Hey folks, welcome to good news York. I'm your
host Matt major 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 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... 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 we're... 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 Liedka.
Did I do it right? Right on the money. I asked
in advance and usually that's when I screw it
up. Not Danny Ladka, nickname of the guy from
taxi. See we had that conversation and you made
me extra nervous that I was going to say it the
wrong way. 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 next thing you know, you're
throwing it. Yeah, we know that's that's what
you told Ryan McMahon before he did it. Hey,
man, don't overthink this. This could ruin your
life. He's like, thank you. Now you've ruined
me. Yeah, that was 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 why 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 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 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, not a county
employee per se. So we're standalone. That's
an even better deal. 501 C6. Yeah, I certainly
would like that pension. Come on. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. 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 it's... That sounds like a great gig.
So yeah, I think the best 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 practices.
How can we increase their attendance? Well, 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 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 we get strangers to pay our bills, basically.
Yeah. If I told you tourism spending in this
county last year was one point three billion
dollars, I think that shocks a lot of a lot of
locals. Absolutely. So it's huge. It's huge.
And that generates Roughly 70 million dollars
in sales tax and I keep referring to sales tax.
Why is that important our county budget? Give
or take it's about 1 .5 billion dollars 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 that's incredible. I find strangers to
pay my bills You just you just got to put on
a big event That's all. Wainstock. I will say,
I've been following Visit Syracuse on Instagram
and all your social accounts. And it's really
impressive. It's very entertaining. Sometimes
you'll find these kind of organizations, tourism
organizations, and it's just kind of stock photos
of, look how pretty this place is. Here's 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 can't.
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 in Ritz -Carlton and I really
got a great education there. I'm not as 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 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 are
a little ahead of the trend. Yeah, but now it's
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 uh, you
can tell it's it's modern It's cutting -edge
and it makes me want to visit Syracuse, which
is the whole deal So yeah, I mean that's this
just kind of speaks to our mission here at growth
mode content is the reason we're doing that It's
that organic content is exactly what you're talking
about. It's not the script that 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 and Yeah, we have 14 people, we
have some part -timers and some volunteers to
get involved and we have large events here. The
best of the best. 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. So we were very
siloed. I had, you know, 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. tooled 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,
we're the old convention and visitors bureau.
So people think our main function is bringing
large events here, heads and beds, right? Get
people in hotel rooms. 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 our 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. I cut you off buddy.
No, I I'm 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 we started slugging it out
in hotels. I was an audio visual guy. But also
at the same time, I was in television and I was
a statistician and I worked. 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
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 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, I said, that freaking
suit's been sitting there for 10 years. I just
gotta dust it off. I go, let's go. That is ready
to go when you when when you're a college kid
or Whatever when you're when you're coming up
and you get advice, you know from people in in
the industry Like one of the things they'll always
tell you is always be ready, you know, especially
in here, right? Always be ready to be the next
man up You never know when that guy's gonna get
sick and you think it's maybe it's urban legend
and that Genuinely happened to you and you were
ready and I think that's just that's just absolutely
incredible Yeah, I don't think you know the door
the door doesn't crack open very often see gotta
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 and always believe in yourself 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 get me crying, Dan. Don't get
me crying. I can get you there. Danny, I think
that's a great segue to talk about what we should
be prepared for, because 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. 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 on -center, you need the Marriott,
you needed the Crowne Plaza, you needed the Sheridan,
and you also needed the Genesee Grand. 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, 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 1000 brand new hotel
rooms. 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 gonna 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 -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 we're there now and that's
all private investment So film is really really
exciting. That's if you wouldn't mind remind
me of the name of that that studio because I've
been there But I'm blanking on the name studio
central is that and that's the one that's um
the old wonder bar the old red house yes yes
yes that place uh when i first saw it and i think
they've expanded past this but they were on like
the the ground floor that was like all stone
and exactly it was it was like their their facility
was carved out of stone it was one of the coolest
yeah uh 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 uh just Incredible resources right here in
town and 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 some in a little bit of film acting and so
I have always Advocated that this area. Well,
actually, I don't know if you probably know this
Ithaca was supposed to be the original Hollywood
really is this is a fact you can look it up they
were the 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 year round. And so 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 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 gonna start at for us you know Bobcat Goldthwaites
one that's you're gonna see quite a few movies
here he's gonna take pride in being from Turkey
yeah police academy but you talk about what we
have for assets you know during COVID when we
when the industry shut down we had to pivot and
what was the only thing that was really shooting
were TV commercials so the MW Subaru Think of
Marcellus, think of those curves, BMW commercials,
right? Exactly. These producers 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.
Now everybody's ready to go. And we have some
advocates that we've hired to come on and really
tell the Syracuse story. It's affordable. To
your point, the list of assets is just, it's
unparalleled. 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've heard and I'd
love to get some clarity. Is 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 has
a little bonus on top. 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 percent. 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 a nine. $8 .5
million project. They got about $3 .8 million
back. They sold that movie at Sundance for $19
million. When was this? This was pre -COVID,
so this would have been like 2020. That's incredible.
It's not that Pete Davidson movie, was it? No.
It wasn't. It was, I believe, was a horror movie.
OK. It's just absolutely incredible. It is? The
other thing that I just want to ask you about
is There's a difference between post -production
and shooting, right? Is it two different things?
