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Last year, Mayor Ben Walsh announced changes were coming to Columbus Circle with some criticism and some support. On Wednesday, Walsh talked about the future of the statue and the circle, saying the Heritage Park project is still in the works, and they're still collecting community input for what should go in the park. That will continue until the...

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At lunchtime Friday, the smell of Italian cuisine will begin wafting inside City Hall. It will be a welcome reminder that Festa Italiana returns to the intersection of Washington and Montgomery streets this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Festa is one of Syracuse’s most loved cultural festivals. I am excited this great tradition is back again this yea...

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For almost a year, supporters of the Columbus statue in Syracuse have been at war with Ben Walsh. This is becoming more and more political as the mayoral elections approach. The Columbus Monument set the goal of his decision to remove and replace the tribute to an Italian-born explorer last October. They filled the neighborhood with lawn signs and...

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My Italian restaurant is better than yours!  Those are fighting words! Everybody has a favorite place for pizza or pasta.  Whether it is a small hole-in-the-wall pizza joint down on the corner, or a fancy ristorante dripping with crystal glassware and chandeliers, we each have our favorites. I have been eating Italian food for over 60 years, and I...

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Two Central New York restaurateurs are teaming up for a new Italian restaurant with zany, “craveable” dishes. Rise N Shine Diner owner Danielle Mecuri and Adam Weitsman, owner of The Krebs and the Elephant and the Dove restaurants in Skaneateles, announced Thursday that they’re partnering on a new venture located in the former Grimaldi’s Ristorante...

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The organizers of Festa Italiana announced this week that the annual late-summer event will return this summer to its normal spot on the calendar and normal location in front of Syracuse City Hall. The 2021 event is scheduled for the weekend of September 17, 18 and 19. Organizers of the festival, which usually hosts up to 20 restaurant vendors, hav...

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In 1934, thousands of Italian Americans donated their nickels and dimes to erect a monument in downtown Syracuse, celebrating their successful assimilation as US citizens. The effort was inclusive before it was fashionable, involving Native Americans, Irish Americans, and others. The Columbus Monument - completely restored by private donations and...

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The Grimaldi name, which has been associated with Italian restaurants in Syracuse, Utica, and Albany since 1943, will soon disappear from the Central New York culinary landscape. The family is selling Grimaldi’s Ristorante near Carrier Circle, the last remaining location for the business founded by Fred and Rita Grimaldi on Bleecker Street in Utica...

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An Italian American group filed a petition in court Sunday to thwart the city of Syracuse’s planned removal of its Christopher Columbus statue, claiming the move is illegal under local law. The petition — filed in Onondaga state Supreme Court by 29 petitioners including the Syracuse-based Columbus Monument Corporation, former Onondaga County Execut...

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Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh has appointed two new committees to guide the relocation and preservation of the Christopher Columbus statue in Syracuse. In October, Walsh announced that the statue would be removed from its current place in downtown Syracuse. Recommendations and design concepts from the committees are expected early next year. The Heritag...

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