Memorial Day weekend came and went, which means summer in Syracuse is officially here. The lakes are open, the grills are out, and the Mets closed the holiday with the second-biggest fireworks night of their season. The Orange lacrosse team lost in the Final Four on Saturday, but the week ahead is all summer: an orchard concert, the farmers markets back open, and the long evenings we've been waiting on since November.
Here's what else is happening this week:
TL;DR:
The Lineup: Cake opens the summer concert season at Beak & Skiff on Saturday, plus Menopause The Musical 2, the Fayetteville Farmers Market, and Disney's Frozen.
Live Music: Aaron Ruiz's free jazz night at The Fitz, touring blues at the 443, and Jason Mraz at the Landmark on Sunday.
The Tab: Bistro 1926 at Drumlins — open to the public, with flatbreads (gluten-free too) and a summer patio.
The Spotlight: Project Mend, which publishes writing by people impacted by the justice system, wins CNY Arts' first $10,000 Syracuse Prize.
The Build: The Great Northern Mall is coming down. There is an early-stage master plan for 1,700 condos, six hotels and more that isn't approved yet.
The Block: Fayetteville — the Gage Center, a food scene in motion (Arad Evans, Apizza), and a stack of village spots.
The Scoreboard: Lacrosse falls to Notre Dame in the national semifinal; the Mets take the series from Buffalo.
The Keeper: Bluey, a 1-year-old shepherd mix at Helping Hounds.
…and more!
THE LINEUP
Events this week — what's on, where, and how to get in.
Featured Event
An Evening With Cake — Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, 2708 Lords Hill Rd, LaFayette. Saturday, May 30, doors 5 PM, show 7 PM. All ages. Tickets
Few things say "summer in Central New York" more than an outdoor concert at an apple orchard. This Saturday it's Cake, the Sacramento-based band known for its genre-bending sound, a fondness for the vibraslap (that rattling percussion instrument), and a great live show, plus hits like "The Distance" and "Short Skirt/Long Jacket." Bring a chair, get there early, and watch the sun drop over the orchard. Tickets are still on sale.
Photo: CAKE
This Week
Wednesday, May 27
Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through 'The Change' — Landmark Theatre, 362 S Salina St. 7:30 PM. The sequel to the long-running jukebox musical comedy, in town for one night. Tickets
Thursday, May 28
Fayetteville Farmers Market — Fayetteville Towne Center, Towne Dr. Free. The producer-only market is back for the season — local growers, food, and drink, every Thursday from noon to 6 PM. Walk-in. Details
Fayetteville Farmer’s Market (located in Towne Center parking lot)
West African Drum Class — Community Folk Art Center, 805 E Genesee St. 6:30 PM. $10 per class. A weekly hands-on drumming class, open to all levels. Tickets
Friday–Saturday, May 29–30
"A Rock Sails By" — CNY Playhouse, 116 W Glen Ave (Shoppingtown). 7 PM. The final weekend of a new drama about science, faith, and family. Tickets
All week
Disney's Frozen — The Broadway Musical — Syracuse Stage, 820 E Genesee St. Through June 21. The stage version of the film, built for the whole family. Tickets
Live Music
Thursday, May 28
Donna Colton & Sam Patterelli — The 443 Social Club. 7 PM. A local-favorite duo. Tickets
Friday, May 29
Aaron Ruiz + Friends — The Fitz, the music room at Darling, downtown. 8:30 PM. Free, never a cover. The bar's regular local jazz night. RSVP
Tony Holiday with Laura Chavez — The 443 Social Club. 7 PM. Touring blues, with guitarist Laura Chavez. Tickets
Saturday, May 30
Anna Fontaine — Funk 'n Waffles, downtown. 7:30 PM. A night of local roots and soul. Tickets
Sunday, May 31
Jazz Jam — Funk 'n Waffles, downtown. 3 PM. Free, but you still need a ticket. The weekly Sunday jam, open to anyone who wants to sit in. Tickets
Jason Mraz — Landmark Theatre, 362 S Salina St. 7:30 PM. The two-time Grammy winner on his Still Yours tour. Tickets
Coming Soon:Taste of Syracuse at Clinton Square (June 5–6). A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical at the Landmark Theatre (June 9–14). The NYS Blues Festival at the Fairgrounds (June 11–13). The Syracuse International Jazz Fest, free, downtown (July 9–12).
