Syracuse: Economy

Major Industries and Commercial Activity

Syracuse is a major commercial, industrial, and transportation center for the Northeast. The economy is highly diversified; this enabled the city to weather a recession in 2001. While manufacturing remains significant to the local market, the service industry is experiencing record growth. Sub-sectors leading the trend include call centers, finance, education services and retail trade.

Syracuse has been recognized as an excellent place to work and live; its Cost of Doing Business Index is sixth-lowest in the nation at 87.7 (a score of 100 is average), and Expansion Management magazine listed Syracuse among the country's top 50 cities for business relocation and expansion. Recent studies indicate Syracuse is leading the state in job growth.

Items and goods produced: automotive components, air conditioning and heating equipment, medical instruments, pharmaceuticals, military electronics, specialty metals, telecommunication devices

Incentive Programs—New and Existing Companies

A range of state, county and municipal programs are available to new and expanding businesses in the Syracuse area.

Local programs

The City of Syracuse offers tax exemptions and permanent low-cost financing, loans up to $10,000 for high-risk startups and $50,000 for specific projects, and regulatory or technical assistance. The Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce provides a variety of services from business startup advice to government lobbying. The Chamber also manages the Greater Syracuse Business Development Corporation, a private, not-for-profit organization that provides financial assistance to new and expanding businesses. The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency has invested more than $1 billion on 190 projects since 1970, creating or retaining nearly 30,000 jobs in the region. Its municipal counterpart, the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency, finances manufacturing, research, commercial, industrial or pollution control projects within city limits. The Urban Business Opportunity Center provides entrepreneurial training and loans up to $10,000 for women- and minority-owned small businesses in financial need. Syracuse Technology Garden is a newcomer to the field of economic development and acts as an incubator for high-tech startups. Successful applicants receive mentorship and networking, access to venture capital, and state-of-the-art office space. The Samuel W. Williams, Jr. Business Center has provided similar incubator services to small business since 1986; more than two dozen local companies call it home.

State programs

The State of New York offers financing for new or expanding businesses to acquire land or capital, improve infrastructure, increase exports, or enhance productivity. Various incentives include loans and grants, interest rate subsidies, and low cost utilities. New York State's Empire Zone program provides special assistance to companies relocating or expanding in specific areas; two of the state's Empire Zones are found in the Syracuse region. Successful applicants in an Empire Zone may pay no state sales taxes for 10 years and can also receive wage tax or investment tax credits. The Central New York Enterprise Development Fund supports small manufacturing and service companies by providing working capital and fixed asset loans up to $100,000; commercial loan guarantees for up to $160,000 are also available. The New York Job Development Authority provides funding to local economic development agencies for re-lending.

Job training programs

New York's Empire State Development Corporation provides up to half the cost of a work-force training project, reimbursement for training programs that create or retain at least 300 jobs, and opportunities for on-the-job training in new skills and technologies. The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency provides matching grants up to $12,500 to train production or first-line supervisory staff. CNY Works is a federally-funded organization that arranges educational programs for incumbent, underemployed and unemployed workers. Onondaga Community College works with local employers to develop specialized training programs to meet specific needs. Dozens of local universities, colleges, vocational and technical schools offer training in a variety of professional disciplines.

Development Projects

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in June 2005 for the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems headquarters, a $25.5 million project designed to create jobs and promote investment in the Central New York region. The 60,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in spring 2007. Syracuse University (SU) will renovate the former Dunk & Bright warehouse at Armory Square into a multi-use space; plans call for community art gallery, auditorium and classroom space. SU has also announced plans to build a three mile "Connective Corridor" linking the campus with downtown's entertainment, arts and cultural venues; $4.5 million in public and private funding has been committed. University Hospital is expected to complete a $35 million children's hospital in 2006. Crouse Hospital is in the planning stages for a new $30 million operating room suite. The $3.25 million Syracuse Technology Garden, a business incubator for high-tech startups, was completed in 2004. Syracuse Research Corp. is undergoing a $1.3 million, 16,000-square-foot expansion of headquarters in order to employ 65 new engineers. The Inner Harbor project, adapting the old barge canal terminal for recreational use, remains in the planning stages.

