted from 55tbird

A portion, yes, but not the entire portion like a property tax charge would ...
I stand by my claim that the vast majority of benefit from the money spent to build downtown goes to the businesses there and patrons (who are disproportionately from out of town) that frequent these businesses.

Do the downtown businesses employ Schdy residents?
Do those residents pay taxes and spend their income in Schdy???

To get a clear picture if the Proctors project is a plus or a minus, you need to compare Downtown
to what it was in the 70's and consider what it would look like today with out an economic stimulus to
promote the city through things like property tax breaks and tax incentives.  

"Do the downtown businesses employ Schdy residents?" some, but certainly not the higher paying mgt jobs,,,Most likely in the minimum wage jobs you despise
"Do those residents pay taxes and spend their income in Schdy???" odds are those employees are renters and pay no direct taxes the city
NO one wants to live in the city if they don't have to...residency requirements for firefighters and police have been dropped or ignored.

"To get a clear picture if the Proctors project is a plus or a minus, you need to compare Downtown
to what it was in the 70's and consider what it would look like today with out an economic stimulus to
promote the city through things like property tax breaks and tax incentives.  "

I have no problem with the construction downtown.. I have a problem with the waste and the incentives... if they are offered at all.,they should not be infinite. As far as waste, google "the big house schenectady" and read away....
The ONLY thing that has improved since the 70's is downtown... Neighborhoods like Brandywine ave and Mcclellan street that were respectable in the 70's are now warzones...one step up from Hamilton hill ...Mount Pleasant went from one step from Hamilton hill to the Hamilton Hill annex...

Take a look at housing values in Schenectady County, they haven't improved either...the spending spree downtown has only benefitted downtown and the people who frequent it.

I was recently looking at an old copy of the Schenectady Gazette. There were all these advertisements for downtown businesses in it. This was a paper from the 1970's. Downtown does not have any more businesses now than then. Plenty of people have come downtown all along to Perreca's or those other places, with or without going to Proctor's. If people come to downtown and we get a small amount of sales tax, but we subsidize these new places, that cancels out any benefit from sales taxes, by far. It doesn't do any good for me, for the reasons 55bird has pointed out. The "created jobs" downtown are mostly jobs that already are filled by someone, usually someone who does not live here.
Downtown is a money sucking scam, for the benefit of a few people, most of whom don't live here. People are having their homes taken away from them because they can't afford the taxes, and people like Gary McCarthy are giving our money away to connected individuals. Outrageous and indefensible.

Quoted from Box A Rox

Doesn't a portion of every dollar in sales tax that I and other out of town people like me
spend in Schdy, go to both Schdy county and the City of Schdy?

the portion if it wasn't sucked up by metroplex and the towns that generated the $ could use it

Quoted from Box A Rox

Do the downtown businesses employ Schdy residents?
Do those residents pay taxes and spend their income in Schdy???

To get a clear picture if the Proctors project is a plus or a minus, you need to compare Downtown
to what it was in the 70's and consider what it would look like today with out an economic stimulus to
promote the city through things like property tax breaks and tax incentives.  

a clear picture  -schdy's downtown has been rebuilt at least twice around since proctors rebirth in the late 70's and it still is not working  - will third time be necessary

let progress take its toll  - the buildings will be come vacant and eventually the land will be vacant and then developers will see value of larger lots  maybe the city will change to a suburb

open your blindered eyes to CHANGE  it is important in life