SYRACUSE — The Downtown Committee of Syracuse Inc. says Downtown Dining Weeks, which started Feb. 17, will continue through March 1. 

This year’s event — now in its 16th year — includes 46 locally-owned restaurants. In all, 29 eateries are dishing out three-course lunch specials for $10 (or less), while 35 restaurants serve up three-course dinner specials for $30 (or less). 

Several restaurants have dinner options featured at a $20 to $25 price point. As menus are received, they will be uploaded to DowntownSyracuse.com, per a news release. 

Those interested can visit website DowntownSyracuse.com/DiningWeeks where users have the option to sort their preferences according to “Lunch,” “Dinner,” or “All.” Menus are clickable underneath the website link for each respective restaurant, the Downtown Committee said.

Downtown Dining Weeks was designed to generate business during what “typically tends to be a slower dining season.” It typically attracts as many as 50,000 diners from Onondaga, Cortland, Madison, Oneida, and Oswego counties.

“It’s amazing to see how much Downtown Dining Weeks has grown since its 2005 inception,” Merike Treier, executive director of the Downtown Committee of Syracuse Inc., said in the release. “Each year, we field inquiries earlier and earlier about when we’ll be posting our menus to our website. It’s exciting to see how the community looks forward to planning their Downtown Dining Weeks experience(s). The two-week-long celebration of high-quality, locally owned restaurants presents unique opportunities for our community to ‘eat their way’ through the center of our city. Whether they’re trying a new restaurant for the first time, or looking forward to returning to a favorite place, there really is something for everyone.”

Title sponsor, promotion

Endwell–based Visions Federal Credit Union is the title sponsor of Downtown Dining Weeks for the fourth year in a row. The nonprofit has more than 210,000 members across New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, including more than 5,000 members in Onondaga County. 

The Downtown Committee and Visions are bringing back the “Spot the Chef’s Hat Promotion.” Each participating Downtown Dining Weeks restaurant has one chef’s hat placed somewhere in its dining area. 

Diners are encouraged to spot the chef’s hat, take a picture of it, and email the picture — or a thorough description of its location — to mail@downtownsyracuse.com. All correct guesses will be entered into multiple drawings for gift cards/gift certificates. Winners will be notified via email. 

GEDDES — The Feb. 7 winter storm that blew across upstate New York made the second annual Winter Fair at the State Fairgrounds “a little bit more challenging” this year.

“We had a weather condition that we didn’t have the first year,” says Steve Becker, president and owner of Premier Promotions and promoter of the Winter Fair event, referring to the snowstorm. 

Overall attendance at this year’s Winter Fair was about 15,000, down from an attendance count of about 25,000 at the inaugural event in 2019, he notes. Becker spoke with CNYBJ on Feb. 17.

He believes the snow discouraged travelers from places such as Albany, Buffalo, Watertown, and Binghamton, which reduced the overall attendance figure.

“People were still kind of snowed in, even on Saturday,” says Becker. 

The same situation applied to those living even closer to the venue in places such as Central Square, he notes. 

Becker believes that if the Winter Fair had the type of quiet winter weather that came the following Valentine’s Day weekend, it would’ve attracted an overall attendance figure similar to last year, “if not more.”

This year’s Winter Fair had an expanded area for rides with 16 rides, including two Ferris wheels instead of one, more food vendors, and fireworks displays both Friday and Saturday night.

Most of the food vendors and ride operators say they’ll return for the 2021 Winter Fair, according to Becker.

“All the music and entertainment went off without a hitch,” he says.

The event is funded through sponsors, such as Stanley Law Offices, L.L.P. And, Onondaga County provided funding to help pay for the fireworks displays. 

“[Onondaga County Executive] Ryan McMahon is very big on the idea that events bring in people from outside the area, help with sales tax … this is the second year [the county] has been a sponsor,” says Becker. 

The City of Syracuse also provided the stage for the entertainment performers, he adds. 

The event also raised $4,000 through the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation for the Boys & Girls Club of Syracuse, up from $3,600 last year.

Becker says he’s already planning for the next Winter Fair, which will be held at the end of January in 2021. 

“We call it Winter Fair because of the timing … about six months before the State Fair,” says Becker. 

The New York State Fair provides promotional support for the Winter Fair, he adds. Becker also says tourism promotion agency I Love NY mentioned Winter Fair in its February blog about statewide activities to which people can travel, a promotion that he called “very helpful this year.”

Becker says the Winter Fair is starting to gain traction as a go-to event in the winter.

“After two years, even though I still feel we’re in our infancy, we’re becoming a tradition,” he contends.

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) board of trustees has authorized a five-year funding plan for the Reimagine the Canals Initiative, which seeks to help expand tourism, boost economic development, and reduce flooding along the Erie Canal corridor. 

The $300 million project was first announced in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2020 State of the State address.

The NYPA board also approved $30 million to fund Reimagine initiative projects in 2020 as part of the five-year plan, which also aims to enhance irrigation, restore wetlands, and expand recreational fishing opportunities.

NYPA runs the New York State Canal Corporation and the 524-mile state Canal System as a subsidiary.

“The Erie Canal transformed New York into an economic powerhouse in the 19th century, and in the 21st century can again serve as an engine for growth along the canal corridor,” Cuomo said in a Jan. 29 news release. “With this initiative, we are both honoring the canal’s heritage and ensuring a very bright future.” 

Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, praised the proposal in a Jan. 8 statement following Cuomo’s State of the State message. 

“We applaud the state’s $300 million plan to reimagine the Erie Canal. This important investment …holds the potential to boost tourism and support recreational fishing but also to mitigate flooding by improving irrigation and restoring wetlands,” said Simpson.

Projects involved 

Projects that will move forward with the initial funding include the winner of the Reimagine the Canals competition, a canalside pocket neighborhood. It’ll be developed by Madison County at a former industrial property in Canastota along the Old Erie Canal, “demonstrating a model for 21st century canalside living,” per Cuomo’s office. 

The projects also include a new whitewater “destination” at the north end of Cayuga Lake near Seneca Falls, to increase eco-tourism and sport visitors to the region. 

In addition, the projects include the “Brockport Loop” in Monroe County. It will connect SUNY College at Brockport to the Empire State Trail and the village of Brockport through the transformation of a canal guard-gate into a pedestrian bridge and overlook. 

Another project involves interactive, hydro-powered illumination of Canal “movable dams” — initially in Amsterdam and Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley — to “celebrate” the canal’s heritage and history. 

They also include the historic Guy Park Manor on the Mohawk River in Amsterdam, which will be “reborn as a hospitality and recreation destination.” A pedestrian bridge constructed across a canal lock will provide access to the Empire State Trail on the opposite side of the river.

“Gov. Cuomo’s plan to Reimagine the Canals will bring new energy, enthusiasm and economic development to the canal corridor,” Brian Stratton, director of the New York State Canal Corporation, contended in Cuomo’s release. “Today’s board action approving the funding for these new initiatives is a positive step for the Canal Corporation and the communities that we will work so closely with to make these programs a reality. We are excited to begin.”