We walked Westcott this week, and the neighborhood was feeling alive. Restaurants were busy, street parking was full, and the Westcott Theater is running three nights in a row.
We've had a taste of patio season already this spring. Monday night was another frost warning, but by Saturday, we're in the 70s. Here's hoping no more frost warnings as we head into summer. We'll be tracking where to sit in the sunshine.
Here's what else is happening this week:
TL;DR:
The Lineup: The Lincoln Auditorium opens to the community Thursday with the first show inside in 50+ years; Disney's Frozen opens Wednesday at Syracuse Stage on a six-week run; Alter Bridge Friday and Joe Satriani & Steve Vai Sunday, both at Landmark.
Live Music: Three sold-outs at The 443 (Bill Kirchen, Davina & The Vagabonds, Joe Pug); the Westcott Theater on three nights this week; Latin Groove Connection and Saturno and Friends free at The Fitz.
The Tab: Yards Grille at Green Lakes — patio over the Robert Trent Jones course, and the Juicy Lucy is the order.
The Spotlight: Lis Webber's Syracuse Community Fridge network — three locations, no forms, no eligibility check, no appointment.
The Build: Up to $90,000 per project in renovation grants — Salt Springs and Tipperary Hill, applications open now.
The Block: Westcott — a walk down the strip. Coffee, Mexican, Mediterranean, Italian, gyros, the barber, the florist, the Theater.
The Scoreboard: SU men's lacrosse beats Yale, advances to NCAA quarterfinals; women out in OT to Navy; Mets on the road.
The Archive: Lincoln Auditorium — what was inside the room before the lights went off fifty years ago.
…and more!
THE LINEUP
Events this week — what's on, where, and how to get in.
Featured Event
The Spotlight Returns: A Legacy Renewed at Micron Lincoln Auditorium — Syracuse STEAM at Central, 701 S Warren St., Thursday, May 14, 6 PM. General admission $10, students $5, kids under 5 free. Tickets
Thursday's STEAM High School performance is the first show inside the Lincoln Auditorium in 50-plus years, and the community is invited in. The room sits inside the restored Central High, now Syracuse STEAM at Central, and Thursday's student concert is the public unveiling. (More on the room itself in The Archive below.)
Newly renovated auditorium at Syracuse STEAM at Central
This Week
Tuesday, May 12
TJ Klune — Friends of the Central Library Author Series — The Oncenter Crouse Hinds Theater, downtown, 7:30 PM. The bestselling SFF author (The House in the Cerulean Sea) on the library author circuit. Tickets
Wednesday, May 13
Disney's Frozen — opening night — Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St. Runs through Sunday, June 21. The full-length Broadway musical (Lopez/Lopez music and lyrics, Jennifer Lee's book) lands in Syracuse on a six-week run. The Chicago Tribune called the touring production "a winter world that's simply spectacular." Tickets
Thursday, May 14
Thursday Morning Roundtable: Their Future, Their Voice: What Matters Most to Our Youth — Syracuse University Physics Building Stolkin Auditorium, 140 Sims Drive, 8:30–10:30 AM. Free. SU's weekly community lecture series, open to the public. Register
Saturday, May 16
Open Up Downtown — Meet at the Atrium building, 2 S Clinton St., 10 AM – 3 PM. Pop-in tours of iconic downtown buildings most readers haven't been inside. Tickets
Sacred Sites Open House — University United Methodist Church, 1085 E. Genesee St., plus the 1885 Church at 300 W. Seneca Tpke. and others, 10 AM – 3 PM. Free. Historic Syracuse churches open their doors for a day — stained glass, organ demos, building-history tours. Details
RetroGameCon Spring Edition — The OnCenter, downtown, 10 AM. The arcade-cabinet, tournament, and vendor convention twice a year for everyone who never got rid of their Sega. Tickets
Sunday, May 17
Cicero Historical Society Chicken BBQ — 6545 State Rt 31, Cicero, 11 AM until they run out. Includes half chicken, baked beans and macaroni salad for $15.00.
