Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP 43 | Danny Liedka

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

Good News York: Spotlight on Visit Syracuse with Danny Liedka In this episode of Good News York, host Matt Masur and co-host Mikey B are joined by Danny Liedka from Visit Syracuse. They discuss Danny's role in promoting tourism and film production in Onondaga County, the economic impact of tourism, and exciting upcoming events like the Rhythm and Blues Festival and Jazz Fest. Danny also shares insights on the future of Syracuse, including the development of new hotels, the innovative Studio Central for post-production, and the upcoming downtown aquarium. They touch on the role of Airbnb in local tourism and the potential for the film industry in the region, emphasizing the importance of tax incentives. To cap it off, the hosts and Danny share anecdotes and talk sports, showcasing the positive atmosphere and growth in the Syracuse area. 00:00 Welcome to Good News York 00:47 Introducing Danny Liedka from Visit Syracuse 01:32 The Role of Visit Syracuse 03:29 Tourism's Economic Impact 04:12 The Power of Social Media 07:43 Danny Liedka's Background 10:13 Future Developments in Syracuse 11:41 Film Industry in Syracuse 14:54 Tax Credits and Film Production 17:21 Competing for Film Production 18:40 Syracuse Alumni and Movie Industry 18:59 Aquarium Development and Economic Impact 22:52 Airbnb's Role in Local Tourism 25:42 Regional Tourism and Economic Development 28:31 Upcoming Events and Festivals 30:17 Baseball and Pete Rose Discussion 34:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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your sign. Start free at rs.com. Hey folks, welcome to good news, York. I'm your host, Matt Meager from Growth Mode content, joined as always by my smiley friend, Mikey B. I got a little extra pep in my step today. It's Tuesday. It's already Tuesday. We had a long weekend. I'm under the weather. And so normally I would be very low energy, but I can't be because I'm going to see. Well, first of all, we have an amazing guest here. We do. And second of all, we've got Dave Matthews band tonight. Nice. I'm going that right here in Syracuse. and shout out Cornell Lacrosse won the national championship.

How about that? And I live in Ithaca, so it's a very big deal for us. So I'm ready to go. Yeah, all right, man. And as you mentioned, sitting next to you, we have this handsome gentleman here from Visit Syracuse. Yes, sir. Danny Lidka. Did I do it right?

Right on the money. I asked in advance, and usually that's when I screwed up the best. Not Danny Lodka, nickname of the guy from Taxi. We got in a whole conversation. See, we had that conversation, and you made me extra nervous that I was. was going to say it the wrong way. I know. I know. It's like throwing the first pitch at a game.

You can practice it over and over and then you get up there and you just, you overthink it. And the next thing you know, you're throwing it. Yeah, we know. That's what you told Ryan McMahon before he did it. You're like, hey, man, don't overthink this. This could ruin your life. And he's like, thank you. Now you've ruined me.

Yeah, that was a good time. But anyway, Danny, welcome to the show, my friend. Welcome to Good News, York. Why don't we jump right in, my friend? Tell us what is Visit Syracuse? So we're the official tourism agency for Onondaga County and also visit Syracuse Film. So our role, get people to the area, right? Enjoy, see what Syracuse has to offer. We market the area, market the region. And then on the film side, same thing.

Market-wise Syracuse is a great destination to shoot a movie, certainly with all the tax incentives that are in place through New York State and Onondaga County. So we really have a job that I love doing because I can bring money home that helps anyone that owns a property. property in this county. The better job my team does, the more money we're able to save people locally because of the amount of sales tax it generates. Wow. That's, you know, I was thinking about this on the way in this morning, and I feel like, you know, you technically have a government job. Like you said, you work with the county, right? Is that accurate? Yeah, we're funded through the county. Okay. I'm not a county employee per day, so we're a stand-alone. That's an even better deal. 5-0-1-C-6. Yeah, yeah, I certainly would like that pension. Come on.

Yeah, yeah, that's fair. But that doesn't come along with it. That's fair. But as I'm thinking about this, you're sort of like the, you're the entertainment director, the cruise director for Syracuse, I feel like, you know, because you're the one that's going around here really hyping up all these fun things to do, and that sounds like a great gig. Yeah, I think one of the best parts of the job is there's so much great stuff going on locally

and people embrace what we do. So we really hitch our wagon to all these festivals and events and try to show them best practice. is how can we increase their attendance? Wow. How can we tell their story? It's not like work. To your point, it's like being the show director.

