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Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh delivered the State of the City address on Thursday night, emphasizing the progress of Syracuse Surge — his ongoing plans to revitalize the city. He also outlined his future goals, such as introducing 2,500 units of housing to the city before the end of his term.

The event was held at City Center, where Walsh delivered the 2019 address that initially announced Syracuse Surge. Walsh spent the majority of the address discussing the plan, emphasizing its goals to improve housing and infrastructure while reducing poverty.

“I am proud to report the state of our city is growing,” Walsh said. “Syracuse is growing in ways that are generating energy, confidence and hope for the future.”

During the presentation, protestors in the audience interrupted multiple times, asking him to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Walsh responded to the demonstrators, saying “the death of all people, all innocent people is completely unacceptable,” but quickly continued with his remarks.

Patrona Jones-Rowser, common councilor for Syracuse’s 4th District, told attendees that she had taken Walsh on a tour of the city during the 2017 mayoral race. On the tour, she first emphasized her concerns about the housing crisis to Walsh.

“Although we needed to have infill projects, it was more for me about having not only affordable housing as rental units but also being able to offer people home ownership homes,” Jones-Rowser said. “As you’ve seen, in the RNI, the Resurgent Neighborhood Initiatives, those things have come to fruition.”

Half of the RNI’s goal of 200 new units of affordable single and two-family homes are already under construction, Walsh said. He added that construction on 40 more units will begin in 2024.

The city is also working to open additional affordable housing projects, including 500 units of mixed-income housing at the site of the former Syracuse Developmental Center and around 180 units of senior affordable housing at the vacant Maria Regina campus.

“Tonight, at a time of urgent need in our region, I am making a housing promise,” Walsh said. “Syracuse will have 2,500 new units of quality housing completed or underway before I leave office at the end of 2025.”

The city has also made efforts to improve the quality of available housing, Walsh said, citing the Syracuse Housing Study and new lead ordinance. Walsh said the city would continue to “rehabilitate” existing housing. The mayor added that, in the past six years, the number of vacant properties city-wide has decreased by 33%.

Walsh also announced the Syracuse Economic Development Corporation will launch the Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund, which will use $1 million in EPA funding to “support the redevelopment of longtime vacant and contaminated sites that are ready for reuse,” he said.

The mayor also provided updates on the plan to tear down Interstate 81 and create a community grid. He announced the city will release a vision plan for the project next month and that the first major mixed-use development design is being proposed by a developer “with a strong record of success.”

“Construction on this massive project started this past year and, despite litigation still trying to stop it, we will see significant work move into the city later this year,” Walsh said.

Walsh said that phase two of the Joint Schools Construction Board, a governing body that finances and plans reconstructing schools, totaled $300 million in improvements to nine schools. Under Governor Hochul’s $100 million budget increase, additional Syracuse city schools will be renovated over the next ten years.

He said that downtown Syracuse “continues to thrive” following the 80% increase in retail occupancy from 2022 to 2023.

“Just outside these windows in Armory Square, the business district that arguably took the biggest hit during the pandemic, is poised to be back and better than ever this year,” Walsh said.

Toward the end of the address, Walsh discussed the initiative under Syracuse Surge to train and prepare city residents, primarily women, veterans and people of color, to possess skills in the city’s new economic sectors like technology.

Led by CenterState CEO, Walsh said the program has put around 1,300 people through coding and digital skills training and 122 people through advanced manufacturing training with 60% of them already working. Syracuse Surge Accelerate, an incubator program, has five “dynamic businesses” that it will expand in 2024, he said.

Walsh also introduced plans to add free public Wi-Fi at public parks. Looking back, he highlighted the semi-automated trash pick-up system the city introduced last year and confirmed plans to expand the initiative to include recycling.

Walsh said the city has also made efforts to improve the financial viability of its sustainability initiatives, such as hiring outside experts to advise cash management. The city set a goal of bringing in $20 million of additional annual income, and will already be halfway to the goal by the end of the fiscal year in June, he said.

“As long as we stay on our course and continue to collaborate, Syracuse’s best days are still ahead of us, and I look forward to getting there together,” Walsh said.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article included a photo of County Executive Ryan McMahon. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on January 19, 2024 at 1:06 am

Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu