Cuomo and Casino Owner Credit HTC for Rivers Casino Opening

February 8, 2017 7:27 PM

On Wednesday, February 8, Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady had its grand public opening. Hundreds of people arrived early to be present as soon as the doors opened at noon. The casino has created roughly 1,200 jobs for upstate residents and is expected to improve Schenectady and the surrounding region.

Hotel Trades Council President Peter Ward attended a press conference today along with Governor Andrew Cuomo and Rivers Casino owner Neil Bluhm, Chairman of Rush Street Gaming.

At the press conference, Bluhm spoke on jobs created as well as Ward’s aid in passing legislation for upstate casinos, stating “I’d like to have a special thanks and recognize the tremendous job that Peter Ward has done… Without Peter’s great work we wouldn’t be here. He was very instrumental in getting the legislation enacted, welcomed us and we look forward to working with you, Peter, in the future.” 

Governor Cuomo added on in his speech, “I want to congratulate Peter Ward who is a great union leader who worked very hard to get this legislation passed and to make this facility a reality.”

Watch the full press conference here.