For many commuters who drive to campus, the garage near the Hynes Athletic Center is where they park their car.

“It’s a necessity,” Lisa Mottola, a commuter from the Bronx, said about using the garage. “[I use it] every day I have class.”

Ryan McMonagle, who also commutes from the Bronx, uses the garage when he has to be on campus for class.

“The main reason I use it is because it’s convenient in the sense that I know there will always be a parking spot available,” McMonagle said. “I don’t have to spend time finding a spot on the street.”

The garage is a space often utilized by commuters like Mottola and McMonagle, but safety and security within the garage is a concern.

“I feel like the greatest issue commuters face in the parking garage is safety,” Sabrina Valente, a commuter from Yonkers, said. “The garage is a dark space which is dimly lit [and so are] its staircases. It makes me feel really unsafe and constantly on guard.”

Adrian Navarrete, director of Campus Safety at Iona College, spoke in an email interview about the wider concern students have about security within the parking garage.

“Garages are always a concern for people, not just at Iona, but everywhere,” Navarrete said. “While many people have the perception that parking garages are unsafe, statistics do not support that perception. However, we still need to address our community concerns.”

In addition to random patrols that are occurring 24 hours a day, Navarrete said that this past year, the Iona Facilities department increased the amount of lighting in the parking garage.

Even with these changes, the presence of Campus Safety in the garage is still a concern for Valente.

“I don’t think there is a significant presence of Campus [Safety] within the garage at all,” Valente said. “I never see any personnel within the garage except an occasional security truck in passing. I feel like there is more of a concern of parking violations than student safety.”

On the other hand, McMonagle does not see any issues regarding safety in the parking garage.

“I do feel there is a significant presence from Campus Safety in the garage, as I always see security driving around,” McMonagle said. “There’s also the blue boxes in the garage if I needed to reach Campus Safety so I never feel unsafe no matter the time of day.”

That said, McMonagle did express concerns about traffic within the garage.

“The greatest issue would maybe be the narrowness of the parking lot, as it really only allows one car to go through at a time,” he said. “This means that one person could potentially congest an entire section of the lot if they were to possibly break down while backing out of their spot.”

In regards to the concern of traffic in the garage, Navarrete said that the department has already made several modifications to deal with the issue.

“We are in the process of installing cameras to monitor who is using our garage,” Navarrete said. “We have also installed new signs in the garage to assist in traffic control as an added traffic safety measure.”

Another issue that has been voiced regarding the parking garage is the amount of cameras in the area.

“I think cameras within the parking garage are an absolute necessity,” Valente said. “In our day and age, safety on college campuses is incredibly important and needs to be funded and paid attention to.”

Navarrete explained that there are issues with cost, as well as difficulties with lighting in the garage that prevent cameras from being installed.

“Because of the design of the garage, we are limited in where we can put cameras and that limits the available coverage area for each camera,” Navarrete said. “[It is] also worth noting that the garage is fenced in around the first floor. That restricts ingress and egress so we have better control of who is coming and going and therefore it is easier to monitor.”

Mottola believes that it would be beneficial if they were to increase the amount of cameras in the garage.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Mottola said. “Sometimes I leave my computer in the car, and Iona makes it clear they’re not responsible for damages [or] missing items…Cameras would help in case of an issue like that, as well as for the overall safety of people using the garages.”

While each commuter at Iona will have his or her own opinion about the level of security in the parking garage, Navarrete spoke about the overall role that Campus Safety plays in the security of its students.

“We are constantly evaluating security measures throughout the campus,” Navarrete said. “This includes adding new cameras and the garage will not be an exception.”