Empire City Casino At Yonkers Raceway
Yonkers Raceway had a US$225 million renovation designed by EwingCole to put in more than 7,500 high-tech slot machines. The first phase opened on October 11, 2006, with 1,870 video gaming machines installed. Despite a "soft opening", with no major advertising or promotional campaigns, Yonkers netted $3.8 million in revenue in its first week, outpacing its nearest competitor, Saratoga Casino and Raceway, by two-thirds. The second phase of the project, which opened on December 28, 2006, added 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of space to bring the total number of slot machines to 4,000. On March 12, 2007, the third phase opened to bring the slot machine total to 5,300. Because the facility falls under state lottery laws, the minimum age to play the slot machines at Empire City is 18, unlike the other area casinos, where it is 21.
In 2009, they started using the Bo Diddley song "You Can't Judge A Book by Its Cover" in commercials.
On July 26, 2011, Empire City Casino broke ground to on a $40 million expansion that will include new restaurants as well as adding more slots and games. Opening of the extended building is scheduled some time in 2012.
Read more about this topic: Yonkers Raceway
Famous quotes containing the words empire and/or city:
“To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation that is governed by shopkeepers.”
—Adam Smith (1723–1790)
“There is a time of life somewhere between the sullen fugues of adolescence and the retrenchments of middle age when human nature becomes so absolutely absorbing one wants to be in the city constantly, even at the height of summer.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)