Spill out your beer before you leave the bars and be safe.
That’s the request of the Campus Community Coalition of Binghamton to keep this year’s Bar Crawl running as smoothly as last year’s.
The coalition met yesterday at City Hall to plan for the annual bar-hop. Dave Husch, director of Off-Campus College, moderated the discussion with the Senior Class Council, Binghamton Police, Community Relations, Department of Public Works and local bar owners and licensees.
“Hopefully it’ll be the same as last year,” said Husch, who founded the coalition eight years ago. Police made no arrests last year and there were very few complaints, he said.
“We expect it to be very safe and students to have a good time,” Husch said.
Bar Crawl, which is organized by the Senior Class Council, is Thursday, May 15. Between 2,000 and 5,000 revelers are to expected carry their mugs to 14 Binghamton venues for discount alcohol and a last chance to party with the senior class. Bar owners said drinking for “BU’s biggest social event of the year” will probably start around noon.
“Just like last year’s Bar Crawl, we expect the craziest day of responsible fun possible,” said David Belsky, adviser to the Senior Class Council. “We proved last year to both SUNY and the City of Binghamton that BU students are responsible and also know how to have a great time.”
Because of open container laws, crawlers must dump their drinks before leaving the bars. When Belsky asked if the city could lift the regulation for the event, Interim Police Chief Joseph Zikuski answered with a firm “absolutely not.”
“It’s a city ordinance,” Zikuski said. “We’re not going to change laws.”
Larry Shea, owner of Tom and Marty’s on State Street, said he approves of restricting open containers outside because it gives people a chance to relax during a long day of drinking.
“I think the kids need a break [from drinking] anyway,” Shea said. Party-goers taking it easy outdoors is “almost a Bohemian scene,” he said.
The New York State Liquor Authority told Husch it “would seek added penalty” on bars that sell to underage patrons. Zikuski said police will not set up checkpoints where officers randomly card revelers. But police will request to see I.D. if they spot open container violators.
“We want people to enjoy themselves,” Zikuski said. “Just don’t drink in public.”
Police are also warning participants that drinking in garages, like the one on the corner of State and Hawley streets, still violates the open container laws. Officials are telling convenience store attendants to watch out for patrons who buy alcohol to drink outdoors.
Shea remembers Bar Crawl about 15 years ago when he was a student at BU.
“It was about five bars, probably about 50 of us,” said Shea, who also ran Sports Bar before Tom & Marty’s. “It just gets bigger, crazier and earlier.”
Before 2007’s crawl, the then-SUNY Chancellor John Ryan made threats to abolish the event, saying “traditions like the Bar Crawl in Binghamton, which is not sponsored by the college, are not healthy and do not reflect the kind of values that SUNY tries to instill in its students.”
Last year, a group of students through University Alcohol and Other Drug Committee put together Bearcat Day, an alcohol-free alternative to Bar Crawl. But no students stepped up to set up the event this year and the University didn’t approach the Senior Class Council about organizing it.
“Down the road, I hope to see [Bearcat Day],” Husch said.
Official Bar Crawl 2008 mugs are on sale in the SA office, Old University Union, room UU-221a, in the program director’s office (607-777-2020) and, along with senior T-shirts, will also be on sale at the Senior Picnic, this Sunday, May 4 from 1 to 5 p.m. in Recreation Park.