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Events to watch for in New York state this week

Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

Rep. John Katko will host a town hall on the future of Interstate 81 in DeWitt this weekend.

By Natalie Rubio-Licht

Here are two events in New York state to look out for this week.

Rep. John Katko to hold town hall on I-81 in DeWitt

Katko (R-Camillus) will host a town hall meeting in DeWitt on Saturday to discuss the replacement plan for Syracuse’s Interstate 81 viaduct.

Katko moved the town hall from the DeWitt Town Hall to the St. Matthew’s School gymnasium, LocalSYR reported. Katko will hold two more town halls in Syracuse and Salina following the one on Saturday, per a press release. Another town hall was held Monday at Cayuga Community College in Auburn.

About 100 people attended the Auburn town hall to discuss the three options for the I-81 plan, per Auburnpub.com. Auburn Mayor Michael Quill and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh were also in attendance. Advocates for each of the three options — a community grid, a taller and wider viaduct reconstruction or a hybrid tunnel — were present at the event, per Auburn Pub. At the town hall, Walsh reaffirmed his support for the community grid option, Auburnpub.com reported.

Legislation rally to be held in Albany

Several Syracuse University student organizations will attend a rally in Albany on Monday to support legislation that would fund services for college students with disabilities.



The Legislation Rally will be held to support a program to fund disability support services at private and public colleges across the state, according to a SU Office of Multicultural Affairs email. The program would be created by the New York Sate Department of Education, and it would cost $15 million, the email said. Busses to the rally will depart from Schine Student Center at 7 a.m. on Feb. 11.

The trip will include a workshop about the event, a press conference with state legislators and a debriefing. Attendees will arrive back at SU at 6 p.m. on Monday.

Services for students with disabilities have not kept up with the rapid growth of enrollment in New York state institutions, according to the release. The program would be “the first of its kind” in the United States, it said.

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