Rochester, New York

Nineteenth century

The Seneca tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy lived around Rochester prior to the American Revolution, and used the area as a hunting ground.^[15] Allied with the British, the Seneca were forced to cede or sell most of their land in New York after the war. The area now occupied by Rochester was ceded in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1788. As a reward for their loyalty to the British crown, the Iroquois were given a large land grant on the Grand River in Canada.^[16][17]

Rochester was founded shortly after by a wave of English-Puritan-descended immigrants from New England, who were looking for new agricultural land. They were the dominant cultural group in Rochester for over a century.^[18] On November 8, 1803, three men from Hagerstown, Maryland, purchased a 100-acre (40-ha) tract from the Pulteney Estate along the Genesee River: Major Charles Carroll, Colonel William Fitzhugh Jr, and Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, the namesake of the city. They chose the site because its three cataracts on the Genesee offered great potential for water power. Beginning in 1811, and with a population of 15, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts.^[19] In 1817, the Brown brothers and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the village of Rochesterville. This name was unpopular, and in 1822 it was shortened to Rochester.^[20]

By 1821, Rochesterville became the seat of Monroe County.^[21] In 1823, the Erie Canal aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed, connecting the city to the Hudson River to the east.^[22] New commerce from the canal turned the village into America's first boomtown.^[23] By 1830, Rochester's population had grown to 9,200,^[24] and in 1834, it was rechartered as a city.^[25] Rochester was first known as "the Young Lion of the West", and then as the "Flour City". By 1838, it was the largest flour-producing city in the United States.^[5] A series of religious revivals occurred in the as part of the Second Great Awakening, including a particularly notable revival led by Charles Grandison Finney which inspired local social reform movements.^[26]

During the mid-19th century, as the center of the wheat-processing industry moved west with population and agriculture, the city became home to an expanding nursery business, giving rise to the city's second nickname, the Flower City. Nurseries ringed the city, the most famous of which was started in 1840 by immigrants George Ellwanger from Germany and Patrick Barry from Ireland.^[27] Shoemaking also became a major local industry as the city began to industrialize.^[28]

In 1847, Frederick Douglass founded The North Star, an abolitionist newspaper, in Rochester. A former slave and an antislavery speaker and writer, he gained a circulation of over 4,000 readers in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.^[29] Douglass lived in Rochester until his home was destroyed in a fire in 1872, and a historical marker was erected at the site on South Avenue.^[30] Many other prominent abolitionists operated in the area and operated on the Underground Railroad, such as Thomas James and Austin Steward.^[31]

Around the same time, the nearby Finger Lakes region was the birthplace of the women's suffrage movement. A critical suffragettes' convention was held in 1848 in nearby Seneca Falls, and Rochester was the home of Susan B. Anthony along with other notable Suffragettes such as Abigail Bush and Amy Post. The city itself played host to the Rochester Women's Rights Convention of 1848.^[32] The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, in 1920, which guaranteed the right of women to vote, was known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment because of her work toward its passage, which she did not live to see.^[33] Anthony's home is a National Historic Landmark known as the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House.^[34]

Twentieth century

Rochester saw an expansion of new industries in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Irish immigrant James Cunningham founded the carriagemaker James Cunningham, Son and Company.^[35] James Cunningham and Sons later founded the Cunningham Car Company, a pioneer automobile maker.^[36] German immigrants John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb launched Bausch & Lomb in 1861 and inventor and entrepreneur George Eastman founded Eastman Kodak in 1892. Xerox was founded in Rochester in 1906 as the Haloid Company.^[37] In the early 20th century, Rochester became a center of the garment industry, particularly men's fashions. It was the base of Bond Clothing Stores, Fashion Park Clothes, Hickey Freeman, and Stein-Bloch and Co.^[28] The Erie Canal was rerouted south of Rochester by 1918 to allow widening as part of the Barge Canal's construction.^[38] The short-lived Rochester subway was constructed in the abandoned canal bed and operated from 1927 to 1956.^[39]

