REPORTER:
IF YOU’RE A STUDENT WITH A VEHICLE AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, CHANCES ARE YOU’VE SEEN ONE OF THESE BEFORE.
RECENT RECORDS OBTAINED FROM THE CITY OF SYRACUSE THROUGH THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, SHOW NEARLY EIGHTY THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF TICKETS ADMINISTERED ON SELECT STREET BLOCKS IN AND AROUND THE UNIVERSITY HILL NEIGHBORHOOD.
DEP. CHIEF RICHARD SHOFF:
“That’s a nice chunk of money.”
REPORTER:
THE 79,635 DOLLARS ACCOUNT FOR 1,445 ISSUED VIOLATIONS FROM JANUARY 18 TO MARCH 5 OF THIS YEAR.
SYRACUSE POLICE DEPUTY CHIEF RICHARD SHOFF SAYS MANY TICKETS AROUND SU ARE BASED OFF COMPLAINTS AND MIGHT BE ATTRIBUTED TO A LACK OF PARKING SPACE IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS.
SHOFF:
“A lot of times they’re based on complaints, some officers are more aggressive. We don’t mandate that you have to write tickets… Back in the day people didn’t drive so everybody didn’t have a car, not to mention seven cars at a house so there’s all kinds of parking problems up there.”
REPORTER:
THE MAJORITY OF THE 1,445 TICKETS FROM JANUARY 18 TO MARCH 5 STEM FROM THE UNIVERSITY HILL AREA ON STREETS SUCH AS MARSHALL, SOUTH CROUSE, WALNUT PLACE, AND EUCLID.
THE NUMBER OF PARKING BOOTS IN THAT AREA ARE HIGHER AS WELL.
DURING THE JANUARY 18 TO MARCH 5 TIME PERIOD, 37 BOOTS WERE PLACED ON VEHICLES IN THE UNIVERSITY HILL AREA- OVER TWICE AS MUCH COMPARED TO LARGER PARKING AREAS SUCH AS DOWNTOWN.
BUT IF YOU THOUGHT THE CITY WAS PLACING BOOTS ON YOUR CAR, THINK AGAIN.
SHOFF:
“Under Mayor Miner, we contracted it out to a private company. The tickets get fed into the system, and they have the license plate readers that’s hits on the people that meet the violation standards”
REPORTER:
PAY-LOCK IS THE PRIVATE- NEW JERSEY BASED COMPANY THAT DETERMINES WHO GETS A BOOT IN SYRACUSE.
STEVE JASA WAS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE
STEVE JASA:
“The automatic license plate readers, when they come by and get you, I was like alright you got me, I’m just going to pay whatever.”
REPORTER:
MANY OF US HAVE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO THAT FEELING. THAT FEELING WHEN YOU GET BACK TO YOUR CAR AND FIND ONE OF THESE UNDERNEATH THE FRONT WINDSHIELD WIPER. THE AVERAGE PARKING VIOLATION IN SYRACUSE RUNS AT ABOUT FORTY DOLLARS, BUT WITH HUNDREDS OF THESE BEING GIVEN OUT EACH WEEK, WHERE IS ALL THAT MONEY GOING TOWARDS?
SHOFF:
“It just goes into the big city pot.”
REPORTER:
THE RECORDS FROM OUR FOIA INDICATE 56,450 DOLLARS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THAT CITY POT.
AND MANY OF THOSE DOLLARS CONTRIBUTING TO THE CITY BUDGET ARE COMING OUT OF THE POCKETS FROM THOSE IN AND AROUND THE UNIVERSITY HILL AREA.
BRENDAN SCANLAND, NCC NEWS.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — If you live in or around the University Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, chances are you’ve found a parking violation on the front windshield of your vehicle at one point or another.
Data from the city, obtained via a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request shows 1,445 issued parking violations from Jan. 18 to March 5, 2021. The data is comprised mostly of streets in and around the University Hill neighborhood, as well as a few others throughout the city.
The issued violations account for $79,635 worth of tickets placed on windshields from Jan. 18 to March 5 on the following streets in the city of Syracuse: Marshall Street, Walnut Avenue, Euclid Avenue, South Clinton Street, Craton Street, West Jefferson Street, South Salina Street, Walnut Place, West Fayette Street, South Crouse Avenue, and Hazelwood Avenue.
The nearly $80,000 worth of violations surprised Syracuse Police Deputy Chief Richard Shoff.
“That’s a nice chunk of money,” said Shoff.
Shoff says the University area receives many parking complaints from local residents. Those complaints combined with difficult parking arrangements in the area account for a high level of tickets in the area.
“A lot of times they’re based on complaints, some officers are more aggressive. We don’t mandate that you have to write tickets,” said Shoff. “Back in the day people didn’t drive so everybody didn’t have a car, not to mention seven cars at a house so there’s all kinds of parking problems up there,” he added.
With higher amounts of parking tickets around the university comes higher frequency of parking boots.
Parking boots are a locked device placed on the wheel of a vehicle that restricts it from moving without causing serious damage.
The city contracts a private New Jersey-based company to handle booting vehicles.
“Under Mayor Miner, we contracted it out to a private company,” Shoff said. “The tickets get fed into the system, and they have the license plate readers that hits on the people that meet the violation standards.”
Steve Jasa was one of those people.
“The automatic license plate readers, when they come by and get you, I was like alright you got me, I’m just going to pay whatever,” said Jasa.
The records from our FOIL indicate $56,450 are contributing to that city pot.
And many of those dollars contributing to the city budget are coming out of the pockets from those in and around the University Hill area, like Jasa.
