Central Current • 10/10/2026

Trump implores CNY Republicans to ‘pretend’ he is on the ballot ahead of midterms. Will they listen? 

President Donald Trump sent a message to Republicans Friday night at the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center in downtown Syracuse: pretend I am on the ballot and turn out to support New York Republicans.

“When I am on the ballot, we win everything,” the president told a packed house of supporters. “Please pretend I am on the freaking ballot, will ya?”

Trump’s stop in Syracuse is part of a nationwide campaign tour across several states ahead of a critical midterm election in November that could...

Central Current • 10/07/2026

New study show one in four schools in Onondaga County have high lead levels in drinking water

More than one in four public schools in Onondaga County have reported having at least one drinking-water outlet with elevated lead levels, according to a recently released study. 

The study found that 33 of 121 public schools in Onondaga County — all in the suburbs — reported at least one drinking-water outlet dispensing water with lead levels above the state limit of 5 parts per billion. 

“It should be zero,” said Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, the director of the racial justice center at New York Ci...

Central Current • 09/18/2026

Podcast: The bottlenecks stalling Syracuse's housing production

Episode: 18 Air Date: September 17th, 2026

Editor’s Note: This podcast reflects the opinions and perspectives of the host and guests and is not a product of our editorial staff, including Central Current’s editors and reporters. The program may be edited in post-production for length and clarity.

The demand for housing in Syracuse is on the rise, with a recent report from CenterState CEO projecting that roughly 2,500 new units will need to be built each year over the next decade to keep pace....

Central Current • 09/02/2026

Ahead of budget season, Onondaga County Legislature's advisory board shares proposed solutions to housing crisis

Onondaga County Legislature’s four-bloc Housing and Transportation Citizen’s Advisory Board unveiled long-term plans to combat Central New York’s housing crisis. 

The advisory board shared their findings, derived from months of work, during an open house on Tuesday evening at CenterState CEO’s Inspyre Innovation Hub. 

The board’s four proposed solutions include:

Those solutions came from six meetings — one in the city and the rest across county libraries — at which community members posed que...

Central Current • 08/22/2026

What are the bottlenecks in housing production leading to Syracuse’s housing crisis?

Syracuse is facing a housing affordability crisis like the rest of the United States. A way out, housing experts and elected leaders have posited, is to build more housing, and build it quickly.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has said that the region needs at least 30,000 housing units to meet demand, as Micron Technology’s chip manufacturing plants are built. A CenterState CEO report found at least 2,500 units need to be built every year for the next decade to keep up with growing demands.

However, Centra...

Central Current • 08/13/2026

Upstate’s vision to expand ER involves closing a key street in the city, putting Crouse and Upstate at odds

Editor’s Note: This story was updated after publication with additional information sent by a Upstate University Hospital spokesperson.

Upstate University Hospital’s vision for its ambitious $450 million emergency room expansion includes closing a block of a key street connecting downtown Syracuse to the Syracuse University area. 

In order to pull off the expansion, Upstate said it would require the closure of East Adams Street, between Elizabeth Blackwell Street and Irving Avenue so that it c...

Central Current • 08/08/2026

Can AI in the permitting process help solve Syracuse’s housing crisis?

The city of Syracuse has turned to artificial intelligence hoping to speed up a key step in the process of housing development. 

City officials applied for a federal grant in July that would integrate AI into the city’s permitting process, hoping to expedite the review of architectural drawings for commercial projects.

The grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could give the city $1.5 million to contract services that allow for review of design drawings, c...

Central Current • 07/30/2026

How much taxpayers paid ex-SHA director Bill Simmons to retire

Syracuse Housing Authority paid former Executive Director Bill Simmons more than $274,000 after he agreed to retire a year before his contract with SHA was set to expire, according to a copy of the separation agreement obtained by Central Current through a public records request.
Simmons joined SHA in 2006 as the authority’s assistant director before taking over as executive director in 2007. His contract was set to expire July 31, 2027. Simmons had been adamant he would not leave the housing au...

Central Current • 07/15/2026

How $3.7M owed by the state DOT to the Syracuse Housing Authority could ease SHA budget constraints

The Syracuse Housing Authority is owed nearly $3.7 million by the state Department of Transportation and SHA officials say the money is critical to counter the housing authority’s current financial constraints. 
The New York State DOT owes SHA because of land it needs to use for the teardown of the Interstate 81 viaduct and the construction of the Community Grid. This includes land the DOT will use for up to five years and other land it will outright buy, said Melissa Liquori, SHA’s director of...

