M&T Bank Center

Derrick Coon 5 months ago

Just got home from seeing Aaron Lewis at the M&T Bank Center here in Schenectady. Overall, it was a good experience, but I do have some gripes concerning parking and amenities here. Allow me to explain: The facility overall is easy to get to off of Harborside drive; however parking can be tricky here as the on-site lot fills up for “preferred” M&T Bank customer parking along with patrons from Druthers sharing the same lot. There is a lot adjacent from The Shaker & Vine but that’s a luck-of-the-draw scenario, you may get lucky and squeeze in there, same with the Rivers Casino parking, otherwise you have to park way out to Nott Street where the Golub Corp is located, and that’s quite a walk to the venue, which can be inconvenient. I understand this venue has growing pains as it is relatively new, but removing the preferred parking and expanding the existing parking lot attached to the venue would make much more sense. Concerning seating; my girlfriend and I were in section 8, and the seats here are CRAMPED like sardines, next to other patrons. I’m 6’5”, and I kept rubbing elbows to the gentleman to my left. Thankfully he was nice; otherwise it would have been a long night. Having s

Thomas Brock Edited 7 months ago

Impressive municipal ice rink for Union games. Great sight lines and arena is very lively. Sound travels well. Full bar with huge windows looking toward river. You can bring alchool throughout arena. Two full concession stands.

Jessie Ramona 9 months ago

Very modern looking, great acoustics, food is decent as far as arenas go, wheelchair accessible, easy to find your way around.

Lance Smith 9 months ago

As a college hockey fan, I was eager to visit the new arena for Union College hockey. I attended their game against Alaska on Dec. 13 to write this review. The sightlines are excellent. No bad seats in the arena. Only about 7 rows of seats from the ice make one right on top of the action. The fans at this game were loud and energetic, especially for a non conference game. The walkway making up that main concourse is wide so traffic flows well im both directions. The restrooms are clean and well maintained. The concession prices are somewhat higher than expected, especially compared to on-campus,arenas (this is not on the Union campus) but the quality is good. I tried the chili and it was delicious. Parking is fine (and free) if you arrive early as the nearby casiono has a very large parking lot where fans can park and walk a short distance to the arena. I give this new home for the Garnet Chargers high marks. Even though I'm a fan of their biggest rival, RPI, I'll come back here for more games.

Ryan Mazierski 10 months ago

M&T Bank Center is a nice multi-purpose venue located in downtown Schenectady. The arena is home to the Union College men’s and women’s hockey teams. Capacity for hockey games is 2,200 and the arena can fit up to 3,600 for other events. For Union College hockey the M&T Bank Center replaces the Achilles Center. The new stadium is definitely an upgrade over the Achilles Center. The seats are set up in a bowl arrangement. Sightlines to the ice are excellent. No seat is very far away from the action. All seats are plastic chairbacks. In some areas of the arena there are drink rails where you can stand and watch the game. There are multiple concession stands and a full service bar which is better than what was at the Achilles Center. Prices at the concession stands are normal by stadium prices and the food is good. There is also a nice team gear store located near the front entrance. Although the area around M&T seems to have many parking spots, parking can be a problem here especially when the casino or nearby restaurants are busy. The sound system in the arena is substandard and it can be hard to hear the PA announcer. There are many luxury suites in the arena, which in itself is not