Live Music
Tuesday, May 12
Bill Kirchen — The 443 Social Club, 7 PM. SOLD OUT. Country-rock guitar out of Commander Cody — the "Titan of the Telecaster." Join the waitlist
Thursday, May 14
Davina & The Vagabonds — The 443 Social Club, 7 PM. SOLD OUT. Vintage jazz vocalist out of New Orleans by way of Minneapolis. Join the waitlist
Friday, May 15
Alter Bridge — What Lies Within Us Tour — Landmark Theatre, 362 S. Salina St., 7 PM. Mark Tremonti's post-Creed hard rock band, with Myles Kennedy on vocals. Tickets
Latin Groove Connection — The Fitz, 8:30–11:30 PM. Free, no cover. Reserve a spot
Photo: The Fitz
Saturday, May 16
Joe Pug — The 443 Social Club, 7 PM. SOLD OUT. Singer-songwriter. There's a songwriting workshop at The 443 with Pug from 1–2 PM the same day; ticketing separate. Join the waitlist
Napkin Wars — The Westcott Theater, 524 Westcott St., 10 PM. Tickets
Saturno and Friends — The Fitz, 8:30–11:30 PM. Free. Local Latin and jazz. Reserve a spot
DaBaby — Be More Grateful Tour — Sharkey's Event Center, 7240 Oswego Rd., Liverpool, 6–10:30 PM. National hip-hop at a Liverpool rock club. Tickets
Sunday, May 17
Latin Day Party: Dembow vs. Perreo, hosted by Joselito the Puppet — The Westcott Theater, 11 AM. Daytime DJ event. Tickets
Joe Satriani & Steve Vai — Surfing With The Hydra 2026 Tour w/ Animals as Leaders — Landmark Theatre, 7:30 PM. Two of the most-recorded electric guitarists of the last 40 years on the same bill; Animals as Leaders is a current prog-metal trio opening. Tickets
Monday, May 18
Violent Vira — The Westcott Theater, 8 PM (doors 7). Local. Tickets
Coming Soon: Stella Standingbear at the Westcott Theater (May 20). Waka Flocka Flame at the Westcott Theater (May 21). Menopause The Musical 2 at Landmark (May 27). Samantha Fish at the Westcott Theater (May 28). An Evening With Cake at Beak & Skiff (May 30). Jason Mraz at Landmark (May 31).
THE TAB
One food or drink spot this week — what to order and where to find it.
Photo: Ana Romero
Yards Grille at Green Lakes — 5648 Green Lakes Park Dr, Fayetteville | (315) 632-6015 | yardsgrille.com
Patio season's anchor pick. Yards Grille sits inside Green Lakes State Park, and the deck looks out across the Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course and the lakes themselves. It's where we bring out-of-town guests when we want the view to do the work.
The food is New American. The kitchen's own framing is "elevated comfort." The dish to order is the Juicy Lucy: two smash patties, a mustardy special sauce, cheddar, pickles, and bacon. The sauce is delicious. If you're not into burgers, we recommend the Waldorf chicken salad - one of our go tos!
We like to go for an early dinner. Casual, kids welcome, no reservations. Open daily until 8 PM.
THE SPOTLIGHT
A deeper look at one person, place, or project in Syracuse.
Lis Webber and the Syracuse Community Fridge
Lis Webber moved back to Syracuse with a model in her head. She'd spent the early pandemic in New York City and watched community fridges (public, unlocked refrigerators stocked by neighbors for anyone who needed the food) go up across the boroughs. In 2025, she opened the area's first one at All Saints Church, 1340 Lancaster Ave.
The fridges are unlocked. The rules are simple: anyone donates, anyone takes. No forms, no eligibility check, no appointment. They're stocked by volunteers and neighbors with whatever's spare; they're cleared by anyone who walks up needing it.
Most food assistance comes with friction: paperwork, waiting rooms, income verifications, and the question of whether you qualify. The community-fridge model takes the friction out and leaves the food. There's no institution between the donor and the person who needs it. Neighbors keep it stocked for other neighbors.
The network grew from there. Neighborhood by neighborhood. Mattydale picked up the second fridge at the Salina Library (100 Belmont St., run by Jeannine Chubon), with the same model attached to a library lobby. The city's Far West Side picked up the third at the Mundy Branch Library Community Closet (1204 S. Geddes St.).
If you want to help, the simplest move is to drop off what you have at any of the three: a few extra cans, a sealed bag of rice, a meal-prep surplus the household won't eat. If you need it, walk up.
Coverage from This is CNY.
THE BUILD
Construction and development around the city, in plain English.
Syracuse Will Pay Up to $90,000 for Renovations in Two Neighborhoods
Syracuse's Department of Neighborhood and Business Development opened applications this month for renovation grants targeting two specific middle-income neighborhoods that don't typically qualify for federal or state housing assistance: Salt Springs and Tipperary Hill / the Far West Side.