Central Current • 07/09/2026

HUD rules SHA Chair Ryan Benz has an “apparent conflict of interest,” should continue recusal until SHA obtains full disclosures

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found Syracuse Housing Authority Board Chair Ryan Benz has an “apparent” conflict of interest and requested comprehensive details of his business dealings, HUD wrote in a letter to Benz on June 30. 

The finding came five months after SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons filed a complaint against Benz with HUD. 

HUD emailed the letter to Benz, Simmons and SHA attorney Brad Hunt. Benz confirmed to Central Current he received the letter. He prov...

Central Current • 07/02/2026

Bill Simmons to leave Syracuse Housing Authority after yearlong turmoil 

Syracuse Housing Authority Executive Director Bill Simmons agreed to retire a year before his contract with SHA is set to expire. Simmons’ last day with the housing authority will be July 10.

The housing authority’s board voted to approve a mutual separation agreement with Simmons by a vote of 4-3.  Board commissioners Patricia McBride, Quwanka Ellerby and Milton Martinez voted against the mutual separation agreement between Simmons and the board.
An embattled Simmons and the board came to the...

Central Current • 06/06/2026

Inside the disagreement over a $7M commitment from Onondaga County to SHA’s redevelopment of public housing

Onondaga County, developer McCormack Baron Salazar and Syracuse Housing Authority officials are at odds over a two-year-old $7 million commitment by the county to the redevelopment of public housing. 
In private, the three organizations have been trying to settle whether the $7 million commitment by the county should be an in-kind contribution or a cash contribution. SHA and the city included a commitment letter from County Executive Ryan McMahon in their application for the $50 million Choice N...

Central Current • 05/14/2026

Syracuse Housing Authority sees record interest in their Section 8 homeownership program 

Syracuse Housing Authority in 2025 saw a record interest in its homeownership program from Section 8 tenants. 

Thirty-five families who rely on Section 8 applied to be part of the program for the first time, the highest number in the program’s two-decade history. In all, SHA has had 212 families express interest in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program in recent years. 

This program serves as a pipeline for existing Section 8 holder...

Central Current • 05/05/2026

Local advocates hope to avoid environmental inequality from I-81 demolition with new air quality monitors

Local environmental advocates are taking precautionary measures to help neighborhoods near Interstate 81, where residents have for decades lived with the negative health impacts of that structure, brace themselves against air pollution.

The Onondaga Environmental Institute will manage three new air quality monitors at three city-owned community centers — Wilson Park Community Center, Cannon Street Community Center and Cecile Community Center — to track quality of air amid ongoing construction o...

Central Current • 05/04/2026

I-81 local hire initiative was a success, advocates say. What’s next?

Joerell Johnson was one of the 24 local city residents who graduated the apprenticeship program that led him to find steady work amid the ongoing construction on Interstate 81. 

The state Department of Transportation hired Johnson to work on the project in May 2022 after he finished a 10 week pre-apprenticeship program, which allowed him to pick out the trade he was most interested in. He chose to be an ironworker. 

“Work’s been steady,” Johnson told Central Current during an interview in Nove...

Central Current • 04/26/2026

Southside church leaders were blindsided by utility poles placed in front of their church. Now National Grid plans to remove them.

Rev. Dr. Bruce W. Burns Sr., the senior pastor at Southside’s Hopps Memorial CME Church, first noticed about a month ago the effort to move four utility poles across the street to his church’s front yard. 

He saw workers digging holes in the ground and reinforcing the holes with sand and rocks. Soon after, four poles with transformers and wiring were mounted in the church’s front yard, running along South State Street. 

Burns and the church were blindsided by it all. The pastor and others at t...

Central Current • 04/18/2026

Syracuse Housing Authority held apartments vacant and lost $1 million. Now SHA wants a HUD waiver.

The Syracuse Housing Authority lost more than $1 million in subsidies in 2025 while holding vacant housing units to which they planned to relocate residents during the redevelopment of public housing. 

SHA held the vacancies across several properties for McKinney Manor residents who chose to move to housing units managed by SHA, said SHA Deputy Executive Director Jalyn Clifford. McKinney Manor was demolished as part of the redevelopment of public housing. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Ur...

Central Current • 03/19/2026

Podcast: What's going on at Syracuse Housing Authority?

Episode: 13 Air Date: March 10th, 2026

The Syracuse Housing Authority and the redevelopment of public housing have been in the news lately: From missed deadlines to allegations of impropriety, SHA been ensconced in controversy.

In this episode of “It’s Happening Here”, host Chris Libonati is joined by reporter Debadrita Sur to explain the developments around the redevelopment of public housing and what’s going on with the Syracuse Housing Authority.

Episode: 13 Air Date: March 10th, 2026

The...

Central Current • 03/19/2026

Syracuse Housing Authority counsel clears SHA board chair of conflict of interest amid HUD investigation 

Syracuse Housing Authority’s lawyer denied allegations of conflict of interest filed with federal housing regulators by SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons against SHA Board of Commissioners Chair Ryan Benz. Questions about the complaint itself remain. 

At SHA’s board meeting Thursday, Benz read aloud excerpts of a legal opinion sent by Bradley Hunt, SHA’s attorney, to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding the investigation of Benz. Hunt wrote that Benz does not have a...

Central Current • 03/16/2026

I-81 contractor denies allegations of discrimination in lawsuit by Black-owned Syracuse trucking company

Contractors involved in the state’s Interstate 81 viaduct project denied allegations of racial discrimination levied in a lawsuit by the owner of a Syracuse-based trucking company. 

Larry Stackhouse, the owner of L Stacks Construction Co. LLC, in January accused Salt City Constructors of sidelining his company in favor of non-minority contractors. His lawyers wrote in the complaint that Salt City Constructors used his bid numbers, status as a minority contractor, certifications and local-hire c...

Central Current • 02/25/2026

Emails appear to undercut SHA board member's allegation that board chair was 'pushing so hard' for contractor

A series of emails obtained by Central Current appear to contradict a vague allegation made by Syracuse Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Member Patricia McBride against Board Chair Ryan Benz. 

McBride’s allegation was made the same day Benz unveiled to the public at a board meeting last week that SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development accusing Benz of having a conflict of interest.

HUD, according to Benz, said the...

Central Current • 02/19/2026

SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons accuses board chair of conflict of interest; board chair denies allegations

Syracuse Housing Authority Executive Director Bill Simmons accused Board Chair Ryan Benz of having conflict of interest with federal housing regulators, leading to Benz’s early exit from Thursday’s board meeting as recommended by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD issued a memorandum Wednesday night asking Benz to recuse himself from the meeting after Simmons emailed them two days before the board meeting accusing the chair of partnering with businesses that contract with...

Central Current • 02/10/2026

SHA has missed deadlines on the Choice grant by at least a year. Does it matter?

Since landing a grant to redevelop public housing in Syracuse’s Southside, the Syracuse Housing Authority has missed at least 15 of the project’s self-imposed deadlines, often by at least a year.

The housing authority’s inability to hit the deadlines has created panic among city officials about what may happen to critical federal funding on which the project relies. 

Mayor Sharon Owens has warned the $50 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neig...

Central Current • 02/04/2026

Mayor Sharon Owens is committed to the Children Rising Center project. Can Syracuse make it happen?

A year after a $7 million funding shortfall left the Children Rising Center stuck in the mud, city officials and housing advocates want to revive the project. 

Despite recent commitments from Mayor Sharon Owens to jolt the project back to life, a nonprofit leader in charge of the redevelopment says the lost year of progress has set the project back.

The Children Rising Center is part of the billion-dollar, multi-phased redevelopment of the East Adams neighborhood situated around the Interstate...

Central Current • 09/18/2026

Podcast: The bottlenecks stalling Syracuse's housing production

Episode: 18 Air Date: September 17th, 2026

Editor’s Note: This podcast reflects the opinions and perspectives of the host and guests and is not a product of our editorial staff, including Central Current’s editors and reporters. The program may be edited in post-production for length and clarity.

The demand for housing in Syracuse is on the rise, with a recent report from CenterState CEO projecting that roughly 2,500 new units will need to be built each year over the next decade to keep pace....

Central Current • 03/19/2026

Podcast: What's going on at Syracuse Housing Authority?

Episode: 13 Air Date: March 10th, 2026

The Syracuse Housing Authority and the redevelopment of public housing have been in the news lately: From missed deadlines to allegations of impropriety, SHA been ensconced in controversy.

In this episode of “It’s Happening Here”, host Chris Libonati is joined by reporter Debadrita Sur to explain the developments around the redevelopment of public housing and what’s going on with the Syracuse Housing Authority.

Episode: 13 Air Date: March 10th, 2026

The...