Syracuse Evening Wrap: Crunch vs Cleveland, Mets Sweep, Aquarium Named

By Matt Russo, Staff Reporter

Central New York closed out Tuesday with news on six fronts: an AHL playoff opener in Cleveland, the end of the Syracuse Mets home series, an aquarium that finally has a name, a fashion gala that cleared the spring circuit, a major shift in the county’s public safety footprint, and a Micron build schedule that is crossing into major construction mobilization. Here is the evening wrap.

Crunch open North Division semifinals Friday in Cleveland

The Syracuse Crunch begin their best of five North Division semifinal series against the Cleveland Monsters on Friday, April 24 at Rocket Arena. Game 2 follows Sunday, April 26 before the series returns to Upstate Medical University Arena for Game 3 on Friday, May 1 and Game 4, if necessary, on Sunday, May 3. A decisive Game 5 would be played in Syracuse on Saturday, May 9.

Syracuse finished the regular season second in the North Division with 89 points on a 41-24-3-4 record, capped by a 4-0 shutout of the Belleville Senators on Saturday, April 18 at Upstate Medical University Arena. The club earned a first round bye and watched Cleveland, which also received a bye, advance to the semifinal round. Forward Jakob Pelletier carries the scoring load into the series after winning the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL points leader with 77 points on 28 goals and 49 assists in 63 games. Pelletier, voted to the AHL First All-Star Team on April 16, also tied for the league lead with five shorthanded goals and led all AHL forwards with 31 power play points. He closed the regular season with a 20 game scoring streak, the longest by an AHL skater in more than 17 years and second only to Carter Verhaeghe’s 2018-19 season in Crunch history for a scoring title.

Mets sweep Scranton doubleheader behind Clifford power display

Ryan Clifford, the Mets No. 4 prospect, homered in both games of a Sunday doubleheader at NBT Bank Stadium as the Syracuse Mets swept the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Syracuse won the opener 9-4 on a first inning three run shot by Clifford off RailRiders starter Adam Kloffenstein, measured at 107.9 mph off the bat. Game two went 7-4 after Clifford added a solo home run to right-center in the second inning off Justin Wilson.

Clifford finished 4-for-6 with the two homers, a double, a walk and five RBIs across the two games, lifting his season OPS from .548 on April 11 to .767. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound left handed hitter paced the Mets minor league system with 29 home runs last year and has posted a 108.6 mph 90th percentile exit velocity across his Syracuse at bats, one of the higher marks in the minor leagues according to Statcast data. The sweep followed a Saturday win in which the Mets hit three home runs against Scranton and got a three RBI performance from JiHwan Bae. The club is now 11-9 on the young season and opens a three game series against Worcester at Polar Park on April 25. Home play resumes April 28 with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Inner Harbor aquarium named Harborview, opening targeted for August

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced on April 14 that the Inner Harbor aquarium will open as the Harborview Aquarium. McMahon revealed the name during a morning assembly at the Syracuse Academy of Science Elementary School Campus, which the two winning students attend. The winning submission came from sisters Cailin Coffey, age 5, and Riley Coffey, age 6, who pitched the name to their mother Jennifer Coffey after a family visit to the Inner Harbor. The Coffey sisters told reporters the name clicked once their mother mentioned the aquarium would sit where they had previously attended the Inner Harbor Festival.

Construction is slated to wrap this summer for an August opening. County officials say the facility will hold 600,000 gallons of water across tanks housing more than 13,000 fish representing 300 species, with a shark tank, a piranha tank and a moray eel exhibit among the planned draws. Large tank sponsors include the Allen Foundation and the William and Mary Thorpe Charitable Fund, with Amazon underwriting an educational exhibit. The naming announcement arrived the same week the County Legislature continued its review of roughly $6 million in anonymous private donations tied to the project, a thread legislators said they will take up again in committee this month.

Syracuse Fashion Week gala raises funds for Food Bank of CNY

The SFW Gala 2026 ran Friday, April 17 from 7:30 to 9:30 pm at Mohegan Manor, closing out the spring edition of Syracuse Fashion Week. General admission tickets were listed at $49.70 through the official event page. The gala featured designers, boutiques and makeup artists, with proceeds directed to the Food Bank of Central New York, the long running nonprofit partner for the semiannual event.

Founder Lisa Marie Butler launched Syracuse Fashion Week in 2013 and routed its proceeds to the Food Bank the same year. Over the 12 years since, the Food Bank of Central New York, which serves 11 counties across the region, has delivered roughly 62 million meals against the broader need the partnership supports. Fashion Week has spotlighted more than 100 local designers across its spring and fall editions, from Syracuse University fashion students to small boutiques and established labels. The Spring Fling kickoff ran Thursday, April 16 at the Best Western Downtown Syracuse Hotel, with runway shows continuing at additional Central New York venues through the weekend.

Micron moves to major construction phase in Clay

Micron Technology is entering major construction mobilization this quarter at its megafab campus in the town of Clay. The company formally broke ground in January at a ceremony attended by federal and state officials, and site clearing and utility corridor work continued through the end of 2025. Providence, Rhode Island based Gilbane Building Company holds the preconstruction contract, valued at roughly $1 billion, and is overseeing the first job of clearing 445 acres of forest on the northern half of the site. Federal endangered species protection requires tree cutting to halt on March 31 and not resume until November 1 because two species of bat use the parcel as summer maternal habitat. A two mile, 345 kilovolt underground transmission line linking the existing Clay substation to the Micron campus has been approved, part of the critical infrastructure needed to support four fabs and the megafab’s total power demand, which is projected to exceed the combined residential electric load of New Hampshire and Vermont.

