Matthew Barnett, manager of Harry’s Bar on South Crouse Avenue, spent seven years in the area, five of which he’s worked at the corner bar. He spends his nights bartending for what he describes as a crowd of “typical college kids.”

But since Maggies Restaurant and Sports Bar closed last April, Barnett said he hasn’t seen a noticeable increase in the number of patrons who come in.

Though new faces might drop by every now and then, the crowd size seems to stay the same, with repeat customers coming in routinely until the next generation of students come of age.

Barnett credits some of this with the changing attitudes of Syracuse University itself.

“It’s a little surprising that it’s not busier, but I think it has a little bit to do with the university changing,” he said. “In the past five years, this university has gotten much better academically. So typically, if you’re doing better academically, the party scene drops off a bit.”

The change in establishments on Marshall Street and South Crouse Avenue creates a different backdrop for students every few years. But in the past six years, the closing of four bars has eliminated some choice for students, with only Harry’s, Chuck’s Cafe, Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar, and Faegan’s Cafe and Pub remaining. Now, the vacancy where Maggies once stood holds potential for a breath of fresh air into the bar scene.

Operation Prevent kicks in

On April 1, 2009, police confiscated 53 fake IDs and distributed approximately 87 citations for underage drinking at Maggies as part of a state-funded program called Operation Prevent, according to an article published in The Daily Orange on April 1, 2009.

On April 15, the Liquor Authority suspended the bar’s liquor license and the business was shut down, according to The Daily Orange in an article published April 16. The space is currently up for sale. So far, the 2009-10 academic year has gone without an Operation Prevent crackdown.

But Maggies wasn’t the first bar closed as a result of the Operation Prevent activity. In 2004, two bars, Konrad’s Sports Bar and Planet 505, were closed after fake IDs were confiscated from underage patrons, according to articles published in The Daily Orange on Sept. 9, 2004, and Oct. 5, 2004. Six years later, these names may hold memories for alumni but are likely to be foreign to today’s student patrons.

Operation Prevent was created largely to target underage persons using fake IDs, according to the Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention website. Additionally, cases of extreme intoxication at SU were on the rise, according to statistics from the Office of Judicial Affairs for 2003-06.

But more recent statistics from Judicial Affairs show there are fewer violations involving alcohol. In the fall of 2006, Judicial Affairs dealt with 845 cases involving alcohol. There were 811 in 2007, but in the fall of 2008, the number dropped off to 549.

Operation Prevent began with $18,500 in funding from the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, and the program acquired an additional $4,000 the following year. A collaborative effort, Operation Prevent used services from the Syracuse Police Department, the Onondaga District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Liquor Authority, the New York State Police and the Department of Motor Vehicles, as well as SU.

The program resulted in nine raids between February 2003 and 2006. Fake IDs were confiscated at multiple Marshall Street locations. The sting operations resulted in the closing of both Konrad’s and Planet 505, according to articles published in The Daily Orange on Sept. 9, 2004, and Oct. 5, 2004, respectively.

Amer, who declined to give his last name, has worked as a bouncer at Chuck’s for two years. A lifelong Syracuse resident, Amer used to work for Konrad’s, which was located in the same spot Augie’s Pizza once operated. Now, the space is closed to any establishment that would serve alcohol, Amer said.

“When it was open, at a quarter to two there would be a whole mob outside of the bar, everybody leaving and bothering other stores,” he said. “Now, you go over there at two o’clock and the restaurants are busy serving everybody, but I don’t think they have the mess of trouble that they used to have. It was smart move on their part.”

After a 20-month absence, the next Operation Prevent raid occurred one rainy Thursday night in October 2007. The raid of Lucy’s and Chuck’s resulted in nearly 100 underage drinking citations for students, costing $300 to $400 a piece, according to an article published in The Daily Orange on Oct. 26, 2007. At Lucy’s, 70 to 80 citations were issued, and at Chuck’s, 17 were issued, according to The Daily Orange.

Another former Marshall Street hotspot was Darwin’s Restaurant, but the closing was not a result of Liquor Authority activity. After 15 years on the Hill, the bar closed in the fall of 2006 after the owner failed to renew the lease for the following year, according to an article published in The Daily Orange published Oct. 25, 2006.

A static scene

Among the four remaining bars on Marshall Street, Barnett, manager of Harry’s Bar, said there’s “not a chance” of 1,500 patrons, the combination of the establishments’ capacity limits, coming in on even the busiest night. But considering the number of of-age undergraduate and graduate students, there may be niches that Marshall Street isn’t meeting and clientele that has yet to be tapped, he said.

“There are definitely a lot of kids up here that aren’t coming out to these four bars,” he said.

In terms of what might spruce up the scene, Barnett suggested a bar expanding to create a lounge – a room where students could have bottle service.

“There’s the money up here, it would work,” he said.

Brad Johnson, a junior in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said the lack of variety on Marshall Street keeps him from heading out to bars on the weekends, though he’s of legal age to do so.

“There’s no variety,” he said. “They’re all pretty similar.”

The space and age constraints also keep him from partaking in the Marshall Street scene, he said. He suggested a bar that would allow those 19 and older to enter but not drink, which could be more inclusive for the campus community.

Randy Tan, a sophomore finance and information technology major, said he prefers house parties to the campus spots because they tend to cost less and he can spend time with his friends who aren’t of legal age yet.

“Most people at house parties aren’t legal to go to bars,” he said. “If those are the kind of friends you hang out with, you don’t want to just ditch them, so you go to house parties.”

But some underage students choose to try their luck at Marshall Street, risking a citation or worse if they get caught drinking underage, said Amer, the Chuck’s bouncer. On any given night, anywhere from 10 to 50 minors might try to get in with a fake ID or fake entry stamp, only to get turned away, he said.

“We get kids trying to draw a stamp on, and you get the real smart ones that use a different-colored ink,” he said. But such occurrences are typical of any bar, in any given city, he said. “It’s just the nature of the business.”

Amer described the campus bar scene as quiet, with a casual, laid-back atmosphere that’s rarely interrupted by the fights or problems that might be seen in downtown Syracuse. The occasional “loud, obnoxious type” might start trouble, he said, but it’s rare that a fight makes it past one swing before a bouncer steps in to break it up.

Matt Hayes, a Syracuse resident who’s worked the door of Faegan’s Cafe and Pub for four years, said most fights happen on nights of sporting events when students and locals are both present.

But it’s not something he typically has to deal with.

“It’s about as common as an eclipse, so that’s nice,” he said.

Though some might not be attracted to the casual, ubiquitous nature of college bars, there are many students who return week after week to grab a drink and catch up with friends. Jared Kass, a junior accounting major, said there’s no need for a new type of bar on Marshall Street – his current favorite spot, Faegan’s, suits him just fine.

“It’s relaxed,” he said. “It’s like a bar in my hometown.”

Published on April 5, 2010 at 12:00 pm