Syracuse's 15th Ward, home to the vast majority of the city's African-American population, was entirely wiped out. The houses, apartment buildings, and businesses were swept away during urban renewal, replaced with parking lots and housing projects.

From the @onondagahisassn, "Syracuse’s Urban Renewal plan called for the area between State Street (seen in the first image with the streetcar line) and Syracuse University to be re-born as a government complex, cultural center and high-rise residential neighborhood. In the way were the overcrowded “slums” of the 15th Ward, much of it substandard housing. City planners felt it would be a blessing to eliminate them. Over 27 blocks were targeted, impacting 75% of the local black population."