It's a blast every day. And the fact that we have local impact makes it all worth it. Yeah, that's the thing about this that I think a lot of people don't understand. You know, they talk about amenities and fun things to do and things like that. And it's, yeah, that's fun, but also that's massive revenue that, in many cases, is from people outside the area. So we get strangers to pay our bills, basically. Yeah. If I told you tourism spending in this county last year was $1.3 billion.

I think that shocks a lot of locals. Absolutely. So it's huge. It's huge. And that generates roughly $70 million in sales tax. And I keep referring to sales tax. Why is that important? Our county budget, give or take, is about $1.5 billion.

About 75% of that's funded through sales tax. So you think what we do can help keep property taxes down. it's a big deal. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's incredible. How do I find strangers to pay my bills? That's all I'm thinking about.

Let's find them. You just got to put on a big event. That's it. It's all. Waynestock. I will say, I've been following Visit Syracuse on Instagram and all your social accounts. And it's really impressive. Like, it's a very entertaining, you know, sometimes you'll find these kind of organizations,

you know, tourism organizations. And it's just kind of stock photos of look, look how pretty. this place is in the local attraction. You guys really make it interesting, and I really want to just give you a shout out on your social media team, and people should follow it. Well, thank you. I mean, I didn't pay him to

bring that up, but you're going to walk me down a really great road that I'm very proud of. You know, it's funny you say that, because the job I had before this, I worked for Marriott hotels and Ritz Carlton, and I really got a great education there. I'm not an educated man when it comes to college. I've learned through work, and

Marriott was an education, and They really were on the cutting edge of, you think of those days of, you look at a resort or a hotel somewhere, all those pictures are scripted. They're actors and not people that look like us. Yeah. Right. But those days are over. And now it's the TripAdvisor days where you're looking to see real people doing real things. And that's what I brought to visit Syracuse.

I said, let's get away from the script. Let's get real people doing real things. And let's get into the video era because video is going to be hot. So we're a little ahead of the trend. Yeah. But now it's real people doing real things, man. And that's what sells. That's believable.

and that's what creates that emotional attachment. And that's why we've been successful along with the incredible team that I have. Yeah, nailed it. And it's true. I mean, it shows in every post. It's, you can tell. It's modern. It's cutting edge.

And it makes me want to visit Syracuse, which is the whole deal. Yeah, I mean, that's just kind of speaks to our mission here at Growth Mode content. And it's the reason we're doing that is that organic content is exactly what you're talking about. It's not the scripted. It's real life, real people doing real things. You mentioned your team. Let's talk about them real quick. How big is your team?

Yeah. Tell us their story a little bit. We have 14 people. We have some part-time or some volunteers to get involved and we have large events here. The best of the best. I come from a background when I talk about Marriott. It's about work culture. And we have very low turnover.

And we try to create that environment where people want to come to work every day. Their free time is respected. So you get performance. But when I came in, you know, I had to make some changes. I'm a baseball coach at heart. Everything I do is about baseball. Sure. The way I run my life.

Love it. So we were very siloed. I had a team where everybody could do their role, but outside of their role, maybe not so much. And I felt like versatility was the key. Yeah. And we retooled our team, and now we all support one another. Somebody needs to take a day off. We don't, you know, we don't break stride because everybody's kind of cross-trained.

But I've got great people. We're successful because of the people. My job is to keep them happy. That's awesome. That's great. And would you say the primary function, as you mentioned a little bit, is sort of marketing, is that the bulk of what you're doing is really trying to promote these things? Or are you helping to put together events and attractions?

Yeah, I think to the average person were the old convention and visitors bureau. So people think our main function is bringing large events here, heads and beds, right? Gotcha. It is a big function. But people don't come here to stay in hotels. They come here to do something. Sure. So we have to set that, frame that picture up.

tell them why it's a good idea to come to Syracuse and do things. So do we sell conventions and events and create events? Absolutely. Gotcha. But you have to paint that picture first. You have to set the stage. Yeah, absolutely. That's awesome. I think you had a question and I cut you off, buddy.

