Despite efforts by the mayor and Syracuse police to put an end to MayFest on Euclid Avenue, the fourth year of the block party continued on.

Students and police noticed a tamer atmosphere than previous years. A fear of police enforcement and the university sanctioned MayFest in Walnut Park drawing people away from Euclid could have caused the change.

“I expected a lot of people to really rebel against it,” said Lauren Thomas, sophomore magazine journalism major partying in the 400 block of Euclid Avenue. “But people are really playing it safe.”

The day got a slow start, party picking up around 4 p.m. By then, lawns along Euclid were filled with students drinking and enjoying the afternoon. Most students were careful to keep the drinking on the lawn, and not file into the sidewalks or streets with open containers.

For the most part, police weren’t ticketing many students. As long as they followed all the city ordinances, they didn’t have to worry. Mark Duby, an officer from the Syracuse Police Department, said he was mainly warning students about noise violations. As long as students turned down the music after a warning he wouldn’t issue them a ticket, he said.

“We’re not here because we want to be,” Duby said. “We don’t want to ruin the good time.”

As of 6 p.m., there were only three noise ordinance violations written up, said Sgt. Gary Bulinski. He did not have the number of open container or underage drinking violations.

There was also one arrest at around 3:30 p.m., said Lt. Richard Shoff. The arrest on the 400 block of Euclid occurred when police attempted to cite a student for noise violation. The student would not give police the necessary information to complete the citation paperwork, including his name, social security number and date of birth, so police arrested the student, Shoff said.

“There were no punches thrown,” Shoff said. “But he was less than cooperative.”

Students were mostly cooperative when police approached them, Shoff said. Shoff was not around for last year’s MayFest, but said from what he had heard, this year’s was easier to control and had less people than he expected.

Despite Shoff’s evaluation that the party was not out of control, some non-student passersby in the neighborhood said they were disappointed with how the police were handling the party.

A pedestrian from the neighborhood said the party was quieter than last year’s, but she did not think MayFest was very well controlled. The woman declined to provide her name.

“The true spirits still came out,” she said. “Police are just staying and letting students be students.”

Some students said they think the partying got started late because they were afraid police would be cracking down.

“Earlier people were scared to come out,” said Kevin Beargie, a junior mechanical engineering major. “But once they saw people out, they started coming out themselves.”

Some students said they were not as satisfied with this year’s MayFest, compared to ones in the past because the party started later than usual.

At 2:30 p.m., Jason Gorsky, a senior sport management major, said he was disappointed the party was not as large and wild as in previous years.

“This is nothing compared to the last three years,” he said. “I was definitely hammered by 2:30 my freshman, sophomore and junior years.”

But he said he appreciated police’s leniency in light of their plan of stricter law enforcement. The house Gorsky was at on the 400 block of Euclid had received a warning about noise ordinance violation, but did not get ticketed when they turned the music down.

‘The cops are on edge, but they have to have somewhat of discretion,” Gorsky said. “If they have to bust one open party up, it sets a precedent and they have to be consistent.”

But Monica Hedden, a senior advertising design major, said she was confused about the cops’ inconsistency with warning students or telling them to tone down the partying. Hedden and four of her friends began playing beer pong on their lawn at 11 a.m. One police officer came up to group and was very friendly, she said. But when the next set of officers came around, they told the girls to take down their table right away.

“There was absolutely no reason, they just told us to get rid of it,” she said. “There were five of us, and we were all 21.”

Hedden and her friends weren’t breaking any city ordinances. All five students were 21 years old, and they were staying on their own property. Hedden also said the police told her if more than 40 people showed up the police would issue serious consequences.

“We weren’t doing anything wrong, it’s just the anticipation of what could happen,” she said.

Duby, the SPD officer, said the police hadn’t been told to target houses with beer pong tables. He also said the police were expecting the party to pick up after the MayFest celebrations in Walnut Park ended at 5:30 p.m.

Kate Ready, a senior public relations major, did notice the party beginning to pick up as people left Walnut Park.

“I heard after 3 p.m., they were only giving out 2 beers, so I think people kind of came over here as the day was ending, and I can see that this might become a more rowdy area as the night progresses,” Ready said.

Although Block Party began in the Carrier Dome at 7:30 p.m., the parties on Euclid had died down but were continuing as of 8:15. 

“For the most part, I have to say Stephanie Minor has made her point,” Ready said. “She’s aligned herself with the people who live in this area fully, and that’s respectable. I want to add that I think this is a really good tradition that people come out and they celebrate being a senior and your last year at Syracuse.”

– Asst. News Editor Beckie Strum contributed reporting to this article.

Published on April 30, 2010 at 12:00 pm