Mayor Warren showed Speaker Heastie the Genesee Street Brownfield site, an old dry cleaning building that's scheduled for demolition.
Warren told the speaker they hope to build it back as a commercial hub, providing food or retail within walking distance of the residents.
The old big brick building, with broken windows and peeling paint, is just one stop on the speaker's trip, but it's an apt metaphor for the city itself: Once thriving, it's fallen into disrepair. But there's potential, and there's hope, and all it needs is a few more government dollars.
Heastie told the media there that his tour has shown him we're all up against the same challenge.
"Something I've heard in every city that I've visited, which is the issue of poverty."
Heastie says he's happy to see that people are talking about poverty, and prioritizing it as an Upstate and Downstate issue.