Downtown Syracuse is the economic center of Syracuse, New York, Central New York, employing over 30,000 people, housing over 4,000. It is one of the 26 recognized neighborhoods of Syracuse. Downtown Syracuse, as the rest of the city, grew as a result of the city's salt industry and its location on the Erie Canal. For over a century, it was the retail and entertainment center of Central New York, with large department stores such as Chappell's, The Addis Co. Flah's, E. W. Edwards, Woolworth's, Grant's, Lincoln Stores, The Mohican, David's, Kresge's, Clark Music Co. Dey Brothers, Sibley's; this attribute began to fade with development of large suburban malls, with the final blow in 1992 when the combined Addis & Dey's department store became the last major store to leave downtown. South Salina Street between Erie Boulevard and West Onondaga Street was the main north-south artery of Downtown Syracuse and was among the busiest streets in the city; the area has seen a great deal of revitalization in recent years with projects such as the conversion of the historic Syracuse Trust Building into luxury condos, a project engineered by local developer Peter Muserlian.

More development projects are planned. In 1835, the "nature of the soil and the flat surface of the ground" in the village rendered the construction of stone pavements necessary. An ordinance was passed authorizing the paving with cobblestone of Salina Street from Fayette to Church Streets and Genesee Street from the west line of Clinton Square to Hanover Square. Additionally, sections of Water and Franklin Streets were paved; the paving of these streets made it necessary to pave the public squares, or the work would be "incomplete." A sum of $4,500 was raised with general tax. During the same year, sidewalks of brick were ordered to be constructed along all paved streets and squares where they had not been laid including Salina Street from Washington Street to Onondaga Avenue. Armory Square is a small neighborhood on the west side of Downtown Syracuse, it began life as a busy industrial area just to the west of the central city. Named after the historic armory building that still inhabits the district's center, Armory Square is now home to luxury condos, restaurants and high-end office space.

Forman Park was first established on June 16, 1839, was known as Forman Square. The main attraction is a bronze memorial of Lewis H. Redfield; the park is located at East Genesee and Almond Streets. Clinton Square first came into existence in the early 19th century when roadways from north and south joined in downtown Syracuse. By the mid-19th century, the construction of Erie Canal further transformed the busy intersection into the center of commerce and trade in Central New York. Hanover Square is a triangle at the intersection of Warren and East Genesee Streets; the name may refer to the larger Hanover Square Historic District, which includes seventeen historic buildings in the area, the first commercial district in Syracuse. The public square was named Veteran's Park, it was renamed to Hanover Square after the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Clinton Square was dedicated in 1910 and the function of commemorating Syracuse's war dead was shifted there. The larger Clinton Square had developed as the city's center to the west, but following the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, commercial and retail activity spread along Genesee Street to Hanover Square.

Today, downtown Syracuse is an economic center, with many insurance companies and law firms having a large presence there. Since the late 1980s, downtown Syracuse has increasingly become a nightlife center, with many bars, clubs and pubs located in the Armory Square area. Most of Syracuse's cultural festivals, such as Oktoberfest and Festa Italiana take place downtown; the Downtown Committee of Syracuse has taken a great deal of effort to revitalize the area. Most sidewalks and streetlights have been restored since 1995, with maps and other information posted on many street corners. All of downtown is lively on weekdays, but on nights and weekends most activity centers around the Armory Square, Hanover Square, Clinton Square areas. With the reopening of the historic Marriott Syracuse Downtown in 2016, there are three hotels downtown; the following are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and located in Downtown Syracuse: Amos Block, Armory Square Historic District, Central New York Telephone and Telegraph Building, Central Technical High School, Gere Bank Building, Gridley Building, Hanover Square Historic District, Hotel Syracuse, Loew's State Theater, Montgomery Street-Columbus Circle Historic District, New York Central Railroad Passenger and Freight Station, Niagara Hudson Building, Onondaga County Savings Bank Building, Onondaga County War Memorial, Plymouth Congregational Church, St. Paul's Cathedral and Parish House, C.

