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This Is CNY

@thisiscny.com

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Aggressive Syracuse pride We're sharing the stories of a region on the rise, the ❤️ of New York State Read more at ThisisCNY.com or ask us a question, we love to help!

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This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · Dec 17

Hello current and future Central New Yorkers!

We are looking forward to chatting with you about the reasons we love living here, and why we think you will, too!

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 7h

In many ways, Gangnam Style Korean Kitchen reminds reviewer @jaredpaventi.com of another popular local restaurant: A family-owned and -run restaurant with limited seating and little to look at, but a menu of traditional, homestyle and unpretentious dishes.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Gangnam Style Korean Kitchen brings the heat in more ways than one (Dining Out Review)

No-frills Korean restaurant offers big flavors in Syracuse's Westcott neighborhood.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 1d

925,989 attendees, 925,989 fairgoers so dear. How do you measure a year at the New York State Fair? 🎶

Fair officials released some numerical highlights, ranging from cows and milk to doughnuts and concert fans.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

The 2025 NY State Fair by the numbers: Newborn cows, cups of milk and tons of doughnuts

The 2025 fair also had some of the largest concert crowds in its history.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 1d

The list of 2025 frights and delights includes Halloween attractions with haunted hayrides, spooky houses, trails of terror, ghost walks, scream parks and more. 🎃

www.thisiscny.com/living/2024/...

Halloween events and haunted houses in Syracuse, Central NY: Scary fun things to do

Get ready for a screaming good time!

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 2d

Syracuse nonprofit community arts organization Folkus Project, which hosts performances out of May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society, is celebrating 25 years of bringing folk and acoustic music to the area.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

‘Intimate’ Syracuse music venue celebrates 25th anniversary (photos)

For 25 years, Syracuse's Folkus Project has given a platform for "beautiful and poetic" folk and acoustic music.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 2d

Syracuse-based Texas Chicano artist @cayetanov.bsky.social is painting a mural on an exterior wall of Mexican restaurant Birria QuesaTacos SYR in downtown Syracuse.

He said, “It’s my interpretation of a little splash of Chicano culture here in Syracuse.”

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Syracuse artist Cayetano Valenzuela creates new ‘Mural of the Sun’ to honor Mexican culture

Cayetano Valenzuela wants to see all the different heritages in Syracuse represented in murals celebrating diversity.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 3d

Onondaga Hill has its neighborhood bar back. A couple weeks ago, Heather and Adam Van Hoose reopened the familiar building at 5076 Onondaga Road as Lannie’s Bar & Restaurant, the third name over the door in the past five years.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

First Look: Familiar faces, cold beer and that Kelley’s vibe return to Lannie’s

It’s not fancy. It’s not supposed to be. It’s dark, intimate and filled with the hum of people who’ve been gathering here for decades.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 3d

Randall VanWagoner, the president of Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica for 18 years, considers himself a "human potenialist." He shared his thoughts on leadership, education and Central New York with Marie Morelli.

www.thisiscny.com/business/202...

MVCC’s Randy VanWagoner on leadership: ‘You can never get lost on the high road’

President of Mohawk Valley Community College, a community college graduate himself, helps others reach their potential. "That's what fills my bucket."

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 4d

Haunted houses and other Halloween events are a fun way to celebrate spooky season.
But what about the real ghost stories of Central New York?

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Ghost walks and paranormal investigations: 10 ways to learn CNY’s haunted history

Hear ghost stories as you tour real-life haunted places.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 4d

A 22-year-old singer and songwriter from Central New York has signed a record deal with the label that reps Slash, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, The Guess Who, Warrant and others.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Syracuse musician signs record deal: It’s time for the world to hear her

The singer-songwriter has been performing everywhere in CNY since she was 14.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 5d

Central New York and Upstate New York's farms take spooky season seriously, often offering Instagram-worthy treats and festival fun alongside fields full of pickable pumpkins. Where should you take your crew?

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

The great Upstate NY pumpkin pick: 24 best U-Pick patches ranked

Find the highest-rated farms where you can harvest directly from the vine in Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and beyond this fall season.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 5d

A Central New York film studio is making an ironic change for its newest movie, representing a departure for the Liverpool-based studio known for teen comedies in a high school setting.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

American High makes ironic change for new movie filming in Syracuse

The film studio has produced more than 20 movies in CNY since 2017.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 5d

It was a vibrant and terrifying Friday night at The Kingsford at Curtis Manor as monsters, corpses and blood-spattered zombies paraded in the 3rd annual Oswego Zombie Fashion Show.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Monsters, zombies take over the runway at perfectly frightening fashion show in Oswego (photos)

The annual event attracted more than 150 people.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 6d

The Seneca Chief, a replica of the vessel that carried Gov. DeWitt Clinton in 1825 during the grand opening of the Erie Canal, is in Central New York this week drawing history enthusiasts, local families, and museum professionals from across Central New York.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Erie Canal 200th anniversary: Replica packet boat retraces historic journey through CNY

A handcrafted reproduction of the "Seneca Chief" stops in Baldwinsville as part of a multi-city journey marking the Erie Canal’s 200th anniversary.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 6d

