Three Syracuse police officers approached Henry Blechman, a senior who lives on the 500 block of Euclid Avenue. ‘We need those people off the roof,’ said one of the officers, pointing upward.

Blechman complied, and within minutes, the guests who had climbed out a third-floor window onto the roof of the house were back inside. ‘I thought they were going to be a lot stricter than they were,’ Blechman said.

Only one arrest, a few parking tickets and no injuries were recorded in Tuesday’s block party, according to Lt. Frank Chmarak of the Syracuse Police Department. The collection of parties attracted at least 700 students yesterday afternoon, most of which lined Euclid’s 500 block. At one point, the entire street seemed to echo in cheers as a fire truck drove by, honking its horn.

Though a man was arrested for throwing a half-full beer can at a garbage collector at about 8:40 p.m., he was not a Syracuse University student, Chmarak said.

Despite a strong presence from Syracuse Police and Public Safety, who expanded patrols and kept an ambulance and a prisoner transport van on site, officers gave multiple warnings rather than cracking down on the parties. They walked the sidewalks in twos, keeping students – often with beer cans – off sidewalks and away from the street.

‘Most cops went to college,’ Chmarak said. ‘We had our fun, too. We’re just here as peace keepers. So far, nothing’s gotten out of control.’

Students partying on Mayfest, their day off of classes, appreciated the lenience.

‘Cops have been very cordial,’ said John Dowling, graduate education student. ‘They haven’t been busting our balls.’

The parties started at about 11 a.m., when residents set up beer pong tables and sat down to drink on their front lawns. About 200 students lined the street by 2 p.m. and the parties exploded around 5 p.m. Three hours later, those still outside were told to move in and that noise ordinances and open container laws would begin to be enforced more strictly, Chmarak said. By 9:15 p.m., the parties had died down.

Chris Bruno, a senior political science major who lives on the 400 block of Euclid Avenue, said he and his roommates bought between $200 and $250 worth of beer. At 6 p.m., more than 60 students were packed into the apartment’s front yard, but officers simply walked past, keeping the group on the lawn.

About 15 police officers were walking the street at any time, Chmarak said in an evening interview. A total of three shifts were scheduled until 3 a.m. Public Safety officers were also present in about the same numbers.

Earlier in the day, at least eight marked police cars and half as many Public Safety cars visibly patrolled Euclid Avenue. Lt. John Sardino of Public Safety was in an unmarked car.

‘We’ve got potential here for later in the evening, a big party,’ said Sardino, as he circled the neighborhood in the early afternoon. ‘When you’re doing funnels at 2 in the afternoon, you’re going to have some hammered people.’

But police response was minimal.

A few houses had been warned three or four times by sunset, Chmarak said. There had only been a few noise complaints by that time, also. But they came by phone and not in person.

At about 6:30 p.m., Capt. Mike Rathbun of Public Safety approached a house with red cups and beer cans scattered across the lawn. Instead of a ticket, he gave the student tenants white trash bags.

Daniel Riti, senior computer engineering major, had set up a turntable and sound system on the front porch of a house on the 500 block of Euclid Avenue. ‘I came out with this full system and we were planning on rocking out,’ he said, ‘but they shut that down basically right away.’

‘They were nice,’ Riti said. ‘They came up to us saying we’re trying to save you a lot of trouble.’

His professional turntable was later plugged into a small Sony boom box, instead of his large sub-woofer.

Louis Omiatek, senior international relations major, has experience in dealing with police when having a party. Last semester, he and his roommates were issued $100 tickets for violating noise ordinances for playing music too loudly at their house on the 600 block of Euclid Avenue.

They chose to do six hours of community service instead of paying the fines, said Omiatek, holding a beer in one hand and playing a bean-bag toss game with the other.

Overall, permanent residents did not seem to be bothered by the parties.

‘I think the day went fabulously well,’ said Harry Lewis, treasurer of the Southeast University Neighborhood Association and resident of the 900 block of Lancaster Avenue. ‘It was very sensible, very well organized as far as protection is concerned.’

Lewis said he was thankful that ‘Livingstock’ occurred, so the university and police were ready for Tuesday’s parties, referring to a block party on Livingston Avenue in May 1999 that ended in bonfires and a riot when police tried to break the party up.

He also said he can see events similar to Tuesday’s in the future, so long as the students throwing the parties raise the money to pay for police enforcement and garbage cleanup, rather than the university, which was the case this year.

Students expressed hope that block parties can continue in future years.

‘This should be done every year because it brings the whole university together,’ said Steven Lamensdorf, junior entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises and marketing major.

Blechman said he wished the event had happened earlier in the year because it got neighbors socializing. ‘Everyone’s going from house to house. Everyone’s meeting each other.’

‘If the cops act like they did today, then it could definitely happen again,’ said senior Bruno, who described his day as ‘hanging out with friends, cooking out and great fun from start to finish.’

‘This is the most ‘college’ experience of my college life — and I’m a senior,’ said Caroline Dudich, communication design major. ‘It should definitely happen again.’

Published on April 24, 2007 at 12:00 pm