At the ballot box, retiring Republican state Sen. John DeFrancisco never came in second. “It’s been 41 years,” he reflects. “It started with the school board, and with all my various political races: the city council for two terms as councilor-at-large and the final city council race for president of the city council. That was the first 15, with the last 26 in the state Senate (as deputy majority leader from the 50th District).” During that tenure in Albany, DeFrancisco became known for his support of the arts, a lasting image emerging from his occasional short solo saxophone performances during…
Author: Walt Shepperd
It was chilly on James Street June 14 when Janet Burman made an announcement on her front porch, while children cavorted across the street in the Lincoln School yard, careening off each other in body-length balloons. She was going to contend for the 53rd state Senate seat, she said, handing out red, white and blue cookies and personalized campaign pens. Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. The three dozen gathered on the lawn included an all-star lineup of Central New York Republican Party heavies, such as town of Salina GOP chair John Niestemski, Salina Town Supervisor Mark Nicotra and former Syracuse mayoral candidate Steve Kimatian. The 53rd contains all of Madison County, most of the…
Fifth District Common Councilor Joe Driscoll remembers growing up hyperactive, with the only chillout provided by his mother playing Beatles records. “After I got out of high school,” he recalls, “I went to New York City for a few years trying as a singer-songwriter. I moved to England in 2004. I lived in Europe for about 11 years, the last five or six working with the West African performer Sekou Kouyate. We did this kind of New York-Africa fusion project.” The hip-hop/activist released a handful of CDs and did extensive touring in Europe during the 2000s. Yet Driscoll’s involvement in the 2016 presidential campaign for Vermont…
The March For Our Lives rally on March 24 was part of a worldwide observance in honor of the victims of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting. The Syracuse event began at noon with a march from the Everson Museum of Art to the James M. Hanley Federal Building on South Clinton Street. The crowd seemed jovial for such a serious issue, while the police presence was far from overbearing. “I’m not good at counting people,” one officer said, “but I think there’s 800 here.” By the time the crowd reached the federal building, media types estimated it at more than…
Frank Fowler has served as police chief for the city of Syracuse since 2010. In this Q&A, he discusses school safety and what March for Our Lives could be.
Longtime state Sen. John DeFrancisco eyes the governor’s mansion
Dick Ford has a new CD release, but don’t look for it in stores or online. It’s not for sale. Ironically, since his career has not focused on recording (Ford ran the nonprofit Signature Music educational program for more than two decades), he reflects that the only time he listens to his own music is when he’s playing. At 80, his Dick Ford Pianist CD is a marketing tool to facilitate bookings of his solo gigs, like his recent weekly series at the Colgate Inn in Hamilton and his current Thursday-evening run at the Gould Hotel in Seneca Falls, as…
Enter Leo Crandall’s house in the Westcott Nation and be engulfed in a museum for stringed instruments, including an array of homemade timing pins and a piano harp from the 1850s mounted on a wall. “I’ve been a musician most of my life,” he says. “I made my living as a musician in Chicago for 12 years. Now, toward the latter part of my life I’ve come back to it as a musician and songwriter.” Crandall spent several years as an arts administrator at the Everson Museum of Art and the Cultural Resources Council, the current CNY Arts. With lyrics…
Mayor Stephanie Miner reflects on her eight years in City Hall
B&B Lounge’s upcoming closure signals more change in the neighborhood
Urban legends still dress to impress at downtown’s Bergan Brothers
Twenty years ago on Central Issues, the WCNY-Channel 24 public affairs program, host Dan Cummings asked Lee Plavoukos, then associate counsel to the speaker of the New York State Assembly, if we should have a constitutional convention. A provision in the New York state constitution mandates that every 20 years citizens decide whether they wish to convene a convention to revise and amend that document. Plavoukos described the endeavor as romantic. “It’s a great idea,” he told Cummings then, “but it’s not worth the risks.” Today he thinks we have no other choice. In a telephone interview, state Sen. John…
Green Party mayoral candidate Howie Hawkins remembers something about each of the 22 campaigns he has run, from district councilor to governor. Since 1993, his efforts have been to raise and disseminate information about issues from economic justice to environmental reform. As his vote grew over the past decade, they have also been about winning in the local races. This time he says calmly, “I could win this one.” Given the five-candidate general election, the 35 percent to 48 percent he has received in his last four local races, including 4th District councilor and city auditor, makes him a contender.…
“I always thought that Nojaim’s Supermarket was one place where if they knew Nojaim’s, Nojaim’s could get them to know somebody else.”
Veteran candidate Joe Nicoletti isn’t worried about the future: He wants to be mayor for now.