Micron has extended its original schedule, pushing first fab production to 2030 from an earlier 2028 target. The full four fab campus is projected to come online in phases through 2041. The company has committed up to $100 billion in total investment over the project lifecycle. The U.S. Department of Commerce and Micron finalized a CHIPS Act direct funding agreement at $6.1 billion to support the New York and Idaho fabs, with additional state incentives from the Empire State Development package.

IKEA at Destiny USA marks first Upstate NY store

The IKEA at Destiny USA, the chain’s first Upstate New York location, continues to pull weekend traffic to the mall since opening November 21, 2025. IKEA announced the lease on July 7, 2025 and occupied a 90,000 square foot footprint in space formerly held by At Home. The Syracuse store is the third IKEA in New York, joining Brooklyn and Long Island. The sales floor displays about 5,500 items, with 3,000 products in stock for immediate takeaway, according to IKEA’s corporate newsroom.

Opening day festivities began at 8:00 am with raffle tickets, giveaways and a live DJ, followed by a 9:45 am ribbon cutting. Hundreds lined up outside the Destiny USA entrance, and the store drew thousands across the opening weekend. Pyramid Management Group, Destiny USA’s operator, has cited the anchor as a regional draw from across Upstate New York and New England.

Taste of Syracuse returns to Clinton Square on June 5 and June 6, organizer Galaxy Events confirmed. The 2025 edition featured vendors such as Over the Cuse, Press Room Pub and Thai Flavor. The 2026 vendor roster has not yet been posted; restaurants interested in participating are directed to Galaxy Events for food vendor inquiries.

Waterways reopen after April flooding emergency

Onondaga County waterways are back open after County Executive Ryan McMahon signed an April 8 emergency order closing all county waterways through April 13. The closure followed days of heavy rain that drove water levels to what officials called dangerously high levels. County leaders cited hidden debris, unpredictable currents and risk to private docks and shoreline infrastructure. A county spokesperson said the action was the first of its kind in roughly a decade. The closure lifted on April 13 on schedule, and no fatalities were reported during the emergency period.

At his March 27 State of the County address, delivered in the renovated auditorium at Syracuse’s STEAM High School, McMahon also laid out a plan to consolidate all Sheriff’s Office operations at a new Public Safety Campus in Jamesville. Sheriff Toby Shelley, speaking at the event, said the 30 year old justice center downtown carries repair costs the county can no longer absorb, while the Jamesville campus is in structurally better shape. A working group has been formed to evaluate cost and timeline. The pivot is a notable reversal for McMahon, who had previously pushed to close the Jamesville Correctional Facility due to low population and high per bed costs.

SUNY Upstate wins FAA waiver for expanded drone corridor

SUNY Upstate Medical University received a Certificate of Waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration on April 3 permitting its Air Upstate drone team to fly beyond visual line of sight across a corridor linking the Upstate Community Campus, Downtown Campus, the Pathology Institute and the Upstate Cancer Center in Verona, extending east toward Utica. The waiver also authorizes flights over people, over moving vehicles and during nighttime hours, one of the broader clinical drone authorizations granted in the region. Upstate’s in-house program has been moving specimens between sites and is setting a base for future time-critical medical logistics such as organ and tissue transport.

Orange men’s lacrosse ranked sixth after Virginia win, sits 10-3

No. 6 Syracuse men’s lacrosse sits at 10-3 and 2-1 in ACC play after the program’s most recent home win, a 14-9 decision over No. 9 Virginia on April 11 at the JMA Wireless Dome. Attackman Joey Spallina contributed two goals and three assists, Luke Rhoa posted three goals and an assist, and Wyatt Hottle recorded a hat trick. Five Orange players were selected in the 2026 Premier Lacrosse League Draft earlier this month, a Syracuse high water mark for the pro draft. The Orange finish ACC play at Notre Dame before the ACC tournament opens the first weekend of May.

Syracuse Stage releases 2026-27 season

Syracuse Stage has released its 2026-27 lineup. The six show season opens with “Come From Away” running September 16 through October 11, followed by “Les Misérables” from November 27, 2026 through January 3, 2027. The schedule includes “The Book Club Play” in early 2027, a Central New York premiere of “John Proctor is the Villain,” plus two world premieres: Kyle Bass’s “The Black Nationals,” inspired by the 1954-55 Syracuse Nationals championship season, and “Dust and Shadow: The Unraveling of Sherlock Holmes.” “Come From Away” is co-produced with Indiana Repertory Theatre and directed by James Vásquez. Subscription packages are on sale through the Syracuse Stage box office at 315-443-3275, with single tickets scheduled to release in July.

Sources: Syracuse Crunch, OurSports Central, Pro Hockey News, Raw Charge, MiLB.com, MLB.com, Amazin’ Avenue, Spectrum News 1, localsyr.com, WSYR, WAER, Newshouse, Daily Orange, Cavalier Daily, Governor Kathy Hochul press office, Micron Technology, Construction Dive, Engineering News-Record, Destiny USA, Pyramid Management Group, IKEA corporate newsroom, Syracuse Stage, Syracuse University Today, Taste of Syracuse, Onondaga County press releases, Syracuse University Athletics, CNYCentral, This is CNY, NNY Business, CNY Signal staff reporting.