NY Post Takes Shot at Utica, But Did It Get the Facts Right?

The New York Post took a pretty good swing at Utica this week, portraying the city as a place where housing is cheap because, as its headline bluntly put it, “no one wants to live there.”

There’s just one problem.

Some of the facts used to paint that picture either lack important context or don't match the latest available government data. And people who actually live and do business here are pushing back.

The Post published its story Monday, touting Utica as New York's most affordable city. That sounds like a positive, especially at a time when families across the country are struggling to afford a home.

But the story quickly went in a different direction.

The article painted a bleak picture of the city, citing population decline, unemployment, poverty and anonymous comments questioning why anyone would want to live here.

That portrayal prompted strong reaction Tuesday morning from State Senator Joseph Griffo and Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, who both discussed the article on WIBX's Keeler in the Morning.

Picente didn't mince words.

“The New York Post owes Utica and Oneida County better journalism,” he said.

What Do the Numbers Actually Say?

Let's start with population.

The Post reported that Utica continues to lose population, but the numbers deserve some context.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Utica had 62,235 residents in the 2010 Census. By the official 2020 Census, that number had grown to 65,283.

That's an increase of more than 3,000 people, or nearly 5 percent, over the decade.

More recent Census estimates do show the city losing some of that population since 2020, with an estimated population of 62,978 in 2025. So, yes, there has been a recent decline.

But that's quite different from the picture of a city suffering through a long, uninterrupted population exodus.

The unemployment numbers also deserve a closer look.

The Post cited ongoing unemployment in Utica of between 4.5 and 6 percent.

According to the latest New York State Department of Labor numbers, the Utica Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area had an unemployment rate of 4.0 percent in June 2026.

Private sector employment was also up by 800 jobs from a year earlier. That included an increase of 1,000 jobs in private education and health services and another 300 jobs in leisure and hospitality.

None of this is to say Utica doesn't have challenges.

It does.

Poverty remains a serious issue. Median incomes remain below many state and national averages. Like a lot of older industrial cities across Upstate New York, Utica has spent decades trying to recover from the loss of manufacturing jobs and the population decline that followed.

But that's only part of the story.

And it's certainly not the whole story of Utica in 2026.

Are Homes Really Not Selling in Utica?

This might be the part of the Post story that is getting the most pushback locally.

The article portrayed Utica as a place where homes are inexpensive because people simply don't want to live here.

Try telling that to local real estate agent Amanda Reinfelds.

Reinfelds, a licensed real estate salesperson with Coldwell Banker Faith Properties, noticed something very interesting when she read the Post story.

One of her listings was featured in it.

There's another problem. The house sold.

In fact, Reinfelds said the property received multiple offers before it sold, hardly evidence of a home sitting unwanted in a city where “no one wants to live.”

Reinfelds said the Post's characterization simply doesn't match what she is seeing every day in the local real estate market.

“The past couple years have me working non-stop day and night, especially in the Spring and Summer,” she wrote on Facebook.

Reinfelds said she's regularly involved with properties receiving three, five and sometimes 10 or more offers.

“That is certainly not something that happens in an area ‘no one wants to live’ in,” she wrote.

She also invited the Post to actually visit the Mohawk Valley and experience its food culture, scenery, lack of big city traffic and what she described as a friendly population.

Then she ended her post with a pretty good line.

She was heading off to contact a seller in Utica about an offer.

“Funny enough, the Buyer's name isn't ‘No One,’” Reinfelds wrote.

The broader housing numbers also don't support the idea that nobody is buying here.

Redfin describes Utica's housing market as “somewhat competitive.” Over the three months ending in May 2026, the median sale price was approximately $183,000, up 1.9 percent from the previous year. Homes sold in an average of 39 days in May, compared with 46 days a year earlier.

Redfin also reports that some Utica homes receive multiple offers, something Reinfelds says she's seeing firsthand.

Realtor.com paints a similar picture. Its June 2026 data showed a median Utica listing price of $212,500, with homes selling for an average of about 99 percent of asking price.

That's described as a balanced housing market.

Not exactly a market where nobody wants to buy.

And Then There's the Photo

This one is difficult to explain away.

One of the photographs used in the Post story to depict Utica wasn't even taken in Utica, New York.

It's Utica, Michigan.

Think about that for a second.

A national newspaper published a story criticizing Utica, New York, and apparently didn't notice that one of the photographs being used to illustrate the story was from a city more than 400 miles away.

Picente noticed.

“The article contains inaccurate statistics, questionable conclusions and, unbelievably, a photograph that does not even show Utica,” he said. “That should tell you something about the level of research that went into this story.”

Picente called the article “a textbook example of lazy reporting and a preconceived narrative.”

Griffo: Look at What's Actually Happening Here

State Senator Joseph Griffo also took issue with the story Tuesday morning.

During an interview on Keeler in the Morning, Griffo said it appeared the Post had cherry picked information to support a narrative while ignoring much of what is happening throughout the Mohawk Valley.

And there's plenty happening.

The region has spent years positioning the Marcy Nanocenter site for semiconductor and high tech development.

A few miles away, Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome has transformed the former Griffiss Air Force Base into a major center for technology, cybersecurity, aerospace, research and private sector employment.

