Philip Morris wants protections in place that would limit the impact that casino-based entertainment venues would have on his theater and others like it.
Morris, CEO of Proctors in Schenectady, and executives from a dozen other mid-sized venues in New York have concerns that the casino’s entertainment venues would negatively impact their business.
The casinos need the protection. Who would go to a casino when you can go see a fabulous show at proctors? Proctors could really hurt casinos chance of success.
What a big cry baby Morris is! He STEALS from the taxpayers by LYING on his STAR application in order to WILLFULLY AND DELIBERATELY double dip on his STAR exemption. He flees the high taxes in the city. He STEALS from the taxpayers (rather than trying to attract PRIVATE investors) to get a ceiling of gold. He runs SEVERAL FOR PROFIT businesses, fancy shows, lavish weddings, yet REFUSES to pay taxes. Calls it a non-for-profit (meaning serving the less fortunate) but REFUSES to put on even a modest holiday dinner on paper plates for the homeless at his lavish taxpayer funded banquet hall. He is such a whiner for money that he forces his volunteers pay in order to volunteer. He obviously had something to do with the parking fee, probably splitting the cost with the city. The taxpayers in the county pay his salary -- proven with line items in the county budget that total his salary. He just could not control his personal spending that he took out multiple mortgages on his Stockade house that he's so far underwater on his multiple mortgages he tries to sell the house for $100,000 more than even the city claims it's worth (and we ALL know that homes are selling for much less than the city claims they are worth.
Morris is in deep poop. Give him a roll of toilet paper.
Oh, and a piece of kleenex for his tears.
We have now made our choice for that proposition.
We could always hope that casinos would affect Proctors, that is, return Proctors to the volunteer organization it should be.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
I did not know that Proctor's is a business. I did not know that it is Morris' business, either. Morris does not live here, or pay taxes here, except on that under assessed house he can't get rid of.
The casinos need the protection. Who would go to a casino when you can go see a fabulous show at proctors? Proctors could really hurt casinos chance of success.
EXACTLY! This proves once again that Morris is for Morris. Taxpayers go to he%$. We don't need no jobs or revenue not grabbed from the oppressed County homeowners. Where's is the Proctor's Fair Share payment in lien of taxes? That's for Boys and Girls CVlub to pay. So what if Morris took Key Bank and another $80,000 a year in revenue permanently off the tax roll? County lifer Karen Johnson and next Mayor Perazzo need a place to hold more fund raisers.
Boys and Girls Club. A place for kids to go, besides school or their home, someone is there to keep an eye on them, when they are past the age for babysitters. Some of these kids have constant changes in their life, always on the move, but the club is one constant, familiar thing. We can't have that. I'm tired of all the sneaky, back-door ways 'we' keep trying to funnel money to one person, one person with no particular economic development expertise, quite the opposite. A person telling bald-faced lies about achievements, some of which never happened, others that were achievements, but were other people's achievements. I once saw a stage show at Proctor's, it was probably put on by SLOC or something like that, it was The Music Man. This was back during one of the decades that Proctor's was "vacant". It was ironic, the story of that musical is about one Harold Hill, a flim-flam man who comes to town and bamboozles the local hayseeds. Robert Preston was in the movie version.
I don't like how Morris is being held up before the public as somebody to be reckoned with. Whoever was running the show before he came to town didn't constantly have their face in the paper. See? I can't even remember who it was.
The arrival of General Electric led to rapid growth in Schenectady through the late 19th and early 20th century. The city's streetcar network made its downtown more accessible to the city. The vaudeville impresario Frederick Freeman Proctor chose to build his first theater in 1912. In the last years of his life, he decided to replace it.[2] It cost $1.5 million ($19.8 million in contemporary dollars[3]) to build and opened on December 27, 1926, with a showing of the silent film Stranded in Paris. The audience was so impressed by the lavish facilities that no one complained about the malfunctioning Wurlitzer organ.[4] Proctor had sound equipment installed two years later for the new sound films. Shortly before his death in 1929, Proctor sold his theater chain to RKO Pictures. The next year it was the site of the first public demonstration of television, when an orchestra performed under the direction of the image of a conductor in General Electric Research Laboratory approx 3 miles away.[4] The theatre had fallen into disrepair throughout the 1960s and '70s while population shifted and moved out of Schenectady. The theatre was going to be torn down for use of the plot as a parking lot until a group of activists joined together and created the Arts Districts of Schenectady. In the fall of 2007, Proctors finished a $24.5 million expansion. Several local firms were involved, including Stracher Roth Gilmore (architectural), Ryan-Biggs Associates (structural), M/E Engineering (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) and Adirondack Scenic (theatrical & rigging designers). The renovation added two theatres, making three separate theatre venues available for the public: Main Theatre, with a historic proscenium stage, seats about 2700 GE Black Box Theatre, which will seat 450. This multifunctional theatre has retractable seating. This will allow the space to be reconfigured in unusual ways for experimental performances. 440 Upstairs, this 100-seat theatre located in the Wright Family Building at 440 State Street will support smaller performances, such as one man/woman shows, jazz performances, or a place for playwrights to showcase new material with staged readings. In September 2007, upon completion of the expansion project, Proctor's Theatre changed its name to "Proctors" to reflect its three theatres.[5] On July 18, 2009, the theater won the Outstanding Historic Theatre Award, presented by the League of Historic American Theatres at their annual meeting in Cleveland. Proctors will host the group's convention in 2011.[6] Timeline of the expansion[edit] 2004: Replacement of the 25+ year-old roof Acoustic wall built in main theatre to improve sound quality Foundation work for new stagehouse begins 2005: $1 million sound system installed Revamped candy counter Tripling the size of the former stagehouse, including a three-bay enclosed loading dock, crossover, and new dressing & multi purpose rooms backstage 2006: Construction started for the GE Theatre, which includes 4,000 sq-flat floor theatre, 450 seats that are retractable, and a 60' x 60' wide-format screen and equipment known as iWERKS-ExtremeScreen. New carpet in the main theatre New furniture in the men's’ lounge of the main theatre Restoration of the Golub Arcade Creation of the Ed Sells & Eveline Ward-Sells Green Room Larger and improved gift shops Restoration on decorative plaster work and plaster Removal of paint from frosted glass panels and copper edging 2007: Additional construction of the former Carl Company 1st Floor: Completion of the GE Theatre New box office Expanded lobby space for easier patron traffic flow More restroom facilities for patrons 3-story atrium outside of GE Theatre Various retail outlets: Northeastern Fine Jewelry and The Muddy Cup Coffee House & Cafe 2nd Floor: Gallery & various conference spaces New administrative offices & board room 3rd Floor: TBD
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
It is interesting that they "restored" something called the "Golub Arcade". In fact, Morris and crew endangered the historic designation of that theater. He's been very destructive of the architecture downtown. They give him a free hand because they think he is some kind of genius or something.