If you have been putting the Fair off, this is your week to go — it closes Monday, Sept. 7, after 13 days.
Syracuse football opens its season Saturday, at home. School is back, and when the Fair closes on Labor Day it feels like summer closes with it.
So as we shift to fall, hit reply and tell us the traditions you keep every year. The pumpkin patch or the orchard you go back to, where you get the fall treat you look forward to, or the hike with the best foliage view.
Here's what's on our radar this week:
TL;DR:
The Lineup: Syracuse football opens at home against New Hampshire on Saturday, the Mets are home all week against Rochester, and the Fair runs through Labor Day.
Live Music: Reverend Horton Heat at Middle Ages (Wed), Goo Goo Dolls at the Amphitheater (Thu), High on Fire at The Song & Dance (Fri), FunkyBlu and Peaches & Crime at The Fitz (Fri and Sat, both free), and a full day of funk at Chevy Court on Saturday.
The Tab: Apizza Alimentari in Fayetteville, from the team behind Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and Apizza Regionale, is built as 5 Italian specialty areas and closes at 4 until dinner service starts.
The Spotlight: Next week: Eddie Brennan of Beak & Skiff.
The Build: Hundreds turned out in Lysander against a 300-megawatt data center, the town board voted a moratorium, and the 124 acres are now listed at $60 million.
The Block: Lakeland — the eight-resort strip that made Onondaga Lake the Coney Island of Central New York, what Route 690 did to the last two, and the Destiny USA carousel that came off that lakeshore.
The Scoreboard: Six Mets pitchers combined for a no-hitter on Sunday, the first nine-inning one in 55 years, and Mark Vientos hit 3 home runs in the same game.
…and more!
THE LINEUP
Events this week — what's on, where, and how to get in.
Featured Event
Syracuse football vs. New Hampshire — JMA Wireless Dome, Saturday, Sept. 5, noon, on ACC Network.
The Orange open the season at home against a team they have never played. New Hampshire is a Football Championship Subdivision program in the Coastal Athletic Association, the conference that was the Colonial Athletic Association until 2023. The Wildcats went 8-5 last year and made the FCS playoffs, where South Dakota State beat them 41-3 in the first round.
Prior to kickoff for a bowl game at the Dome in 2024 (photo from Syracuse University)
This Week
The Great New York State Fair — NYS Fairgrounds, through Monday, Sept. 7. Admission is $8.32 including fees. Children 12 and under and seniors 65 and older are admitted free every day of the Fair, and parking vouchers run $12.41. Both free concert stages run daily through Labor Day. Admission and parking
Wednesday, September 2
Syracuse Eastside Farmers Market — Westcott Community Center, 826 Euclid Ave., 2 to 6 PM. Details
Thursday, September 3
315 Thursdays — Westcott and Dell streets. The free outdoor concert series runs every Thursday in September on the Westcott block. The organizers have not posted September start times or this week's band yet, so check before you head over. Details
Camp Brockway Open House — Pratt's Falls, 7757 Pratt's Falls Rd., Manlius, 4:30 to 6:30 PM. Free, no reservation, and no children under 10. Details
Friday, September 4
Native American Day at the Fair — NYS Fairgrounds. Members of Native American tribes get in free. Social dancing runs at 11 AM, 4 PM, and 7 PM at Haudenosaunee Village, renamed this year from Indian Village, with the smoke dance competition at 3. Village schedule · The name change
Food Truck Fridays — Everson Community Plaza, 401 Harrison St. It runs every Friday through September. The Everson does not publish a start time, so go over the lunch hour. Everson
Saturday, September 5
CNY Regional Market — 2100 Park St., from 7 AM. Regional Market
Live Music
The Fair's two free stages — both run daily through Labor Day, free with admission. Suburban Park goes on at 8 PM: ZZ Top Thursday, Violent Femmes Friday, Trace Adkins Saturday, and Wyclef Jean closing the Fair on Labor Day at 6 PM. Chevy Court runs at 1 and 6 PM most days, including Jesse McCartney Thursday, Better Than Ezra Friday, and a Shrek Rave at 9 that same night. Saturday it gives the whole day to the JAMS Funk Fest, 7 acts from noon on. Full lineups: Suburban Park · Chevy Court
Wednesday, September 2