W. Snow and Company Warehouse, South Salina Street Downtown Historic District, Syracuse City Hall, Syracuse Savings Bank, Third National Bank, Weighlock Building, White Memorial Building, Hamilton White House. In December 2005, Syracuse University announced it had purchased eleven buildings downtown, leased another. Hundreds of faculty and students began using the buildings in the spring of 2006. Former Syracuse University chancellor Nancy Cantor's motto for the venture was "Exploring the Soul of Syracuse." At the same time, the university and the city were working on a project called the "Connective Corridor," a special path from the university area to Armory Square. The main building of Syracuse University downtown is The Warehouse. List of tallest buildings in Syracuse, New York Downtown Committee of Syrac

Monster Hunt 2 is a 2018 Chinese-Hong Kong adventure film directed by Raman Hui, starring Tony Leung, Bai Baihe, Jing Boran, Li Yuchun and Tony Yang. A sequel to 2015's Monster Hunt, the film was released in China and Hong Kong on February 16, 2018, it has grossed US$361 million. Wuba is on his own journey through monster realm; the darker forces of the evil monster king are in search for Wuba. Peace is not restored in the monster world. Wuba meets Tu and BenBen, a human-monster team, they rescue Wuba multiple times. Meanwhile and Song are in search of Wuba and reach Monster Hunter Bureau, they get their weapons find new friends. In the end, all of them fight. Wuba is reunited with its family. Tony Leung as Tu Sigu Bai Baihe as Huo Xiaolan Jing Boran as Song Tianyin Li Yuchun as Zhu Jinzhen Tony Yang as Yunqing Huang Lei as Physician Sandra Ng as Ying Eric Tsang as Zhugao Wu Mochou as Xiaobaozi Song Xiaobao Da Peng Liu Yan X NINE Following the success of the first film, Edko Films upped the production phase of the sequel by doubling the number of visual effects shots, adding more monsters, building bigger sets, boosting merchandising output and marketing alliances, adding veteran star Tony Leung to the cast.

Principal photography began in Beijing in October 2016. The film took three years to complete compared to the seven years taken by the first film; the visual effects were rendered by half a dozen companies and required a multinational effort, Industrial Light & Magic and Whiskytree from the U. S. and China’s BaseFX in Beijing, Original Force in Nanjing, Trouper Visual Effects in Shanghai and CGCG in Taiwan. Edko Films tied-up with many licensing partners for marketing the film, they partnered with Alibaba on merchandising, with Chimelong, China’s largest domestic theme park, for developing theme park attractions inspired by the franchise. They partnered with SM Supermalls, China's biggest mall. Moreover, Lionsgate is discussing Monster Hunt attraction in the Middle East; the film was released in Hong Kong on February 16, 2018 to coincide with Chinese New Year. It was screened at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival at the out-of-competition category. At the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Lionsgate acquired rights to its North American and UK theatrical distribution as well as rights to the property's location-based entertainment venues in select territories.

The film was released day-and-date in North America along with its Chinese release. Lionsgate secured 70 screens there for its opening. Buoyed by the groundbreaking success of the first film and its impact on China's cinema, its sequel was anticipated by audiences and was envisioned to be a huge commercial success following the footsteps of its predecessor. Moreover, the film was released during the lucrative Chinese New Year period which aided the sequel in its continued success despite heavy competitions. In its hometown market, the film pre-sold around US$7.8 million tickets for its opening day, seventeen days ahead of its premiere. By comparison, Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back and The Mermaid hit that mark three and four days prior to their release respectively. At around 7:30 pm of its opening day, ticket sales surpassed those of The Fate of the Furious to record the biggest opening day in the Middle Kingdom. On its full opening day, the film earned an estimated RMB545 million, setting a new single day box office record and occupying 44% of the market share.

It is the fourth biggest single-day in any territory behind the North American openings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, its sequel, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Including ticketing fees, the opening was worth RMB603 million; the Hollywood Reporter noted that had there been less to no competition, the film would've broken the all-time opening day record. The film topped the daily box office for two days but was overtaken by Detective Chinatown 2 on its third day. Earning a total of RMB1.14 billion or US$190 million including online ticket surcharges, it broke a new all-time opening weekend in the country, topping Wolf Warrior 2's previous record, securing 81% of the weekend total box office. An estimated US$7 million alone came from IMAX showings; the film along with the combined grosses of Detective Chinatown 2, The Monkey King 3: Kingdom of Women, Operation Red Sea and Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink amounted to a record breaking RMB3.21 billion or US$543 million weekend with online ticket sales, more than double the feat achieved in 2017 and 2016 during the same time period.