Economic Development Information: Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, 572 Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13202-3320; telephone (315)470-1800; fax (315)471-8545

Commercial Shipping

Syracuse's strategic central location and well developed transportation network, including road, water, rail, and air services, make it a distribution hub for the Northeast. More than 50 percent of U.S. and Canadian manufacturing establishments are located within a 750-mile radius. Syracuse is located at the junction of two major interstate highways, east/west I-90 and north/south I-81. More than 150 trucking companies service the area, including the top 12 general freight carriers in the nation. CSX provides direct rail service to a number of Northeastern markets with more than 70 trains per week. Six major air freight companies operate out of Syracuse Hancock International Airport, as well as a variety of regional carriers. The Port of Oswego and the New York Barge Canal system provide water access to the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Hudson River. The Syracuse area is a foreign trade zone.

Labor Force and Employment Outlook

Greater Syracuse offers a pool of educated, productive and affordable employees. Although Syracuse's employment rate is growing faster than any other city in upstate New York, approximately 75,000 qualified workers have been identified as underemployed, representing a large selection of potential hires. Over the next few years Syracuse is expected to transition from a manufacturing center to a services and knowledge-based economy.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Syracuse metropolitan area labor force, 2004 annual averages.

Size of nonagricultural labor force: 317,900

Number of workers employed in . . .

construction and mining: 12,300

manufacturing: 33,100

trade, transportation and utilities: 64,800

information: 7,000

financial activities: 17,300

professional and business services: 33,800

educational and health services: 53,400

leisure and hospitality: 26,400

other services: 12,600

government: 56,800

Average hourly earnings of production workers employed in manufacturing: $17.29 (statewide, 2004)

Unemployment rate: 4.6% (April 2005)

Cost of Living

Parenting Magazine lists Syracuse among the nation's top 10 small cities in which to raise a child, based on affordable housing, a strong economy, good schools, low crime, and a clean environment. The following is a summary of data regarding several key cost of living factors in the Syracuse area.

2004 (3rd Quarter) ACCRA Average House Price: $230,914

2004 (3rd Quarter) ACCRA Cost of Living Index: 96.3 (U.S. average = 100.0)

State income tax rate: 4%–6.85%

State sales tax rate: 4%

Local income tax rate: None

Local sales tax rate: 4%

Property tax rate: $34.836 per $1,000 of assessment

Economic Information: New York State Department of Labor, 677 S. Salina Street, Syracuse, NY 13202; telephone (315)479-3390

Syracuse: Recreation

Sightseeing

Those interested in architecture are advised to take a stroll through downtown Syracuse for an opportunity to see the imposing Hotel Syracuse as well as fine old churches and other structures. Columbus Circle contains a statue of the explorer. Syracuse Urban Cultural Park downtown highlights the city's past as a transportation center through interpretive signs. The Parke Avery House, a mid-nineteenth century residence built by the salt baron whose name it bears, hosts various events and exhibits throughout the year. The old Syracuse Savings Bank building was designed by prominent architect Joseph L. Silsbee in Gothic Revival style; other structures of note express Art Deco, Queen Anne and Neoclassical motifs. Hanover Square was the site of the original village well and the city's first commercial district; today it is a National Historic District featuring a variety of nineteenth century buildings.

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is open year-round and very popular with visitors to Syracuse. The zoo displays about one thousand domestic and exotic animals in simulations of their natural settings, including the $3.7 million "Penguin Coast" exhibit which opened in June 2005 and features a breeding group of endangered Humboldt penguins. Special exhibits trace animal history through the ages.

Onondaga Park, an historic landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to incorporate landscape and architecture, features a gazebo and a Fire House. Boat tours down the Erie Canal and tram trips along the shore of Onondaga Lake are also available.

The Bristol Omnitheater at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) is the only IMAX Domed Theater in New York State; MOST is central New York's largest hands-on science center. Museum-goers can navigate through a human cell, discover the underlying faults of earthquakes, learn about the rhythms of the human body, and visit the Space Gallery.

Arts and Culture

The performing arts are very much alive in Syracuse, which boasts Broadway-quality entertainment at a fraction of the price. The focal point of this activity is the John H. Mulroy Civic Center, said to be the first building complex in the western hemisphere to combine a performing arts center with a government complex. The center houses three theaters and is home to the Syracuse Opera Company, which stages three productions a year as well as community out-reach and education programs, and to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, whose ambitious 39-week season encompasses classics and pops, dance performances, a family series, and a concert series featuring works by minority composers and artists. The Syracuse Area Landmark Theatre, opened in 1928 and described as an "Indo-Persian fantasy palace," was saved from demolition and refurbished in 1975; it hosts performances by popular entertainers and Broadway touring companies. The Regent Theatre Complex, which contains an infrared lighting system for the hearing impaired, is home to Syracuse Stage, Central New York's only professional theatre group. Syracuse Stage shows seven plays and one children's touring production each year; actors, designers, directors, and technicians from Broadway and other professional theaters across the country are recruited to work on the performances. The Regent Theatre Complex is also home to the Syracuse University Drama Department. The forty thousand-seat Carrier Dome at Syracuse University showcases internationally known musical performers, as does the smaller War Memorial. Salt City Center for the Performing Arts presents a year-round season of musicals, drama, and comedies, as well as adult and children's classes.