Reverend Horton Heat with Messer Chups — Middle Ages Music Hall, 120 Wilkinson St., 8 PM, doors at 7. $36.01, all ages. A psychobilly trio out of Dallas, going since 1986, playing rock and roll mixed with 1950s country, surf, punk, and swing. Messer Chups is a surf rock band out of Saint Petersburg, Russia, that performs in front of projected horror and sci-fi footage. Tickets
Thursday, September 3
Goo Goo Dolls — Empower FCU Amphitheater, 490 Restoration Way, 7:30 PM. Tickets
Friday, September 4
Whiskey Glasses, a Morgan Wallen tribute act — Sharkey's Bar & Grill, under the Burritt Motors Pavilion, 7240 Oswego Rd., Liverpool, 6 PM. $22 general admission, more for seats and tables. Tickets
High on Fire — The Song & Dance, 115 E. Jefferson St., 7 PM, doors at 6. Matt Pike's Oakland metal band, which won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2019 for "Electric Messiah." Tickets
FunkyBlu — The Fitz, the speakeasy inside oh my darling at 321 S. Salina St., 8:30 to 11:30 PM. Never a cover, no tickets required, per the venue's calendar. Details
Saturday, September 5
Peaches & Crime — The Fitz, 321 S. Salina St., 8:30 to 11:30 PM. Never a cover, no tickets required. Details
Coming Soon
Jersey Boys — Landmark Theatre, 362 S. Salina St., September 8 through 12. Nightly at 7:30 PM, with a 2 PM matinee on the 12th. Tickets
Harmonic Dirt — The Fitz, 321 S. Salina St., Friday, September 11, 8:30 to 11:30 PM. Never a cover. Details
Island Takeover: Emo Night — Paper Mill Island, Baldwinsville, Friday, September 11, doors 6 PM, free. Details
Island Movie Night: The Karate Kid — Paper Mill Island, Saturday, September 12, gates 7 PM, film at 8, free. Details
Come From Away — Syracuse Stage, September 16 through October 11. Tickets
That’s just the short list
We track way more than we can squeeze into The Lineup. Refer 2 friends to the Club, and the full calendar unlocks:
THE TAB
One food or drink spot a week — what's new, what's worth the trip, and what to order.
Apizza Alimentari
408 E. Genesee St, Fayetteville — Wednesday through Sunday, the panetteria from 7:30 AM and everything else 11 AM to 4 PM — apizzaalimentari.com
It opened July 8 in the old Kirby's building, after more than 2 years of work on the space. Paul Messina, John Stage, and Amy Chrisogonou are the partners behind it. Stage founded Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. He and Messina own Apizza Regionale downtown.
The place is built as 5 specialty areas: a panetteria for coffee and pastry, a salumeria for cured meat and sandwiches, a pizzeria specializing in Roman-style pizza al taglio ("by the cut"), a trattoria for sit-down plates of pasta, and a bar for cocktails.
Step inside and you'll feel like you could be in a European cafe. The decor and the details are stunning but also feel natural and authentic, and it has been busy every time we have popped in. We have had several of the pastries, sandwiches, and a spread of the pizza. All of it was outstanding.
We hear the trattoria and the bar start dinner service in about 2 weeks. Until then everything closes at 4.
THE SPOTLIGHT
A deeper look at one person, place, or project in Syracuse.
Next week: Eddie Brennan of Beak & Skiff
We sat down with Eddie Brennan of Beak & Skiff, and went out to the new Apple Grove Adventure Park. Full story coming next week.
If there is someone in CNY you think belongs in the spotlight, hit reply and tell us who.
THE BUILD
Construction and development around the city, in plain English.
Hundreds turned out against a Lysander data center, and the town still has to rule on it
A 300-megawatt data center is proposed for 124 acres off Hencle Boulevard and Oswego Road in Lysander, the town northwest of the city that takes in the north half of Baldwinsville. The developer is Ranalli Super DC, LLC, and the land is still listed for sale at $60 million.
Hundreds of people came to the town board hearing on May 7, enough that the crowd ran out onto the sidewalk. More than 1,500 had signed a petition saying the project would threaten air and water quality, wildlife and property values, and that National Grid could pass the cost of utility upgrades on to customers.
The proposed site is where the red star is located on the map above
"Our electric bills are going through the roof," resident Jared Skinner told CNY Central. He also raised toxic fumes and the health of people living near the site. Almost everyone who spoke that night was against it, and the board voted unanimously for a 6-month moratorium.
