The 130 East Seneca St. bus station, which several unhoused people used for shelter, was cleared by Ithaca Police Department officers on Tuesday evening, according to Daniel Creamer, a volunteer for Ithaca Food Not Bombs.
During the clearing, personal items were removed from the bus stop, and Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit cleaned up the area, according to Deputy City Manager Dominick Recckio.
The city received several complaints about access to the bus stop being restricted due to campers and their belongings, and the people taking shelter at the bus stop were asked to vacate by IPD officers on Tuesday, according to Recckio.
The clearing of the bus stop was “an enforcement action taken by the City pursuant to our pilot administrative policy on managing homeless encampments on City owned land,” Recckio wrote in a statement to The Sun.
Recckio added that local outreach workers enacted several days of outreach to the unhoused people before clearing the bus stop, offering them access to the Code Blue shelter and informing them of the city’s policy.
According to the city’s Pilot Administrative Policy to Manage Homeless Encampments on City Property, the city has the right to seek “immediate closure and/or removal” of campsites on city properties, including areas under active use such as parks, sidewalks and The Commons, in the case of an emergency condition or obstruction.
IPD posted a flyer at the bus station on Nov. 8, claiming it to be a “Non-Authorized Camping Location” that could not be used for camping, storage or shelter, according to Creamer. The flyer redirected readers to Southwest Park, a 28-acre area behind the Tompkins County Recycling and Solid Waste Center, where encampments by unhoused individuals are allowed. The flyer also included contact information for supportive city services.
The city’s pilot administrative policy states that basic living facilities, like toilets, a drinking water supply and garbage collection, will be provided at or near authorized temporary camping areas, like Southwest Park. However, a joint city and Tompkins County initiative to install a navigation hub providing these amenities near the park fell through in September.
Currently, there are no active Code Blue shelters in the county, which are required to house people during the winter on nights when the temperature drops to 32 degrees or below. Last year’s Code Blue location at the former Keybank building is slated for deconstruction this year, and the new Cherry St. location will not be open until later this month.
In the meantime, people seeking shelter are placed in local motels, wrote Tompkins County Legislature Chair Dan Klein in a statement to The Sun.
“While this option provides privacy and stability, it does come with limitations,” Klein wrote. “Every situation is assessed individually, with the safety and well-being of all shelter clients and staff as the county’s top priority.”
Limitations include the fact that some motels do not allow pets, or they require a credit card or security deposit, which the county is not allowed to provide, Klein mentioned.
He wrote that the county is also aware of additional concerns regarding the handling of certain calls dialed to the county in request of shelter, and that the county is reviewing the issue.
Local progressive organizations Food Not Bombs and the Ithaca Tenants Union set up a Community Warming Center at the First Baptist Church to provide unhoused people with resources and help them access shelter using the county’s Code Blue services. From 5 to 10 p.m. on Code Blue nights, when the temperature drops to 32 degrees or below, volunteers give out free hand warmers, socks, emergency blankets and other supplies to visitors at the center and others sheltering outside in downtown Ithaca.
Creamer works at the center several times a week and said he had been anticipating a “sweep” of the East Seneca Street bus station. Volunteers checked the bus stop regularly because of this, but when Creamer passed by Tuesday night, he noticed that those typically staying there were gone, along with their personal belongings.
Creamer and other volunteers spent the rest of the night trying to locate the people they knew sheltered there “to make sure they were alright, unhurt and if the cops had taken all of their supplies.”
“It took us a couple hours, checking usual [camping] spots and asking around to see if they were safe,” Creamer said. “We didn’t know for sure until later that night, when a man who came into the warming center let us know he saw one of the women [from the bus station] earlier and said she seemed okay.”
Warming center volunteer Angel DeVivo said volunteers were told that people staying at the bus station were taken to Code Blue shelters by outreach workers and signed up for the Temporary Assistance program through the Department of Social Services, but DeVivo cannot confirm if the unhoused people were provided these services.
DeVivo and others are still looking for some personal items of people who stored belongings at the stop but did not sleep there overnight.
The bus stop was “restored for its intended use in supporting local transportation” after several interventions and in coordination with Code Blue requirements, according to IPD chief Thomas Kelly.
“Recently, a hazardous condition was identified at the Seneca Street bus stop involving cardboard, personal property, and an electrical device,” Kelly wrote. “This situation prevented the broader community — including other vulnerable populations — from safely using an important component of the public transportation system.”
According to the pilot administrative policy, the city and Tompkins County are experiencing rates of homelessness higher than neighboring communities. Creamer said the Trump administration’s plan to introduce large cuts to long-term housing programs like Housing First will only worsen existing homelessness issues in Ithaca.
“While a couple officials [in the] city and county have said they are on our side — a number I can count on my hand — the vast majority keep making excuses [and] refuse to acknowledge [...] that this is inadequate,” Creamer said.
If you are in need of emergency housing, please contact Tompkins County Emergency Services at 607-274-5030 during business hours from Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Outside business hours, please call 607-257-2444.
Shubha Gautam is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a senior writer for the News department and can be reached at sgautam@cornellsun.com.
