Watch: Mayor Malik Evans’ State of the City address

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — “Rochester is better than it was, and it will get better with each new day.”

That was the overall message Rochester Mayor Malik Evans attempted to convey in his State of the City address on Wednesday, as he highlighted strides in public safety, home ownership, revitalization and other areas.

Evans was expected to outline some accomplishments and programs his administration has worked on. But there are also some challenges to address — including crime.

“I don’t need to remind anyone here that Rochester is no longer the city it was in the middle of the 20th century,” Evans said, “when the population hovered around 350,000 people and large-scale, industrial manufacturing drove the economy. We have had to transform and adapt. And things are getting better with each new day because of our collective work and toil.”

Public safety: Evans pointed to partnerships with police agencies at multiple levels to focus on the most violent offenders, illegal guns, and areas with the highest levels of violence. He noted statistics showing shootings down 31%, firearm-related deaths down 29% and total homicides down 32%.

Equity: He noted that the city’s housing bureau has been investing in affordable housing and home ownership programs. He said that the city has undertaken projects to build or renovated more than 1,000 market-rate rental units and almost 1,700 affordable units since the start of 2022.

Prosperity/revitalization: The mayor highlighted projects such as ROC the Riverway and revitalization projects at Inner Loop North and Bull’s Head. He said the city will have started or finished more than 40 infrastructure projects from the start of 2022 to the end of this year, with a total investment of about $300 million and creating more than 3,000 construction jobs.

The livestream is available on the City of Rochester’s YouTube. For those who miss the livestream, a transcript and recording of the address will be available on the City’s website shortly after the speech.

This article will be updated, with key points from the mayor’s address.