Downtown Syracuse

  Syracuse residents might be coming out of hibernation early this year, for the 11th annual Downtown Dining Weeks that start Monday. Some new restaurants have joined on along with old favorites, making for a record number of participants.

  A crowd of about 600 hopeful workers showed up today to the first job fair hosted by the company renovating the Hotel Syracuse. David Major of Liverpool says he needs the job and would be glad to be back downtown.

“I’d love to work here.  This is a historic place.  I’ve been to weddings here and things, very nice place.  I think it’s good for the city that they’re doing it.  I used to work at the Oncenter- War Memorial.  I’ve always been downtown; downtown’s great.  I love it down here.”

  The Hotel Syracuse is now in the hands of a developer who plans to reopen it.  No one has rented a room there in more than a decade…but city leaders are optimistic that will change, after the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency took possession, then transferred it over.

Those who visit this year’s parade of homes in Clay might walk away inspired by the smallest or largest concepts, according to one of the event organizers:

“We’ve had a great crowd so far, and the nice thing is when people leave, they’re so happy, they really have gotten ideas, whether it be something as simple as new cabinets and door pulls, or they’ve found a dream house that they like the floor plan and they’re planning to build. So it’s the simple things all the way to the big things. People have been really happy with these twelve homes.”

The summer harvest is here and a bountiful selection of crops of fresh fruits and vegetables are ripe for the picking in Syracuse. The Downtown Farmer’s Market kicks off its season today in Clinton Square with over 50 farmers and produce dealers.  Delaney Farms from Syracuse has made countless trips over 28 years.  Joanne Delaney says all of  their products are homegrown.

Boston University Professor Virginia Greiman shares her experiences as a consultant on Boston's Big Dig road project tonight at a presentation and Q & A session in the Onondaga County Civic Center.  It's meant to provide some insight into the process Syracuse is going through with the necessary replacement for Interstate 81'S elevated portion.