A public debate about casinos could soon be raging in Schenectady, where a more than $100 million project to transform the former American Locomotive Co. site into a hip, pedestrian-friendly destination could include a gambling establishment, say several people familiar with the plan.
But city and county officials are tight-lipped about the controversial issue, which has already divided some communities and may do the same in Schenectady County.
The mixed-use building project calls for 25 condominium units, a 30,000-square-foot supermarket, a movie studio, a 124-bed hotel, apartments and retail space, according to preliminary renderings recently submitted to the city's development department.
The Galesi Group of Rotterdam is scheduled to appear before the Planning Commission at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at City Hall to present a preview of the project, which is in the waterfront commercial district. The firm will be looking for feedback from the eight-member panel. No final decisions will be made at the meeting.
"We want it to be a destination, an urban-style walkable community that complements all the development happening downtown," said David Buicko, The Galesi Group's chief operating officer, of the roughly 60-acre site at 301 Nott St. "We're creating a lifestyle center here; it's new urbanism."
We are advised NOT to judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works.
I have to say, with all the cities and towns around, in the news there has been talk of "we have a spot" and nothing was talked about for Schenectady
However, not speaking in favor nor against casinos and gambling, WE ALL KNOW that it is an UNDISPUTABLE FACT that this will NOT help Schenectady, but rather will merely help a multibillionaire become a multi-trillionaire.
The financially struggling homeowners in the city have a birthright entitlement to know, first, WHY a multibillionaire is exempt from paying taxes -- lost revenue to the city which the financially struggling homeowners must make up the difference.
These gambling places are intended to help the cities they are in, but it will NOT help Schenectady city or county when it will be tax exempt.
We all know that the big DV will be coming on here posting his cheers and praise for this project, he will say it's a great idea, etc, but as usual WE ALL KNOW that DV will absolutely REFUSE to answer the question of how an increase in taxes on the homeowners which will then result in even more houses being put up for sale which will result a bigger glut of houses on the market which will result in even more reduction in home sale prices and property values will be good for the city and it's residents.
The FACT is and it is supported by overwhelming amount of EVIDENCE that all these taxpayer funded projects and all these tax exemptions for downtown and the Galesi properties is NOT attracting outsiders to move into the city. People might take a bus trip to see a show at Proctors, but then they flee the city, they do not linger around and spend money in the city as proven by the EVIDENCE of sales tax revenue regularly going down in Schenectady Co. These visitors come for the quick show and then flee, and DV cannot provide one teeny weeny shred of evidence to the contrary.
Yep watch him post "the mayor and his dem team are going a wonderful job, this project is going to be great....." and other nonsense babble, but NOT ONE WORD to explain HOW it will benefit the city (when the taxes on the homeowners goes up and all the negative results from that).
Yes, DV, you can spew babble, but we DEFY you to explalin how the wild uncontrolled spending on downtown has caused what is probably the biggest drop in property values in modern times in the city and the EVIDENCE is the equalization rate and the RAR.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
A Casino is the last thing Schenectady needs! There are many welfare residents living in Schenectady and they will become gambling addicts. They will break in to people's homes to steal money to gamble. Crime in Schenectady will go up more than it already is. We have a City that is struggling because of free tax payers giveaway to The Galesi Group. We don't need more apartments in Schenectady there are over 1,000 houses the City of Schenectady has foreclosed on. What are we going to do with the surplus housing stock add more??? The ALCO site is property tax exempt so the City of Schenectady will not be collecting any property taxes on it so the Schenectady taxpayers will have to absorb the cost just like DOWNTOWN. What GALESI needs to do is build manufacturing plants on the ALCO site that will create thousands of jobs so people can work now that will be a success story not this crap!
A Casino is the last thing Schenectady needs! There are many welfare residents living in Schenectady and they will become gambling addicts. They will break in to people's homes to steal money to gamble. Crime in Schenectady will go up more than it already is. We have a City that is struggling because of free tax payers giveaway to The Galesi Group. We don't need more apartments in Schenectady there are over 1,000 houses the City of Schenectady has foreclosed on. What are we going to do with the surplus housing stock add more??? The ALCO site is property tax exempt so the City of Schenectady will not be collecting any property taxes on it so the Schenectady taxpayers will have to absorb the cost just like DOWNTOWN. What GALESI needs to do is build manufacturing plants on the ALCO site that will create thousands of jobs so people can work now that will be a success story not this crap!
