sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Wildlife Day!
National Wildlife Day was founded in 2005, "to bring awareness to the number of endangered animals nationally, as well as globally, that need to be preserved and rescued from their demise each year, and also to acknowledge zoos and outstanding animal sanctuaries and organizations globally" for their work to preserve animals and educate the population, especially children, about conservation. The day was made by Colleen Paige, founder of other animal themed days such as National Dog Day. With the passing of Steve Irwin, the Australian zookeeper and conservationist, known for his television show, The Crocodile Hunter, the date of the day was changed to coincide with his birthday.
SU News
Recruiting expert says Syracuse commit is ‘best athlete coming into college basketball’ (podcast) (PS; Axe)
When Sadiq White arrives to to play for Syracuse basketball in 2025, he will do so as “the best athlete coming into college basketball.”
That’s according to ESPN recruiting director Paul Biancardi, who joined me on Syracuse Sports for a fun conversation about current and prospective Syracuse recruits.
Other tidbits from Biancardi on players already committed to Syracuse and on their recruiting radar include:
“He’s really come on as a scorer.”
“I can’t think of a player who improved more as senior. He has it all.”
“You have to cover him because he has that shooter’s mentality and will make you pay.”
Yes, Biancardi and I talked about Kiyan Anthony plus top prospects like Shon Abaev, Acaden Lewis and several other players Syracuse is pursuing.
You can listen to the whole conversation with Biancardi in the YouTube clip above.
Syracuse Sports Insiders helped make this podcast possible with their terrific questions and opinions.
Syracuse Basketball: 4-star Shon Abaev, who just visited, digs the 'Cuse fan base (itlh; Adler)
Shon Abaev, a fast-rising prospect in the 2025 class who hails from Florida, took an official visit to Syracuse basketball this past weekend.
The four-star wing/small forward got to check out the Orange at practice, according to media reports. Abaev was also in attendance on Saturday afternoon when Syracuse football defeated non-conference foe Ohio at the JMA Wireless Dome in the head-coaching debut of Fran Brown.
Abaev is a top-40 national prospect in the rising high school senior class. Over the spring and summer, he received a ton of praise from national analysts and scouts for his performances on the AAU circuit and at other showcases.
In a recent interview with top college basketball insider Adam Zagoria, Abaev touched on his recent official visit to the Hill, which seemed to go well.
Syracuse basketball faces stiff competition for 2025 four-star prospect Shon Abaev.
Regarding his trip to the 'Cuse, Abaev said to Zagoria, "I liked how competitive the team was in practice and how hard they went in every drill. It showed me what type of program it is. Also the arena they play in is insane, and their fans are probably the best fans out there."
I would tend to agree with Shon on his last statement about the Orange fan base!
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On fall recruiting period's first day, Syracuse basketball to visit 4-star Kiyan Anthony (itlh; Adler)
Syracuse basketball coaches aren't messing around as it pertains to, hopefully, securing a commitment from 2025 four-star shooting guard and top-30 national prospect Kiyan Anthony from New York City at some point in the future.
On Wednesday, Sept. 4, the fall recruiting period begins, enabling college coaches to conduct in-person, off-campus recruiting efforts.
This, typically, entails things such as visiting recruiting targets during open gyms at their respective high schools, as well as making in-home visits.
To that end, on Wednesday, Anthony will have an in-home visit with the Orange staff, as first reported on X by top 247Sports national analyst Dushawn London. This is great to hear, as 'Cuse coaches continue to recruit Anthony extremely hard.
Syracuse basketball will have an in-home visit with priority target Kiyan Anthony.
Anthony, the son of 'Cuse legend and long-time NBA star Carmelo Anthony, earlier this summer disclosed a top six of the Orange, Ohio State, Auburn, Rutgers, Florida State and Southern California.
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The Allyn Family Foundation plans to convert empty office space in the historic Chimes Building, center, in downtown Syracuse into 152 mixed-income apartments. The Salt City Market, right, is a food hall and apartment building the foundation opened in 2021. (Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com
Rents revealed for proposed mixed-income apartments at Syracuse’s historic Chimes Building (PS; $; Moriarty)
The Allyn Family Foundation has released new details on the mixed-income apartments it plans to build in the iconic Chimes Building in downtown Syracuse.
The former office building at 500 S. Salina St. will contain 152 apartments on floors 2 through 12, with a mix of income qualifications.
