Rensselaer

Don't hold your breath waiting for the "boutique casino" on the Rensselaer waterfront.

That would be the one announced Friday, the proposal that would include 1,000 video lottery terminals for Capital District Off-Track Betting and a hotel looking out toward the river and the Albany skyline. That plan is going nowhere fast.

In fact, several of the elected officials initially touted as its backers say they never agreed to support a project that would compete with the planned Schenectady casino.

"I was never informed that there was a rather grandiose plan for the Rensselaer waterfront," said Assemblymen Phil Steck, a Democrat from Colonie. "This wasn't how it was presented to us."

Of course, the Rensselaer site — dubbed DeLaet's Landing — was in the running for one of the state's gambling licenses. Capital District OTB was a partner in the Rensselaer plan. But, as everybody knows, Rensselaer and two other proposals lost. Schenectady won.

That was bitterly disappointing to Rensselaer officials. And they're not giving up the dream.

"We need assistance from the state. This would do it," Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyer said Friday when he announced the $50 million to $60 million plan.

Let's be honest, the Legislature is not going to support 1,000 VLTs — not in Rensselear or anywhere else in the Capital Region.

What Steck and other local lawmakers were willing to back was a plan for as many as 200 VLTs at Capital District OTB's existing location at 711 Central Ave. in Albany.

The legislators say they want to help a struggling operation that is bleeding jobs. They were shocked to be listed as supporters of a proposal that had morphed into something resembling a second regional casino.

"My goal in this was to provide options and opportunities on Central Avenue," said Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, a Democrat from Albany, and the Rensselaer proposal would provide "way too much competition for the Schenectady project."

Even Capital District OTB backpedaled on Monday.

"Rensselaer has this proposal, and it is their proposal," said Justin McCarthy, a spokesman. "But that is not OTB's agenda."

McCarthy noted that Capital District OTB has long wanted authority to operate VLT terminals, but he stressed that it has not proposed a specific location.

You have to believe there were some awkward conversations over the weekend. You can imagine that a state official or two was none too pleased by a proposal that seemed to circumvent the casino-selection process.

You also have to know that the Galesi Group, the Rotterdam company behind the Schenectady casino, which will have 1,150 VLTs, was not thrilled to see local politicians listed as supporting potential competition. They were probably especially displeased with supposed support from Steck and state Sen. George Amedore, both of whom represent at least part of Schenectady.

Amedore's office sent me a statement expressing concern "about the impact a large VLT facility in Rensselaer County will have on Saratoga Casino & Raceway, and the new casino that will be built in Schenectady."

Oh, that's right. I haven't even mentioned Saratoga, home to more than 1,700 VLTs.

How many VLT terminals can one region support?

"We're not looking to make the Capital District a gambling mecca," Steck said, later adding that "you can't have too many of these things in one location and have them all be successful."

That's exactly right. We don't even know that the Schenectady casino will succeed, not with big casinos planned for western Massachusetts and other locations in the Northeast.

Dwyer didn't return a phone call Monday, so I didn't get a chance to ask him about all this.

I'd suggest, though, that it's time for Dwyer and others in Rensselaer to give up the casino dream. It isn't going to happen.

That might even be for the best. Rensselaer has wonderful waterfront land to offer, a site that deserves better than a casino. The views of the water and downtown Albany are dramatic and unique. But they would mean nothing to a casino, which are usually built with no windows — all the better to keep the gamblers unaware of time's passage.

The Rensselaer site is perfect for apartments, restaurants or anything else that would take advantage of the view. The city has already received state money to build a promenade along the water.

If we keep our fingers crossed, maybe something cool will happen there someday, a project that will make the entire region a better place to live.

But a casino? It's not in the cards.

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