I agree and disagree. I am not a fan of casinos...but one is going to land 'somewhere' in the area. Amsterdam and Rennselear want one. Saratoga said 'no'....for now anyway. And if everyone is suppose to be responsible for their own actions.....if a welfare recipient wants to become a gambling addict....oh well...that's 'their choice'! There are plenty of working folks who are addicted to gambling....their choice.
As far as creating manufacturing plants...those days are done for a while. We can't compete with China and other countries labor costs. It would create a 'global price war'. Also...kids that are coming out of high school....haven't even gone to college yet.....are already creating websites, apps and games for smart phones. There are websites out there that are paying these kids $$$ to create games/apps. These kids aren't going to build cars or homes or turbines.
With this said.......a casino will only provide low paying jobs and will only fuel the sales tax base with oils the METROPLEX/GILLEN machine. On the flip side, it would be a new customer base for drug dealers and prostitutes....imho!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
A Casino is the last thing Schenectady needs! There are many welfare residents living in Schenectady and they will become gambling addicts. They will break in to people's homes to steal money to gamble. Crime in Schenectady will go up more than it already is. We have a City that is struggling because of free tax payers giveaway to The Galesi Group. We don't need more apartments in Schenectady there are over 1,000 houses the City of Schenectady has foreclosed on. What are we going to do with the surplus housing stock add more??? The ALCO site is property tax exempt so the City of Schenectady will not be collecting any property taxes on it so the Schenectady taxpayers will have to absorb the cost just like DOWNTOWN. What GALESI needs to do is build manufacturing plants on the ALCO site that will create thousands of jobs so people can work now that will be a success story not this crap!
This an old tired argument of the anti-casino crowd... There is PLENTY of opportunity to gamble in Schenectady right now... Sit in any convenience store in the city for an hour and you will see who is buying lotto tickets and how much they are spending... add to that, OTB.
Using the above analogy, we could eliminate Alcohol abuse in the city by shutting down the bars and banning Alcohol sales... Bottom line, you can not legislate peoples behavior... if they want to gamble or drink, they WILL find a way.. regardless of where they are.
With that said.. ANY casino in Schenectady should be paying ALL taxes... sales and PROPERTY... if they don't then I would oppose it on those grounds.
"Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock out the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it is victorious." - Author Unknown
I am aware of the social ills with a casino but we have to ask ourselves is it worth it? What kind of jobs will it create low paying or high paying? How many jobs will it create? Will The Galesi Group pay any property taxes on 60 acres of prime real estate? The Galesi Group paid $100,000 for 60 acres which is a great deal. They will become trillionaires on the backs of Schenectady residents is that worth it? Will Schenectady County and City of Schenectady collect tax revenues that will be beneficial for taxpayers such as a property tax cut or will the City and County find new ways to waste tax payers dollars? If The Galesi Group pays dollar for dollar property taxes on 60 acres of land and sales tax I support a casino in Schenectady. Maybe then the rewards outweighs the risk. But if Galesi gets more tax breaks and grants on top of a casino deal it is a bad deal for Schenectady!
The following deal should give you a good indication on how the deal at Alco will look in the future. The county/city took land that was occupied by a tax paying property and they will take it over and then exempt the property from taxes forever and then they will lease the property. In this case below they took aver land and then sold out and the county received a lump sum lease payment of $250,000 for a 40 year lease. That amounts to $6,250 per year ($250,000/40years) This $11.6 million dollar property generates no realestate taxes and cannibalized the rental property in the Stockade. The propertys 69 units generate $496,800 per year (69 units times $600 per unit times 12 months) on a property leased for $6,250. Quite a DEAL!
217 State street is a little over 100 units and it is assessed at $2,375,000 and generates City tax bills of $49,861 in 2013. Interestingly enough they were assessed at $4,132,900 in 2007 and generated a city tax bill of $75,681. They are saving $25,000 a year by grieving their taxes.
I am sure they benefited from this new tax exempt building.
The fact is that this new Alco project will further squeeze the Stockade Apartment values and will create vacancies. Good luck to them in paying their taxes.
United Group proposes $11.6M student housing complex for SCCC
The United Group of Cos. wants to build more private, off-campus student apartments in upstate New York, this time near Schenectady County Community College.
