GSNA - Greater Strathmore Neighborhood Association

05/15/2026

The Annual Strathmore Neighborhood Wide Garage Sale will take place Saturday, May 16, beginning at 9:00 am. Rain or Shine.

Over 30 Locations are participating, including a rummage sale at JT Roberts School (enter the cafeteria through the side door off the driveway on the east side of the school) . Attached is the map and listing guide for the event.
Please share with friends.
Hope you find some great bargains out there.

There will not be printed versions of the map available. People are welcome to print on their own. The QR Code in this message can be scanned using a smartphone, which will take you to a digital version.

05/14/2026

Are you getting ready to return your bottles and cans from Goat Fest or found some while prepping for the Strathmore Garage Sale this Saturday?
Drop them off at the Western Lights Bottle Return and use code Strathmore—they will apply all funds to our Spay & Neuter Fundraising Event.
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾Every nickel counts🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Thank you in advance for your support and we will see you May 23rd.

05/13/2026

Come and meet Jaylynn Ross at the Pawsitively Strathmore Event on May 23rd!
She will have her book for sale, a schedule of upcoming classes and even do some pet CPR demos. Just one of the exciting things happening that day to raise money for the Strathmore Giving Grant.

See you there!

05/06/2026

🏵🌼Calling all Garden Club Volunteers🌼🏵
🌸🌹 Currrent and New 🌹🌸
Come join us at our 1st Garden Club Gathering of 2026 in our historic fire barn on May 17th from 2pm - 4pm. A perfect time to see what this is all about and join.
Meet your fellow gardeners, share tips and collaborate to make this year a blooming success for our park and neighborhood.

The City Green House will be open to the Strathmore Group starting Monday May 18th. Times to be announced.
Questions: email [email protected]

04/28/2026

Interested individuals can find the minutes from the last GSNA meeting on our website by navigating to the event page and selecting GSNA Meeting. Click on Meeting Minutes

Discover vibrant community events in Strathmore, from historical tours to seasonal celebrations. Join us for a neighborhood spirit that celebrates our unique heritage! Stay updated on upcoming events.

04/23/2026

https://strathmoreneighborhood.org/pawsitively-strathmore-even-t

Mark your calendar for this event.
On May 23rd 2026 our park will be filled with barks and laughter as lots of exciting things are happening at our fundraiser event; including live music.

Lets welcome Mojo Combo to our park who are are playing pro-bono for your listening pleasure.
https://www.mojocombo.com/

Pawsitively Strathmore fundraising for spay and neuter services for Southwest community members of Syracuse. fun entertaining educational. Hosted by GSNA.

04/23/2026

Shout out to our neighborhood bottle return in the Westernlights Plaza

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CNDjMRr7s/
And a huge thank you to Wanda Virgil-Marshall and Trine Etoll for setting up the donation account to support our Pawsitively Strathmore Event.
If you would like to contribute to this fundraiser to support affordable spay & neuter access in our neighborhood; tell them Strathmore when you go to drop off your returns.
100% of the deposit will go to the cause.

Learn about the event on our website

https://strathmoreneighborhood.org/pawsitively-strathmore-even-t

Fast, Friendly, Honest, Clean and Convenient Bottle & Can Return Center. Open 7 days a week. Specialize in bottle drives & fundraisers and also offer a pick up service.

04/23/2026

THANK YOU to everyone that attended the Greater Strathmore Neighborhood Association meeting last night ! It was an excellent turnout.

Local officials that met with neighbors included Common Councilor Donna Moore, County Legislators Maurice Brown and Chad Ryan, City Auditor Alex Marion, Commissioner Syeisha Byrd, Deputy Commissioner Chris Abbott, and Josh Wilcox from Syracuse Parks & Rec, and Tony Borelli - coordinator for Neighborhood Watch Groups of Syracuse.

The meeting was led by GSNA President Carol Harvey and shared info on upcoming events like the Mountain Goat race and Goat Fest party (200 block of Strathmore Dr) to cheer on the race on May 3, Strathmore Neighborhood Wide Garage Sale (including a Rummage Sale at JT Roberts School) on May 16, an Earth Day Clean-Up in Elmwood Park this Saturday, April 25 at Noon, and the Art on the Porches festival on September 12.

