The plan calls for a pedestrian parkway, improved landscaping, the installation of new street lighting, public art, and bus shelters and other streetscape improvements that will serve as a pathway to join hotels, cultural venues, restaurants and the convention center to Syracuse University.

The governor also said the state would provide $2 million in funding for the planned Near West Side Initiative that will convert former warehouse space on West Fayette Wyoming, Tully and West streets into a new WCNY broadcast center and education center. The project also calls for the rehabilitation of the former CASE Supply and Lincoln Supply buildings into mixed-use commercial/residential buildings and the construction of 50 units of affordable "green" housing. The venture, according to state officials, will cost $56 million to complete.

"The projects we're announcing today were selected to build on the unique strengths of Syracuse and Potsdam," Spitzer said. "Both depend heavily on collaborations between communities and universities, and we believe represent public dollars well spent to yield major economic impacts in these regions of the state."