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IN THE
The Syracuse Area Music Awards will take place at the Palace Theatre on Friday to honor local music artists. The event includes 13 different categories. Page 7
New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has proposed new protections for student loan borrowers and regulations of forprofit institutions. Page 3
PAINT SEE INSERT
Developing dialogue
Blueprint 15, announced by Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh this year, plans to redevelop housing adjacent to Interstate 81 on the South Side through heavy investment, anticipating a separate rezoning of properties in the city. dan lyon asst. photo editor By Patrick Linehan
Blueprint 15 plans to redevelop South Side area
staff writer
M
illions of dollars in promised investment and the planned rezoning of Syracuse is creating an opportune moment to discuss the redevelopment of one of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods, city leaders say. The creation of Blueprint 15, a nonprofit working to foster development in Syracuse’s Southside, marks the starting point of those discussions, said Sharon Owens, deputy mayor for the city. Owens is on Blueprint 15’s board, and the nonprofit works in partnership with the city. Blueprint 15, along with the Syracuse Housing Authority, is looking to redevelop the East Adams area — adjacent to Interstate 81 near Syracuse University — across more than 100 acres and 27 square blocks, according to the organization’s request for proposals. Blueprint 15 refers to the 15th Ward, a
once-prosperous predominately black neighborhood that was decimated by the construction of I-81 in the mid-20th century. The replacement of the aging I-81 viaduct and a city-wide initiative called ReZone Syracuse have pushed organizations around the city — including the SHA, the Allyn Foundation and the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development — to begin to talk about development, Owens said. Blueprint 15 will help bring those separate conversations into one coordinated movement, she said. “They are all parallel in nature.” Owens said.
Blueprint 15 was first announced by Mayor Ben Walsh in his 2019 “State of the City” address. The project, which is in its beginning stages, is working to reinvigorate Syracuse’s Southside by focusing on three areas: mixed-income housing, education and community wellness. The decision on what will replace the I-81 viaduct is vital for the future of the neighborhood, Owens said. The New York State Department of Transportation is still working on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement that will provide recommendations on how each option — a community grid, a rebuilding of the viaduct or a new hybrid tunnel — will affect the city. The DEIS was initially expected to be released in January. But that month passed, and now there’s no release date. Although Blueprint 15 has not come out in support of any of the options for the interstate, two important players in its formation, see blueprint page 4
student association
Leaders support launch of student of color committee By India Miraglia and Gabe Stern the daily orange
Members of Syracuse University’s Student Association are praising the proposed establishment of a student of color advisory committee to address concerns about the Department of Public Safety. The committee was created in response to demands made by students at a Feb. 18 forum where SU community members discussed the
assault of three students of color along Ackerman Avenue earlier that month. Interim Chief Diversity Officer Keith Alford suggested SU create the committee after several students of color at the forum said they didn’t feel safe or welcome on campus. “It especially feels like a lot of what students have been talking about with the relationship between students of color and DPS … it’s been a little bit strained there, there’s like a stigma around DPS,” SA President
Ghufran Salih said. “I think that this will be a great idea to kind of unpack the history of that.” A Feb. 19 campus-wide email from Alford, DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado and Dean of Students Rob Hradsky announced that the student of color advisory committee will be created to work with DPS. In a second email on Thursday, Alford said SU will call for nominations for the advisory committee. The committee will work to collaborate
with DPS on issues such as safety, late-night transportation and DPS intervention, he said. SA passed a resolution during the Feb. 25 assembly meeting that condemned SU for not publicly saying that the Ackerman Avenue assault was racially motivated. Victims and witnesses of the assault have said the attacks were racially-motivated. Peter Choi, public relations cochair of SA, told The Daily Orange that SA was happy some progress
came out of the forum, which SA hosted with the Student AfricanAmerican Society. Choi said the committee is a good first step, but DPS needs to be more direct in responding to students’ demands and recommendations. “Just because we do one thing doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re doing everything that we can,” he said. “And I think that there needs to be more work done.” see committee page 4