Resorts World Hudson Valley casino opening brings scores of gamblers
$5,000 Welcome Bonus
NEWBURGH — Within 20 minutes of arriving at the new casino in the Newburgh Mall, Christine Delong won $136. All from playing penny slots.
"You gotta do the 'max bet,'" she said, pointing to the button on the slot machine she was playing on, just a few yards from the casino entrance. Delong, 67, of Pleasant Valley, came to the Resorts World Hudson Valley grand opening with her son. They had been planning this trip for weeks.
"We're really excited to be here," she said, adding: "And I love gambling."
Delong finds peace when she sits down to play games, she said. Nobody bothers her, all other distractions melt away. She delights in the sounds, the spinning colors, the excitement in the atmosphere.
"I'm just doing my thing," she said.
Delong and her son were among the nearly 1,000 people who anxiously awaited the casino's grand opening on Wednesday morning in the town of Newburgh. Resorts World, owned by the Malaysian-based corporation Genting Group, made a show out of welcoming its first guests. A red carpet was rolled out in the concourse in front of the casino entrance for local dignitaries and other VIPs seated in a roped-off section. Behind them, a long line of restless patrons wended through the mall to the main entrance. There were confetti blasters and a dramatic, traditional Chinese lion dance by Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute performers.
The casino project took about a year to complete, said Robert DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East. He lauded the quick, yet thorough, approval process the business went through to open in the mall.
"Trust me, this doesn't happen in every community," he said. "So, my message is: If you want to open a business in Newburgh, do it. Because it's a great place to have a business."
Resorts World Hudson Valley cost about $50 million to build, and Genting has agreed to pay the town $3 million a year for hosting the casino. That arrangement includes a $500,000 payment Genting has already made to enhance police, fire and ambulance services, according to the Times Herald-Record.
Newburgh Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio credited the casino with saving the 40-year-old mall.
"If this entertainment center didn't come here, this mall would probably have closed," Piaquadio said during Wednesday's grand opening. "It probably would've been open just on weekends as a flea market."
The 60,000-square-foot gambling hall features 1,200 slots and electronic table games. More than 250 full-time employees, all of whom are part of a union and earn an average of $72,000 a year with benefits, have been hired to work at the casino. It is the third Resorts World casino in New York — the other larger, casino-hotels are in Monticello and Queens — and the ninth video-lottery facility in the state.
While Christine Delong was raking in cash at the penny slots, across the floor another avid gambler, Amy Swart, had already lost $100. Asked about her strategy for making up her losses, she laughed and said: "Keep gambling!"
She was looking for her favorite game, Queenie. She won $1,300 with a $1 bet when she played it a couple of weeks ago at Saratoga Casino Hotel. Swart, 61, of Saugerties, has been gambling for 20 years and still finds a thrill in trying to hit it big. Like Delong, Swart had been planning her opening-day trip for about a month. She came with her husband and friend. The new casino, she said, had thus far met her expectations.
"It seems bright and cheery and fun," Swart said. "And if I hit, it'll be even more fun."
