Jennifer Kotapka squeezed her car between the barricades in front of Acropolis Pizza House and ran inside for less than two minutes to grab deliveries.

What she discovered on her way out came with a price. A cop was writing her a ticket for parking illegally. It’s one of three she has received since a Jan. 21 pipe burst forced barricades to go up in front of nearly a dozen businesses on Marshall Street.

‘I have to park illegally. I don’t have any choice, and the cop told me, ‘Stop breaking the law,” said Kotapka, an Acropolis cook and driver who is spending her minimum wage earnings to pay $85 in parking tickets.

The problems don’t stop with Kotapka and delivery drivers, as profits have tumbled for many businesses behind the barricades on Marshall Street. The barricades block off half the street and stretch from Chipotle Mexican Grill to J. Michael Shoes, where the pipe break occurred. Orange signs dot the enclosed area, identifying a temporary parking ban.

Acropolis has lost more than 50 percent of its business since the pipe burst, Kotapka said. The restaurant, located next to J. Michael, lost pizza boxes, paper products and 20 cans of cherry filling when the pipe burst caused water to flow into the basement, Kotapka said. The phone lines, as well as the credit card and fax systems, also went down for a week.

The barricades on Marshall Street could be up for another month as workers try to rebuild the foundation under J. Michael, said John Vavalo, owner of the store, which has temporarily relocated to Marshall Square Mall.

‘Underneath our sidewalk, there is nothing holding it up,’ Vavalo said. ‘That’s the problem. They don’t want any heavy equipment even close to that.’

Pete O’Connor, commissioner of the Syracuse Department of Public Works, told Vavalo last Monday that the barricades are up so people don’t park near the unsteady foundation, Vavalo said. O’Connor could not be reached for comment.

Many workers of the remaining Marshall businesses have come to Vavalo, who represents retailers on the board of directors for the Crouse Marshall Business District.

‘I feel bad for them,’ he said. ‘A lot of them have complained to me.’

Revenue is down 40 to 50 percent at Cosmos Pizza and Grill, said Demo Stathis, co-owner of the restaurant. Customers started decreasing a few days after the pipe burst, as the lack of parking has made it difficult to reach the restaurant, Stathis said.

‘It’s hurting us,’ he said.

Police have told delivery drivers to keep moving, Stathis said, because they block the single lane of traffic if they park in front of the restaurant. But Stathis’ employees still help load a driver’s car in the street when an order is ready, he said. At other times, drivers must pick up the orders on foot.

‘It’s been a headache,’ Stathis said. ‘They’ve got to park wherever they can find a spot and walk to the store.’

Syracuse police officers have handed out several tickets for drivers parking in the barricaded areas, but there hasn’t been much of an issue with people parking in the driving lane, said SPD Sgt. Gary Bulinski.

The lack of parking has deterred people from going to Manny’s, where January and February are already the slowest months of the year for customers, said sales clerk Matt Brower.

‘They might drive around the block twice, not be able to find a parking spot and say, ‘Screw it,” he said.

At Some Girls Boutique, the number of customers has stayed fairly steady, but the barricades have made it more difficult for customers from the city to reach the store, said manager Kaleigh O’Brien.

‘I’ve definitely had people call a lot more and ask, ‘Are you open?” she said.

Though the part of the street inside the barricades is filled with piles of snow, pedestrians still cross through them. O’Brien said she walks through the snow trail in front of Cosmos to get to work.

Near the Cosmos building stands Panda West Chinese Restaurant, where the number of customers has fallen 10 to 20 percent since the pipe burst, said owner Alfred Lam. The drop-off is more visible at dinnertime, he said.

‘There’s nothing you can do,’ he said. ‘Just wait.’

Barricades also block off the sidewalk in front of J. Michael, as the store and a tattoo business above it sit without customers. Students have come down to discover the two businesses either relocated or closed.

Planning to get a tattoo on Friday, Remi Maggio went to Halo Tattoo and saw a paper stuck to the door that said it was closed. Maggio walked over the sidewalk barrier to see it.

‘I didn’t know how safe it was, I kind of feel bad I jumped over,’ Maggio, a freshman communication and rhetorical studies major, said laughing.

But the situation is no laughing matter for Halo Tattoo, which is losing ‘thousands and thousands of dollars’ because of the closure, said business manager Patrick Kitzel.

Employees are trying to get customers to come to Halo Tattoo’s two other locations in Liverpool and DeWitt, but most of the Marshall customers are students who can’t travel to the other stores, Kitzel said.

Halo Tattoo has done business above J. Michael for 10 years. The store suffered no physical damage from the pipe burst, but employees can’t return until the whole building is repaired, Kitzel said.

‘Once we get back up there, we’ll be business as usual,’ he said. ‘But until then, we’re losing a lot of business.’

mcboren@syr.edu

Published on February 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm