This is like arriving at the barn with a saddle after all the horses have gone.
As the Interstate 81 viaduct approached the end of its lifespan, decisions had to be made regarding its future. Do we keep everything in place utilizing the same footprint of the original highway or take it down in favor of the “Community Grid”. Simultaneously we were introduced to an initiative called Blueprint 15; according to its proponents the project would bring back key elements destroyed by both Urban Renewal and Interstate 81. This became part of the Community Grid proposal that called for the elimination of the one mile of elevated viaduct as it makes its way to the northern suburbs. A decade of meetings, focus groups, visioning sessions in an effort to determine, what to do with Interstate 81?
I remember calling this Negro Removal 2.0 and likening it to the same promises of growth and prosperity that fueled the removal of entire neighborhoods, disrupted socio-economic growth patterns destroying entrepreneurial development. The forces that propelled every segregated group of immigrants to self-sufficiency and self-reliance were uprooted and destroyed in Black communities across the country as the Interstate combined with Urban Renewal took shape.
As a senior at Ithaca College, one class gave us an option of selecting a city and topic to study and construct a final project out of the experience. I selected Syracuse, NY as I had witnessed such a transformation from the glory days of my childhood to watching 60,000 people take that highway out to their suburban homes. Malls sprang up in the suburbs and downtowns retail base followed. Despite trite and hackneyed attempts at saving a dying downtown, nothing could breathe life back into this once proud manufacturing hub. I was able to view the original Urban Renewal Plans and was astonished at what was promised and, in the end, what was ultimately delivered. The plan contained signatures of the most prominent Black Pastors of the day.
As a city and region, we had so many manufacturing jobs in the 1950’s as thousands of African Americans relocated to Syracuse from the South, taking advantage of this abundance of opportunity.
By 1980 the bottom had fallen out and downtown’s demise accelerated. With globalization locally grown multinational companies were gobbled up for their high-quality reputations; Syracuse China was a globally recognized brand. Oneida Silverware was once manufactured in Oneida. Carrier was relocated to Syracuse from New Jersey; locally grown now-gone-global Crouse-Hinds, multiple Candle manufacturers lined Wolf Street, gone. Nationally known companies from GE to GM were here, producing goods fueling our local economy. We’ve provided everything from Salt to Penicillin to the world, from Syracuse. The city’s Westside had factories, neighborhoods, and manufacturing coexisted. Our city was now dying.
So many programs, so many promises and Syracuse could never get any economic traction. And then came Mayor Tom Young.
Mayor Young gave Syracuse a vision. Developer Robert Congel wanted to build a large Mall within Syracuse city limits at Marley’s Junkyard. The Lakefront Development Initiative also mapped out an aggressive plan to transform the entire Inner Harbor area. Years later the developer wanted to expand the original Mall into Destiny USA, we were once again shown plans and dreams. Their display illustrating all the good things to come including re-creation of the Erie Canal, an enclosed park, and a golf course built over the methane spewing Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Facility on Hiawatha Boulevard. The artists rendering resembled the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. However, “economic forces” caused the much-ballyhooed expansion to become another big box. We were so full of hot air after their presentation we could have been miniature floating Balloons in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
I originally was against removing the viaduct from the city’s core. But after listening to young people in this community, my mind was changed. This is about configuring Syracuse for the future, keeping the viaduct tethers us to our unsuccessful past attempts to change while keeping things the way they are. This transformation is occurring in almost every city adversely impacted by the interstate being located in neighborhoods. In Syracuse, some portions of the viaduct are within 40 feet of Syracuse Housing Authority tenants.
The New York State Department of Transportation has released information documenting every meeting, focus group, community information exchange, etc.
What’s evident in the documentation is that everyone in the region had ample opportunity to be heard regarding the decision as to what we’re going to do with this aging viaduct. Multiple solutions were brought before the state and public. After a decade of talking, the state came up with their DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) and eventually their solution. “The DEIS includes a detailed project description and a description of environmental impacts, including direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts, associated with a No Action Alternative, Preferred Alternative, etc. “
- It’s Done! Final Environmental Impact Statement for I-81 Project Is Now Available
- I-81 FEIS Available on Project Website
- Click Here for Virtual Tour /Artists renderings of project
“Following the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement in July of 2021, NYSDOT held two virtual public hearings, one in-person public hearing and nine subsequent meetings in neighborhoods and communities in and around the City of Syracuse to discuss the project and elicit feedback. An on-line Virtual Public Outreach Center was also established to provide information on all aspects of the project and instruct users on how to submit comments. NYSDOT received approximately 8,000 comments from the community which were used to help develop the FEIS.” NYS DOT
CenterState CEO had issues brought to their attention by members and the Business 81 was created. These changes also spread into the suburban areas as this project is region wide, not just a one-mile section. Bridges and tunnels were put on the table. To be honest, everyone knew that there were a multitude of players lined up to endorse this proposal. Why else would SUNY Medical University build a new Wellness Center and Cancer Center within feet of the existing viaduct? It became clear that the powerful stakeholders the institutions that would gain the most are our Med’s and Ed’s community (Medical and Educational Institutions).
Proponents lament mistakes of the past adversely impacting the Black Community, claiming the project is designed to reconnect neighborhoods. Detractors claim that the only neighborhoods being “connected” are those associated with our major colleges and universities.
According to Renew 81 for All litigant and Onondaga County Legislator Charles Garland, “This does nothing to change things for Black people living on the south side.” Based on murmurs heard in “the Community” his faction does have its supporters. Backing up Garland’s contention that many are afraid to publicly state their opposition and or apprehension about this massive 2-billion-dollar highway project.
At the last minute, just before contracts were to be signed, Renew 81 for All, sought and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order effectively halting the project. The group in their filing said among other things that their Civil Rights were violated during this process, claiming their bridge proposal didn’t receive a proper review. This is like arriving at the barn with a saddle after all the horses have gone.
After the national fiascos known as Urban Renewal and Interstate 81; both HUD and the Federal Government established rules that govern how these projects are to proceed. They could no longer just ram these projects down the gullets of unsuspecting residents.
There are questions raised by the creation of this group of the aggrieved filing this lawsuit. Did any of them participate in the various forums and meetings designed to enlist community support? Did any of them voice their objection to the Community Grid?
There were many forces on record, mostly suburban communities that did not want increased traffic in their towns and villages due to these structural changes in the interstate. Route 481 becomes the new Interstate 81 re-routing traffic around the city’s core. Look on any map and most cities with an interstate have a loop that redirects traffic away from their urban core. In 1960 Syracuse had a population of 212,000 we also didn’t have the interstate. We had traffic jams, we had traffic cops and a well-run bus transit system that concentrated on getting residents around Syracuse instead of catering to suburban commutes.
The Harriet Tubman Memorial Sky Bridge as proposed, is a bridge to nowhere. It says to those who are now flocking to invest here that we are tethered to the past, even if it’s to our own detriment. It ignores the consensus of the governed, in favor of the powerful.
Make no mistake about it, in my opinion, the fix was in before the ink on the first public notice was dry. But those aligned with our Med’s, Ed’s, local business community and government were successful in building community consensus to move forward with The Community Grid. That sends a strong message especially when those who dwell in the homes located below the existing viaduct are saying “take it down”.