The dawn of the 20th century in Rochester saw rapid growth, driven by waves of immigrants arriving from Germany, Italy, Poland, and elsewhere.^[40] The city also grew in area, annexing suburban neighborhoods from the surrounding towns to arrive at its present borders.^[41] The population reached 62,386 in 1870, 162,608 in 1900, and 295,750 in 1920. By 1950, the population had reached a high of 332,488.^[42] The surge in new arrivals, along with increased industrialization, resulted in the city becoming a hotbed of labor activism.^[43] From the 1920s and continuing into the post-war era Rochester grew into a power center for newly formed industrial unions.^[44] It was one of the very few American cities where the labor movement was powerful enough to mount a successful general strike when in 1946 an estimated 50,000 workers across multiple sectors walked off in support of hundreds of city employees who had been fired for attempting to unionize.^[45][46]

During World War II, Rochester factories produced a variety of goods for the war effort, including fuel tanker ships, optical equipment, and radio proximity fuses, amounting to US$1,200,000,000 of military orders.^[47] Following the war, the city began engaging in urban renewal projects to revitalize downtown, including the construction of Midtown Plaza and freeways like the Inner Loop, and the demolition of the Front Street neighborhood.^[48] By the 1970s, the city experienced highway revolts against new projects,^[49] and in the 2010s, the city began filling in the Inner Loop to restore older neighborhoods.^[50]

In 1950, the Census Bureau reported Rochester's population as 97.6% White and 2.3% Black.^[42] Rochester's black population tripled to more than 25,000 during the 1950s. Casually employed by the city's major industries, most African Americans in the city held low-pay and low-skill jobs, and lived in substandard housing. Discontent exploded in the three-day 1964 Rochester race riot, which resulted in five deaths, 350 injuries, nearly a thousand arrests, and 204 stores looted or damaged.^[51][52] In the wake of the riot, the Rochester Area Churches, together with black civil rights leaders, invited Saul Alinsky of the Industrial Areas Foundation to help the community organize. With the Reverend Franklin Florence, they established FIGHT (Freedom, Integration, God, Honor, Today), which successfully brought pressure to bear on Eastman Kodak to help open up employment and city governance.^[53][54]

With industrial restructuring in the later 20th century, Rochester's manufacturing workforce shrank.^[55] Kodak, long the city's largest employer, conducted massive layoffs prior to a 2012 bankruptcy. By 2022, the city's population had declined to 209,352 (although the metropolitan area was considerably larger) with 45.1% recorded as White and 38.4% as Black or African American.^[56] Although the total population declined, new arrivals continued to move to the city and change its demographic profile. Thousands of Puerto Ricans moved to the city after World War II,^[57] and the city became a major destination for refugees in the 21st century.^[58]

Neighborhoods

Celebrate City Living, a partnership program between the city government and Rochester Coalition for Neighborhood Living, defines 35 neighborhoods in Rochester. Among these are the 14621 Community, 19th Ward, Beechwood, Browncroft, Charlotte, Cobbs Hill, Corn Hill, downtown Rochester, Dutchtown, Edgerton, EMMA (East Main, Mustard & Atlantic Avenue), High Falls, Highland Park, Homestead Heights, JOSANA (Jay-Orchard Street Area), Lincoln Park, Lyell-Otis, Maplewood, Marketview Heights, Mayor's Heights, Monroe Village, NOTA (Neighborhood of the Arts), North Winton Village, Northland-Lyceum, Park Avenue, Plymouth-Exchange, South Wedge, Susan B. Anthony, Swillburg, Upper Falls, Upper Monroe, and Upper Mount Hope.^[63][64]

• 
  Center City and the Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge
• 
  Townhouses in Corn Hill
• 
  Oxford Street Houses
• 
  Park and Oxford
• 
  Apartments in Rochester's East End
• 
  Houses on Park Avenue
• 
  An aerial image of the city of Rochester taken in August 2007

Charlotte

Charlotte is a lakefront community in Rochester bordering Lake Ontario. It is home to Ontario Beach Park,^[78] commonly known as Charlotte Beach, which is a popular summer destination for Rochesterians. A new terminal was built in 2004 for the Rochester-to-Toronto ferry service and was later sold after the ferry ceased operations in 2005. The Port of Rochester terminal still exists, but multiple attempts by the city to make additions have failed since 2016.^[79][80]

Maplewood

Maplewood is located in the northwest quadrant, centered around Lake Avenue and Maplewood Park. Eastman Business Park is located on its north edge. The neighborhood once contained both mansions for the wealthy and worker housing for nearby factories like Kodak's.^[90] Many of the neighborhood's old mansions have been converted to multi-family housing.^[91] Due to its diverse architectural heritage, the Maplewood Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.^[77]

Climate

Rochester lies in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen: Dfa)^[102] and has four distinct seasons.