A new big event that is being planned is Pawsitively Strathmore in Onondaga Park on May 23. It will be a fun family event supporting accessible spay and neuter services for our southwest neighbors. There will be vendors, food vendors, pet photography, representatives from animal welfare organizations like Spay and Neuter Syracuse and Fixing to Help, and much more. For more info visit https://strathmoreneighborhood.org/pawsitively-strathmore-even-t

Gudrun Rudd from the Strathmore Garden Club is looking for volunteers take care of the plantings in the beds and containers in neighborhood green spaces, including Onondaga Park. Comment here if you’d be interested in helping to plant and take care of the flower beds.

Updates from Syracuse Parks & Rec:
• Water quality in Hiawatha Lake. Neighbors have been concerned this spring after seeing an unusually high number of dead fish and even a couple of dead turtles. Parks & Rec has evaluated the conditions, along with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and has determined that this is a weather-related fish kill due to the depth and duration of ice coverage this winter.
Long periods of ice cover and deep snow prevent oxygen flow into lakes during the winter, leading to low dissolved oxygen levels for fish to breathe. Shallow lakes like Hiawatha Lake were even more susceptible. When all of the ice melted, dead fish rose up, causing the appearance of a large, sudden fish kill. A large number of the dead fish have been cleared out of the lake and they will look into clearing out some more that remain. Water quality testing will continue to happen and Parks & Rec is looking into different ways to improve the water quality. Broken fountains should soon be repaired and that will also help.

• There will be two week-long 4H Camps in Onondaga Park this Summer
• Three 2-week Swim lessons for kids will be held this summer

Strathmore neighbor Christian Freeman, working with Parks & Rec and other community members, shared plans to bring disc golf to Onondaga Park. It would provide an opportunity to bring more people outdoors to utilize the park (without disrupting other park use), especially parts of the park that are underutilized. Disc golf frisbees are the only equipment needed and sometimes will be provided for free. There are several courses in the county but this would be the first disc golf opportunity in the city.

Tony Borelli from the Neighborhood Watch Groups of Syracuse shared that while overall crime is down in the area, it’s important to continue to take actions to minimize crime, like making sure cars are locked and valuables are removed and securing window air conditioners in homes.

04/22/2026

Everyone is welcome at this Greater Strathmore Neighborhood Association Meeting. TONIGHT - Wednesday, APRIL 22 (7PM) at the Onondaga Park Fire House. Your presence shows how active our community is. If you can’t make it, please encourage a friend/family member/ neighbor to attend.

Agenda includes:
Upcoming events info: Mountain Goat, Earth Day clean up, neighborhood-wide garage sale, and Art on the Porches

Update from Parks on Hiawatha Lake & disc golf is coming to Onondaga Park

Garden Club update - volunteers are needed

Pawsitively Strathmore (a big new event) followed by Syracuse Spay & Neuter

Updates from SPD and Neighborhood Watch Groups of Syracuse

These meetings are also a good opportunity to meet neighbors.

If you are going to drive, make sure to follow parking signs in the park and side streets. No parking is allowed in the walking lane or at all in the park between Parkway Dr and the tennis/pickle ball courts.

02/11/2026

GSNA Board Statement Regarding Lead Pipes:

We would like to address the concerns by neighbors regarding the recent communication received by residents from the city regarding lead pipes. The long and short of it is the City is aware of our concerns and we are doing what we can to get more specific answers. City Auditor Alex Marion was present at the last public meeting to give some insight on the project as well as Common Councillor Donna Moore to provide additional information. Alex indicated that the City had set a fairly ambitious timeline to replace all of the affected lead lines but despite that, he still felt they were on a positive schedule. He also noted the City was proceeding on a basis not of which were the most or least stable neighborhoods, but which systems were in most dire need of repair. In December, The Post Standard published a front page article about the lack of replacements and it noted they were focusing on homes in some neighborhoods that had a partial replacement two decades ago. In concern to Eastwood, the reporting stated because Eastwood was originally not part of the City they lack a lot data on the pipe material there so they need to assess the status over there to determine if they need to enlarge the scope of the project. While it may feel that Strathmore is on the back burner for certain reasons but in fact it seems they are more neutral than many may realize. The elected officials did not provide any insight on which neighborhoods or homes are going to be fixed next but the article I mentioned stated the City has 2700 homes planned for the next phase that were "already targeted once, from 2005 to 2007, the last time the City had a violation." Seemingly, there is nothing we can do to jump higher on the list but that does not mean we will be quiet about it.