Syracuse is home to a number of distinctive art and historical museums. The Everson Museum of Art, designed by I. M. Pei, houses American nineteenth and twentieth century paintings, sculptures and prints, and one of the nation's finest collections of ceramic art. Syracuse University's Lowe Art Gallery features a large permanent collection of modern art. LeMoyne College's Wilson Art Gallery, located at the college library, offers various exhibits throughout the year. The Erie Canal Museum, located in the country's only remaining weighlock building, features interactive exhibits as well as a 65-foot canal boat. Open Hand Theater's International Mask and Puppet Museum is housed in an 1890 castle. Onondaga Lake Parkway contains the Salt Museum, including a reconstructed 1856 boiling block, and Sainte Marie among the Iroquois, a recreation of the original French Jesuit settlement, now a living-history museum. The Onondaga Historical Association provides local and regional history through a series of changing exhibits. In all there are more than forty museums and galleries in the Syracuse area.

Festivals and Holidays

Syracuse is home to the New York State Fair, the oldest state fair in the country. Featuring agriculture and livestock competitions, an International Horse Show, business and industrial exhibits, and tractor pulls, this 10-day event attracts more than a million people from across the Northeast each year. It takes place at the end of August.

The Syracuse Polish Festival takes place in June, as well as the Taste of Syracuse Festival, a two-day event featuring dollar samples from Syracuse's finest restaurants and continuous entertainment on three stages. Juneteenth honors the end of slavery in the United States. Other cultural festivals in Syracuse include the Jewish Music and Cultural Festival, the Bavarian Festival, the Irish Festival, La Festa Italiana and Oktoberfest.

Musical events in Syracuse include the M & T Jazz Fest in June, the NYS Rhythm and Blues Festival in July, and the CNYBA Apple Valley Bluegrass Festival in July.

Sports for the Spectator

Spectator sports in Syracuse center around the Carrier Dome, a $27 million domed complex completed in 1980 where the Syracuse University Orangemen play lacrosse, football and basketball. The dome is also the scene of the Empire State Games and other amateur sports competitions. LeMoyne College supports 16 NCAA varsity sports teams, while Onondaga Community College hosts NJCAA athletic events.

The Syracuse Sky Chiefs, a minor league affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, compete at the 12,000-seat P & C Stadium from April to mid-September. The Syracuse Crunch Hockey Team, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets, plays in the War Memorial arena. Baseball fans in Syracuse may enjoy side trips to Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

South of Syracuse, auto racing fans are entertained at the Watkins Glen International. Onondaga Lake is the scene of various rowing competitions.

Sports for the Participant

Lakes, rivers, and sporting clubs in the Syracuse area offer abundant opportunities for fishing, boating, rafting, camping, swimming, and hunting. More than 50 parks and nature areas are located in Syracuse, providing facilities for baseball, tennis, swimming, skating, and golf. Several ski facilities and at least 40 golf courses are located in the region.

Shopping and Dining

Syracuse's newest mall is the Carousel Center overlooking Onandaga Lake. It features 170 shops, 13 eateries, five sit-down restaurants and a 12-screen cinema. It also has a fully restored 1909 antique carousel that gives the mall its name and invokes the days when the area was famed for the fine quality and craftsmanship of its carousels. The centerpiece project of downtown Syracuse's revitalization, the Galleries of Syracuse, houses approximately 80 high quality stores. The Armory Square Historic District, a few blocks away, is also a popular place to browse with a variety of shops, galleries and pubs. The Shoppingtown Mall, with 140 stores, and the Great Northern Mall, with 125 stores, are also major shopping destinations. The Downtown Farmers' Market, open Tuesdays from June to mid-October, features fresh produce from growers and dealers. There are more than 400 restaurants in the Syracuse area, including 20 fine dining establishments.