Winters are cold (temperatures drop to 0 °F (−18 °C) on 4.2 nights annually). Like much of the eastern Great Lakes, Rochester is very cloudy and overcast in winter. Rochester normally receives heavy snow in winter (primarily lake effect snow resulting from its location on the southern shores of Lake Ontario), ranking among the snowiest large cities on earth^[103] and occasionally setting records for annual snowfall among large US metros.^[104] The 30-year annual average snowfall is just above 100 in (2.5 m).^[105] Spring sees plentiful rain with the rising temperatures, and occasional late snowstorms depending on the year. Summers are warm and sunny; there are occasional short periods of high heat and humidity but in general, Rochester is set apart from most of the continental US by comparatively cool, comfortable summers (ranking among the top five coolest summers among large metros alongside San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and neighboring Buffalo^[106]). Autumn features brilliant foliage colors, cooling temperatures and occasionally an excess of rain depending on the year, though precipitation is generally plentiful and dispersed fairly evenly throughout the year.

2020 census

As of the 2020 Census, 38.0% of Rochester residents were non-Hispanic Black, 33.0% were non-Hispanic White, 19.8% were Hispanic/Latino, 3.9% were Asian, 0.2% were Native American or Pacific Islander, and 5.1% were mixed or other.^[117]

In 2020, there were 91,500 households, of which 18.8% were married couples living together, 9.9% were unmarried co-habitating couples, 42.3% had a female householder with no partner present, and 29.0% had a male householder with no partner present. Of all households, 41.3% were made up of individuals, 25.3% had children under 18 living with them, and 9.2% had someone living alone 65 or older. 33.1% of housing units were owner-occupied, and 66.9% were rented. The age distribution was 18.8% under 18, 15.4% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 32.9. For every 100 females, there were 93.6 males.^[117]

According to 2020 American Community Survey estimates, The median income for a city household was $37,395, and for a family was $43,873. Males had a median income of $30,379, versus $28,260 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,916. About 25.5% of families and 30.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 48.2% of those under age 18 and 17.3% of those age 65 or over.^[117]

Although losing population since 1950, over the course of the past 70 years Rochester has become a major center for immigration, particularly for arrivals from Eastern and Southeastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean. Rochester had the highest percentage of Puerto Ricans of any major city in the United States in 2013,^[118] one of the four largest Turkish American communities,^[119] one of the largest Jamaican American communities in any major U.S. city^[120] and a large concentration of Polish Americans along with nearby Buffalo, New York.^[121] Rochester's Bhutanese and Nepalese communities are among the largest (top 3) in the United States, concentrated primarily in Jones Square and Edgerton with growth fueled by recently arrived migrants and refugees.^[122] In addition, Rochester was ranked number 9 in the nation for the largest Italian population in the United States in 2018.^[123]

Rochester has been reported to have the largest per capita deaf population in the United States by the New York Times because it is home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.^[124][125] A 2012 report by the NTID concluded 3.7% of the Rochester metropolitan area is deaf or hard-of-hearing, compared to a national rate of 3.5%.^[126] Rochester has the largest deaf and hard-of-hearing population per capita when analyzing the working-age population, but may not have the largest per capita deaf population among all cities, due to deafness being much more prevalent in the elderly.

Architecture

Several churches are among Rochester's architectural features, including Asbury First United Methodist Church, St. Joseph's Church and Rectory, and the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, which was designed by Louis Kahn and described by Paul Goldberger as one of "the most significant works of religious architecture of the century".^[142] Significant Art Deco buildings include the Cinema Theater and Times Square Building, noted for its 42' tall "Wings of Progress" sculpture. The Midtown Plaza, the nation's first downtown shopping mall, first opened in 1962, and remains partially standing today.