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. 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 refurbed that
into what they call a soundstage. You've got
the gentleman at American High. But we've systematically
went around and 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. So 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 it? What makes a place certified for
this sort of thing? It's soundproofing. It's
pillar. free, you know, so, you know, clear,
clear views and things of that nature. But X
amount of square footage. Exactly. Right. Yeah.
Yeah. But certainly has to have the sound quality.
Yeah, that makes sense. So like the place like
the on center, the Red House downtown on Carolina
Street is a good one. There's quite a few that
we've been able to bring into the fold. That's
incredible. 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. Yeah. 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? Yeah, right.
Well, 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 it'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 and animation classes
that teach people how to animate. What does animation
do? It also does gaming. Yeah, so you've kind
of got two routes that you can sell 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
or... That's been the thing in so many industries
around here. We got all the talent and the education
and then... Nothing for them to do. Exactly.
But now we have that. 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 I feel like 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 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 gonna see what
that's gonna 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. Yeah county legislator
when the amphitheater project came around It
was 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 gonna 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 night, and
what that generates. And there's one thing that
you really couldn't, you know, in the general
public, you 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 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
has 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.
Yeah. 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. 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 and we took swampland
effectively and it's exactly like you're talking
about. be crazy if it didn't create sort of a
hub for all these things, you know, and, 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. 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 in that blank. Now
you've connected two neighborhoods. So now there's
walkability. You can walk from armory square
and go to the aquarium. Would you walk from Armory
Square to Destiny now? Probably not. Right. 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. See, you were right.
It applies in every facet of life. It really
does. It really does. And we don't get political
on this 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 Bills fan. We're knee jerk.
So they lose a game and they'll be like, we want
the coach fired. Who are you going to hire? Well,
I don't know. You know what I mean? No, I love
it. And I agree with you. When it's there and
they see the benefit, everybody will be on board.
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 factor? And is this something
that? Your work 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. So that's good news.
It's a really, really important part of the whole
equation here. 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 So 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 see 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 asterisks 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, 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. Where 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,
it should be. I agree. Those are safety things
for a reason. Yeah, absolutely. Danny, real quick,
you know, we talk about the organization's visit
to 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 a county all
the way, not just downtown. Now, granted, downtown
plays a big part of the industry. 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 there. 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
and not just downtown. You know, the county is
certainly our parent, 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's
all about. And I can't say that's the case anywhere
else. There's a partnership now where before,
I would say before I started, it was, oh, here's
that agency we got to cut that check to. 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. 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 at 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. Sure. It had a secret name.
And I don't remember exactly what the name was,
but... Yankee. There you go. Project Yankee,
right? get a call and you know from 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 got to be high energy the music and
and show why it's great here visually and we're
gonna 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. And it was but to be
asked it. What an honor. Right. Yeah. Right.
That just shows the trust they have in us. And
and it's we won't get political, but it is it's
very bipartisan. There are no politics. Yeah.
Both sides of the aisle love what we do and we
try to help them do their job. So it's we're
really in a great place. and we're very, very
fortunate. That's awesome. You got 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 race boats will be back on Onondaga
Lake June 21st weekend. 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 rift there. If we had those, it would
be over the top. And then Jazz Fest at the end
of this month were the largest free jazz festival
in the Northeast with top. Top tier talent. So
those are the things that are coming 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 right concerts
going on. Yeah big time That's that's incredible
So many awesome things Danny where can folks
keep abreast of these things. You got a website,
a Facebook, how's that work? Yeah, go to visitsyracuse
.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
two million visits to our website every year
and climbing. So go there and certainly subscribe
and you'll get every week you'll 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. Great. I do this
every time. I know we're ready to end the interview,
but I've got to do one more thing. Go for it,
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? Or do you not want to? Greatest hitter
of all time. That's what I'm saying. It's got
to be in the Hall of Fame. If you're a stats
guy, you know what I mean? I love Michael Jackson.
I don't pay attention to what he did outside
of the stage. Yeah, I don't condone, obviously,
the gambling part, but 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. 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,
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.
Those are two really good picks right Pete Rose.
Are they gonna catch his numbers? I don't think
so. I mean they could but it's insane I don't
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 would have been you know what I mean and
plus gambling's Legalized well, it's not legalized.
I'm just thinking these days. I feel like there's
a lot more money potentially for the players
So what do you would he been as many motivated
to write do something else my uh my 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
games too long and they're trying to make all
these fixes I wanted your opinion. I 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 You know so everybody
has like the Pirates can have a shot And then
the other thing is I think there should be a
hundred games a season You know, 162 games seems
insane to me. How do you feel about that? I like
the 162 games because it gives, 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. That's important. You look at the
talent. that they have in 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. So it may be a minimum and then a maximum.
I'm with you there because I do like the parity.
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 parity. 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 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 gonna be huge and then
they just deal about this skeins kid. I mean
this guy was going to school to be an Air Force
pilot Oh, wow. Yeah, right, please. 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 tried 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? Libby Dunn. Oh. So she's the
gymnast then she's worked. She's a model and
a jewelry 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 got like
13 under the belt I went to Pittsburgh the best
unbelievable. We go every year. It's incredible.
I 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
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, a Penguins fan.
I'm sorry. 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 got to do that exclusively. Danny, I really
appreciate you joining us. I appreciate you.
What you do is very much aligned with kind of
the purpose of this show, Good News York. 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 something's going on. We 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. Think that's
all we got today. I think so. Are we doing Tuesday
Newsday? No This was Tuesday Newsday. So 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 with that. We will see you tomorrow
guys