WE NEED A CASINO DOWNTOWN.ALL BUSINESSES WILL FLURISH AND NEW BUSINESSES WILL COME AUTOMATICALLY. CALL THE INDIAN COUNCIL AND MAKE THIS HAPPEN. JUST LOOK WHAT IT DID FOR THE CITY OF NIAGRA FALLS, ADDED REVENUE TO THE CITY AND CLEANED UP THE BUSINESS DISTRICT. THIS IS A MONEY MAKER FOR THE CITY ,NOT ANOTHER FERRY LOSER.

All the comments so far are good, but in my opinion Rochester will forever be under Buffalo. The city needs real business leaders with business sense. Of all the projects that failed such as Rennasiance Square and the Fast Ferry, Rochester, in other words, is becomming an embarrassment to New York State. Get some real people there. Bring in people who will bring the quality of life back to downtown.

The open door mission is the biggest problem next to the wild kids downtown!! Who in their right mind would want to come downtown to be harassed with the possibility of being assaulted or disrespected when you have so many other choices..zimmerman a real joke.. up until recently was advocating against developing the w.main area? for her own interests on the east side??? We need more than Luck we need real buisness owners involved not politicaly based downtown development company that has done nothing because they have no real buisness background its city tax money and hand outs from friends maggy duffy old mc donald and the leprecaun

History repeats itself, Fast Ferry, sunk, PAETEC deal in the wind. What great leaders we keep. Don't believe any of them.

toosmuuth4u a Casino will be better then a hole in the ground. It will bring jobs and growth. The money is now going to other places such as Turning Stone, Finger Lakes and Batavia. Paetec never made money? Correct. Did any city officials look at the books to see 1 billion in debt? A company that could not last with this business model. Duffy and company just wanted a deal and they did not want to see the reality. The believed the BS Chenois was giving out. Now Duffy is gone and we are stuck with an empty pit, no jobs and no growth for the city.

If there were *any* kinds of talks going on between PAETEC and a potential buyer, they should have been disclosed prior to engaging in the demolition of Midtown. Now, taxpayers are yet again on the hook to pay for this (taxpayers funded federal and state aid), and we'll end up with a hole in the center of downtown until another incentive-laden deal is brokered. I feel PAETEC has been dishonest with the taxpayers, the city, and its employees by keeping this secret.

Good commentary but let's be clear that a casino will bring people in but will not serve to develop the surrounding area or raise the quality of downtown. Just look at Atlantic City. A combined casino WITH contingencies to fund a percentage to the urban development and performing arts will do this. This way the funds will not be scooped up for other purposes and all the needs will be met. This worked in Niagara Falls as this is their agreement for the casinos. One comment on Paetec - the company never made money and the venture cap investors most likely put the heat on to recoup their investments. Here was a substantial offer on the table for a payout on their investment in Paetec - they had to take it. Aronis was a bit evasive in leading people around by the nose and then continuing to scale back plans but let's all be honest. This was overly ambitious from the beginning and the folks in government should have been more realistic.

One word....casino.

Weezer said it all! Downtown Rochester was booming, great stores, beautiful theaters, everyone went downtown to eat, shop, party, etc.. What happened? Who goes downtown now? Those that work and then have to pay parking. Maybe the high speed railway could fit in the empty Midtown space. Maybe all the politicians including Louise could get a ride out of town. It's almost time to see all the suits standing behind one of the politicians handing out more news, probably tell us that MCC is heading down there.

The First indoor mall in the country, hear in little ROCHESTER N.Y. Opened its doors,Aplil 10, 1962. THE FIRST IN THE COUNTRY. One million square feet of retail space, incluling McCurdys. Who had the best bakey ever,better than Sibleys, thank you very much. I watched all the big houses come down when I was a kid in Corn Hill. LETS LOOK ACROSS THE RIVER TO SEE THE BEAUTIFUL NEW CONSTRUCTION. I think we need to Get the Fast Ferry back, put it in the MUD HOLE THAT WAS MID TOWN, AND MAKE A CASINO OUT OF IT. Dont forget to look across, the street at the old ugly bldgs.with the posters trying to cover up their MESS. why do young people leave Rochester, THEY SHOULD RUN AS FAST AS POSSIABLE, GET OUT BEFORE SUNDOWN.GOOD JOB ROCHESTER, YOU GUYS ARE ON THE BALL, IM THINKIN.WHAT NEXT,LETS TEAR DOWN SIBLEYS, OR BETTER YET ALL OF DOWNTOWN.