Niagara Falls, N.Y., eyes future after casino opens in Canada

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000 | 4:14 a.m.

Open since 1996, the expanded Casino Niagara includes a 368-room Hyatt Hotel where each room has a view of the falls. It will feature a nearly 55,000-square-foot gaming area, a 1,500-seat theater, shopping areas, restaurants and a 3,000-car parking garage.

It should generate 12,000 full- and part-time jobs for the Niagara region, including 5,000 jobs at the casino itself. It is tentatively expected to open in 2003.

"The casino is a tremendous opportunity for Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Buffalo, but private developers in both cities need to build attractions that would tap into the tourist trade," Buffalo developer Paul L. Snyder, a member of the American-Canadian consortium building the new casino, told the Buffalo Evening News.

Critics, though, worry that a casino across the border will draw tourists away from the U.S. side.

"It's going to be devastating for hotels in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and for the city itself," said state Sen. Alfred Coppola, a Buffalo Democrat whose district includes Niagara Falls. "As the vacancy rate climbs, the assessment of the hotels will go down and the bottom will drop out of the tax base."

Coppola said the answer is for Niagara Falls, N.Y., to build its own casino to take advantage of the $40 million that goes to Casino Niagara every month. He is pushing to for a November referendum asking New Yorkers if they want casino gambling.