Editor’s note: The photos in this story, which capture Syracuse’s housing crisis, appeared earlier this year in an exhibit at ArtRage Gallery. Central Current contributors Mike Greenlar and Michelle Gabel reported from the ground with support from Central Current. This week, Central Current will again be partnering with ArtRage Gallery. Contributor Eddie Velazquez and reporter Debadrita Sur will moderate a panel on Interstate 81 and environmental inequalities.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Syracuse has seen rising rent costs, rising home prices, rising homelessness and rising tensions between tenants and landlords.

Even as some of those conditions ease, the city will now experience three projects — the removal of the Interstate 81 viaduct, the redevelopment of public housing and Micron’s arrival — that could again jolt the housing and rental markets.

For much of the last 18 months, Central Current contributors Michelle Gabel and Mike Greenlar have captured Syracuse’s housing crisis in photos.

Their work, displayed below, shows the challenges and the triumphs experienced by people navigating the housing landscape.

Central Current is giving our readers another opportunity to see these images and preserve the work of Gabel and Greenlar at this moment in Syracuse’s housing history.

Denise and Jeanette

Denise Masterson and Jeanette Kilmartin have struggled at times with finding safe and standard housing.

However, their current living situations show a stark contrast in outcomes in Syracuse’s housing market.

Denise Masterson watches television at her home on Shonnard Street watching television. At 57, she has suffered four strokes, has a dislocated shoulder and a permanently broken wrist and elbow. She lives in an apartment with little furniture, sleeping on just a mattress with holes. The dwelling has mice and cockroaches. The couple living with her sleep on the floor with only a blanket. Her rent is $500 a month.

Denise Masterson 57 years-old of Shonnard St. She lives in a an apartment with little furniture, sleeps on just a mattress with holes. The dwelling is infested with mice and cockroaches. The couple living with her sleep on the floor with just a blanket. Her rent is $500 a month. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Denise Masterson 57 years-old, watching television in her bedroom. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Denise Masterson looks at herself in a mirror outside her apartment. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Denise Masterson cleans up the fallen ceiling plaster that fell on her head as she was looking at a portrait of her boyfriend Robert Lee Pickett. He was killed five years ago in her apartment over a ten dollar debt Denise had with a man. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Denise Masterson’s apartment on Shonnard St. in the Near Westside in Syracuse. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

For years, Jeanette Kilmartin lived in precarious conditions in shelters and on the street after a series of accidents led her to opioid addiction. She gradually lost her job, housing, and stability.

“My family wanted nothing to do with me,” Kilmartin said.

As her treatment program was coming to an end, Jeanette faced homelessness again. Then she met A Tiny Home for Good founder Andrew Lunetta, his mother and grandmother. The four of them met at a building site for A Tiny Home for Good, which builds small rental units and offers support services for tenants who are overcoming trauma, addiction, mental illness or other issues that left them without housing. Kilmartin kept visiting, and in 2019 she moved into a new Tiny Home unit.

“I was flabbergasted to be given such a gift,” Kilmartin said. “I didn’t realize that, before, I’ve only lived in houses. I never lived in a home. And this is my home

