College must rein in rowdy students

Posted

To the editor,

Thank you for the article “Neighbors to Manhattan College students: shut up!” (Feb. 26)  There is no question that we are upset about our quality of life. Within this community there are young families with children who often get startled out of sleep during the course of the night by drunken kids screaming and yelling; we have elderly residents in fragile health who have to sleep with sound machines or ear plugs; there is even an air traffic controller (a friend of one of the security officers at MC) who spends every Thursday through Saturday night in Yonkers because he can’t sleep in Riverdale.

Our concerns are not only about our quality of life, but also about the safety of the Manhattan College student body. These are not bad kids, but rather drunk kids who often travel in groups and engage in very risky behavior. It is only a matter of time before something tragic happens.  

Manhattan College has to enforce their Code of Conduct and take more action to create a safer environment for their students and improve relations with the community.
Among our suggestions are off-duty police officers doing foot patrols Thursday through Saturday between 12 and 4 a.m. (when the bars close); allowing either community Board 8 members or members of the community to do a presentation at orientation each fall and installing audio/video cameras and monitor and disciplining students identified as being disorderly. They have installed two cameras but have not communicated to us in regards to how the tapes will be reviewed and what, if any, disciplinary action will be taken. Off duty officers — no budget; speaking at orientation — no comment.

Linda Hays

Riverdale, Manhattan College, Linda Hays, rowdy students

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