An attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union in Syracuse says Van Robinson was the driving force behind helping her understand the damage caused by the I-81 viaduct. He died over the weekend at age 87. Robinson’s insight ultimately shaped her career advocating for affected residents as plans evolved to remove the structure.
Lanessa Owens-Chaplin said she was a young, budding attorney returning to her native Syracuse when she first met then-common council president Van Robinson.
“He was very welcoming," Owens-Chaplin said. "He had a lot of good advice to give me about how to navigate the Syracuse political landscape.”
One of her first jobs as an attorney was working as legal counsel for then-assemblymember Sam Roberts in 2014. Owens-Chaplin said that’s when she first learned about Robinson’s dreams for I-81.
“He was one of the first people that I had heard talking about wanting to remove the I-81 viaduct," Owens-Chaplin said. "I was born and raised in Syracuse and it has always been there, so I didn't understand this concept, the idea of wanting to take it down. There wasn't a lot of political will to do that. it seemed like a non-starter, something that could possibly never happen.”
What seemed impossible during that conversation 11 years ago is scheduled to take place next year.
It wasn’t for another few years that Owens-Chaplin said Robinson and NYCLU colleagues helped her realize the building and removal of the viaduct is a racial justice issue.
"That's the first time I had really grasped like how much pain the highway had caused this community and how much it was impacting people's health.”
Now, she advocates on their behalf as preparations begin for the removal of the viaduct that decimated the neighborhood 60 years ago.
