Mr. Robinson's Other Neighborhood

For those who live and die in the shadow
of the Carrier Dome, Greg Robinson’s legacy has been pretty much
written. The Michigan-bound football coach was jettisoned by Syracuse
University Athletic Director Daryl Gross last November four years into
his five-year contract. The numbers spoke too loudly: four bowl-free
seasons, an average of less than one Big East win per season, and a
disappointing 10-39 record overall. That’s the way things go in
Division I sports.

The younger Robinson came to Syracuse from Chicago in
2005 as part of his dad’s coaching staff, working with the offensive
line. Until then he had been teaching and coaching football at an
inner-city high school on the Windy City’s South Side. A few years
back, as an undergraduate studying religion and political economy at
Washington University in St. Louis, he “fell in love with
post-industrial cities,” which made his arrival in Syracuse feel like a
homecoming of sorts. 

“Dad asked me to come here as a graduate
assistant, which may seem on the surface like a big departure from what
I was doing. But not really. I very much believe in what my dad is
doing. He is very sincere in using coaching to help with personal
development of young men. He had a vision of how they could win with
class. I believe that he could have achieved that if he had been
allowed to stay through his full contract,” he noted.

Robinson enjoys football, it turned out,
but it is not his enduring passion. The epiphany that would move him
from the locker room to the streets took place one morning in the
shower. “During the season you go from 6 in the morning ’til after
midnight, and pretty much you find yourself thinking football strategy
all the time. After a couple of years I realized that for as much as I
love my dad, and loved the team, I just couldn’t make that sort of
commitment.”

Robinson followed his father to New York when the senior
Robinson joined the Jets coaching staff, and Dominic attended high
school on Long Island. Wherever the family went Dominic found himself
drawn to what he calls “education, human development and social
justice.” In Chicago he earned a master’s degree in urban studies and
community development at Loyola University. 

Seated in the bustling first-floor offices of the North
Side Collaboratory, in the North Salina Street zone between Little
Italy and the strip joints, Robinson described how he met up with a
Franciscan priest, Canice Connors, two years ago. The two got talking
and “realized that our vision for urban community was very similar.” He
first put that vision to work at the Franciscan Collaborative
Ministries, a 10-year-old organization providing social services out of
Assumption Church, 800 N. Salina St. His handcrafted job description:
“To work to radically improve the quality of life in the neighborhood.”
That work evolved into a community development effort known as the
North Side Collaboratory.

Robinson and his four colleagues bring a decidedly
corporate approach to radical change. “We try to bring people with
needs together with people with resources.” They string together
private and government funds for a children’s arts program, a program
to train people in green construction methods, a Freedom Garden to turn
abandoned housing into green space, and other works that seek to meet
social needs and promote change. Robinson’s reputation for networking
has also made him a leader in the 40 Below organization of young
professionals.

“We found that there were lots of
energized people on the North Side,” noted Robinson, “but not a
collective vision. We work to rally different community members and
businesses. We try to get organizations together based not on issues
but on projects. We organize where there is a need and energy.”

Last fall his work brought him to the
attention of the Metropolitan Development Association, which is
involved with St. Joseph’s Hospital in developing a housing project and
revitalizing the business district on Prospect Hill. The MDA hired him
in November to direct its efforts, which are supported by both St.
Joe’s and grants from the federal government. 

“We want to preserve affordable housing,
but make sure it’s done right. In a year you should start to see some
physical changes in the area. Within three years there will be a
tangible and physical sense of progress in this part of the North Side.
People will see it as a smart investment for the business or homeowner.”

This summer Robinson and his fiancee, SU Community
Geographer Jonnell Allen, will be getting married. A native of Dryden,
Allen came to Syracuse from North Carolina in 2005 to take the newly
created position, which evolved from SU’s involvement in a project to
create a map of hunger in Syracuse. She and Dominic currently live in
an apartment on the edge of the university area, but plan to purchase a
home on the North Side. “At the end of the day, this place has become
home,” he said. “I’ve sold this place to a lot of people. I convinced
my best friend to move here. I’ve invested a lot of myself.

“I tell people that what is important
about Syracuse is the opportunity,” continued Robinson, but it is clear
that he’s not talking simple dollars and cents. “It’s not opportunity
like you might understand it some other places, but this place is
incredibly ripe for change. You take a place like Chicago. It’s huge,
it’s corrupt, it’s unjust. People like me would have a hard time making
any radical change. It’s stifling. Here the story is ready to be
rewritten—Syracuse is poised for a comeback.”

On a personal level, Robinson will miss
his parents once their move to Michigan is complete. “It’s tough to see
them leave. They love this community. The amount of heart and energy
they have put into it is tremendous. They have great affection for the
players and their families. Mom is a great human being—she {volunteers}
at the bread of life lunch at St. Lucy’s every Wednesday.”

And for all his praise for Syracuse’s
fine eateries—Francesca’s and Riley’s are particular favorites—Robinson
will still miss his mom’s home cooking. “Jonnell will tell you, the
best restaurant in town is Laura Robinson’s kitchen.”

—Ed Griffin-Nolan