East Syracuse, New York

East Syracuse is an incorporated village and a suburb of the City of Syracuse in eastern Onondaga County, New York. USA. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the village had a population of 3,178.

The Village of East Syracuse is located immediately east of Syracuse, in the Town of De Witt.

Geography

East Syracuse is located at 43°3′52″N 76°4′13″W (43.064516, -76.070143)Template:GR. The Village center is at Manlius and North Center Streets.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 4.1 km² (1.6 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 3,178 people, 1,393 households, and 742 families residing in the village. The population density was 776.6/km² (2,015.0/mi²). There were 1,503 housing units at an average density of 367.3/km² (953.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 95.06% White, 1.45% African American, 1.01% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 2.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.16% of the population.

There were 1,393 households out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.1% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% were non-families. 40.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the village the population was spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $28,703, and the median income for a family was $34,293. Males had a median income of $34,405 versus $24,875 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,066. About 14.3% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.9% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

The Village was incorporated in 1881 and population peaked in the early 1960's, with a 1960 census reported population of 4708.

History

The original inhabitants of the area were Onondaga clans, whose village was atop a hill on the eastern border of Onondaga territory along what is now Kinne St. An established trail ran down part of what is now James Street to Ley Creek where the Onondagas could travel by canoe to their capital along the northeast shore of Onondaga Lake. Portions of this Onondaga village dating from the early eighteenth century were uncovered in the 1930's when East Syracuse High School was being built on Kinne St near James.

The current settlement, originally named "Messina," grew up along the northern edge of the Erie Canal near Headson's Landing, a busy canal port with the only bridge to cross the canal east of downtown Syracuse for ten miles. In the middle of the nineteenth century the Messina Plank Road (now New York State Route 290) was built from Messina east to Manlius Center and the canal port there. Large venetian blind and buggy whip factories operated in Messina in the late nineteenth century.

In the 1870's, the main line of the New York Central Railroad was built through the northern part of Messina, and the DeWitt Railyards complex, one of the busiest in the world in its day, stretched from Messina five miles east to Minoa. During most of the nineteenth century the larger part of the hamlet was south of the railroad yards, but as the population grew with rail workers, housing expanded to the north. In the 1960's, Interstate 690 was built through the southern part of the Village between the railroad and Erie Blvd, which was built over part of the old canal. Now only a small portion of the original settlement south of the railroad remains, including about 100 of the Village's 1200 dwelling units.

During the boom following construction of the railroad, the name "East Syracuse" began to replace Messina. That name was chosen for the new village when it was incorporated in 1881. At that time the village thrived due to its access to transportation. The railroad was the new powerhouse, but the canal remained viable, with Headson's Landing still a busy port. The northeastern corner of the Headson's Landing Bridge was the original southwestern corner of the village.

Since then, the canal has gone, paved over for a thoroughfare, and the railroad sees only a portion of its former business. As the interstate system and other high speed roads have turned the all day trip of the nineteenth century into an hours's drive, East Syracuse has become fully a suburb of Syracuse.

East Syracuse is home to Bristol Labs, a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb. Formerly the world's largest source of penicillin, production was recently ended there due to the less expensive production of this drug overseas. Bristol Labs now makes several newer drugs, along with housing a state-of-the-art ramp-up facility designed to quickly adapt to make moderate quantities of new drugs for clinical trials.

East Syracuse played another role in making the world a little bit smaller in 1996, when Village Trustee Jason M Rhoades, a twenty year old college student and management intern at NYNEX (now Verizon), made history by being the first legislator in the world to participate in a legislative meeting by telecom from a business trip in Massachusetts. Rhoades was also the Village's youngest Trustee when elected in 1995 at the age of nineteen, and one of the youngest people ever elected to any municipal office in New York State. In 2001, he became the Village's youngest Mayor at the age of twenty-five.

A recent list of the Mayors of East Syracuse (with party affiliation) includes:

Michael "Mickey" Wrenn (Progressive) 1961-65;

Carl Sterling (Peoples) 1965-70;

Ronald A Russell Jr (Peoples) 1970-73, 1975-1979, 1981-1985, 1997-2001;

Fred Ray (Citizens) 1973-75;

Richard Benack (Citizens) 1979-81;

Richard Rhoades (Citizens) 1985-87;

Peter Higgins (Peoples) 1987-95;

Donald E Reichert (Citizens) 1995-97;

Jason M Rhoades (Citizens) 2001-03;

Lorene McCoy Dadey (Peoples) 2003-05;

Tony Albanese (Citizens & Conservative) 2005-07.

Village Government

The annual Village operating budget is $5,231,210, including the separate sewer and water budgets, of which $2,201,934 or 42% comes from local property taxes. The Village's website is at www.east-syracuse.com. Current Village officials include:

Tony Albanese, Mayor;

Dan Liedka, Deputy Mayor;

Lorene McCoy Dadey, Village Trustee;

Barbara Falcone Quonce, Village Trustee;

Eric Volcko, Village Trustee;

Robert S Temple, Village Attorney;

Robert Germain, Planning & Zoning Attorney;

William Morris and Thomas Campoli, Village Engineers;

Erik Carlson, Acting Justice;

Bridget Albanese, Court Clerk;

Patricia Derby, Village Clerk;

Terry Knaflewski, Deputy Clerk;

Karen Serens, Receiver of Taxes;

Howard Evans, Treasurer;

Frank Stirpe, Codes Enforcement Officer;

William Cramer, Building Inspector;

Frank Volcko, Assessor;

Lisa Wojtaszek, Historian;

Joseph McAllister, Fire Chief;

Douglas Robertson, Police Chief;

Ronald A Russell III, Public Works Supt;

Randall Rhoades, Public Works Foreman;

Richard Russell, Building and Grounds Foreman;

Joseph Denero, Recreation Director;

Thomas Richardson, Recreation Supervisor;

Howard Evans, Board of Ethics Chair;

Ronald Gustafson, East Syracuse Preservation Association Chair;

Sally Seeley, Housing Authority Chair;

Ronald Gustafson, Planning Board Chair;

Patricia Rhoades, Recreation Commission Chair;

Richard Robb, Revitalization Committee Chair;

Robert Sweeney, Zoning Board of Appeals Chair.

External links

• Village of East Syracuse, NY