Now, for the good news. Our water levels meet federal safety guidelines and remain safe to drink. We were told a deliberate additive in our water, Orthophosphate, is used to coat the inside of all our pipes to prevent corrosion and to create a protective barrier between the pipes and the water. In addition, you can contact the water department who will provide you with a free Brita filter for a second layer of protection. Further, there should be no concern that the project will run out of money as Ms. Moore said the funds are bonded and we are receiving additional government funding on top of that.

It is important to know that just because you received a letter saying you are eligible for pipe replacement, does not mean you absolutely have lead pipes. Many houses were deemed "undetermind" and in being protactive, the ctiy is treating all undetermined homes the same as confirmed lead homes. We applaud them for taking this extra level of precaution. In the mean time, there are steps we can take to make the water entering our home safer, I know that still does not take away from your very understandable concerns.
A precaution recommended by Alex Marion is by letting your faucets run for a few minutes to clear the taps.

We have obviously received numerous fliers over the years about lead pipes in the neighborhood and our homes and we have not taken that lightly. At this point it does not seem there is anything we can do to move ourselves up on the list, but that does not mean GSNA is going to sit silently and not demand answers from our elected officials about this issue.

While you know how effective a resource GSNA can be, we suggest you continue to reach out to the water department as well as reach out to to contact Donna Moore as she is best situated to know about the interplay between the lead abatement plans and Strathmore specifically.

Any questions specifically for GSNA should be directed to our website, https://strathmoreneighborhood.org/ or directly to board President Carol Maretta Harvey. GSNA continues to remain the advocate for all Strathmore neighbors on all issues so please know this is a concern for us all and the health of our neighbors, especially our children, are of the utmost importance to us.

We have provided the link to the article cited above below:
https://www.syracuse.com/health/2025/12/syracuses-water-pipe-woes-its-going-to-take-at-least-twice-as-long-to-replace-lead-lines-city-admits.html

Update: 2nd District Common Councilor Donna Moore has arranged the following forum for neighbors:

February 18th 6:00 pm. Commissioner Brandt of water department will come talk to Strathmore neighbors about lead pipes. She reached out due to questions and concerns. We will meet at Onondaga Park Firehouse.

01/29/2026

Thank you to everyone that attended the Greater Strathmore Neighborhood Association meeting last night !

GSNA President Carol Harvey led the meeting and a review of 2025 in Strathmore.
Vice President Gudrun Rudd recognized volunteer efforts by neighbors Maggie O’Connor and Suzanne Dollaway. They have done a lot to beautify our parks and green spaces !

Syracuse Parks & Rec Commissioner Syeisha Bird, Deputy Commissioner Chris Abbott, and Parks Planner Josh Wilcox met with neighbors. Commissioner Byrd discussed parks events and will be looking for recommendations on music for Pops in the Park. 4H Summer Camp will return to Onondaga Park this summer for kids ages 7-12. Registration opens February 9.

Local officials in attendance included Common Councilor Donna Moore, City Auditor Alex Marion, County Legislator Maurice Brown, Syracuse Neighborhood Watch Groups leader Tony Borelli, and a representative from the Syracuse Police Department.

We would like to welcome the newly elected GSNA Officers and Board Members:
• Chris Harvey - Secretary
• Colin Borland – Treasurer

Board Members:
Amber Walts
Andrea Farrow
Anna Aiello
Jason Allers
Liam Kirst
Taylor Sutliff

We look forward to their contributions and service to the neighborhood!