Grants run up to $90,000 per project, covering 40 to 60 percent of total renovation costs. This is the top tier of a layered city housing program: a $2,500 exterior-match grant launched last fall, $8,000–$12,000 mid-tier grants available across both neighborhoods now, and the $90,000 awards rolling out block by block over the coming months as the program scales.
Eligible work covers kitchen and bathroom renovations, roofing, siding, and bedroom reconfigurations. These are the interior-and-envelope projects that homeowners in middle-income blocks otherwise stretch out over years because the financing isn't there.
The whole effort runs through Housing Strategies Corp., which started with $7.5 million in state and city seed funding, with another $2.25 million expected in next year's budget.
If you own a house in Salt Springs or on Tipp Hill, here is where you can find more information on the program for you and your neighbors.
Two weeks ago, the housing news was the Skyline Apartments missing its tenant-readiness deadline. This is the opposite posture: the city writing checks in two neighborhoods that have been waiting for a turn.
Coverage from This is CNY.
THE BLOCK
One neighborhood at a time — what's there, what's changing.
Westcott
Westcott has been Syracuse's cultural corridor for a long time. Walkable, independent, near Syracuse University campus. Some of the Salt City Club team have lived on these blocks. The strip we're sending you down is one we know and love.
Johanna Yorke has been running Alto Cinco at 526 Westcott since September 1995 — 30 years next door, the name a Spanglish "high five" from her mother. Adam Williams and Jesse Daino bought an existing coffee shop in winter 2006 and relaunched it as Recess Coffee at 110 Harvard Place the following spring; almost 20 years on, they're still the neighborhood roastery. Doug Spangenberg took a 30-year-old beauty shop at 554 Westcott and turned it into the eight-chair Westcott Barber Shop in 2015, trading a touring videographer's life for the same chair every week. Three of them inside five minutes of walking.
The strip's other anchor is the Westcott Theater at 524 Westcott. It ran as a cinema from 1993 to 2007 and reopened as a 700-cap music venue in 2008 under Sam Levey and Dan Mastronardi.
A few more stops on the same block:
Munjed's Mediterranean Restaurant & Lounge — Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, Tuesday trivia in the side room, the Garbanzo Glacier hommus shake on the menu.
Colucci — the Italian dining room Syracuse.com's Dining Out review called out last spring for simple classics done well.
Syracuse Halal Gyro — halal-certified, locally-sourced produce chopped daily, take-out with limited seating.
Westcott Florist — stunning floral arrangements, hand-arranged, delivered throughout Syracuse.
One other neighborhood favorite that isn't on Westcott itself: the Syracuse Cooperative Market at 618 Kensington Rd. A member-owned grocery co-op, open daily 8 AM–9 PM. What we miss most about living in the neighborhood is walking to the Co-op to pick up groceries.
THE SCOREBOARD
Local sports — what just happened and what's next.
Lacrosse split. The SU men beat Yale 16–15 at home Sunday, May 10 in NCAA Round 1 — their third-straight quarterfinal trip. Next up: #3 North Carolina at Hofstra, Saturday, May 16. The women lost 11–10 in OT to Navy on Sunday after leading 9–3 at halftime. Out in Round 2.
Syracuse Mets. Five-game road trip at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders this week, May 12–16. Back at NBT Bank Stadium with the next homestand.
THE ARCHIVE
One historical beat to pair with the week — what was here before.
Thursday's STEAM High School performance is the first show inside the Lincoln Auditorium in 50-plus years. Worth pausing on what that room used to be.
Syracuse's Central Tech High School in 1960
The Lincoln Auditorium was built into Central High a century ago. Through the middle of the 20th century, it was one of the rooms in the city where a touring musician of that level might end up on a given Wednesday. Duke Ellington played the room. Django Reinhardt played the room.
It went dark in the 1980s and stayed dark for decades while the building around it changed hands and configurations. The $85 million restoration that brought Central back online (now Syracuse STEAM at Central, anchored by the Micron Lincoln partnership) put the auditorium back inside the active school. After fifty years, Syracuse has the room again.
History via Sean Kirst's Central Current piece, May 2.
THE CLUB
Your space — reply and join the conversation.
This week's question: What's the first patio you sit on every spring? The default one, the one you steer to without thinking, the one that means "OK, we're outside now." Hit reply.
Best answers run next week. We're tracking where to sit through the summer, and the patio you default to is exactly the kind of intel we're after.
THE VIEW
One photo from the week — from us, or from you.
A mural brightening up the neighborhood, reading “WESTCOTT NATION”
Every Tuesday, in your inbox.
Join the club.
— Salt City Club Team