No, I just breathe heavy. No. Dan, I wanted to talk a little bit about your background if we could because off the air, I was asking you about it. And not only is an impressive background, but there's a great story with it. I'd love for you to share that. Yeah, my background is not traditional, and I'll try to get to that story really quick, but started slugging it out in hotels.

I was an audiovisual guy, but also at the same time, I was in television, and I was a statistician, and I got to work every game in town, and it was really a great gig. And then a little bit later, these were all going on at the same time, two jobs at once, and then my third job, I got into politics. So I was a mayor, I was a county legislator for 16 years total. but the TV stuff I always believed when I was a kid I would get up and I would read the newspaper every morning I could tell you any statistics in there any baseball card basketball card and I was an athlete to some extent and I kept telling my producers hey put me in front of the camera you know I think I can do just just as good a job as anyone else and they laughed at me for a long time yeah yeah go sit down go over there and do this and sure enough one day you know it was Syracuse and Rutgers football I'm sitting in the TV truck we're looking at the monitor wall and one of the announcers was visibly sick. And the producer was kind of wigging out.

And I said, I can do it. And he said, really? I said, yes, I can absolutely do it. We need to send a car home to get a suit for you. I said, no, I have a suit in the car. He goes, how did you know he was going to be sick? And I said, that freaking suit's been sitting there for 10 years. I just got to dust it off.

I go, well, let's go. Ready to go. I mean, when you, when you're a college kid or whatever, when you're coming up and you get advice, you know, from people in the industry. Like, one of the things they'll always tell you is always be ready, you know, especially in media, right? Always be ready to be the next man up. You never know when that guy's going to get sick. And you think maybe it's urban legend.

And that genuinely happened to you. And you were ready. And I think that's just absolutely incredible. Yeah, I don't think, you know, the door doesn't crack open very often. So you've got to be ready to kick it in. And that's always been my mindset. My dad left when I was 10, but my dad was a drill sergeant in the Marines. And I learned pretty quick by 10.

about being prepared. But my mom was the one that always pushed me to be ready. Heck yeah. And always believe in yourself, right? And that's what got it done. Shout out to the moms out there. I love that. Yeah, me too.

I absolutely love that. Don't give me crying, Dan. I can get you there. Danny, I think that's a great segue to talk about what we should be prepared for. Because we've, as a region, we've got a lot of cool things on deck that are coming. Some in your world, some that maybe aren't, but all. positive things. Talk to us a little bit about the future here in the greater Syracuse area. Yeah, I think we're very fortunate with the foresight of some of our leaders, you know,

with the big Micron project coming. Certainly 81, you know, that needed to be refreshed. It's all kind of coming together at the same time. But we did go through a little bit of a crisis about a year ago. We had a lot of our major hotels shut down. Yeah. So that made the convention business very difficult because now when you bring a large convention to the Oncenter, You need the Marriott. You needed the Crown plaza. You needed the Sheridan, and you also needed the Genesee Grant. Well, now three of those four are essentially gone.

It's not really palatable to a typical customer. Hey, we're going to put you on a bus and drive you to carry your circle. Sure. When they can stay in a hotel and walk across the street. So we were in damage control mode and my team, to their credit. We fought through that, and we really didn't lose any business. But we advocated for new hotels to come online. And in three years, we'll have probably 700 to 1,000 brand new hotel room.

So we really kind of upgraded. Yeah. But the timing of it is really, I think it's dumb luck, but you've got the 81 disruption while these hotels are being built. So when everything's done, everything's going to be fresh and new. So on the other side of this, things look great. I thought we'd see a lull, but we haven't. Our sales team stayed on top of things and really gotten after it.

