The Peacock Bar is Back After Two Years and Reservations are Already Booking Up

Hello, Syracuse

Hope everyone made it through last week's wildfire smoke okay. The air quality alerts had CNY looking a scene in Dune for a stretch, but the breaks in between were solid opportunities to get outside and touch some grass. This week is hopefully a reset from the smoke. The Peacock Bar reopens at the Inner Harbor today, Phish loads into the Amphitheater Tuesday, and Oswego Harborfest takes over Lake Ontario for four days starting Thursday. Also on deck: New York became the first state to pause new data center construction, National Grid caught a $17M penalty for its Upstate service record, and Heid's of Liverpool just made the state's official historic registry. Let's get into it.

Looking for trivia nights this week? We just published a full guide to every trivia spot in Syracuse.

The Peacock Bar is back, and it moved to the water

The Peacock Bar returns today, with a soft open at its new Inner Harbor home, bringing back the outrageous cocktail menu that made it a local favorite the first time around. Reservations are open now and highly recommended, and can be booked by messenger, phone, or email. Walk-ins during the soft-open week are a coin flip at best.

Salt City Coffee's Clay drive-through is officially open

Salt City Coffee opened its new Clay drive-through this week, giving the crowd an elevated alternative to the usual chain-coffee stops on Route 31. It's the third Salt City location and the first built around the drive-thru-first model, which is a smart bet in a suburb where nobody wants to park and get out of the car during their morning commute at 7 a.m.

New York just paused every new data center in the state for a year

Governor Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday halting all new large data-center construction across New York for up to 12 months. The pause makes New York the first state in the country to formally slow the AI infrastructure boom, and it's a direct response to rising public utility costs and grid strain.

Onondaga County term limits law is most likely headed to court after a mistake

The county legislature's term-limits proposal accidentally cleared a procedural hurdle this week after an email mistake. This has set up a fight over whether it lands on November's ballot despite County Executive Ryan McMahon's intended veto. Both sides are now heading to legal research, with a court almost certainly next.

National Grid faces a $17M penalty for lousy Upstate customer service

New York utility regulators are moving to hit National Grid with a nearly $17 million penalty over customer service failures across Upstate New York, citing missed service metrics on billing, call response times, and outage handling. The penalty is designed to reduce shareholder earnings and encourage utilities to improve customer service. Anyone who has ever experienced waiting hours for the power to come back on is nodding right now.

Syracuse is rolling out AI-powered building permits

The city is adopting a new AI-assisted permitting system funded by up to $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, aimed at cutting the wait time on building permits that has been a pain point for many. The city officials noted that no personal information would be shared when it was used.

Micron asks a court to toss the lawsuit against its Clay plant

Micron filed a motion to dismiss the environmental lawsuit challenging its massive Clay chip fabrication project, arguing the case lacks legal standing. The groups involved alleged that the county agency rushed its approval, providing just 47 days for public review and comment on a draft of the document. The suit is one of the last major hurdles to the fab getting fully underway.

Syracuse's transportation sustainability push gets a closer look

Mayor Sharon Owens released the city's Climate Action Plan Tuesday, laying out a strategy to move Syracuse away from car-centric transportation. The plan calls for electrifying the city's vehicle fleet, expanding EV charging infrastructure, and pushing residents toward buses, biking, and walking.

4544 Hollyshire Way, Clay | $749,000

Only 2.5 years old and turnkey. This is "The Orion" floor plan from Eldan Homes in Clay's Wildflower Community, a large ranch with an open Great Room, a chef's kitchen with a massive island and quartz counters, and a primary suite with dual vanities and a walk-in closet the size of a small apartment. A 22K Generac whole-house generator, triple-wide top-coated driveway, and 16 blue juniper trees are already in place. North Syracuse School District.

Heid's of Liverpool, which has been slinging hot dogs since 1886, was officially added to the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry this week. That puts them in the same category as other 100-plus-year-old NY institutions and formally recognizes what everyone already knew: Heid's is a Syracuse landmark. Mixed double please.

Neil Mattern is a Syracuse-based printmaker whose work sits at the intersection of photography and traditional etching, mixing modern and old-school techniques to build images that feel like memories rather than pictures. He also works in screenprinting, borrowing from pop art and mass-production aesthetics to build up his own visual language. If you've been to a local show in the last couple years, you've probably seen his work without knowing whose name to attach. Check him out at neilmart.com.

Two very good boys at Helping Hounds Dog Rescue in North Syracuse this week, both new arrivals still figuring out shelter life.

Buckwheat, a 2-year-old male Terrier mix at about 20 pounds, is a bundle of energy who might be the perfect hiking or running partner. He's affectionate with adults but a little selective with other dogs. He rides fine in the car, is house and crate trained, and has not been cat tested yet.

Charlie, a 7-month-old male Lab mix around 40 pounds, is a lap-dog trapped in a bigger dog’s body. He loves other dogs, loves meeting new people, and is a good car rider. He's still working on leash walking and is not yet house trained.

Director of New York Expansion at Micron

Micron is hiring a Director-level lead to run Environmental, Health, Safety, and Sustainability programs across the New York expansion. This is a strategic role that spans construction and manufacturing operations, with responsibility for regulatory compliance, incident response, and building out the EHS org. Bachelor's degree required, along with experience leading EHS in a manufacturing, industrial, or highly regulated environment. Salary range $151K to $263K.