Council Member Lynch’s Ward Meeting:
Police, Kindness Can Allay Student Woes
By LIBBY CUDMORE• allotsego.com
ONEONTA – Directed police presence helped calm some of the student chaos on Myrtle Avenue in Mike Lynch’s 4th Ward, but it’s not a long-term solution.
“Having a police presence there takes manpower away from bar sweeps and underage parties,” said Lynch at this evening’s ward meeting, held at the Center Street school. “If we only have three patrol cars out, even if we add a neighborhood watch, they’re still backed up. We need cops.”
OPD Lt. Douglas Brenner has been working with both SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College to alert them of student arrests and citations for the school’s own judicial review. “Repeat offenses are going down,” he said. “People make a mistake once, but the number of repeat offenders is very small.”
However, he suggested, the colleges could do more. “At SUNY Binghamton, the college pays the salary of one of the patrolmen assigned to student areas,” he said. “That’s the kind of meaningful support we should expect from the colleges.”
But just as important as police presence, the neighbors agreed, was outreach to stop the problems before they start. “Students tell me that they say hello to people and people don’t answer them,” said Cecilia Zapata. “They would like to be part of our neighborhoods.”
Zapata makes it a point to bake a pie and take it to her student neighbors at the beginning of each year and let them know about noise ordinances and what’s expected of them. “They have always been wonderful neighbors,” she said.
Kaler Carpenter of the Redemption Movement in the 6th Ward has made a point to visit student houses with baskets of light bulbs and batteries. “It’s a powerful thing to do,” he said. “We welcome them, help them move in.”
From Thursday to Saturday night, he also offers late-night rides to students who have been drinking, escorting 135 students from downtown to their homes. “If we didn’t give them a ride, they’d be wandering through Center City,” he said. “We provide them water bottles, barf bags, and they’re blown away that someone is showing them kindness.”
He’s hoping to offer more alcohol-free events downtown in the future. “Even if they’re at our event for an hour, that’s an hour they’re not drinking,” he said.
Lynch suggested that residents make an effort to connect with half a dozen students and invite them to the next ward meeting. “When they feel like they’re your neighbors, they’ll protect the neighborhood,” he said. “They want to be good neighbors, they just don’t know how yet.”