A few other things, you know, some private investment in the film industry downtown, we have people don't realize we have a world-class post-price, production audio studio in downtown Syracuse, where we're now starting to pull business from New York City to come here and do their post-production. You can shoot a movie in a week or two. Oh, yeah. The post-production is six months. Right. And that's lucrative, and you've got a team of ten people coming in to do that. And we're there now, and that's all private investment. So film is really, really exciting. If you wouldn't mind me, remind me of the name of that studio, because I've been there, but I'm blanking on the name of it. Studio Central. Is that, and that's the one

that's the old wonder bar, the old red house. Yes, yes, yes. That place, when I first saw it, and I think they've expanded past this, but they were on like the ground floor that was like all stone. Exactly. It was like their facility was carved out of stone. It was one of the coolest

places I've ever seen. And the building itself at the time, and this was some years ago, they were rehabbing and was all looking fantastic. And just incredible resources right here in town. And then put several million dollars into it and I'll be happy to take you through there one day. You'll be blown away. You'll be absolutely blown away.

I have a little bit of a background in a little bit of film acting. And so I have always advocated that this area, actually, I don't know if you probably know this, Ithaca was supposed to be the original Hollywood. Really? This is a fact. You can look it up. They were the starting point for silent film. That's where silent film started.

And then what happened was, because of the weather, they couldn't shoot your around. And so Holly, they moved out west and Hollywood became Hollywood, but it was supposed to be here. And if you think about it, I've always pushed for film in this area long before technology came along and, you know, you realize you can shoot everywhere else and get tax breaks. Besides the tax breaks, I mean, you know, you can be in the middle of a metropolitan area in this state and then drive five miles in any direction and you've got, you know, what looks like farmland, what looks like, you know, there's just, there's a lot of options. And I, and I hope the film industry picks up. on that because you can shoot so much here.

Yeah, it's coming. I think you're spot on. We've got some folks that have been here that are going to start advocating for us. You know, Bobcat, Goldthwaite's one that you're going to see him. Quite a few movies here. He's going to take pride in being from Cherries. Yeah, police academy. But you talk about what we have for assets. You know, during COVID when the industry shut down, we had to pivot.

And what was, the only thing that was really shooting were TV commercials. So, BMW, Subaru. think of Marcellus, think of those curves, BMW commercials, right? Exactly. We made Lake Ontario look like the ocean. They had the Subaru driving down the beach. It was Lake Ontario. But it's right there.

We have all these assets. So the sky is the limit for us. And now that the governor just signed into legislation, the tax credits, through 2036, there's kind of been a holding pattern. I see. Now everybody's ready to go. And we have some advocates that we hired to come on and really tell the Syracuse story. It's affordable.

to your point, the list of assets is just, it's on parallel. And they can come in here and really do one heck of a job and save a heck of a lot of money. And, Danny, if you wouldn't mind, tell us just a little bit more about those tax credits because there's some things I'd heard, and I'd love to get some clarity. Does the tax credit better in, say, Syracuse versus New York City? Is there a difference across the state? Is that accurate? So the tax credits are similar statewide. however Onondaga County puts in money and has a little bonus on top of it.

I see. So that's the difference. That's kind of the incentive. Yeah. Yeah. So you get your New York State credit and then Onondaga County will give you a kicker on top of it. So don't quote me on the percentages, but it's over 40%. Wow.

Which is significant when you think about it. We had one movie, for example, that shot, and I'm horrible with names on movies. But it shot here. It was about $9, $8.5 million project. They got about $3.8 million back. they sold that movie at Sundance for $19 million. When was this? Wow.

This was pre-COVIDs. This would have been like 2020. That's incredible. It's not that Pete Davidson movie, was it? No, it wasn't. It was a, I believe it was a horror movie. Okay. That's, it's just absolutely incredible.

It is? The other thing that I just wanted to ask you about is, there's a difference between post-production and shooting, right? Is it two different things? Or the credit, yes. Yes, the post-production is a different story. But in order to get that tax incentive, they have to shoot some of the scenes of the movies in certified production facilities. Oh, wow.

So we used to have a facility over here in East Syracuse that was sold. But there's been private investment downtown at Case Supply. They've referred that into what they call a sound stage. You've got the gentleman at American High. But we've systematically went around in qualified places like the fairgrounds, for example. You talk about if you took an aerial view of the fairgrounds, it looks like Hollywood. Oh, absolutely. We're trying to do more and more there.

That's the goal. We have some folks interested in some series there, but that will take some time to get that done. What goes into certifying? What makes a place certified for this sort of thing? It's soundproofing. It's pillar-free, you know, clear views and things of that nature. X amount of square footage. Exactly right.