Museums

Museums in the Rochester area include the Genesee Country Village and Museum, George Eastman Museum, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester Museum and Science Center, Strasenburgh Planetarium, Susan B. Anthony House, New York Museum of Transportation, Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, and The Strong National Museum of Play. In 2023, plans were announced for a museum dedicated to the life of Frederick Douglass in the city.^[143]

Festivals

Rochester hosts a number of cultural festivals every year. The Lilac Festival at Highland Park is attended by hundreds of thousands annually. Established after an 1898 gathering, it features the largest collection of lilac varieties in North America, a parade, and dozens of musical acts and food vendors.^[144][145] The Rochester International Jazz Festival was established in 2002 and is one of the largest jazz festivals in the United States. It takes place in late June at dozens of clubs, concert halls and free outdoor stages throughout Downtown Rochester, regularly drawing over 200,000 visitors.^[146] Other notable annual festivals in Rochester include the Rochester International Film Festival in June,^[147] the Corn Hill Arts Festival in July,^[81] and the Rochester Fringe Festival in September.^[148]

Cuisine

One food product Rochester calls its own is the "white hot", a variant of the hot dog or smoked bratwurst made by the local Zweigle's company and other companies.^[149][150] Another local specialty is the Garbage Plate, a trademark of Nick Tahou Hots that traditionally includes macaroni salad, home fries, and two hot dogs or cheeseburgers topped with mustard, onions, and their famous meat hot sauce. Many area restaurants feature copies or variations with the word "plate" commonly used as a general term.^[151] Chicken Francese was first popularized by Rochester's Italian American community.^[152]

The Genesee Brewing Company is headquartered in Rochester, where it holds an annual December tradition of assembling a tower of beer kegs in the shape of a Christmas tree.^[153] Other local franchises include Abbott's Frozen Custard, Bill Gray's, DiBella's, and Tom Wahl's. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, which originated in Syracuse, also operates its second franchise downtown in the former Lehigh Valley Railroad station on the Genesee River. The Ragú brand of pasta sauce used to be produced in Rochester. Some of the original facility still exists and produces products for other labels (including Newman's Own) as Private Label Foods.^[154] Rochester was also the original home of French's Mustard, whose address was 1 Mustard Street.^[155]

Professional sports

Rochester has several professional sports teams:^{[156][better source needed]}

The Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) were a professional basketball team in Rochester from 1945 to 1957 with roots as an amateur team dating back to 1923. They won the NBA title in 1951, defeating the New York Knicks in 7 games. Rochester and its surrounding area also has a rich golf history and has hosted numerous professional tournaments on its local golf courses, most recently the 2023 PGA Championship.^[157]

Collegiate

NCAA Division I teams include the RIT men's and women's ice hockey teams, and the University of Rochester men's squash team, which has ranked top 5 in Division I.

Federal representation

The city is covered by New York's 25th congressional district currently represented by Democrat Joe Morelle of Irondequoit, Monroe County, in Congress. From 1987 until 2018, the city was represented by longtime Democrat Louise M. Slaughter of Fairport, Monroe County, in Congress.

State representation

After redistricting based on the 2020 United States census, the city was split between two state senate districts:

After redistricting based on the 2020 census, the city was split between three state assembly districts:

County representation

Rochester is represented by districts 7, 16, and 21–29 in the Monroe County legislature (a 29-seat body with legislators elected to two-year terms).^[173] Rochester is also under the jurisdiction of the county executive (currently Democrat Adam Bello) along with the rest of Monroe County. The District Attorney is also elected at the county level along with several other offices (such as Sheriff and Clerk) which in part govern the city.

Courts

Rochester is part of the 7th Judicial District of the New York Supreme Court and the 4th Department of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division.

