Limited and Relocated Parking on Campus Confuses Students

Parking policies at Ramapo are confusing, students say, and the recent addition of the temporary trailers in the Bischoff Hall parking lot seems to be adding to the problem. Parking fines issued by Public Safety often take students by surprise, which may indicate a lack of communication between college officials and the student body.

Freshmen and transfer students living in Bischoff are affected directly by the College's construction plans and have limited parking spaces.

"I was told that the Mackin lots are only for transfers, but there are so many open spaces," said Rebecca Balaskovits, a freshman and resident of Mackin Hall. "It's inconvenient having to park in Lot D when there are so many spots so clearly open."

Other students agree when it comes to the availability of spaces in the Mackin lot, such as freshman Ben Paulussen, a Bischoff resident.

"The Bischoff lot gets a little crowded sometimes, but Mackin always has plenty of spaces," said Paulussen.
The Bischoff parking lot is in part reserved for the handful of freshmen that have driving privileges, but students think it tends to be much more crowded because of the recent addition of trailers that occupy parking spaces.

According to Ramapo's Chief Planning Officer, Dorothy Echols-Tobe, the empty spaces in the Mackin lot are made available to students in the overcrowded Bischoff parking. Since there are many more spaces in Mackin than permits issued, students in Bischoff are allowed to park in the Mackin lot, too.

"If you live in Bischoff and Mackin Hall, you are provided parking in the lot that is contiguous to the hall," said Echols-Tobe. "There are reserved parking spaces in the Bischoff lot closest to the road and students can't park in those areas, and there are spaces to accommodate the disabled as well."       

Student commuters and Village residents also seem uncertain of who can park where, and the signs displayed in the parking lots can only go so far in allaying student fears.

"I don't know how it works," said senior Jim Vasko, a Village resident. "I never know where to park so I just end up parking all the way back in Lot D to avoid tickets."
Vasko also spoke of how crowded the Village parking lot can get, with some spaces occupied for days on end.

Crowding is also a concern for commuter students as well.

"It's a lot more crowded than it was," said sophomore Olivia Elliot, a commuter. "Last year I used to have Lot D all to myself."

asantos5@ramapo.edu