A sign for Interstate 81 sits under an overpass in Syracuse, N.Y. City officials and residents are debating what to do about an aging stretch of the highway that cuts through the city.

Zack Seward

WXXI/Finger Lakes reporter for the Innovation Trail.

Zack Seward had only a few weeks to catch his breath between graduating from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and becoming the first reporter hired for the project.

Prior to his graduate studies, Seward was a production assistant at the PBS NewsHour, where he researched and developed breaking news stories as well as features for both the Health and Arts & Culture units. He also served at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver with the NewsHour, and wrote for the NewsHour's Art Beat blog.

Seward got his start in public media when he was an anthropology student at the University of Chicago, as a production intern for WTTW's Chicago Tonight. He has also conducted internships in regional transportation planning and neighborhood revitalization. He's originally from San Francisco.

A City Faces Its 'Berlin Wall': An Interstate Highway

Zack Seward

Interstate 81 has helped to make Syracuse, N.Y., a "20-minute city," where you can drive anywhere you need to quickly and easily. But the highway has also physically divided neighborhoods, separating the haves from the have-nots. Now, like other cities around the country with urban highways, Syracuse officials are rethinking whether aging interstates are worth preserving.