Here’s what the rents will be:
- Eleven apartments (10% of the units) will be for people receiving Section 8 housing assistance under the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME program. Their rents will be $925 for one-bedroom units to $1,100 for two-bedroom units.
- Thirty-nine apartments (23%) will be for people with 60% to 80% of the area median income. Their rents will range from $1,000 for one-bedroom units to $1,250 for two-bedroom units.
- Fifty-one units (33%) will be for people with 80% to 100% of the area median income. Their rents will be from $1,250 for one-bedroom units to $1,500 for two-bedroom units.
- Fifty-one units (33%) will be market-rate apartments with no income restrictions. Rents for those apartments will range from $1,500 to $2,000.
Chimes Syracuse LLC, an affiliate of the nonprofit foundation, bought the building for $8.2 million in July 2023, with plans to redevelop the mostly vacant building.
The Allyn Foundation is the same organization that built the Salt City Market, a food hall and apartment building that opened in January 2021. It contains 26 mixed-income apartments, directly across West Onondaga Street from the Chimes Building.
Meg O’Connell, executive director of the foundation, said there is a need for more mixed-income apartments downtown. She said the 26 apartments at the Salt City Market are full and there are 400 people on a waiting list for them.
“We know that putting 152 new mixed-income apartments online right in downtown across the street from the bus hub is going to be a win for our community,” she said.
O’Connell said the foundation is working with AccessCNY to reserve 11 of the 152 apartments for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Formed in 1954, the foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Allyn family, former owner of the Welch Allyn medical device manufacturer in Skaneateles.
Previous owners of the Chimes Building converted three of its floors into 44 apartments, 36 of which are occupied.
O’Connell said the organization is not renewing the leases on those apartments as they expire so they can be rebuilt to the same standards as the other apartments.
The foundation has applied to the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency for $6.1 million in tax exemptions for the $46.2 million project.
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Strathmore Community Development Group has a plan to renovate the Gillett House, left, and the former Trinity United Methodist Church building next door, plus the church's former parish house at the back of the property. The $5 million project has been delayed as the ownership group has struggled to secure financing, but a $200,000 bridge loan approved by the Syracuse Economic Development Corp. would be used to stabilize the Gillett House. (Jeremy Boyer I JBoyer@syracuse.com)Jeremy Boyer I JBoyer@syracuse.com
New financing could kickstart work on Civil War-era house near downtown Syracuse (PS; $; Boyer)
A long-delayed redevelopment project at a key southwest Syracuse intersection is on the cusp of finally taking off as a result of a city agency’s $200,000 loan.
The Syracuse Economic Development Corp. last month approved the financing for Strathmore Community Development Group to get contractors on site this fall to stabilize a deteriorating historic house built by a Civil War general.
The Gillett House at 515 W. Onondaga St., built in 1875 by Union Army Capt. William Gillett, is one of three buildings at the intersection with South Avenue that the ownership group purchased in 2018 with the idea of renovating them into offices, apartments and a brewpub. The state announced in late 2022 that it would commit $1.2 million in Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant for the project, but Strathmore Community Development has struggled to secure additional funding to get work started and close the gap on a total project budget estimated at more than $5 million.
The lack of work has most dramatically affected Gillett House. At the end of last year, the city’s code enforcement office issued an emergency partial demolition order and brought its own contractor to the site over the objection of Strathmore Community Development to remove what was left of a rear section of the house.
In March, the city filed a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court in Onondaga County to order the owner to fix various code violations at the property dating back to May 2021. The complaint also asks the court to fine the owner $100 per day, an amount that could exceed $115,000 if granted by a judge.
But shortly after the city took legal action, Strathmore Community Development and city officials began communicating about a path forward that would resolve the safety concerns at Gillett House and and get the larger project back on track.
“The key is we’re working cooperatively at this point,” said John Lacey, one of the four Strathmore Community Development partners.
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Downtown Syracuse’s free Thursday concert series moves to Westcott St. in September (PS; $; Cazentre)
The free concert series held in downtown’s Hanover Square each Thursday during August has a new home for September.
Westcott Thursdays will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. each Thursday this month at 500 Westcott St. (that’s the parking lot next to Rise N Shine Diner). This is the first year that the three-year-old Hanover Thursdays series is expanding to a second location.