Yeah, yeah. But certainly has to have the sound quality involved. So a place like the OnCenter, the Red House downtown on the Lina Street is a good one. There's quite a few that we've been able to. bring into the fold. That's incredible. Now, is there any sort of not really competition, but I feel like it would be a no-brainer, right? Like at this point, shouldn't every state be offering tax credits to bring in film? Do you find yourself kind of competing or?

Yeah, no question. Especially, you know, Atlanta's big. You know, New Jersey's starting to do it big time and trying to bring it out. The fight was always the move. Let's take like a law and order. Who wants to be in Jersey? Like, why should law and, yeah, right. Why should law and order get a tax break when they're already shooting in New York?

That was always the argument. But when you look at the jobs that's created, we look at that Studio Central. Look at it this way. You think of a hub, right? So you've got the Steam School coming online. They also do animation there, and they have an animation studio. You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog.

If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this, even with just 10 listeners a month. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start free at RSS.com. ...mation classes that teach people how to animate.

What does animation do? It also does gaming. Yeah. So you've kind of got two roots that you can see. all the kids coming out of school now. Gaming's big, right? How about creating your own game? Studio Central, they have the animation lab there to train people to do that. So they're going to be a big part of the Steam School. So you're developing a workforce. Where before we had to bring people in from New York or Buffalo to staff these movies, now we're creating our own workforce.

And let's not forget, you have two of the biggest and best media schools in the country in the Park School at Ithaca College and Newhouse at Syracuse, which is a constant flow of workers that could get college credit. It's been the thing in so many industries around here. We've got all the talent and the education and then nothing for them to do and they flee. Exactly. You know, you bring up Syracuse. The goal there is to try to get in front of more of the affluent alumni that are in that industry to get them to come home and shoot a movie.

And that's kind of a movement that we're involved with as well. So we're excited about the future. That's good stuff, man. It's amazing. That makes me so happy. That's awesome. Can we talk a second about the aquarium? That's a coming.

attraction that's that's, I feel like is that, is that in your area, your wheelhouse, so to speak? Yeah, I was obviously a big advocate as a tourism leader on the aquarium. I know, you know, in some circles it may not be popular, but you have to, I look at it from the tourism standpoint, we have to have more things to do here. Yeah. And not to give the secret away, but once that aquarium is a little bit further along, when you're going to see what that's going to do for development in that immediate area, I think, all that negativity tends to go away. I think it's very similar to the amphitheater.

I was a county legislator when the amphitheater project came around. It was unpopular amongst a lot of the legislators at first. And I was a huge advocate for it. We had a lot of legislators that would say, oh, the amphitheater is going to lose money. It's going to lose money. Why should the taxpayers pick up that burden? Well, if you think of it this way,

do the operations lose money? They might, maybe a few dollars. But when you see what it does for the area as far as the economic lift. Hotels are full, restaurants are full. The hotel rates are $100, $150 higher than a normal number and what that generates. And there's a one thing that you really couldn't, you know, in the general public, you've got about 10 seconds to make your case.

If I told you that at the same time, the county also signed an agreement with the Oneida, the Turning Stone to get slot revenue and they generate three to four million dollars in slot revenue and that money pays the bond for the amphitheater. Would you be on board then? Sure. But that argument never came to the surface. So now you look back with hindsight and you look at what that amphitheater's done for the area. It's an engine, man.

It's an economic engine. So I look at the aquarium the same way. I know some of the numbers are in question, the attendance, this and that. It's an amenity. It's an amenity that people want. And I can tell you when Micron was looking at this area, the aquarium was a big deal to them. Really? Absolutely.

For quality of life, think of it. They're going to have to bring some people from out of the area. You've got to show them what they're big on their employees' social life. What is there to do in Syracuse? there's technology and there's science involved in an aquarium and it's right in their wheelhouse. It was a big deal to them. Yeah. It's awesome.

Now, I'm a big fan of that and I have been for quite a while for all the reasons that you mentioned. And you know, what's great about this project is we took a vacant piece of land that was doing nothing. You didn't displace one business or one family living in an apartment, you know, and we took swamp land effectively. And it's exactly like you're talking about. It would be crazy if it didn't create sort of a hub for all these things, you know. And this is a philosophy I've always felt for a long time is you build a thing and then you get stuff around it. Yes. You get the restaurant of the thing and the T-shirt shop for the thing and the, you know.

