Gallery Billiards was opened in 1990 by John Affigne, who built on the renewed interest in pool inspired by Martin Scorsese’s 1986 film The Color of Money, starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. John’s goals were to attract the best players and to run the cleanest pool hall. This meant not only taking pride in the quality of the equipment and the establishment, but also maintaining a respectable business that could attract families for wholesome fun. He chose the name Gallery because he felt that billiards, when played at a high caliber, was like a painter crafting a masterpiece, hence Gallery's first logo: an art palette with pool balls spread across it like paints and the pool cue representing a paintbrush.

In 1994, Richard “Augie” Schnetzler bought the business and took it to the next level with a bold move. Since the 1920s, pool halls in New York State had been banned from serving adult beverages. After trying, with no luck, to interest other pool halls in joining him in a legal challenge to this law (which was absurd because, as he pointed out, bars were allowed to have pool tables), he went ahead by himself and won. In 1996 Gallery Billiards thus became the first NY pool hall to carry a full-service liquor license. Schnetzler also upgraded the tables to professional-level equipment to attract the best players.

Ruth Platt and Dave Pinkston bought Gallery from Schnetzler on October 1, 2001. It wasn’t easy to adapt and evolve in the wake of 9/11, but they cleaned the place up even more and strengthened the focus on pool while encouraging the games that are most popular with younger players. They also began to emphasize leagues, which are especially popular because their handicapping system allows players with a wide range of skills to compete on a level playing field, making it more fun.

Ruth and Dave have now been the longest-term owners of Gallery Billiards by a wide margin and have kept it going, and flourishing, even as all the other pool halls in Newburgh have faded away. Gallery Billiards is now the premiere pool hall in Orange County, used by many leagues and still attracting top-notch players. Gallery Billiards has been featured on the TLC reality show My Giant Life, and Spike TV filmed here for its series The Hustlers. It’s also been a setting for movies, most famously and clearly featured in A Vigilante, starring Olivia Wilde.

Today, Gallery commands widespread recognition all over the Northeast as being one of the best pool rooms. Many of the world's best players add Gallery as a tour stop on the way to the NE's largest tournament, the Super Billiard Expo. Earl Herring is a fixture; other great professionals that have visited Gallery include Johnny Archer, Buddy Hall, Dennis Hatch, Eklent Kaçi, Steve Mizerak, Rodney Morris, Alex Pagulayan, Jose Parica, Joann Mason Parker, George “Ginky” Sansouci, Jeremy Sossei, Earl Strickland, and Nick Varner. The owners continue to support the sport of billiards by hosting professional player exhibitions, organized matches, and their expansive APA league.

Writing by Steve Holtje