The United Group, based in Troy, is pursuing an $11.6 million, 69-unit apartment building at 117 Washington Ave., directly across from SCCC in downtown Schenectady.
“Schenectady County Community College is growing very quickly,” said Jeffery Buell, development executive at United Group. “They have some very unique programs that draw students from outside and close to the area. Studies have shown they need the housing.”
SCCC President Quintin Bullock said a survey found strong interest among the 6,500 full- and part-time students for housing near campus.
“We recruit from all the surrounding counties,” Bullock said. “With the cost of gas, students do not want to commute 50 to 60 miles a day.”
Since state law forbids community colleges from owning dormitories, it is up to private developers to meet the housing needs off-campus.
The 69 fully furnished units would have 264 beds. Lease rates would be in the $600 range, including utilities.
The apartments would be built by BBL Construction Services LLC in Albany.
“We’ve done a number of projects with United,” said Jon deForest, executive vice president at BBL. “We’re finishing up one in Troy. We’re really excited to be working with them again.”
The site being targeted for the 112,000-square-foot apartment complex is the same one that was eyed by developers in 2008, but that project never came to fruition because financing dried up during the recession.
Under the proposed new deal, the United Group would sublease the land from the Schenectady County Industrial Development Agency.
County government would receive a $250,000 lump-sum payment in 2012 on the 40-year lease, according to the county’s commissioner of economic development and planning, Ray Gillen.
The Schenectady County Legislature scheduled a public hearing and vote on the lease Aug. 12.
If all goes according to plan, construction could begin in the fall, Buell said. The apartment complex would be called College Suites at Washington Square.
The United Group is finishing a 48-unit student housing development in downtown Troy that’s expected to be ready by the time college students return this fall.
The Troy facility, called CityStation, includes 17,000 square feet of retail space.
There is no retail space planned for the Schenectady apartments.
The United Group has also built and manages more than 2,000 student housing units in Albany, Cortland, Brockport Plattsburgh, and Oswego, among other locations.
Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid - John Wayne
TIP TO NEW VISITORS TO THIS FORUM - To improve your blogging pleasure it is recommended to ignore (Through editing your prefere) the posts of the following bloggers - DemocraticVoiceofReason, Scotsgod08 and Smoking Bananas. They continually go off topic, do not provide facts and make irrational remarks. If you do not believe me, this can be proven by their reputation scores or by a sampling of their posts.
Let's not forget, there is still a nuclear reactor on this parcel.
We are advised NOT to judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works.
THE JOBS ARE FREAKING PRICELESS....we're talking upward mobility here...
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What Is the Salary Range for a Casino Dealer?
Overview
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Stockxpert/logos
The odds of a casino dealer earning tips are comparable to the odds of a player winning a game. Casino dealers rely on tips for income, and tips come from winning players. Volatile daily and weekly earnings make a career in this field risky. A few lucky dealers earn stratospheric amounts, while others earn just enough to meet the adequate income necessary to meet basic living expenses. Learn how to play the game before setting a bet on a career in the casinos.
Salary
The national average base pay for a casino dealer is $14,700 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but that figure does not include company benefits and tips. The total salary earned annually averages $32,000 to $58,000 a year, which may include benefits such as disability, health insurance, and pension, along with tips that account for roughly 50 to 80 percent of that salary. Most casinos offer minimum wage as starting base pay, while other casinos start base pay around $7.00 to $8.00 an hour. Some companies may also offer small periodic raises. New dealers work at unpopular tables until they master a game and move on to other opportunities or higher paying tables. Casinos offer numerous table games, so each dealer works at a table game that he or she has mastered, but no table game guarantees more income than any other game. Experienced dealers, with a clean work record, may move through the ranks and become a supervisor or pit manager, who earns an average salary of $60,000 a year.
Variables
Various circumstances influence income potential for a casino dealer. Supervisors assign dealers to table games for maximum income potential and customer satisfaction. These decisions include variables such as personality and physical features, while also employing the art of optical illusion. For instance, husky dealers do not work on the podium, so guests can move around easier, and placing shorter dealers in the craps pit creates an illusion of an inferior dealer, attracting players into that arena. During slow seasons, or periods of recession, dealers earn fewer tips and have work hours reduced, which inevitably affect the base pay and some benefits as well. Weather conditions, the time of year, and other factors provoke or inhibit potential earnings.
