43rd Annual Freedom Fund Award Dinner

Ramada by Wyndham 441 Electronic Parkway, Liverpool, NY, United States

The NAACP Syracuse and Onondaga County Chapter will hold its 43rd Annual Freedom Fund Award Dinner May 26. Award nominations can be sent to SyracuseNAACPHonorees@gmail.com

Town Hall: Police and Community Power and Relationship

Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ 347 Cortland Ave., Syracuse, NY, United States

A community meeting will be held at 6 p.m. May 27 at the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ with the Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens and Syracuse's new Police Chief Joe Cecile, along with other elected officials.

Blocks in Bloom

200 block of Corning Avenue 200 block of Corning Avenue, Syracuse, NY, United States

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County’s Master Gardener volunteers will educate residents on Corning Avenue in Syracuse on preparing, planting and maintaining front yard flower gardens using donated perennials. The Blocks in Bloom aims to build community, enhance property values, promote safe neighborhoods and encourage healthy living. Residents are welcome to stop by, ask gardening questions and get information on becoming a Master Gardener. Additionally, there will be seedball making and planting activities for kids. To learn more: visit cceonondaga.org or contact Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County at (315) 424-9485.

Taste of Syracuse Photo Meetup

Clinton Square downtown, Syracuse, NY, United States

Grab your camera and snap photos to document Syracuse's return to in-person events. On this Photo Meetup, photographers will join Jeffrey Perkins, who has been a physician and a photographer for 50 years. He’s been involved with Photo Walks for the past four years and believes that photography is empowering. He looks forward to leading a group to photograph this year's Taste of Syracuse, which returns to Clinton Square after a two-year hiatus.

South Side TNT Meeting

South Side Innovation Center 2610 S. Salina St., Syracuse, NY, United States

The monthly South Side Tomorrow's Neighborhoods Today meeting will be held 6 p.m. Monday, June 6, at the South Side Innovation Center, 2610 S. Salina St. The new Police Chief Joe Cecile will be a guest for an open forum.

Jazz in the City

Kirk Park 1101 South Ave., Syracuse, NY, United States

This free live music series and public health outreach returns at Syracuse City Parks, offered from 6 to 9 p.m. each Thursday through Aug. 18. The June 9 performance features Urban Jazz Coalition at Kirk Park. Jazz in the City features local and national music artists with food and craft vendors. It’s also a way to provide COVID-19 shots and boosters for city residents who aren’t up to date with their vaccinations. Concerts are free and open to all.

Free

M&T Bank Pay-What-You-Will Performance for “salt/city/blues”

Syracuse Stage 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse, NY, United States

There will be 76 tickets available for whatever price patrons wish to pay. Pay-what-you-will tickets must be claimed in person at the Box Office or by phone on the day of the performance, subject to availability. The Box Office opens at 10 a.m. and will remain open until the start of the show. There is a limit of four tickets per person.

National Day of Action to Demand an End to Gun Violence

Everson Museum of Art 401 Harrison St., Syracuse, NY, United States

In the wake of the massacres in Buffalo and Uvalde, TX, Central New Yorkers will come together to demand real gun safety legislation from their representatives in Washington D.C. A group will march from the Everson Museum in downtown Syracuse to the Federal Building where attendees will rally. This event will be one of more than 500 across the country as part of a national day of action called by March For Our Lives.

Syracuse City Redistricting Hearing

Southwest Community Center 401 South Ave., Syracuse, NY, United States

The Syracuse City Redistricting Commission will hold a hearing from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at the Southwest Community Center. To virtually attend, visit https://syrgov.webex.com/syrgov/j.php?RGID=rd2ab8fa713d66541c06fcd76c77a3a9f

Free performance of “The Most Beautiful Home…Maybe”

Syracuse Stage 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse, NY, United States

“The Most Beautiful Home . . . Maybe” is an original work of devised theater whose goal is to use the imaginative resources of theater to explore solutions to chronic housing problems plaguing the country. Through workshops that bring together stakeholders involved in housing policy—politicians, developers, advocates, activists, the homeless—Valdez and sparks seek creative solutions to housing insecurity by challenging participants to consider the question “What if everyone in this country had a home?” The input collected at workshops forms the basis for the performance piece. Syracuse Stage has hosted four workshops in the lead up to the performance and local participants have included Deka Dancil, diversity, equity and inclusion specialist; St. Joseph’s Health; Lanessa Chaplin, Esq., project counsel with the New York Civil Liberties Union, and author and playwright Dr. Juhanna Rogers, among others. Tickets are required for this performance and may be obtained at www.syracusestage.org.