Not sure whether this is the full story but, as an ITH-based flier (with a good mix of SYR thrown in), I've paid attention to the coverage of this. It sounds like the issue was that there weren't enough flights that landed shortly before this one to be able to give an accurate report on braking conditions. With dicey weather it sounds like the pilots just weren't willing to risk landing in ITH when they didn't have sufficient info on braking. Also, SYR is only about a 75-minute drive down to ITH. The communication from UA sounds like it could have been better, but I think it's great that they "played it safe" this time.