Primary and secondary education

The City of Rochester is served by the Rochester City School District, which encompasses all public primary and secondary education. During the 2022–23 school year, 22,238 students were enrolled in the district, with an average expenditure per student of US$23,266 and a four-year graduation rate of 71%.^[192] The district is governed by a popularly elected seven-member board of education.^[193] The Rochester City School District operates 14 public secondary schools, each serving grades 7 through 12.^[194]

For the 2022–23 school year, Rochester additionally had fourteen free charter schools serving grades Kindergarten through 12.^[195] Other private schools include McQuaid Jesuit High School, Aquinas Institute and Bishop Kearny High School.

Colleges and universities

Rochester and the surrounding region host a high concentration of colleges and universities, which drive much of the economic growth in the five-county area. The University of Rochester is the only large research institution primarily within the city limits, although Monroe Community College and SUNY Brockport operate campuses downtown. The Highland Park neighborhood was home to Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (part of whose facility is leased by Ithaca College's Department of Physical Therapy) and an office maintained by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

The University of Rochester is the metropolitan area's oldest and most prominent institution of higher learning, and one of the country's top research centers. It includes a nursing school, the Simon School of Business, and the Eastman School of Music. It was founded and endowed by George Eastman in his years as a philanthropist.^[196] He also contributed greatly to the University of Rochester from wealth based on the success of Eastman Kodak.

Five institutions began operations in the city and later moved to Rochester's inner-ring suburbs: the Empire State College Rochester Learning Center,^[197] Monroe Community College,^[198] Rochester Institute of Technology,^[199] St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry and Nazareth University. Rochester was the host of the Barleywood Female University, a short-lived women's college from 1852 to 1853. The Lutheran seminary that became Wagner College was established in the city in 1883 and remained for some 35 years before moving to Staten Island.^[200]

Libraries

The Rochester Public Library is headquartered at the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County, which is located in the Rundel Memorial Library building and the adjacent Bausch & Lomb Public Library Building in downtown Rochester. The city is part of the larger Monroe County Library System. Library cards are freely available to residents of Monroe County and valid at the eleven branch libraries in the city and other branches in the county.^[201]

Transportation

Maritime

There is marine freight service at the Port of Rochester on Lake Ontario, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Erie Canal intersects the Genesee River on the south side of the city.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of passenger ferries operated on Lake Ontario between the Port of Rochester and Canada. Service ended in 1950 when the Ontario I and Ontario II ended their route between Rochester and Cobourg.^[209] A new ferry, the Spirit of Ontario I, operated between Rochester and Toronto from June 17, 2004, to December 12, 2005. The ferry suffered from numerous issues, including two separate pier collisions that damaged it. The initial operator, Canadian American Transportation Systems (CATS), went bankrupt by the end of the 2004 season. The city of Rochester then purchased the ferry and signed a contract with Bay Ferries Great Lakes to resume operations in 2005. The resumption of service was delayed until summer, causing the ferry to continue to operate at a loss. In 2006, the operation was shut down and the ferry was sold.^[210]

Air

Main article: Greater Rochester International Airport

Rochester is served by the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport (GRIA). Scheduled air service is provided by American, Allegiant, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, and United.^[211]

FedEx founder Fred Smith has stated in several articles that Xerox's development of the copier, and its need to quickly get parts to customers, was one of the economic issues that led him to pioneer the overnight delivery business in 1971.^[212][213] Because Xerox manufactured its copiers in Rochester,^[214] the city was one of the original 25 cities FedEx served on its first night of operations on April 17, 1973.^[215]

In 2016, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a $63.4 million project to renovate the GRIA.^[216] The renovations include a large canopy extending over both main entrances, solar panels, a rainwater collection system, and modern communication and security enhancements.^[217] All construction was completed by October 2018.^[218]

Rails and mass transit

See also: Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station and Rochester Subway

Local bus service in Rochester and its county suburbs is provided by the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) via its Regional Transit Service (RTS) subsidiary. RTS also provides suburban service outside the immediate Rochester area and runs smaller transportation systems in outlying counties, such as WATS (Wayne Area Transportation System). All RTS routes are based out of the RTS Transit Center on Mortimer Street. Rochester has intercity and transcontinental bus service via Greyhound and Trailways.^[219]