THE TAB
One food or drink spot this week — what to order and where to find it.
Photo: Bistro 1926
Bistro 1926 — 800 Nottingham Road, at Drumlins.
Bistro 1926 sits inside Drumlins Country Club, but it's open to the public. The menu's more interesting than the usual country club fare, and the casual, friendly atmosphere keeps us coming back.
It's a good summer-evening move. Plenty of patrons are coming off the golf course, wandering over from the pool, or simply walking in from the neighborhood to grab dinner, and the patio gives you the option to eat outside in warm weather.
What to order: the flatbreads. Get one for the table as an app or make it the meal. They'll do it gluten-free, too, which is harder to find than it should be, and they don’t shout “gluten-free,” which is the best part.
The name is a nod to the year Drumlins opened, 1926 — which makes this its hundredth summer.
Open to the public for lunch and dinner, with brunch on Saturdays. Reservations on Resy or 315.446.8511.
THE SPOTLIGHT
A deeper look at one person, place, or project in Syracuse.
A Prize for Project Mend
Project Mend publishes the writing of people impacted by the justice system (the currently and formerly incarcerated, and the families and communities around them). It started as a print and digital journal, Mend, and has grown into a national, open-access archive: an animated film, Prison and Time, that premiered in November, and a podcast, Mend Fences, that launched this past January.
The person behind it is Patrick W. Berry, an associate professor of writing and rhetoric at Syracuse University. He works with the Center for Community Alternatives (the Syracuse organization that helps people find alternatives to prison and rebuild their lives afterward) to get the work made, published, and read.
This month, that work won something new. On Thursday, May 14, CNY Arts, the region's arts council, named Berry the inaugural winner of the Syracuse Prize — a $10,000 award funded by an anonymous donor and handed out at a downtown ceremony. Berry has said the money goes straight back into Project Mend.
Berry has described the work like this: "There's a power of people seeing the potential of creativity, of making things, of storytelling as a way of shifting the narrative. It becomes really important for them and how they see themselves, but then also how people understand them and really, in seeing their humanity."
Coverage from syracuse.com, LocalSYR, and Syracuse University News.
THE BUILD
Construction and development around the city, in plain English.
Great Northern Mall
The Great Northern Mall in Clay has sat mostly empty since November 2022. Now it's coming down, slowly. National Grid is still capping the gas and power lines; once that's done, the visible above-ground teardown can start. The former Dick's Sporting Goods is being preserved, along with the standalone Dunk & Bright Furniture, Extra Space Storage, and the old Sears (now Sky Zone and CNY Gym Centre).
Inside Great Northern Mall prior to demolition (Photo: LocalSYR)
The master plan for what replaces Great Northern Mall is certainly ambitious. Hart Lyman Companies (managing partner Guy Hart) bought the site from Kohan Retail Investment Group in summer 2023 for about $9 million.
Hart's team is planning nearly 1,700 condos and apartments, six hotels, two parking garages, a medical campus tied to Upstate Medical University, and well over a million square feet of stores, offices, and entertainment.
None of that has been approved by the Town of Clay yet. The Upstate Medical piece, per County Executive Ryan McMahon, could break ground "around this time next year," contingent on the university getting state certificates of need and use.
A project of this scale is being floated at all because of Micron. The chipmaker held its ceremonial groundbreaking for its planned megafab at the nearby White Pine Commerce Park in January, with site-prep work running back to last August. The Great Northern site is about three miles away.
Coverage from Fingerlakes1.com and CNY Central.
THE BLOCK
One neighborhood at a time — what's there, what's changing.
Fayetteville
This week we're heading east, to Fayetteville. The village at its heart is full of history.
Photo: Matilda Joslyn Gage Center
The Matilda Joslyn Gage Center sits at 210 E Genesee Street. Gage (1826–1898) was an abolitionist and a leader of the women's suffrage movement alongside Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Her front parlor hosted the strategy sessions; her kitchen was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Her son-in-law, a writer named L. Frank Baum, would go on to publish The Wizard of Oz. The house is a museum now, its rooms organized around the causes Gage spent her life on.