The state's pause came two months later. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed it on July 14, freezing state environmental permits for up to a year while regulators write rules covering electric bills, the environment, the grid and communities.
The town and the state both have to say yes before anything gets built. The town handles zoning and site plan approval, and its moratorium blocks new data center applications until Nov. 6. The DEC handles the state permits, and the order tells it not to issue any that were not already complete. Town Supervisor Kevin Rode says no application has reached the DEC for that parcel anyway.
Coverage from CNY Central and the governor's office.
THE BLOCK
One neighborhood at a time — what's there, what's changing.
Lakeland
A hamlet on the west shore of Onondaga Lake with a population of about 2,500, and once the closest thing Syracuse had to a beach town.
From 1875 to 1920 this was the Coney Island of Central New York. That is not our line — it is on the historical marker still standing on Long Branch Road. Eight resorts ran along the water, reached by trolley from the city: Iron Pier, White City, Lake View Point, Pleasant Beach, Rockaway Beach, Manhattan Beach, Maple Bay and Long Branch. The Maple Bay Hotel had a beach, a dance pavilion and a vaudeville theater that seated 2,500. White City ran on 25,000 electric lights and a water ride called the Shoot the Chutes. Rockaway Beach fed duck hunters and ice boaters, and the duck on the menu was shot by the owner.
They did not die in the Depression. Pleasant Beach and Rockaway lasted into the mid-1950s, when they came down to build Route 690. The highway runs over the Rockaway now. Its toppled concrete pillars are still at the shoreline and its pier is still on the lake bottom.
One of many hotels that thrived on Onondaga Lakes’ Western Shore in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s
North along the same lake, Long Branch Amusement Park opened in 1882 with boxing arenas and an arcade, and closed in 1938. Its carousel, built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1909, arrived in 1926 and ran until 1941, then spent more than 40 years at Roseland Park in Canandaigua. Pyramid bought it at auction in 1985, spent two years repainting it in its original 1909 colors, and opened it here in 1990. It is the carousel at Destiny USA, and you can still ride it today.
Where to go:
Lakeland Diner, 764 State Fair Blvd — breakfast and lunch all day, in the room that was Suzie's Cafe for years. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Bella Bakery, 904 State Fair Blvd — Italian bread and rolls, Italian and Eastern European cookies, cakes to order. Closed Monday.
Fair Deli & Craft Beer, 757 State Fair Blvd — a deli and craft beer shop since 2000. The sandwich they lead with is the Sicilian Gold: deli meats, cheese, tomato and chopped pistachios on a hoagie. Closed Sunday through Tuesday.
Johnny Mac's Pizzeria and Deli, 894 State Fair Blvd — pizza, wings, hot and cold subs. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Lakeland Winery, 877 State Fair Blvd — an urban winery doing tastings, bottle sales and winemaking classes. Friday through Sunday only.
Daniella's Steakhouse, 670 State Fair Blvd — hand-cut steaks. Opens at 4:30 PM daily.
Flex Fit Pilates, 829 State Fair Blvd — reformer classes at every level, private lessons, beginner workshops.
John Carno Recreation Center, 823 State Fair Blvd — the town's rec center and parks office, with a new inclusive playground this year funded by an Onondaga County Community Development Grant.
Every address above is on State Fair Boulevard, between 670 and 904, so the whole list is one drive.
THE SCOREBOARD
Local sports — what just happened and what's next.
Six Syracuse Mets pitchers threw a no-hitter on Sunday, on the road at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.
Kevin Herget went 1 2/3 innings. Saul Garcia went 1 1/3. Tobias Myers threw 3 perfect innings and got the win. Chayce McDermott, Joe Jacques, and Zach Franklin finished it. They faced 28 batters, walked 2, struck out 3, and gave up nothing, 8-0 over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
It is the 18th no-hitter in franchise history and the first nine-inning one in 55 years.
Mark Vientos, down from the big-league Mets on a rehab assignment, went 4 for 5 in the same game with 3 home runs, 5 RBI, and 3 runs scored. Recap
They are home all week against the Rochester Red Wings, Tuesday, Sept. 1 through Sunday, Sept. 6. First pitch is 6:35 PM every night except Sunday, which is 5:35. Schedule
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— Salt City Club Team