Alfonso Davis, an independent candidate for mayor, speaks at Central Current's 2025 mayoral forum at the Everson Museum of Art on Oct. 25, 2025. Credit: Maddi Jane Brown | Central Current

Alfonso Davis, a mayoral hopeful, wants his to make sure that history does not repeat itself by leading to Southside residents being “disenfranchised and marginalized” amid removal of the Interstate 81 viaduct and the redevelopment of public housing.

“For me, I just have to make sure that the people who will be impacted the most, the people who own their homes, who own their property, who is who’ve had it for generations, aren’t disenfranchised, aren’t marginalized and aren’t taken advantage of [by] the eminent domain,” Davis told Central Current during a phone interview. “That would be one of my primary focuses, is to not allow history to repeat itself in a way that is going to do the same thing that it did when the highway was constructed.”

Davis is running for mayor on an independent ballot line. He faces Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, Republican Thomas Babilon and Tim Rudd, another independent. 

Davis, who grew up in the area, remembers his childhood in Central Village. 

“It was a vibrant community. There was connectivity in the community. People looked out for each other,” Davis said. He also fondly recalled the smell of donuts and bread at an old bakery on State Street. 

Davis, who told Central Current that he will take a different approach, criticized Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration and Syracuse Housing Authority Executive Director William Simmons for displacing people from their homes to make way for redevelopment. 

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Central Current: How would you have handled the East Adams public housing redevelopment project until now?

Alfonso Davis: I’ll never forget, you know, we was in a meeting that the employees of the housing authority had called me in 2018. It was dealing with some employment issues and some things that they felt that was discriminatory or not, and set those meetings up, actually in the basement of my church. It was supposed to be a private meeting to discuss just things that were going on … and I’ll never forget a comment that Ben Walsh made then. He said it was demolition by design, and that stuck with me. I was like, wow.  I didn’t say anything then at the time, because it wasn’t my meeting, it was the employees meeting with him, and at some point Sharon Owens came to the meeting to address their concerns, very serious concerns. 

But when he said that demolition by design, that stuck with me, because if you look at what has happened in the public housing, when you’re not filling those spaces that deals with the revenue that’s coming in, when you’re not filling those homes up, when you leave it to blight, and you don’t have the same type of staff that is maintaining it now, the overgrowth of areas and the lack of cleaning those areas, it becomes less desirable. And then the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a standard. They see that you’re not at full capacity, they see that certain things are changing. Then they begin to look at it in terms of, and I don’t want to say restructuring, but pulling back on the resources that they’re giving. And so to me, I think that perspective that he said, demolition by design, I think that that was intentional. 

But given the current situation with this current executive director, who really works, and I know he made a statement that he doesn’t work for the mayor, which is true, but the mayor has the ability to appoint five people to the board, and If the mayor sees that that individual isn’t working out, then there’s five people that he appoints to the board has the ability to remove that person.

So while the executive director of the city’s housing authority doesn’t necessarily work for the mayor, the city has a fiduciary responsibility to oversee the public housing authority, and has a great impact on who is the executive director. And so I just think that Ben was derelict in his duties as well as you know, Bill Simmons has been derelict in his duties in terms of maintaining public public housing and Syracuse Housing Authority. 

So I would do different. Needless to say, I would do different, and it won’t be demolition by design. We will work to maintain it in a way that is going to allow the people who live there, some people who have been there for generations, to feel as though they have a community and they have a city that cares about them and they’re going to maintain it in a way that is that is respectable and decent. And I just don’t think that this current administration has done so, and I don’t think that the executive director has done so.

So I’m very disappointed in how that piece has been handled by this current administration, as well as the executive director. I don’t think that they value the lives of the people of public housing here in our city, and I would definitely do different as the mayor.

Central Current: As mayor, how would you move forward with the East Adams public housing redevelopment project? 