Take a Spooktacular Stroll, load up on all things apple, cosplay at RetroGameCon, and more this week in Central New York:

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

RetroGameCon, Feng E, LaFayette Apple Fest: 18 things to do this week in CNY

At RetroGameCon, gaming isn’t just an activity — it’s celebrated as an art form and a culture.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 7d

Ken Budd searched for decades to find his brother Robert's remains after Robert was killed in action during WWII. Ken died in 2021, but next week Syracuse war hero Robert is finally coming home, to be buried beside his kid brother and buddy.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Reunited: Syracuse WWII soldier returns home after 83 years to be buried next to brother

Ken Budd spent decades searching for the body of the older brother he idolized.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 8d

A new Broadway musical telling the story of Endwell, N.Y. native Jackie Siegel, who gained notoriety for planning to build the largest private home in America — modeled on the Palace of Versailles in France — begins previews next week. Kristen Chenoweth and F. Murray Abraham star.

New ‘Queen of Versailles’ musical brings Endwell, N.Y. to Broadway this fall

Jackie Mallery grew up in Endwell, N.Y. with big ambition and big dreams. Now a Broadway show starring Kristen Chenoweth will chronicle her life.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 8d

Better Burger is the vision of Tihami Chowdhury after countless frustrating experiences at restaurants. “I truly believe we can create something better, something special. A place where people come together and make memories,” he told Charlie Miller.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

First Look: Better Burger opens in Liverpool, where McDonald’s and Village Burger once reigned

These two guys dropped out of college, quit their jobs at Amazon and opened a burger joint.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 9d

Mamacitas, the Puerto Rican restaurant that started as a food truck and grew into a North Syracuse hotspot, plans to open its second brick-and-mortar location in early November.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Former Gino’s Steak & Onion spot in Fayetteville getting a new flavor this November

Mamacitas, the Puerto Rican restaurant that started as a food truck and grew into a North Syracuse hotspot, is moving in.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 10d

At La Casita Cultural Center, 33 Latinos — mothers, fathers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, couples and friends — came together to create Corpórea, a collective art installation born from each participant’s story of resilience, inspiration and memory.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Art therapy at La Casita creates a ‘healing space’ for Latino community in Syracuse

La Casita Cultural Center hosts Arts as Mindfulness, an art therapy project where Latino residents share their stories and build community through collective creativity.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 10d

The $15M cleanroom simulator at Onondaga Community College has opened to train students for jobs at Micron Technology and other tech industries.

"We have a facility now where students can train to be technicians at Micron, but technicians at other places as well,” said OCC President Warren Hilton.

OCC’s Micron cleanroom opens: ‘Great news for people who want jobs’

The simulated cleanroom will teach students skills needed in the tech industry.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 10d

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal, the Buffalo Maritime Center’s replica of the Erie Canal packet boat “Seneca Chief” will be pulling into port at Baldwinsville’s Paper Mill Island on Friday evening before spending the weekend docked at Onondaga Lake Park.

Step aboard replica Erie Canal boat to celebrate 200th anniversary of historic voyage this weekend

The Seneca Chief's Erie Canal voyage arrives in Baldwinsville on Friday and Onondaga Lake Park for Saturday and Sunday tours.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 11d

On Saturday, Oct. 4, noon to 4 p.m., @suartmuseum.bsky.social opens its doors to the entire Syracuse community for their biannual free, family-forward Community Day – promising to be one of the city’s most creative afternoons.

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Syracuse University Art Museum to host free, family-focused Community Day

Explore the galleries and enjoy art making activities and more on Saturday, October 4.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 11d

Brenda Mims' genuine love for each meal handed out at Samaritan Center goes back nearly three decades.

Shaped by her own experiences, Mims offers support to anyone who appears to be struggling at the center.

Meet our latest Syracuse Trailblazer:
www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Once a struggling mother of 5, Brenda Mims has fed Syracuse’s hungry for decades (Trailblazers and Trendsetters)

Syracuse native Brenda Mims has served her community for 27 years, and has provided hundreds of meals to the needy.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 12d

With nearly 200 individual menu items, including more than 50 sushi rolls, the menu at Ocean Sushi 2 reads like a treatise on Korean and Japanese cuisines that one can only hope to chip away at bite by bite.

Read restaurant critic @jacobpucci.bsky.social's review:
www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Ocean Sushi 2 in Syracuse aims to do it all ... and mostly succeeds (Dining Out Review)

This Erie Boulevard East spot is the expansive sister restaurant to Liverpool's Ocean Sushi.

www.thisiscny.com

This Is CNY @thisiscny.com · 12d

Were you one of the more than 40,000 people who shopped at the brand new Carousel Center (now Destiny USA) on its opening day, Oct. 15, 1990?

Writer Johnathan Croyle is collecting stories about the Syracuse mall's opening as its 35th anniversary approaches:

www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...

Were you at Syracuse’s Carousel Center on opening day in 1990? We want to hear your story

Were you among the 40,000 people who went to the Carousel Center on October 15, 1990. If so, we want your story.

www.thisiscny.com