Jeanette Kilmartin greets the morning with meditation in her front yard on West Matson Avenue, a two-unit home built by A Tiny Home for Good. “When I walked in these doors, I was just flabbergasted to be given such a beautiful gift,” said Jeanette, who moved here in 2019. “I didn’t realize that before, I’ve only lived in houses. I never lived in a home. And this is my home.” Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Jeanette Kilmartin tends to her flowers outside her West Matson Avenue home, built by A Tiny Home for Good. Jeanette, who faced homelessness when her treatment program for opioid addiction came to an end, moved here in 2019. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Jeanette Kilmartin, who lived in precarious living conditions for several years, moved into A Tiny Home for Good unit in 2019. She said she finds a lot of joy “in the little things…I’ve got my animals….my garden… my neighbors…quality friends,” she said. “I’m good.” Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Jeanette Kilmartin’s dog, Emmi, who died last summer and is buried in the backyard, was Jeanette’s constant companion when she didn’t have a permanent home. She and Emmi moved into the West Matson Avenue house built by A Tiny Home for Good in 2019. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Jeanette Kilmartin, shown with her daughter’s dog, Loretta, dreams of starting a pet-sitting service to help people facing addiction. “I always had this thought that I wanted to have a company called ‘Everything Furry’ to house animals for people who need to go to rehab,” she said. “They’re out on the street and their pets are all they have. They don’t have anywhere for their dogs or cats to go. I know I wouldn’t go anywhere unless I knew my dog was taken care of so, I’d like to offer that service.” Jeanette’s own dog, Emmi, who died last summer, was Jeanette’s constant companion when she didn’t have a permanent home. She and Emmi moved into the West Matson Avenue house built by A Tiny Home for Good in 2019. Jeanette recently adopted Penelope, a pitbull mix, from a neighbor. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Jeanette Kilmartin said she was able to rent her West Matson Avenue home from A Tiny Home for Good because Andrew Lunetta, the executive director, knew she would take good care of the property. “I have a lot of plans. I want to redecorate. I want to paint, redo things,” she said. If Jeanette needs anything, Andrew Lunetta, her landlord, is there. “I’ve never trusted someone as much as I trust him, even with rent,” she said. “I don’t get receipts because I trust him.” On average, tenants pay $310 per unit. Jeanette lives in one unit of the two-unit house and her adult daughter moved into the other after previous roommates didn’t work out. “This place holds only good memories,” Jeanette said. “That’s what I love about it. It’s brand new.” Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

Substandard housing

Tenants, who make up at least 60 percent of the city’s residents, are facing down a rental market with a lack of affordable, safe housing.

Regionally, the number of unhoused families in Central New York has outpaced that of individuals without a home for the first time in the past decade. At the grassroots level, Syracuse tenants have rallied to advocate for the Common Council to pass eviction protections and better enforce the city’s rental registry.

Kayla Deaver stands in her basement on Apple St. in Syracuse, the floor covered with raw sewage. When she called city code enforcement in September her landlord tried to evict her. November 2024. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
A young woman sits in the doorway of St. Lucy’s Auditorium on Gifford St. after being evicted by her partner on April 18, 2024. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
A person sleeps on a bench in Franklin Square. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Amy Witt holds her granddaughter Roberta, 4 months old, with daughter Nancy at left. The three family members get reunited once a week at the the St. Lucy’s Bread of Life Luncheon. Nancy and Amy got evicted last October and had to live apart. Amy lost her other daughter in the Buffalo Tops massacre on May 14, 2022; her name was Roberta. Photo taken in September 2024. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Darlene Medley joins in a chant with demonstators outside her home on Pond St. in Syracuse AugustAugust 13, protesting the lack of remediation for lead in the house she rents. Two of her children have had high levels of lead. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Tracy aka Strawberry was sleeping outside in an encampment on the Near Westside. She calls herself “a very determined woman’.” Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Tracy used this shelter on the Near Westside until colder came in December. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Beth resting where she sleeps at night, on the floor with no bed, at Denise’s apartment. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
AK Myers, of the 560 Art Collective, does laundry in the basement of the Allen Street house the collective rents. Tenants say one of the trouble spots in the house is the basement, where concrete crumbles, a pipe is exposed and water pools. Other issues they cite include black mold and improperly installed windows that allow strong drafts to come through. The 560 Art Collective focuses on art, creativity and providing a safe and stable place to live for LGBTQ+ people and their allies in a time of increasing psychological, emotional and physical threats. This is one of several Syracuse rental homes to have faced code violations that take months or longer to address. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Viola Lazore shows a picture on her phone of a rat she trapped a month ago in her kitchen at 611 Otisco St. There are plenty more in the house. She’s afraid to go into her basement for fear of what’s down there. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current
Denise Masterson’s apartment windows had no screens during the hot summer of 2024. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

A Tiny Home for Good

Lunetta began the nonprofit A Tiny Home for Good in 2014, driven by his experience working in local homeless shelters. While there, he observed clients constantly moving between shelters and inadequate housing and recognized the desperate need for more affordable and dignified places to live for Syracuse’s most vulnerable residents.  A Tiny Home for Good builds small homes on vacant lots, renovates properties and creates community to support individuals and families who face homelessness in Syracuse. Because of initial community resistance, it took Andrew, his team of volunteers and board of directors almost two years to build the first two units in a low-income neighborhood on Rose Avenue in 2016. In 2018, a Tiny Home for Good built six homes on Bellevue Avenue.