Think of the gap there now. Yeah. Destiny, downtown Syracuse, really nothing in the middle for a few blocks. You fill on that blank. Now you've connected two neighborhoods. Yeah. So now there's walkability. You could walk from Armory Square.

and go to the aquarium. Would you walk from Armory Square to Destiny now? Probably not. If you had something in the middle, you would. Absolutely. So you electrify that dormant area. No, it's a great thing. You're a baseball guy.

If you build it, they will come. That's it. See, you were right. It applies in every facet of life. It really does. It really does. And we don't get political on the show. No, we don't.

I will just say that my biggest thing with everybody who knocks that is, we don't like this. We want something better. No one has that something better that they propose. They just want to complain about this thing that's in motion. I'm a Bill's fan.

We're knee-jerk. So they lose a game and they'll be like, we want the coach fired. All right, who are you going to hire? Well, I don't know. Right. You know what I mean? Like, yeah.

No, I love it. And I agree with you. When it's there and they see the benefit, everybody will be on board. I wanted to ask you real quick. I just thought of something. You know, you do a lot of things for hotels and things like that. How does, where does Airbnb play a fast?

And is this something that you work with? It's working against you. It's tough to navigate. That's a really, really good question. It's deep. Let me try to get through it pretty quickly. Airbnb, a few years back, I think as a hotelier, the hoteliers would certainly be opposed to it

because they're not regulated per se. They don't pay, you know, they didn't pay tax, occupancy tax. Those days are over in New York State. There's legislation that's been passed where they will be regulated. They will be paying their fair share. paying their fair share. So that's good news. It's a really, really important part of the whole equation here. So Airbnb would go to individual counties and negotiate their own deals. Fortunately, in Onondaga County, the deal they negotiated, they do pay bed tax. And that bed tax

in other municipalities goes to the general fund. Here it goes to the bed tax fund, which is tourism related. So it's more money into our coffers. So we look at the bed tax collections in the last few years, and they've went from 7 million. Now, granted, there was a 2% increase, but they've went from 7 million to almost 14 million. Airbnb is a player in that. There are roughly, I want to say, 10,000 units in this county of Airbnb. And, you know, they make up a good percentage of, I wouldn't say it's a massive percentage, but it's probably 15 to 20% of the whole lodging industry locally. And we're on the right side of it because of the regulations, because you're going to say much more,

things where eyes are going to be on what they're doing and how they're doing it. And the fact that they're generating taxes coming back to the people is a good thing where in other municipalities they don't. Yeah. I hope I answered that. No, that was awesome. No, that was great. I think it's a great thing with some asterisk there. But exactly like you're talking about, you're kind of ironing out some of the biggest concerns,

which makes it even better solution, I think. Yes, there's a registry that's in the works right now. So they'll know who's staying there, you know, when they're staying there, those sort of things. Where before, you didn't necessarily know who might be staying right next door to you. Sure. And you didn't have the regulations of safety, right? You didn't need a carbon monoxide or a smoke detector. We're in hotels, everything's mandated.

So those days are gone in New York State. That's a good thing. We just hosted two families. We rent our house out for graduation weekends. And now we actually, I think they've mandated us to have carbon monoxide and fire. So, New York State runs it pretty smooth, you know. And that's the way it should be. Yeah, the way it should be.

I agree. Those are safety things for a reason. Yeah, absolutely. Danny, real quick, you know, we talk about the organizations visit Syracuse. We're talking about a lot of things in downtown Syracuse. But really, you support the whole region. So can you just take a minute and talk about things outside of the city that you're drawing people to? So we're county all the way, not just downtown now.

Granted, downtown plays a big part of the industry, but the traveler doesn't understand where the border is. So we are definitely partners with our contiguous counties, and we're all kind of one family. So do we help Oswego County promote things? Absolutely. Madison County, Cortland County, and on the other side, Kyuga. Absolutely. You think of Kyuga County, the history with women's rights. Sure. Think of the history up north. It's a region, not just a county. And we try to expand the efforts so people see the whole region. while they're here. That's great. And not just downtown.