Tips
A new era of gratuity enters the casino workplace as casinos employ second and third-generation tipping. Some casinos allow the dealers to keep the tips earned from the shift, yet other casinos put each dealer's tips into a pool so all the dealers share the total of tips earned, splitting them equally at the end of the shift. Dealers may employ third-generation tipping when he or she compensates other workers who drive business to the table. For example, a wait staff may refer customers or seat winning players. If a dealer earns tips from those customers, he or she shares them with the wait staff, in addition to sharing tips earned if required. The dealer, who compensates those workers well, receives a constant flow of players to his or her table, builds strong interpersonal relationships, and promotes a vibrant working environment that increases job satisfaction and income potential.
Misconceptions
Fantasy averages attract new dealers into the field, with the premise of earning a disproportionate salary. These averages come from unreliable, inaccurate earnings estimates stemming from an impressive earning amount and determining annual earnings based on that one high figure. For instance, if a casino dealer made $2,000 one week and multiplies that weeks earning by 52, the assumed annual salary is $100,000 a year. Those estimates do not represent the accurate annual earnings of any casino dealer or recreation worker. Furthermore, predicting income by tips expected from winnings do not represent the actual tips earned, as customers do not always tip as recommended. Other times, pit managers may ask the players to leave if they are winning too much, which also disrupts the flow of tips.
Time Frame
A dealer's salary may depend on timing. Nightshifts are busy hours in the casino, so dealers can earn more, but morning shifts are slow hours in the casino, where new dealers practice technique and skill, and eventually work up to the more popular tables and shifts. High-end clientele can patronize the casino at any hour, and high rollers tip well. During busy seasons, dealers can expect more work hours and higher tip income. During slow shifts or off seasons, dealers may request to leave the shift or stay and earn the base salary. The small income earned in these seasons offset the income earned during busy seasons. In addition, most casino dealers work an hour at a table before relieved by another dealer for a twenty-minute break. An unlucky dealer may leave the table for break, just as a player hits a winning streak and tips generously with each win.
SCCC gambles on gaming degree Casino management program will train supervisors for jobs By Scott Waldman Updated 9:58 pm, Wednesday, March 20, 2013
0 Larger | Smaller Printable Version Email This Font Latest News Photos: SUNY Fredonia, Niskayuna in harmony Band strikes up for education funding Scotia man arrested on child porn charges Where to watch St. Patrick's Day parades In advance of the state's plan to expand casino gambling upstate, one local community college is adding a degree program in casino gaming management.
Schenectady County Community College announced Wednesday that it would roll out an associate degree in casino management program next fall. The school has a track record of creating degree programs that can lead to jobs after graduation, and industry leaders approached SCCC to say a growing number of casino management jobs would be open in the next few years.
"We have clear evidence this is a field where there are employment opportunity in a number of different areas, it seems like a natural fit," said Angela Prestigiacomo, the assistant vice president for academic affairs.
SCCC's program will be a two-year, 60-credit course load. It will eventually enroll 30 full-time students and 15 part-time students. Students will take courses including introduction to the gaming industry, casino gaming operations, gaming regulatory issues, statistics, non-gaming operations and casino security and surveillance. They'll also be required to complete coursework in recognizing the signs of gambling addiction and the laws governing gambling. The school consulted with officials from the New York Gaming Association as well as Saratoga Casino and Raceway to develop the program.
The school is hiring one position, which pays at least $42,000, to oversee the program and will build additional courses with its existing faculty in the culinary and hospitality programs, Prestigiacomo said. The median pay for gaming supervisors in New York is $18.14 an hour, which is about $38,000 annually, she said.
Community colleges have traditionally added degrees that lead to jobs upon graduation. In recent years, the school has added a battery storage technology degree to fulfill employment needs at the new GE battery factory in Schenectady as well as a nanoscale materials technology degree to help meet demands of the emerging local nanotechnology market.
"That's the way you grow your enrollment. That's the way you grow your stature in a community," said Denise Murphy McGraw, chairwoman of the school's board of trustees.
The program was ultimately created to fulfill existing casino employment needs, she said. The industry expects a 20 percent increase in casino management jobs by 2019. She said the timing was fortuitous: School officials sent in the paperwork for approval on the day of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address, when he announced his plan to expand casino gambling upstate. And while the state's proposal remains uncertain, she said the employment needs are increasing even if new casinos aren't built upstate.
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