Visitor Information: Syracuse Convention and Visitors Bureau, 572 South Salina Street, Syracuse, NY 13202-3320; telephone (315)470-1910; toll-free (800)234-4797

SYRACUSE

SYRACUSE , industrial and transportation center in central New York State. The city's Jewish population in 1969 was approximately 13,000 out of a total of 563,000. (For figures for the 2000s, see below.) The first Jew known to have settled in Syracuse was Hesel Rosenbach, who arrived in 1824. Following the completion of the Erie Canal a year later, additional Jews were attracted to the city, and in 1839 a group of German-Jewish immigrants from New York City formed Congregation Keneseth Sholom, whose first rabbi was Abraham Gunzenheimer. More Jews came to settle in the 1840s and a second congregation, consisting of Polish and English Jews, erected a synagogue in 1854, when 184 Jewish families were recorded living in Syracuse. In 1864 a split between Orthodox and Reform factions at Keneseth Sholom led to the formation of a third synagogue, Adath Jeshurun. A local ymha was organized in 1861 and a chapter of B'nai B'rith in 1867. By then some Jews had already achieved positions of economic importance. Marcus Cone was elected a director of the Merchants Bank when it was founded in 1850, and Joseph Falker was named second vice president of the Syracuse Savings Bank in 1860. A special Jewish company under the command of Captain Solomon Light was formed during the Civil War and served with the 149^th Onondoga Regiment from 1862 to 1865.

A large influx of Lithuanian and Polish Jews in the years after 1870 swelled the Jewish population of Syracuse to five or six thousand by 1900. The new immigrants formed a number of charitable organizations such as a burial society, a wayfarers' inn, and a Jewish Ladies Aid Society, all of which were combined into a United Jewish Charities in 1891. The first local Zionist group, the Zion Society, was organized in 1896 and a Hebrew Free School, largely serving the Orthodox community, was established in 1897. The leader of Congregation Adath Jeshurun in the 1890s was Joseph H. *Hertz, later to become Chief Rabbi of Great Britain. During these years Jews began to play an increasingly prominent role in local economic and political life; by the end of the 19^th century Sol *Rosenblum & Sons owned a large department store; Gates Thalheimer had one of the largest individually owned wholesale grocery businesses in the state; Moses Oberdorfer was in the process of building the Oberdorfer Foundries; and Danziger Brothers was operating a clothing factory employing over a thousand hands. Jacob Levi was elected a city councilman for four terms starting from 1870 and George Freeman for eight terms from 1880. Joseph Bondy was county supervisor from 1885 to 1890 and was later elected to the New York State Assembly. Louis *Marshall, whose father was an early settler in Syracuse, practiced law there until 1894.

Beginning with the 1900s, the early settlers began moving eastward away from the old Jewish neighborhood. The older synagogues followed them and a number of new ones were later built in the suburbs, such as Beth Israel (1962) and the Suburban Jewish Center of North Syracuse (1954). In 1968 a Jewish community center, which grew out of the original YMHA, had a membership of 5,000 and served the entire Jewish community. Fundraising was undertaken by the Syracuse Jewish Federation, whose Jewish Family Service Bureau helped settle some 200 refugee families from Europe in the city in the years before World War ii.

Wage-earners in the Jewish community in 1968 were heavily concentrated in the professions. A study in 1966 showed that over 15% of Syracuse's lawyers and 20% of its doctors were Jewish. Many Jews worked as engineers and scientists in Syracuse's industrial plants. Many others were connected with the faculties of Syracuse University and the Upstate Medical College, both of which also had a high percentage of Jews in their student bodies. Jews continued to be active in local civic life as well.

In early 21^st century the Jewish population numbered approximately 9,000.

bibliography:

Rosenstock, in: ajhsp, 54 (1964), 183–97; Provol, in: aja, 16 (1964), 22–40; B.G. Rudolph, From a Minyan to a Community: A History of the Jews of Syracuse (1970).

[Bernard G. Rudolph]

Syracuse: Education and Research

Elementary and Secondary Schools

The City of Syracuse School District is administered by a superintendent appointed by a seven-member policy-making Board of Education. In 2004, the school board and the municipal government announced a $665 million district-wide renovation project, which will modernize all Syracuse schools within the next 10 years. The district was also awarded $14 million in federal funding to bring Internet access to each of its facilities.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Syracuse public schools as of the 2003–2004 school year.

Total enrollment: 22,455

Number of facilities

elementary schools: 21

middle schools: 9

senior high schools: 4

other: 5

Student/teacher ratio: 13.5:1

Teacher salaries

average: $44,176

Funding per pupil: $11,074

Public Schools Information: Syracuse City School District, 725 Harrison Street, Syracuse, NY 13210; telephone (315)435-4499

Colleges and Universities

The Greater Syracuse Region boasts 44 private and state colleges with a combined enrollment of 215,000. Syracuse University attracts students from all 50 states and a number of other countries; its 13 schools and colleges offer a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees. LeMoyne College offers 24 different undergraduate majors in a Catholic and Jesuit tradition, and has been recognized as the fourth-best liberal arts college in the Northeast. SUNY Upstate Medical University offers degrees in medicine, nursing and other health professions; together with Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, it forms a student hub known as University Hill. Nearby two-year colleges include Bryant & Stratton Business Institute, Onondaga Community College and Cayuga Community College.

