Unofficial Start to Summer in Downtown Syracuse: 335 Hanging Flower Baskets to Dress Downtown Streets for Seventh Season

Syracuse, NY - Beauty is blooming in purple petunias throughout Downtown Syracuse for the seventh consecutive season. This morning, the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, Inc. began installation of hanging flower baskets throughout the central business district. The ceremonial first hanging flower basket was placed outside of the Downtown Security & Information Center, located at 440 South Warren Street (map) just after 9:00 am. As the week continues, members of the Downtown Committee Environmental Maintenance staff will continue to install the baskets throughout the Cathedral Square, Hanover Square, Clinton Square, Armory Square and Salina Street neighborhoods. In total, 335 flower baskets, adorned with purple petunias from Downtown Farmers Market vendor Oliver B. Paine Greenhouses, will dress up Downtown’s streets, bringing signs of vibrancy to Downtown Syracuse to unofficially welcome the summer season.

The hanging flower basket program has expanded more than five times from the size of what it was when it began as a pilot program in 2011. That first season, the Downtown Committee partnered with the Cathedral Square Neighborhood Association to install 72 baskets along four downtown streets: East Jefferson, South Warren, Montgomery and East Onondaga.

“We always look forward to ‘Flower Basket Installation Day,’ and it’s amazing how collectively spirits throughout Downtown Syracuse seem to lift as the flowers go up,” said Merike Treier, executive director of the Downtown Committee of Syracuse. “Now in its seventh season, the hanging flower basket program has become a tradition to signal the start of summer in Downtown Syracuse. The purple petunias are a symbol of the pride that our downtown constituents, neighbors and friends feel for their neighborhoods.”

The hanging flower basket program is sponsored by more than 50 downtown friends, businesses and property owners, including the Cathedral Square Association, M&T Bank, Key Bank, Paramount Realty Group, Jefferson Clinton Hotel, AXA, Barclay Damon LLP, CBD Companies, Cushman Wakefield Pyramid Brokerage, JF Real Estate, Partnership Properties, MONEY Federal Credit Union, Marriott Courtyard and Residence Inn at Armory Square, Marriott Syracuse Downtown and Lemon Grass Restaurant. The Downtown Committee also thanks the following Hanover Square Association members for their contribution to the program in 2017: F.J. Pompo & Co., Niko’s Italian Family Restaurant & Deli, Pioneer Companies, Recess Coffee and The Courier, LLC.

The hanging flower basket program is part of the Downtown Committee’s overall beautification efforts. For more information, please visit www.downtownsyracuse.com/flowers.

About the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, Inc.

The Downtown Committee of Syracuse, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit, professional downtown management organization representing all property owners and tenants within the central business district.  The Downtown Committee undertakes programs to improve downtown's image, strengthen its economic base, increase its attractiveness, and assure that it's clean, safe and accessible. For more information, visit www.downtownsyracuse.com.

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

May 24, 2017

CONTACT:

Alice Maggiore

315.470.1953                       

amaggiore@downtownsyracuse.com