Alfonso Davis: As mayor, the first change is that we will have a new executive director. That would be the first change. And the new executive direction of focus would be, how do we maintain public housing in a meaningful and respectful way that people feel as though they’re being heard. How do we deal with the issue of making sure that we’re not leaving segments of public housing authority to blight? How do we get the turnaround of these homes and vacant homes? How do we get them filled, especially given the fact that there’s a shortage in affordable homes in the city of Syracuse. Putting those sections that are less occupied to full capacity, and then just letting the people in public housing know that you know you have an executive director and you have a mayor who values them and who sees them, because those are really the marginalized and disenfranchised individuals of our city. And not all of them, but that’s certainly a segment of them. So it’ll definitely be different once I’m the mayor of Syracuse.

Central Current: Are there any potential changes you might bring to the table as mayor? 

Davis: There were centers in public housing. I attended them, I worked for them. And so I haven’t really looked into this Children Rising Center that they are so gung ho on developing and building. 

I would have to evaluate that to see if it’s going to meet the needs of not just the people of our city, particularly in that area. And I have to look at, you know, the things that we’ve done in the past that were successful when I was an employee there, and how we can maintain or move it forward in a meaningful way that is going to impact that area. But I’m not so keen on this Children Rising Center right now, but again, I have to look and see and evaluate whether or not if I think it’s will be effective, or we can take what we have and move it in a way that is going to allow maximum use for the people within that area, within the public housing. But I’m not so keen about this Children Rising Center because I just don’t think that vision was fully thought out in a way that is going to be meaningful for the people in my perspective.

Because if you don’t talk to the people in that area, if you don’t engage them in a meaningful way to get their perspective, then you’re just coming up with ideas without engaging the people. And that wasn’t done. 

Q: Regarding the I-81 Viaduct Project, what will you do as mayor to ensure the protection of residents’ health during and especially after the construction is over?

Davis: Well, one of the big issues is the square footage of land that is going to be available, making sure that land is available for people within that area who are the most vulnerable and marginalized. So having that discussion with the New York State Department of Transportation is extremely important. I know the discussion has been going on, the surity of that process has been going on, and I’m not sure exactly where it is, because I haven’t had any of those discussions recently with DOT. But my goal is to make sure that the people who have been marginalized and disenfranchised have first access to that. My second goal is making sure that those people are not marginalized and disenfranchised. Many of the people in that area, particularly where that highway is coming down, that most of those people own their homes. Those homes are paid off. The legacy has been built and developed there, and I just want to make sure that they’re not affected through eminent domain. I want to make sure that they are not marginalized and disenfranchised, or their property out there isn’t being taken. A lot of people have concerns of whether or not they’re going to be robbed of their legacy. And the majority of those people are melanated people, and I’m gonna make sure that that doesn’t happen as mayor.

Central Current: Are there any issues you’d bring to the table and press NYSDOT on as mayor?

Davis: That would be the main issue. It’s just making sure that those people who have legacy in that area are not disenfranchised and marginalized if they don’t take their properties by eminent domain. The other issue I’m going to press is that the land that will be available, I want to make sure that it has the ability to go to melanated people to develop businesses or even build homes. I want to make sure that that happens because when the highway came down … I know my grandparents were here. They were in the 15th Ward. You know there was, and that was done by Ben Walsh’s grandfather — and I’m sorry I’m not saying it was done by him — but it was done by DOT. But his grandfather played a significant role in that process. The majority of the people who were impacted were melanated people, and they disenfranchised them and forgot about them in a way that they didn’t do anything in terms of to help them to recover. I know that there was some revenue that was supposed to be given to those who were impacted by that, that was never given, whether it was for their homes or their businesses. So for me, I’m going to press DOT to make sure that we don’t make the same mistake, that you don’t do the same thing you did when the highway came up. That the people who were impacted the most are not marginalized and disenfranchised a second time. So that will be one of my biggest push and fight to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.

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Debadrita Sur is a multimedia journalist and Report for America corps member who reports on the I-81 project and public housing for Central Current. In 2023, Sur graduated with a master’s degree in journalism...