New York City’s only casino, the Resorts World New York City, is now in the second week of its fifth anniversary celebration. The official birthday was last Friday, October 28th, but the festivities will continue through the upcoming weekend as well. In alignment with their focus of building a strong relationship with the local community, the casino has planned a series of special events to mark the anniversary.

Launched in 2011 as a state-of-the-art casino and race track in South Ozone Park in Queens, NYC, RWNYC has been building a healthy customer base by providing both entertainment and support to its local audience. Offering a two-level, 175 square feet casino structure that holds over 5,500 slot machines and more than 400 table games,  the casino became the number one gambling destination in New York City, providing entertainment for over 10 million visitors per year and employing thousands of locals.

Throughout its five year run, the casino has remained the highest grossing casino in the area, but also one of the leading supporters of the state’s Education Found. According to their official press release, in the last year alone RWNYC has generated $390 million for New York’s Education Fund, far exceeding the contribution of any other gambling venue in the state, except for the state’s Lottery.

During Superstorm Sandy, RWNYC ceased operations and acted as a central base for emergency preparation and recovery, all of their own volition. And even today, the casino is strongly involved with the National Guard, the local civic associations and community boards.

To kick off the” Anniversary Week”, RWNYC invited a Van Halen Tribute band to perform at the 360 bar last Wednesday. However, their main events started off on Friday with an ESPN broadcast on their large 16′ x 28’screen that was followed by a variety of bands and musicians during the weekend. The festivities will continue for the rest of this week.