So, you know, the county is certainly our parent. Yeah. And we work very closely with them. And one thing that we're a little different than similar agencies, we have a seat at the table with economic development projects to show these developers what Onondaga County is all about. And I can't say that's the case anywhere else. Yeah.

There's a partnership now where before, I would say before I started, it was, oh, here's that agency. we've got to cut that check too. Now we're trusted partners. They come to us for resources. They come to us for advice on certain things. They come to us for presentations, photography, video, drone work. And it's really nice to be looked at as extended family. Yeah.

Well, I think that's probably one of the reasons we've been so successful, as you mentioned earlier with Micron and how important those amenities are to them picking this location. You know, the fact that our region, our county has been wise enough to realize that. and get you a seat of the table, I think is... You know, one of the best stories of the whole Micron thing. Now, at the time, I didn't know what Micron was. It had a secret name. And I don't remember exactly what the name was, but...

Yankee. There you go. Project Yankee, right? I get a call from somebody high up the food chain at the county and said, hey, I need your team to produce a video. A couple of minutes. It's got to be high energy, the music, and show why it's great here, visually.

and we're going to bring these people into the JMA wireless dome. We're going to turn the lights out. We're going to put this up on the big screen. We're going to pound it out. Jesus. No pressure. No pressure. Right?

Easy peasy. My team pulled it together. That's awesome. But to be asked, what an honor. Right. Yeah. That just shows the trust they have in us. And we won't get political, but it is very bipartisan.

There are no politics. Right. Both sides of the aisle love what we do, and we try to help them. Right. do their job. So we're really in a great place and we're very, very fortunate. That's awesome. You have anything coming up that you want to plug? Anything? This is big festival season. Certainly we're big supporters of the Rhythm and Blues Festival coming up here in a few weeks at the fairgrounds. We also created an event this year. I wouldn't

say we created it. We revived an event that's been dormant. The vintage raceboats will be back on Onondaga Lake June 21st weekend. Nice. That's going to be cool. We have over 50 boats coming here. They do this all around the country. We've been off the grid for over 10 years. This will be the largest one of its type in the entire country in our first year. Without Canadian boats, obviously there's a little riff there. If we had those, it would be over the top. And then Jazz Fest at the end of this month,

we're the largest free jazz festival in the Northeast with top tier talent. So those are the things that are coming up right out of the gate. And we have the State Association of Fire Chiefs, which is really an honor to have that in Syracuse again. That drives a lot of business. Absolutely. Summer concert season, Lakeview Amphitheater and all the other venues around here. There's concerts going on.

Yeah, big time. That's incredible. So many awesome things. Danny, where can folks keep abreast of these things? You've got a website, a Facebook. How's that work? Yeah, go to visit Syracuse.com. That'll certainly link you up with all of our social channels.

But our calendar is the top search thing on our website. We get almost 2 million visits to our website every year and climbing. So go there and certainly subscribe. And you'll get every week, get a calendar, or actually a weekly event listing for what's coming up that weekend. But the calendar on our website is really robust. We're really linked up with some great organizations, so it's pretty comprehensive. That's great.

I do this every time. I know we're ready to end the interview, but I've got to do one more. Go for, buddy. I want to have some fun here, because I know you were a stats guy. That's how you started, right? So I want to talk a little baseball real quick. Pete Rose, you know what? He just passed away, and then he got inducted finally into the hall.

of Fame. I always thought he should have been in the Hall of Fame because 4,000 hits is 4,000 hits. Do you have an opinion on that? Do you not want to? Greatest hitter of all time. That's what I'm saying. He's got to be in the Hall of Fame. You're a stats guy. You know what I mean? I love Michael Jackson. I don't, you know, I don't pay attention to what he did outside of the stage. Yeah, I don't condone obviously the gambling part, but the numbers don't lie. 4,000 hits. I don't think you'll ever see that. Never. Greatest, greatest hitter ever. I grew up watching him. I remember when he smoked that catcher at home plate in the all-star game. I'm like, this guy's different, man.

I got a quick side question for you. Let's go. If he was playing today with the money some of these players are getting today. Oh, geez. Do you think he would have gotten into the gambling side deal? I would say no. I mean, think about it. So right now, who's the greatest hitter in baseball right now?

