The city of Binghamton has recently begun to increase its enforcement of zoning rules on basement parties held by students.

On Friday, Sept. 25, several properties in the area were given notices from the Office of the Fire Marshal that “all unauthorized basement parties, assemblies, organized gatherings, entertainment activities, and residential amenity activities CEASE IMMEDIATELY.” The notice cited an investigation at a Downtown location that produced evidence indicating that the basement had been used for a party or gathering.

“The message that I have as mayor is that, look, we’re looking to keep everyone safe, and that it’s the areas in which this is happening that concern me, and it should concern a student who is choosing to, you know, drink alcohol or not drink alcohol, but to be in these spaces that are not designed or rated or safe to have this number of people,” said Mayor Jared Kraham in an interview with Pipe Dream.

Kraham listed three main locations where issues are taking place.

He told Pipe Dream that at one, more than 300 individuals were identified by the fire marshal, with some presenting with “high levels of intoxication.”

Kraham also said that at another, a fog machine triggered the fire alarm in the basement area on Sept. 3. The final location was placarded by the fire marshal after being noticed by patrolling officers.

“Obviously, we want to keep everyone safe, and that includes, you know, making sure there’s fire exits, making sure that, you know, entrances aren’t blocked, making sure that we’re actually at a reasonable capacity,” said an anonymous student affiliated with the Intra-Fraternity Council in an interview with Pipe Dream.

“I don’t really think that there’s a lot of productivity coming from shutting down college parties when you have a massive homelessness crisis, you have a massive poverty crisis, you have a massive housing and unemployment crisis,” the student added. “I don’t think that those are problems that are going to go away by getting rid of college drinking and house parties.”

Kraham said that the city received complaints from several local business owners in the Downtown area because they view these student assemblies as “chipping away at their legitimate businesses.”

Kraham also said that the issue has come to the attention of the city through conversations with Binghamton University officials, local residents and patrol officers who have noticed “larger groups of students” Downtown.

“We just want to be clear that this is not a type of activity that is allowed and is potentially putting students in danger, which we don’t want to have happen,” Kraham said.

The student affiliated with the IFC told Pipe Dream that his organization takes several safety precautions when hosting parties, including being strictly invite-only and having at least three “sober monitors” who remain unintoxicated to supervise guests leaving and entering, call for help if needed and talk to police and firefighters.

Kraham explained that the city visited several different properties to post immediate orders to remedy and can issue tickets if violations continue. He emphasized that the main issue is safety, not punitive action.

The student affiliated with the IFC also said that his organization has been living at their house for several years and has never had any problems with fire chief zoning and police complaints in the past.

Pipe Dream also interviewed an anonymous owner of a student music venue in Binghamton. The owner emphasized that they never have parties in their basement and have freedom of movement and safety in mind when deciding the layout for their venue. They also remain vigilant about the capacity and well-being of their guests during shows, making sure guests have access to exits, air-conditioned seating areas and water.

“We think it’s important for gatherings to be safe for everyone,” the owner of the venue wrote to Pipe Dream. “If police are responding to safety concerns around gatherings like house shows/parties, that means preemptive measures could have been taken to ensure a safer environment. And if the city is prioritizing a more reactive approach to minimizing the dangers associated with house parties via police, then that just means people will continue to duck safety regulations until they get caught.”

The student affiliated with the IFC shared a similar opinion about the city’s approach to policing parties and how students would react.

“I think that at the end of the day, college students are gonna drink, you know, and whether it’s us or someone else, people are just gonna find new ways to throw parties,” said the student affiliated with the IFC. “I think that they’re going to change, but I don’t think they’re going to change in the way that the city wants.”

Editor’s note: addresses and specific titles in this article were removed to protect student privacy.