Down the road, on Orchard Street, the Stickley brothers, Leopold and John George, founded their furniture company in 1900. They worked out of that building until 1985; today it houses the Fayetteville Free Library, with a Stickley Museum upstairs. It's all part of the craft heritage that grew up along the old Erie Canal corridor just north of the village.
All that history is the backdrop. Right now, Fayetteville's having a food moment. Arad Evans Inn, the New American restaurant that ran for 30 years in an 1840s house at 7206 E Genesee, closed just before Thanksgiving and is set to reopen under new ownership (rumored to be a few months out).
Photo: @alimentarycny
And in the old Kirby's at 408 E Genesee, the highly anticipated Apizza Alimentari is getting ready to open — a Roman-style pizza spot, Italian market, and trattoria from Paul Messina, John Stage, and Amy Chrisogonou, the team behind Apizza Regionale and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.
A few other restaurants and businesses we recommend you check out:
King David's — Towne Center. A dependable Mediterranean staple: gyros, falafel, and salads.
Fayetteville Farmers Market — Towne Center, Towne Dr. A producer-only market every Thursday, noon–6 PM, back this week on May 28.
Fayette's — 532 Towne Dr. Self-serve soft-serve with more than a dozen flavors and a topping bar to match. The name's a wink at the village.
Pascale's Wine & Liquors — 105 Towne Drive. A family-run wine and spirits shop (the Pascales are part of the Salt City Club team).
JetBlack New York — 6891 E Genesee St. Women's contemporary fashion boutique.
Chloe's Closet — 107 Brooklea Dr. Upscale boutique for unique baby and kids' clothing.
Pilates with Chloe — Fayetteville. Infrared heated mat classes from owner Chloe Drescher.
Glow Yoga & Juice Bar — 6823 E Genesee St. Heated yoga classes, a juice and smoothie bar, and a small boutique.
Green Lakes Lanes — 7930 E Genesee St. A bowling alley with a full restaurant and bar, plus cosmic bowling and trivia nights.
Green Lakes State Park — 7900 Green Lakes Rd. Two rare glacial lakes, a swimming beach, and 15 miles of trails, plus Yards Grille at the golf course — the spot we highlighted a couple weeks back.
Photo: @pilateswithchloeny
THE SCOREBOARD
Local sports — what just happened and what's next.
Syracuse men's lacrosse came up a game short. A week after reaching the Final Four, the Orange ran into Notre Dame in Saturday's national semifinal in Charlottesville and lost 15-7, undone by a 6-0 fourth quarter. Syracuse ends the season 13-6, and Notre Dame fell to Princeton 16-9 in Monday's championship game.
The Mets took the series from Buffalo. Sunday's Memorial Day doubleheader split — a 6-4 loss, then a 1-0 win behind Clifford's second home run of the day, his 10th of the season, and the first double-digit homer total in the Mets' system this year. Syracuse plays in Rochester this week and is back home at NBT Bank Stadium on June 2. Schedule
Syracuse rowing is up next. The Orange race at the NCAA Championships at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Georgia, this weekend, May 29–31, after earning an at-large bid.
THE KEEPER
A local pet looking for a home.
Meet Bluey! She's a 1-year-old shepherd mix, around 42 lbs, and she's been at Helping Hounds for two weeks. She's good with other dogs and already spayed, though how she does with cats or kids is still unknown.
This week's Keeper is ready for adoption at Helping Hounds Dog Rescue.
Here's what the Helping Hounds team has to say about Bluey: "Bluey came to us from our friends at B&R Bunkhouse. This dog is so fun and just loves to run and play. She is great with adults and has not met a dog she has not liked. She is young and still has plenty of puppy energy, so her new family will need to be active and willing to work on her training. She will be your best friend for life!"
THE CLUB
Your space — reply and join the conversation.
This week's question: Summer's officially here. If a friend came to town for one day between now and the Fourth of July, where would you take them? Hit reply; we'll share the best ones next edition.
THE VIEW
One photo from the week — from us, or from you.
A walk around the lake at Green Lakes State Park
Every Tuesday, in your inbox and at saltcityclub.com.
Join the club.
— Salt City Club Team