I would say Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge. Those are two really good picks, right? Pete Rose, are they going to catch his numbers? I don't think so. I mean, they could, but it's insane. I don't think he would have been able to do it because of the transparency now with social media. I don't know if he would have gotten away with it.

Oh, it would have been... You know what I mean? And plus gambling's legal... Well, it's not legal. I'm just thinking these days, I feel like there's a lot more money potentially for the players. So would he have been as motivated to do something else? My other question was, you know, people are talking about how the game of baseball was created before there were all these distractions. so they're losing viewership as the generations go on because the game's too long

and they're trying to make all these fixes. I wanted your opinion. I always said the two things I thought that could really, quote unquote, save the game would be put a salary cap in baseball so that it levels the playing field with some parity, so everybody has like the pirates can have a shot. And then the other thing is I think there should be 100 games a season. You know, 162 games seems insane to me. How do you feel about that?

I like the 162 games because it entertains my life for a long period of time. I agree with you on the salary cap. My younger sons, we're a Yankee family. My younger son is a Pirates fan. Really? That guy's problem. Yeah, give me a salary cap, but they have to spend a minimum amount, too. You look at the talent that they have and their pitching staff there.

Skeens, yeah. And you look at the pitchers that went away, you know, Garrett Cole, Glass now, all these guys. I could go on and on. The guy won't pay. And that's a great sports town. Wow. It is. It may be a minimum and then a maximum.

I'm with you there because I do like the parody. The Dodgers, the Dodgers, they're smarter. Yeah. They've got the resources. I mean, you look at that team. I would like to see the parody. I'm with you there. I don't know.

That would probably, you think, of the union would certainly, we might have a strike for a few years on that topic. But I'm with you there. I'd rather see the parody. I just feel like everybody wins. And you're so right. I feel like the pirates, more than any other organization, have been a revolving door of star players that they have.

And you're like, this is going to be huge. and then they just deal him. How about this Skeens kid? He's unbelievable. This guy was going to school to be an Air Force pilot. Oh, wow. Yeah. Right?

He comes over to LSU as a short, I believe he's a shortstop. I don't know. I believe he was an infielder, and the coaches saw him throw the ball, and they go, you ever try pitching? And they threw him in there. He pitched for one year in college. The next year he's the rookie of the year in baseball. Wow.

And then the scary thing is his girlfriend makes more money than he does. Who's his girlfriend? Livy Dunn. Oh. So she's the job. She's a model and this Viori clothing line. She's the spokesperson. I think she has more followers on Instagram than anyone as far as athletes.

I think she's number one. That's amazing. I have a bucket list item to go to every ballpark before I die. I got like 13 under the belt. I went to Pittsburgh. The best. Unbelievable. We go every year, it's incredible.

I know it's a cliche saying like, there's no bad seat in the house. Pittsburgh, I forget the name of the stadium, PNC Park. It is genuinely not a... You could be in the furthest seat and you still feel like you're on top of the field. It's an awesome... Yeah, it's one of my favorites, no doubt about it. Pittsburgh's a great city.

We love it. I'm a Steelers fan and Penguins fan. That's all right. You're Yankees fan, so I'm fine. I'm good with that. This is awesome. See, this is why we're going to launch the Good News York Sports show.

We are? Let's go. Breaking News! We've got to do that exclusively. Danny, I really appreciate you joining us. You know, what you do is very much aligned with kind of the purpose of this show, Good News York.

You know, we're just here to tell the good stories and really shine a light on why this place is awesome. So much negativity and people talking shit about our place and half of them don't even live here. But we're trying to do something that's the opposite of that. Yeah, the three of us are a beacon of hope. It is. So we will welcome you back any time, anytime something's going on. You really appreciate your time. More than happy to have you.

It's a pleasure. Visit Syracuse.com. Go there. check out their socials absolutely awesome that's awesome danny mike other danny i think that's all we got today i think so are we doing tuesday newsday no this was tuesday newsday it's a it's a monday tuesday it is a monday tuesday you're right so we're gonna we're gonna skip out all right but with that we'll see you're listening to a podcast right now driving working out walking the dog if you're into podcast chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy.

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