Then there's the continued investment by the Oneida Indian Nation, including Turning Stone Resort Casino and its related enterprises.

Downtown Utica has undergone a transformation of its own.

The Adirondack Bank Center and Nexus Center are bringing sporting events, tournaments, families and visitors into the city. The Wynn Hospital represented a massive investment in downtown Utica and healthcare in the region.

Restaurants have opened. Older buildings are being renovated. Housing projects have moved forward.

Is every storefront full? Of course not.

Is every problem solved? Not even close.

But to suggest nothing is happening here misses what anyone who has spent time in this region over the last several years can see with their own eyes.

And now one of the largest private sector investments in Oneida County history is underway.

Chobani is building a massive new dairy processing facility at the county owned Triangle Site at Griffiss International Airport in Rome.

The company announced a $1.2 billion investment for a roughly 2 million square foot facility expected to create approximately 1,000 jobs.

That's not speculation.

That's happening.

A $2 Billion Tourism Economy

There's another piece of this story that shouldn't be overlooked.

Tourism.

According to Oneida County Tourism, visitors generated approximately $2.1 billion in direct tourism sales in Oneida County during 2024. That represented about 60 percent of all visitor spending in the Central New York tourism region.

Oneida County visitor spending increased 6.4 percent from the previous year.

Think about what has changed here.

Turning Stone continues to attract visitors from outside the region. The Utica Comets and Adirondack Bank Center bring people downtown. The Nexus Center hosts tournaments that fill local hotels and restaurants.

There's the Boilermaker Road Race.

There's the Stanley Theatre, Munson, Utica Zoo, Saranac, the region's growing restaurant scene and our proximity to the Adirondacks.

Utica has also become known nationally for something people here have understood for generations, its food.

Chicken riggies, Utica greens, tomato pie and half moons aren't just local favorites anymore. They've become part of the city's identity outside the Mohawk Valley.

That's a much different story than simply saying housing is cheap because nobody wants to be here.

The Problem With Anonymous Insults

There's another part of the Post story that bothered me.

If you're going to make broad statements about an entire community, and essentially insult the people who live there, you should be willing to put your name behind it.

The Post relied on anonymous sources for some of the harshest criticism of Utica.

That's where I have a problem.

On Tuesday morning's Keeler in the Morning program, I described the article as feeling more like a “hit job” on the region than a balanced examination of Utica's economy and housing market.

Someone certainly has the right to believe nobody wants to live in Utica.

That's their opinion.

But put your name on it.

More importantly, when a national publication makes that claim, shouldn't it be tested against what's actually happening?

Look at the home sales.

Look at current employment statistics.

Look at the Census numbers.

Talk to people like Amanda Reinfelds, who is actually selling houses here.

Talk to the employers hiring people.

Talk to the developers spending money.

Talk to the families buying homes.

Then tell the story.

That's essentially Picente's challenge to the Post.

“If the New York Post wants to write about Utica and Oneida County, I welcome the coverage,” he said. “But come here.”

Picente urged reporters to talk with the people investing here, employers creating jobs, families buying homes and entrepreneurs building businesses.

“Most importantly, get the facts right,” he said.

Maybe the Post Accidentally Did Utica a Favor

Here's the irony.

Buried underneath the insults and the questionable narrative, the New York Post may have stumbled onto one of Utica's biggest advantages.

It's affordable.

Why is that a bad thing?

At a time when homeownership has become increasingly out of reach for young families across the country, a community where it's still possible to buy a house for under $200,000 shouldn't automatically be viewed as a failure.

Maybe it's an opportunity.

You can buy a home here without spending $700,000.

You can get to work without sitting in traffic for two hours.

You can live near restaurants, entertainment, healthcare and colleges, and still be a short drive from lakes, mountains and the Adirondacks.

You have major employers here.

You have an expanding technology and cybersecurity sector.

You have new investment coming into the region.

And you have a location almost perfectly situated between Albany and Syracuse, with New York City, Boston, Buffalo and Montreal all within driving distance.

That's a story worth telling.

Maybe we haven't done a good enough job telling it.

Utica's Story Isn't Finished

None of this means we should pretend Utica doesn't have problems.

We do.

There are neighborhoods that need investment. Poverty is real. Crime is a concern. There are empty buildings that need to be filled and infrastructure that needs attention.

But there's a difference between acknowledging those problems and defining an entire community by them.

Utica's official Census population grew between 2010 and 2020.

The Utica Rome unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in June.

Homes are selling. One of the very homes featured in the Post story received multiple offers and has now sold.

Tourism generates more than $2 billion in annual direct visitor spending in Oneida County.

A $1.2 billion Chobani project expected to create approximately 1,000 jobs is taking shape at Griffiss.

Those are facts.

And maybe, in the end, this New York Post story can serve as something other than an insult.

Maybe it can be inspiration.

Maybe it's time we do a better job spreading the word about what's actually happening in Utica, Rome and the Mohawk Valley.

The cost of living here is low.

The opportunity is high.

And despite what you might have read in the New York Post, there are plenty of people who want to live here.

Just ask the people making offers on Amanda Reinfelds' listings.