The nonprofit owns its own housing, enabling it to maintain the properties, charge low rent and be flexible with residents. A social worker helps tenants with things like finding jobs and staying healthy, which is key to keeping their homes long-term.

Many programs serving people facing homelessness rely on private, for-profit landlords. This might involve higher rent for inadequate housing and potential challenges for tenants having trouble making rent payments.

Now in its 11th year, ATHFG has 44 tenants and 37 units of housing in 12 different neighborhoods, with others under construction. Donors and community partners, along with volunteers, make building and maintaining the homes possible and affordable for staff and tenants. The monthly rent is around $310 for each unit.

Tenants of a Tiny Home for Good show what is possible when people who’ve struggled with difficult housing situations get support and find a community to help them thrive.

Eli’Onna Brown, 5, explores her family’s new home after she attends a ribbon-cutting ceremony with her mom, Anyia Locorini, and her younger brother, Eddie Brown V, in August. The house was renovated by a Tiny Home for Good next to their office on South Avenue. For the first time in more than a decade, family homelessness outpaces individual homelessness in Central New York. According to the Housing and Homeless Coalition of CNY, more than half of the region’s unhoused population comprises families without a stable home. Before moving into their new home, Anyia, Eli’Onna and Eddie lived at Chadwick Residence for women at risk and their children. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
After living in shelters, temporary housing and on the street for more than a decade, U.S. Army veteran Dolphus Johnson became the first tenant of A Tiny Home for Good in 2016. He has a job with the nonprofit as their janitor and is active in the community. “I love my home,” Dolphus said. “I never had a stable home, but when I got up in here, it was a place of my own…it made me feel appreciated. It gave me stability.” Dolphus enjoys biking, gardening, spending time with “positive friends” and watching classic TV shows. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Andrew Lunetta founded the nonprofit A Tiny Home for Good in 2014, driven by his experience working at local homeless shelters. While there, he observed clients constantly moving between shelters and substandard housing and recognized the critical need for more affordable and dignified housing for Syracuse’s most vulnerable residents. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Eddie Piazza, a U.S. Navy veteran, moved into one of six Bellevue Avenue tiny homes on February 3, 2019, after being without a home for a little more than a month. Eddie’s unit features solar panels. A Tiny Home for Good owns and maintains properties across Syracuse, with 44 tenants and 37 units of housing spread throughout 12 different neighborhoods. Donors and community partners, along with volunteers, make the homes possible and affordable for the nonprofit’s staff and tenants. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
Reggie Manning and his son, Reggie Jr., 12, are shown on the front steps of their Rich Street home, designed by University of Buffalo senior architecture students for A Tiny Home for Good. At left in the window is the family cat, Peanut. Reggie’s main priority is providing a stable environment for his 12-year-old son, something he never had as a child growing up. “My father wasn’t around,” he said. Before connecting with A Tiny Home for Good, Reggie lived in an apartment complex he refers to as “the devil’s den,” where he continued to struggle with addiction and mental health issues. The environment wasn’t conducive to his recovery. “I was fighting on an everyday basis just to try to get my head clean, get my life back in order,” Reggie said. Helio Health, a treatment center for mental health and substance use, eventually referred him to A Tiny Home for Good and after he gained custody of his son, they moved into their Rich Street unit. Reggie said he’s been clean since March 10, 2021, when Reggie Jr. was 8, and celebrated his fourth anniversary of sobriety. “He remembers when Dad was messed up,” Reggie said. “He knows the difference and he doesn’t want Dad going back.” Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current
This past summer, Reggie Manning moved into one of four Rich Street units designed by University of Buffalo senior architecture students for A Tiny Home for Good. Reggie grew up on the streets of Newark, NJ, and struggled with addiction for decades, but he is coming up on his fourth anniversary of sobriety on March 10. He shares his home with his son, Reggie Jr., 12, and their cat, Peanut. He says he’s grateful and comfortable. “My main goal is taking care of Reggie Jr., staying on the main path and living for the day,” Reggie said. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

Mike Greenlar is a local freelance photojournalist with over four decades of experience covering assignments for newspapers, magazines and online websites. He recently received two national awards with...

Michelle Gabel is a Syracuse-based independent photojournalist who captures the human experience through documentary photography and portraiture. Her long-form photography projects tell complex, contemporary...

Janet Gramza is an alumnus of Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Comminications and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She has 30 years experience in journalism and is a veteran...