Libraries and Research Centers

The Onondaga County Public Library system consists of a central location, eight city branches and two community satellites with an annual circulation of 1.5 million titles. Central Library moved to its present location in the downtown Galleries of Syracuse in 1988; its main entrance features the "Browse-About," a 12,000-square-foot bookstore-like layout. The library offers branch-to-branch deliveries, family literacy programming, and a 24-hour reference service.

The Erie Canal Museum maintains a collection of artifacts, books and photographs about canal life. The Onondaga Historical Association maintains one of the largest regional history collections in the nation. Onondaga County's Supreme Court Law Library is located in Syracuse. Area colleges, universities, and corporations also maintain libraries.

Research in a variety of areas is carried out by universities and private companies in Syracuse. Syracuse University research units focus on digital commerce, computer and software engineering, cancer, gerontology, public policy and psychology. State University of New York sponsors research through the College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the Health Science Center. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company's Industrial Division maintains a pharmaceutical research facility. Other research sites in the city conduct research on cancer treatment and on industrial issues.

Public Library Information: Onondaga County Public Library, The Galleries of Syracuse, 447 South Salina Street, Syracuse, NY 13202-2494; telephone (315)435-1800

SYRACUSE

SYRACUSE, city in S.E. Sicily. Inscriptions and other archaeological evidence attest the presence of Jews in Syracuse from Roman times. Toward the middle of the fifth century, the Vandals destroyed the synagogue there, and in 655 the Jews asked the Byzantine authorities for permission to rebuild it. In the 12^th century, the Jews of Syracuse received through their rabbi Anatoli b. Joseph a reply by *Maimonides to a legal question. The community was second in importance in Sicily after *Palermo. Two documents from the end of the 14^th and beginning of the 15^th centuries suggest that the number of Jews in Syracuse exceeded 5,600. The community attained its most prosperous period from the end of the 13^th to the end of the 14^th centuries, under the rule of the house of Aragon. The administration of the community, whose first regulations dating from 1363 have been preserved, was conducted by 12 maggiorenti and 12 prothi who had jurisdiction over the religious life of the community and its revenues. The procuratores et nuncii represented the community before the government. When in 1395 King Martin i established the office of judge-general for the Jews *(Dienchelele), a Jew of Syracuse, Joseph *Abenafia, was appointed to this office: on his death he was succeeded by Rais of Syracuse.

King Frederick iii intervened in favor of the Jews of Syracuse who were harassed by the ecclesiastical authorities in 1375, and the regulations on their behalf were confirmed by King Marlin in 1392. The Jews obtained further privileges in 1399, when they were exempted from the obligation of supplying wax to the court and flags for the castles. When in 1455 various Jews from Syracuse made a clandestine attempt to immigrate to Ereẓ Israel, they were arrested. The community succeeded, however, in obtaining permission for Jews to emigrate in small groups. Among the scholars who lived in Syracuse was Isaac b. Solomon *Alḥadib, astronomer and translator, and Shalom b. Solomon Yerushalmi, for whom several manuscripts were copied. After the edict of expulsion of the Jews from Spanish domains was issued in 1492 it is estimated that about 5,000 Jews left Syracuse. They are said to have represented 40% of the city's population. The "Purim of Syracuse", still observed by some Sephardi Jewish families, probably refers not to Syracuse but to Saragossa in Spain. A number of tombstones dating from the Middle Ages with Hebrew inscriptions have recently been discovered in Syracuse, and the findings published.

bibliography:

Milano, Bibliotheca, index; Milano, Italia, index; Roth, Italy, index; Orsi, in: Roemische Quartalschrift, 14 (1900), 194–7; Simonsen, in: rej, 59 (1910), 90–95; S. Simonsohn, in: Archivio storico siracusano, 9 (1963), 8–20; idem, in: Sefer Zikkaron le-Izhak Ben-Zvi … (1964), 273–82; G. De' Giovanni, L'ebraismo della Sicilia … (Palermo, 1748); B. and G. Lagumina, Codice diplomatico dei giudei di Sicilia, 3 vols. (1884–1909), passim; C. Roth, Gleanings (1967), 62–80; Frey, Corpus, 1 (1936), nos. 651–3a.

[Sergio Joseph Sierra]