Utica, NY – City with a Warm Heart

A couple of decades ago, Utica, New York, was dying, by even its residents diagnosis: a popular bumper sticker in the ‘90s read “Last One Out of Utica, Please Turn Out the Lights.” Once a bustling textile city perched on edge of the Erie Canal, Utica lost its mills in the mid-20th century, and has been losing population ever since. But something has changed in recent years, with a surprising influx of refugees to this part of snowy, cold upstate New York—the newcomers have given Utica hope for second chance.

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Segment A

A Mill Town

With Doug Ambrose, a local history professor and Utica history buff, we learn about the city’s early boom days, and Utica’s decline.

A Newcomer Arrives

Since the late 1970s, the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees has resettled 14,000 refugees in the greater Utica area, from 31 countries, as diverse as Bosnia, Laos, the former USSR and Sudan.

An Immigrant History

We visit the Utica Maennerchor, a German singing club started in 1865 by immigrants who’d come to the city to work the mills. It’s still going strong today.

The World in Utica’s Kitchens

In a short montage, we tell the story of the city’s immigration patterns through the many restaurants that have become institutions and meet Mirsen, the Bosnian owner of an Italian restaurant and hear about the role food has played in making Utica his home.

Segment B

Learning the U.S.

For many of these people, this is the first time they’ve encountered a traffic light, a bed, or a refrigerator. How do you teach that to someone?

Dear Utica Letter

A letter written to the city by Bosnian refugee Rialda Albegic.

The Circular Story of Baptists and Burma

Karen refugees have made Tabernacle Baptist one of the faster growing congregations of American Baptists in the nation. There are now so many Burmese members, the church offers a Karen language service… But that’s been challenging for some older members of the church to accept.

A Mosque Is Embraced in Upstate New York

An old United Methodist Church was enthusiastically transformed into a mosque, and former church members are celebrating the new mosque as saving the church building from destruction.

Segment C

A Jam Band, a Monk, a Revolution and a New New York Home

Hear how U Agga Nya Na, a young Buddhist monk, who had to flee Burma after the Saffron Revolution, ended up in Utica, dancing to the music of celebrated, local jam band moe.

An Outsider Who Made Utica’s Toughest Neighborhood Her Mission

Rev. Maria Scates, a formerly homeless woman who traveled around the world doing missionary work, Scates ended up in Utica almost by accident. But once there, she made Cornhill, a crime ridden neighbohood her mission.