The city of Syracuse, like many large upstate cities, is facing several challenges: A need to invest in infrastructure projects, a rise in violent crime and reset on its economy following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mayor Ben Walsh, in a Capital Tonight interview on Monday, hit on all these issues as he runs for a second term as an independent, facing Democrat Khalid Bey and Republican Janet Burman this November. 

Walsh is hopeful the long-discussed I-81 overhaul will finally get off the ground and he shared his plans for how police reform and combatting crime do not have to be in conflict.