Rail service to Rochester is provided by the Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station, served by Amtrak's Empire Service between New York City and Niagara Falls, the Maple Leaf between New York City and Toronto, and the Lake Shore Limited between New York City/Boston and Chicago. Prior to 1965, Rochester had a smaller station reminiscent of New York City's "Grand Central Terminal". It was among Claude Fayette Bragdon's best works in Rochester.^{[citation needed]} The current station is modeled after Bragdon's work and named in honor of former longtime congresswoman Louise Slaughter.^[220]

Rochester used to be a major stop on several railroad lines. The New York Central Railroad provided service to Chicago and Buffalo to the west and Albany and New York City to the east and southeast. The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway (absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) served Buffalo and Pittsburgh until 1955. A rail route to Salamanca in southern New York State afforded connections in Salamanca to southwestern and southeastern New York State.^{[221][better source needed]} The last long-distance train was the Northern Express/Southern Express, operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad on the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad, that went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania via Canandaigua, Elmira and Williamsport; service ended in 1971.^[222] Also serving Rochester were the Erie Railroad and Lehigh Valley Railroad.^{[citation needed]}

From 1927 to 1956, Rochester had a light rail underground transit system called the Rochester subway, which was first operated by New York State Railways and later by the Rochester Transit Corporation.^[223][39] Rochester was the smallest city in the world to have such a system.^[224] After the subway was shut down in 1956, the eastern half of the subway past Court Street became the Eastern Expressway, and the western end of the open cut was filled in 1976. The tunnel was last used for freight service by Gannett Company to bring paper to the printing presses for the Democrat and Chronicle in 1997.^[225] In the years since, the tunnel has become a hub for graffiti artists. Several proposals have been made to completely fill the remaining tunnel, redevelop the underground space, or convert the bridge to a pedestrian crossing. Portions have been filled in at the western end and the eastern end for new above-ground development.^[226][227] The Broad Street aqueduct, which contains part of the tunnel, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.^[228]

Major highways and roads

Three exits off the New York State Thruway (I-90) serve Rochester. Rochester's expressway system, conceived in the 1950s, was designed as two concentric circles with feeder expressways from the west, south and east. The system allows for quick travel within the metropolitan area and a lack of the traffic gridlock typically found in cities of comparable size; in part this is because the system was designed to accommodate rapid travel between the suburbs and downtown,^[229] and also because it was built when the city's population was over 330,000, whereas today it is a full third less.^[230]

The Outer Loop circles just outside the city limits while the former Inner Loop once circled around the immediate downtown area within the city (the easternmost sector was closed in 2015). From the west are Lake Ontario State Parkway, NY 531 and I-490; I-390 feeds from the south; and NY 104, NY 441, and I-490 approach from the east.

In the early 1970s, the Genesee Expressway Task Force, City leaders, and the New York State Department of Transportation studied the feasibility of connecting the outer and inner Loops with a new southern expressway. The proposed route extended north from the I-390 and I-590 interchange in Brighton, cutting through Rochester's Swillburg neighborhood. In 1972, consultants Berger Lehman Associates recommended a new 'Busway', an expressway with dedicated bus lanes, similar to Bus Rapid Transit.^[231] The expressway extension was never built. In 2016, the City of Rochester launched the Pace Car Program.^[232]

I-390 (Genesee Expressway)

• I-390 runs south–north, crossing I-90 (exit 46) and routing north through Rochester's western suburbs. Its northern end is at I-490, however, it continues north as NY 390 until it merges into the Lake Ontario State Parkway. South of I-90, I-390 runs to Avoca, where it meets with US 15 and the Southern Tier Expressway, I-86.

I-490 (Western/Eastern Expressway)

• I-490 runs west–east through Rochester, starting at Le Roy and ending in Victor. It interchanges with the two other Interstates in Rochester: I-390 at the western city limit and I-590 at the eastern limit, as well as connecting at both ends with the Thruway, I-90 (exits 47 and 45). In July 2007, a new bridge over the Genesee River was completed and named the Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge.