The previous weekend record was set in North America during the weekend of December 18–20, 2017, when the combined grosses of several films resulted in US$306 million led by Star Wars: The Force Awakens's US$248 million debut. Moreover, the combined IMAX earnings of the three films set a new record with US$15.1 million, led by Monster Hunt 2 and Detective Chinatown 2. In the United States and Canada, the film made US$120,000 on its opening day from 70 screens, US$335,000 over its opening weekend; the film received an average rating of 8.5 out of 10 by moviegoers on Maoyan. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 56% based on 9 reviews, an average rating of 5.2/10. Hui and producer Kong have a story planned out through a fourth film; the two told The Hollywood Reporter in February 2018 that they plan to make an anima

Showcase Mall is a shopping center on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is known for its landmark facade, featuring a 100-foot tall Coca-Cola bottle and a colossal bag of M&M's. After the 1989 announcement of plans for the MGM Grand hotel and casino, attorney Bill Unger recognized the investment potential of an adjacent property where he was handling an eviction case. Unger approached his friend, banker Barry Fieldman, for financing, the two partnered to form Makena Development Corp. in 1992. Makena purchased Island Plaza, a small shopping center on the site that would become the southern part of Showcase Mall, they beat out MGM in an effort to purchase two gas stations to the north of Island Plaza. Forest City Enterprises, a national real estate developer with interests in Las Vegas including the Galleria at Sunset mall, signed on to provide additional funding and expertise to the project, taking a 20% ownership stake; the first business at the mall, the Official All Star Cafe, opened on December 15, 1996.

An eight-screen United Artists Theater opened in March 1997. Island Plaza was demolished in 1999 to make way for the second phase of Showcase Mall, with 43,000 square feet of retail space and a $33-million budget; the second phase, south of the original building, opened in 2000, featuring a gift shop with an interior designed to resemble the Grand Canyon. North of the original portion of the mall, a parcel occupied by a Denny's restaurant was earmarked for a third phase of construction. In 2003, Westgate Resorts announced a $180-million plan to build a 54-story tower with over 700 timeshare units on the Denny's site. Facing strong opposition from MGM Grand and concerns from county officials about the size of the project, the plan was scaled back to 42 stories, but was rejected by the Clark County Commission. In 2005, the developers sold the first phase of the mall for $142 million, to a partnership of San Francisco-based City Center Retail and New York investment firm Angelo Gordon & Co; the buyers spent $30 million to acquire a leasehold interest in the Denny's site.

The mall's third phase was built in 2009 with 97,400 square feet of space, anchored by a Hard Rock Cafe and a Ross Dress For Less store. The City Center / Angelo Gordon partnership sold this portion of the mall in 2011 to Unilev Capital Corp. a California real estate investment company, for $93.5 million. In July 2014, City Center and Angelo Gordon sold the original center section of the mall for $145 million to a partnership between the Nakash family and investor Eli Gindi; the Nakashes and Gindi, along with home-curtains manufacturer Elyahu Cohen purchased the third, northern section of the mall from Unilev Capital for $139.5 million in January 2015. The Nakashes and Gindi consolidated their control of the mall in December 2015, buying the southern portion from Fieldman for $82.9 million. A planned expansion of the mall was approved in September 2017. Earlier in the year, the Nakashes and Gindi had paid $59.5 million to purchase a building to the north of the mall, which had housed the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse.

Plans called for the building to be demolished and replaced with a new four-story, 145,000-square-foot building. The expansion, to be anchored by Target and Burlington department stores, was scheduled to be completed in 2020. Adidas Performance Center — A three-story store selling sports apparel. Opened in 2004. Aerie — A two-story lingerie store, opened in 2018. American Eagle — A two-story flagship store for the apparel retailer, opened in 2018. Coca-Cola Store — A two-story gift shop. Opened in 1997 as the World of Coca-Cola, a four-story facility, with the upper two floors containing a museum showcasing the history of Coca-Cola; the museum portion closed in 2000. Designer Shoe Warehouse — A flagship store for the shoe retailer, in the mall's basement. Opened in 2018. Food court — Opened in 2003 with nine fast-food outlets. Hard Rock Cafe — A three-story facility including a restaurant, live music venue, gift shop. Opened in 2009. M&M's World — A four-story store selling M&M's candy and merchandise.

Opened in 1997. T-Mobile — A two-story flagship store for the mobile phone provider. Opened in 2018. GameWorks — A video arcade and restaurant. Opened in 1997 in a basement space now occupied by Marshalls. Closed in 2012. Grand Canyon Experience — A two-story gift shop built to resemble the Grand Canyon. Opened in 2000 as part of the mall's second phase. Closed in 2017. Official All Star Cafe — A three-story theme restaurant featuring sports memorabilia. Opened in 1996. Closed in 2000. Tickets2Nite — A discount ticket broker located in the mall's atrium. Opened in 2002 as the first discount ticket outlet in Las Vegas, inspired by New York's TKTS booth. Moved out by 2008. United Artists Theaters — An eight-screen movie theater, located at the base of the mall's parking garage. Opened in 1997. Closed in 2018