Debadrita Sur

Verified

(She/Her)

News Reporter, The Mirror US
News Reporter, Daily Express US
None, Hearst Television

New York, Syracuse

U.S. Regional

As seen in: Daily Express US, Hearst Television, The Mirror US, MSN, MSN Ireland, MSN UK, The Daily Mirror, Aol, Daily Express, Daily Star (UK), Flipboard, Yahoo Noticias, Scottish Daily Record and

Covers: breaking news, geopolitics, healthcare, homelessness, labor, inflation, poverty, class, gender, pop culture

Housing and infrastructure reporter @Central_Current via @Report4America Tips: dsur@centralcurrent.org Professional procrastinator.

Get in touch with Debadrita

Contact Debadrita, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.

Learn more about Muck Rack

Actions

Share this page

Debadrita Sur’s Biography

Read Full Bio →

Debadrita Sur is a housing and infrastructure reporter for The Central Current and a Report For America corps member. She covers the Interstate 81 Viaduct Project and the East Adams public housing redevelopment project.

Before joining Central Current, she covered a variety of stories, ranging from geopolitical conflicts to the Trump administration, housing and homelessness, labor, infrastructure and immigration with bylines in The Buffalo News, National Catholic Reporter, Daily Express US, Mi…

Debadrita Sur’s Journalist Portfolio

See all 30 portfolio items →

For recent arrivals to Buffalo, the Bills started as a curiosity. But the passion found them

"It didn't take long to understand the hold the Bills have on you and that even if we wanted to, resistance i…

View article →

Erie County's homeless need to travel to downtown Buffalo to keep housing. Do they have the means...

For many who are homeless in Erie County, hotel and motel rooms provided by the county are a way to keep them…

View article →

'Take a stand': Parents, teachers frustrated at Sweet Home's response to antisemitic acts

Sweet Home Superintendent Michael Ginestre said the district is limited in what it can say about incidents th…

View article →

An asylum-seeker from Peru finds community amid trauma during holiday season

View article →

From Nepal to Buffalo: Program aims to help officials from other countries see how government wor...

A program run by the International Institute of Buffalo brings people from around the world to Western New Yo…

View article →

Momentum Choir fosters friendship and belonging as members raise their voices

"It is a place where my disability doesn't matter," Momentum Choir member Cammie Stamp said, "but my talents …

View article →

Articles

HUD rules SHA Chair Ryan Benz has an “apparent conflict of interest,” should continue recusal until SHA obtains full disclosures

Jul 09, 2026 |

By Debadrita Sur

| Central Current

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found Syracuse Housing Authority Board Chair Ryan Benz has an “apparent” conflict of interest and requested comprehensive details of his business dealings, HUD wrote in a letter to Benz on June 30. The finding came five months after SHA Executive Director Bill Simmons filed a complaint against Benz with HUD. HUD emailed the letter to Benz, Simmons and SHA attorney Brad Hunt. Benz confirmed to Central Current he received the letter.

Open in Who Shared

Bill Simmons to leave Syracuse Housing Authority after yearlong turmoil

Jul 02, 2026 |

By Debadrita Sur

| Central Current

Syracuse Housing Authority Executive Director Bill Simmons agreed to retire a year before his contract with SHA is set to expire. Simmons last day with the housing authority will be July 10. The housing authority’s board voted to approve a mutual separation agreement with Simmons by a vote of 6-1. An embattled Simmons and the board came to the agreement after he was at the center of controversies surrounding the billion-dollar redevelopment of public housing on the Southside for more than a year.

Open in Who Shared

Inside the disagreement over a $7M commitment from Onondaga County to SHA’s redevelopment of public housing

Jun 06, 2026 |

By Debadrita Sur

| Central Current

Onondaga County, developer McCormack Baron Salazar and Syracuse Housing Authority officials are at odds over a two-year-old $7 million commitment by the county to the redevelopment of public housing. In private, the three organizations have been trying to settle whether the $7 million commitment by the county should be an in-kind contribution or a cash contribution.