A city problem threatens the County

Looking forward to 2024, there are a number of issues facing the City of Ithaca that will have consequences for the rest of the county.

At the recent meeting of the Ithaca Community Police Board, Acting Chief Ted Schwartz fielded a number of questions from board members relating to the state of the department and conditions at the Arthaus apartments in Ithaca’s West End and the new Marketview Apartments across from Aldi Grocery. Both locations have become the site of frequent calls for police and first responder assistance. It was remarked that these buildings amount to “The Jungle” with a roof on them.

Chief Schwartz went on to describe his department as “critically understaffed,” with the retirement of Acting Captain Jacob Young announced in the meeting. Young’s departure will be a major loss for IPD, where he is responsible for a great deal of the training that goes on at the department. The department’s chronic understaffing is impacting other first responder’s ability to effectively render aid. A recent Ithaca Voice story describes “soaring emergency response times” county wide. Ithaca’s unsanctioned encampments are a major contributing factor, as they consume first responder resources like a bottomless pit.

In October, a letter signed by dozens of Bangs Ambulance staff and Ithaca Police Officers was sent to the City regarding the ‘Green Zone,’ the new city sanctioned encampment for the homeless behind Walmart. They warned that the city plan would “inadvertently empower criminal elements” existing in them. Police presence is required to secure any scene before ambulance personnel can render aid. The lack of police manpower complicates responding to the frequent overdoses and medical incidents in the encampments. 

There is currently no enforcement policy in place to prevent illegal camping on city property. Police enforcement was gutted from the Green Zone plan. A new proposed enforcement policy is currently being discussed in the Planning & Economic Development Committee. It removes any armed officer response. A memorandum accompanying the proposed policy states, “The proposed protocols de-emphasize reliance on the threat of interaction with law enforcement and citations issued by police officers to gain compliance.”

Police are summoned to the encampments nonetheless. An attempt at rebranding the Green Zone to the “Exception Zone” was proposed by a member of the committee. This represents an effort to imply that camping elsewhere would be prohibited. This is not the case as illustrated by a recent stabbing in Jungle #1 behind Agway, which saw the victim airlifted to a trauma center. This series of encampments exists on a combination of City of Ithaca and railroad property. Railroad management requested the city address these encampments in writing several months ago. Despite the ongoing violence and drug activity emanating from these encampments, there has been no attempt to reign in activity at the site.

Similar encampments exist behind Lowes and Kohl’s department store in Jungles #2 & #3.

The violence and criminal activity in these encampments and apartment buildings inevitably spills over into other areas downtown. From people armed with machetes at Walmart, to a woman attacking cars with a meat cleaver at Aldi, you don’t have to live in Ithaca to be affected by the decay. Even if you do not live here, you travel through here, work here, shop here, send your children to school here or know someone that does.

The recent upset in Ithaca’s 4th Ward council race is a reason to be hopeful. Patrick Kuehl’s time as an EMT working with Bangs Ambulance will hopefully inform any new policy set forth by council. Kuehl’s unexpected victory represents a meaningful pushback to the tactics of bullying and intimidation utilized by the Solidarity Slate. The threat of a single voting block dominating the Ithaca Common Council appears to have been averted.

The city is in the final stages of selecting a new City Manager and Police Chief. January will see a transition to the city manager form of government. Oversight and accountability will be more important than ever. It is vital that Republicans county wide focus their attention on the policy decisions made in the city. You are going to have to live with their consequences. 

Zachary Winn is a former republican candidate for Ithaca City Council.