I-590

• I-590 runs south–north through Rochester's eastern suburbs. Its southern end is at I-390, while the northern terminus is at I-490; the highway continues north to the shore of Lake Ontario as NY 590.
• In decreasing usage is the term "Can of Worms", referring to the previously dangerous at-grade intersection of I-490 and expressway NY 590 on the eastern edge of the Rochester city limits, bordering the suburb of Brighton. In the 1980s, a multimillion-dollar project created a system of overpasses and ramps that reduced the danger but resulted in the loss of certain exits.

NY 104 (Irondequoit-Wayne County Expressway, West Ridge Road)

• NY 104 – Just east of the NY 590 interchange, NY 104 becomes the Irondequoit-Wayne County Expressway and crosses the Irondequoit Bay Bridge. On the other side of the Bay Bridge, in the town of Webster, NY 104 has exits before returning to an at-grade highway at Basket Road.

NY 390

• NY 390 is an extension of Interstate 390 from the I-390/I-490 interchange in Gates. The northern terminus is at the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Greece, less than a mile from the Lake Ontario shoreline.

NY 590

• NY 590 is a limited-access extension of Interstate 590 that runs from an interchange between Interstate 490 and I-590 on the Brighton/Rochester border. The northern terminus is at Culver Road in Irondequoit, near Sea Breeze (the western shore of Irondequoit Bay at Lake Ontario).

Inner Loop

• The Inner Loop Runs from I-490 to Main Street on the north end and from 490 to Monroe Avenue at the south end. Formerly a loop, the eastern end was demolished and replaced with a surface road between 2014 and 2017. Unsigned reference NY 940T begins and ends at I-490, and the rest of the Loop is part of I-490 between exits 13 and 15, including the Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge. This expressway is commonly used to define the borders of Downtown Rochester.

Lake Ontario State Parkway

• Lake Ontario State Parkway travels from Lakeside Beach State Park in Carlton, Orleans County. The eastern end is at Lake Avenue in the city of Rochester in Monroe County.

Public safety

Fire protection and EMS services are provided by the Rochester Fire Department. The department employs 509 personnel^[233] and operates thirteen engines, six trucks, and heavy rescue from fifteen fire stations.^[234] In FY 2021–22, the department responded to 38,876 incidents.^[233] The current fire chief is Stefano Napolitano.^[235]

Law enforcement services are provided by the Rochester Police Department. The current chief of police is David Smith.^[236] Independent oversight of the department is provided by the Police Accountability Board, established in 2019 to investigate and discipline officers for misconduct. In 2023, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the board could not enforce disciplinary actions on any officers in the department, as it would violate the contract between the city and police union.^[237]

In 2019, Rochester had 1,540 reported violent crimes. That same year, Rochester had 7,142 property crime incidents. These included 33 murders, 429 robberies, 976 aggravated assaults, 1,269 burglaries, 5,222 larceny thefts, 102 forcible rapes, 651 auto thefts, and 83 acts of arson.^[238]

On November 12, 2021, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren declared a state of emergency due to a rising violent crime rate in the city, which produced the highest number of homicides of any year on record. Additional law enforcement assistance was requested from, and granted by, the state government.^[239] On July 21, 2022, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans declared another state of emergency due to ongoing gun violence.^[240]

Healthcare

Most healthcare services in the Rochester area are provided by University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and Rochester Regional Health (RRH). Major hospitals in the Rochester area include:

• Highland Hospital, a URMC facility with 261 beds. Highland is a level 1 perinatal center and a primary stroke center.^[241]
• Rochester General Hospital, a RRH facility with 528 beds. Rochester General is a comprehensive stroke center and level 2 perinatal center.^[242]
• Rochester Psychiatric Center, a psychiatric hospital operated by the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene.^[243] The hospital's campus contains the abandoned Terrence Building.
• Strong Memorial Hospital, a URMC facility with 886 beds. Strong is home to the Golisano Children's Hospital for pediatric care, and is an AIDS center, burn center, comprehensive Stroke center, level I trauma center for both pediatric and adult care, and regional perinatal center.^[244]
• Unity Hospital, a RRH facility with 311 beds. Unity is a regional perinatal center and primary stroke center.^[245]

In 2023, The Guardian reported that Rochester was becoming a desirable community for transgender individuals due to its network of gender-affirming care providers, such as Trillium Health.^[246]