{"id":17454,"date":"2015-12-23T12:10:51","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T20:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=17454"},"modified":"2015-12-23T12:10:51","modified_gmt":"2015-12-23T20:10:51","slug":"new-york-blesses-three-casinos-sinatra-hangout-resurrected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/new-york-blesses-three-casinos-sinatra-hangout-resurrected\/","title":{"rendered":"New York blesses three casinos; Sinatra hangout resurrected"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not a discouraging word was to be heard as the New York State Gaming Commission<\/strong> unanimously approved licenses<\/a> for three casinos in various \"Rivers<\/a>upstate market. (Tioga Downs<\/strong>‘ turn comes later, as it was delayed entrant to the process.) This removes the uncertainty \u00a0and frustration that were dogging\u00a0$320-million Rivers Casino & Resort<\/strong> at Mohawk Harbor<\/strong>, near Schenectady<\/strong>,\u00a0$425-million Lago Resort & Casino<\/strong> and the big dog,\u00a0$1.3-billion Montreign Resort Casino<\/strong>, in the Catskills<\/strong>. Montreign developer and Genting Group<\/strong> subsidiary Empire Resorts<\/strong> certainly isn’t thinking small about the casino: 90,000 square feet of gambling that will include 102 tables and 2,150 slots. It’s part of a bigger resort project, Adelaar<\/strong>, that will supplement Montreign’s charms with an indoor water park and a golf course. Now Empire can stop just moving dirt around and get down to construction in earnest.<\/p>\n

Gaming Commission Chairman Robert Williams<\/strong> made the sort of remarks that are de rigeur<\/em> for such occasions, saying,\u00a0“New York State will soon realize the economic benefits of resort gaming destinations.\u00a0These projects will create thousands of jobs, bring much-needed economic development to long-stressed communities and drive revenue to support schools and local governments\u2014with zero taxpayer dollars.\u201d Uh yeah, no taxpayer dollars … unless you count what players will lose at the casinos. It’s a great day for the industry but, let’s face it, it’s new taxation by any other name.<\/p>\n

* Cross your fingers and hope that the owners of the Cal Neva Resort & Casino<\/strong> really mean it this time when they say they’ll reopen in May<\/a>. (Several previous reopening dates have been missed.) A plan to reboot the Cal Neva on Frank Sinatra<\/strong>‘s centenary, even had it succeeded, would have been risky, given the volatility of Lake Tahoe<\/strong> revenues in winter months. Owner Criswell Radovan LLC<\/strong> has been able to persuade Starwood Hotels<\/strong> to take over hotel operations at the Cal Neva, whose refurbishment has been slowed both by financing difficulties<\/a> and the age of the property itself, parts of which date back to 1937.<\/p>\n

Elements of the reborn Cal Neva are to include a non-smoking casino and a \u201ccarefully restored\u201d showroom. The iconic Circle Bar<\/strong> is to be preserved intact as well.\u00a0Criswell-Radovan informed Bay Area real estate paper The Registry<\/em> that, as for dining, \u201cThe resort\u2019s three restaurants will include a fine dining restaurant with an exhibition kitchen, a casual three-meal restaurant adjacent to the pool \u2013 which will also serve a daily breakfast buffet \u2013 and a third outpost with a retail component that will transition from a morning bakery\/caf\u00e9 to a gourmet pizza and wine kitchen in the afternoon.\u201d Interior designer Paul Duesing<\/strong> was tapped to lead the restoration team.<\/p>\n

The hotel had only a one-star rating and co-owner Robert Radovan<\/strong> hopes to get that up to a four-star ranking by giving the rooms \u201can elegant, clean, post-modern feel,\u201d by enlarging their windows and bathrooms, and bringing the amenities up to date. The outdoor pool would also be moved. (No more swimming back and forth across the California<\/strong>–Nevada<\/strong> state line. Party poopers.)\u00a0In addition to unspecified entertainment offerings, \u201clocal community events and recitals\u201d are promised for the showroom, which will be repainted, re-carpeted and have its sound system upgraded. \u201cThe acoustics in that place are amazing. The modernized equipment will allow for high-end concerts,\u201d Radovan told CTV News<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A return to a full-scale, 6,000-foot casino floor, with table games \u2013 managed by a third-party operator — also figures in Radovan\u2019s plans. Since the Cal Neva only has 191 hotel rooms and a smattering of cabins \u2013 of which Radovan figured to reopen five \u2013 it will be heavily dependent on the casino for its revenue stream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not a discouraging word was to be heard as the New York State Gaming Commission unanimously approved licenses for three casinos in various upstate market. (Tioga Downs‘ turn comes later, as it was delayed entrant to the process.) This removes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[65,120,140,76,91,101,25,31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17458,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17454\/revisions\/17458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}