As with Hanover Thursdays, the Westcott Thursdays features music from local bands paired with a crafter / artist vendor market.
The event will promote dining and drinking spots in the Westcott business district, but will also bring in a food truck on occasion. For this first week, that will be the Yum Yum Shack truck, according to Michael John Heagerty, who helps coordinate the series.
“This is our first year in this location, so we’re still working through some details on how it’s setting up,” Heagerty said.
Here’s the music lineup for this month:
• Sept. 5: Hard Promises (Tom Petty tribute band); opener is Count Blastula (funk / groove band).
• Sept. 12: Brownskin Band (golden era hip hop and R&B); opener is Saint Luke (pop, funk, R&B, hip hop)
• Sept. 19: Mike Powell & The Echosound (Americana / rock); opener is Stephen Phillips (pop, funk)
• Sept. 26: Sophistafunk (hip hop / funk); opener is Akuma Roots (reggae)
During each Westcott Thursdays event, a portion of Dell Street leading toward Columbus Avenue will be closed.
Nuclear power likely to be the hottest topic at NY’S energy summit in Syracuse (PS; $; Knauss)
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s big energy summit Thursday in Syracuse will bring together experts on wind power, renewable energy finance, battery storage and a variety of industries critical to the future power grid.
One major focus of the conference – and the reason it is attracting a fair amount of pre-emptive criticism – is the subject of nuclear power. Two of the five panel discussions will look at how advanced nuclear power reactors might help the state meet its energy goals.
Representatives from at least 17 groups have signed an open letter to Hochul objecting to new nuclear power plants as a possible solution to New York’s need to develop more emission-free sources of electricity.
Activists plan to hold a news conference outside the conference Thursday to encourage state leaders and the public to reject what they call the “snake oil’' promoted by the nuclear industry.
The energy summit Thursday at the Syracuse Marriott Downtown is being hosted by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. It comes as the state struggles to implement sweeping changes to the energy grid to slow climate change.
New York and other states have seen renewed interest in nuclear power as they plan for an expected surge demand for electricity at the same time they seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
State officials recently conceded that they are behind schedule to comply with the first mandate set out in the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, to derive 70% of electric generation from renewable sources by 2030.
Nuclear energy is not considered renewable. But advocates say it could help the state meet another mandate, to remove all carbon emissions from the electric grid by 2040.
Critics say nuclear is the wrong solution. Nuclear plants take too long to develop, cost too much, and leave behind radioactive spent fuel that must be stored for thousands of years, they argue.
New York has four nuclear power reactors that have been in operation for decades, providing about one-fifth of the state’s electricity. There are no proposals to build new ones. But NYSERDA officials have said they hope to come away from Thursday’s conference with a framework for evaluating the costs and benefits of future nuclear development.
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Autumn splashes Salmon River Falls with vibrant colors
Record rainfall and lingering summer temperatures delayed fall leaves from turning by several weeks for much of New York. Now much of Upstate New York is in ...
youtu.be
2024 fall foliage: When will leaves change, peak in Upstate NY? (PS; House)
Sweater weather, fresh-picked apples and trees burnished in autumnal gold are coming soon to an Upstate New York town near you.
But when will leaf-peeping season start Upstate? When will fall foliage peak in the Empire State?
While the timing of our favorite fall colors can’t be pinned down with 100% accuracy, a map from Explore Fall will help leaf peepers plan when — and where — to seek out prime autumn foliage.
Explore Fall has created a detailed map to predict and track fall foliage in the United States’ Lower 48. The aptly named organization updates its map daily at midnight, using a mix of real-time weather conditions and temperature, precipitation and daylight data to create a forecast for the nation’s changing leaves.
According to Explore Fall, leaves will start showing “low color” in the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains on Sept. 13. Upstate’s fall foliage season is expected to hit its colorful peak in mid-October and end by Nov. 10, when all but a few lucky waterfront towns warmed by Lake Erie in southern Western New York will be past peak.
Here’s when fall colors are expected to peak across Upstate N.Y., according to Explore Fall.
Sept. 28-Oct. 1:
- Mount Marcy, Giant Mountain Wilderness and Dix Mountain in the eastern Adirondacks
- Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Old Forge, Tupper Lake and much of the High Peaks in the Adirondacks
- Hooker and North Osceola in the North County
- Hunter, Bovina Center and Branch in the Catskills
