Syracuse, N.Y. — With a speech that frequently looked back at goals he publicly set five years ago, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh used his 2024 State of the City address to identify progress made while also pointing to the importance of work his administration must do in its final two years.

During his 2019 address, Walsh launched his “Syracuse Surge” initiative aimed at fostering inclusive economic growth in the city. On Thursday, he returned to the same site as that speech, the City Center on South Salina Street. It’s a newly renovated commercial building in the city’s downtown where about 250 people now work for multiple employers.

The mayor said he chose the site, in the heart of the city that’s at the center of Central New York, because it reflects his chosen speech theme of proclaiming the need for Syracuse to be the center of regional growth.

“I am proud to report the state of our city is … growing,” Walsh told the crowd of about 350.

“Syracuse is growing in ways that are generating energy, confidence and hope for the future,” he added. “Growing in ways that are creating opportunity for those who have historically been left behind. Growing in ways that a vibrant and successful region must have at its center.”

In wide-ranging remarks that lasted about an hour, Walsh spoke about the importance of seizing opportunities that will come with the development of the Micron microchip campus north of the city and the removal of the Interstate 81 viaduct that has divided Syracuse for decades.

Walsh revisited four key goals that framed his 2019 address: Increasing economic investment and neighborhood stability; delivering city services effectively, efficiently and equitably; providing quality constituent engagement and response; and achieving fiscal sustainability.

“From that day to this, these objectives drive all of our work,” he said.

Walsh highlighted dozens of examples of how he believes those goals are being met across all city departments, while acknowledging that his administration still has considerable challenges. Those include an affordable housing shortage, several neighborhoods still struggling with high poverty levels and gun violence.

The mayor also had to deal with four brief disruptions as protestors of the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East interrupted his speech.

Tucked throughout the address were announcements about new initiatives or projects. Here are a few highlights:

More housing

The administration’s Resurgent Neighborhoods Initiative, which aimed to have 200 new units of infill single-family and two-family houses built on now-dormant parcels, is halfway toward that goal. Walsh said nonprofit affordable housing developer Home HeadQuarters plans to start work on 40 more homes this year. In addition, work will start soon on Housing Visions’ Creekside Landing project, which include 20 units on West Onondaga Street in partnership with Jubilee Homes and 16 two-family homes on the city’s south and west sides.

As previously reported by Syracuse.com, Walsh also announced two significant housing projects that have recently been submitted to city officials. One is a proposed 14-story, 300-unit apartment building on the city’s Near East Side and the other a 270-unit planned development at a former golf course on the city’s southeast corner. Walsh pledged that at least 2,500 units of new housing will be completed or under construction by the end of 2025, when his term as mayor ends.

New small business fund

Highlighting the importance of small neighborhood businesses, the mayor recognized the owners of the new Deli@700 on a former gas station site on South Geddes St. and noted their plans to open a new location in the former Luigi’s Restaurant on Valley Drive.

“We need more of these businesses,” he said.

To that end, he said the Syracuse Economic Development Corporation, a city agency, will launch the Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund that is seeded with $1 million from the federal government to support redevelopment of longtime vacant and contaminated sites

An I-81 street plan

Walsh said that next month he’ll be releasing the Interstate 81 Community Grid Vision Plan, which he described as “a full-throated endorsement of the community grid” that will lay out a pedestrian-focused vision for the street network once the elevated highway is replaced by a boulevard.

“The “north star” of the vision plan is people – not cars,” he said. “That means it puts the highest priority on pedestrians, bicycles, affordable housing, safe intersections and sidewalks.”

Honoring veterans

Walsh said that before Memorial Day, he’ll be declaring Syracuse as a Purple Heart City and install signs paying tribute to those who earned that military honor. He also said Syracuse will begin a “Hometown Heroes” program in which family members can sponsor banners on select city streets recognizing military-serving loved ones, living or deceased.

Safer Streets program

Walsh gave an update on the Safer Streets Initiative, which the council approved in August. The work will start next month to provide mentoring, job training, conflict resolution counseling and therapy for up to 50 gang members between the ages of 18 and 24. Participants also can earn internship pay for workforce-related activities, a provision that has generated some pushback.

“Instead of wringing our hands over the crisis of gun violence, Safer Streets is an example of how we must take the initiative to protect our youth,” Walsh said.

More free internet

Walsh said the city will expand on the city’s rollout of free broadband access in city buildings, community centers and, most recently, income-eligible homes in the Southwest, Near Westside and Brighton neighborhoods. In 2024, he said the city will start providing free public Wi-Fi service at its larger city parks.

Recycling carts coming

Walsh referenced some negative social media feedback he’s seen about the city’s rollout this year of 96-gallon trash carts that most residents must use for their garbage, a program aimed at reducing sanitation worker injuries through a hydraulic lift system. “‘Whoever decided this was a good idea and mandated it, should be fired,’” Walsh quoted from one message.

The mayor then raised his hand and grinned. “That’s this guy,” he said, referring to himself.

He went on to say that such comments are unavoidable with a sweeping change such as the cart program, but he said much of the feedback has been positive, including some people eager to see the same approach for recycling. Walsh said the administration’s goal is to launch a recycling pickup cart program this year, something that must go through the council.

New pedestrian trail

Walsh said the city’s parks and trails offerings will grow with a new project from downtown into the West Side. A $1 million grant secured through state Sen. Rachel May will allow design work to begin this year on the Westside Trail, which will run through Lipe Art Park, over the railroad bridges at South Geddes Street and up to the Tipp Hill neighborhood.