Westcott business owners say theater needs better security during events

Syracuse, NY – early in the morning on May 31, the Syracuse police responded to reports Several fights and gunshots After a party with several DJs ended at the Westcott Theater.

Two buildings and three cars were affected by bullets, according to the police and owners of local businesses.

After the May incident, those responsible for applying Syracuse codes used their emergency powers to Order the closed theater. The city later cleaned the theater To reopen.

The owners of neighboring companies interviewed by Syracuse.com | The standard post said they would like the theater to ensure better security and better control of crowds during future events.

The Westcott district is home to an eclectic range of restaurants, guests, cafes and shops that are on a section of two blocks surrounded by a residential area not far from the University of Syracuse.

Dan Mastronardi, the owner of the theater, did not respond to several requests for comments.

Each fall, the district hosts A street fair which celebrates the diversity and uniqueness of the neighborhood.

Sam Esssi, owner of Minjed’s Middle Eastern Cafe in front of the theater, said that the incident in May could have been avoided if the place had hired the security of the event.

“When you release two to six hundred people on the street, and there is no prescription or security or anyone who guides them outside the region, it tends to solve a problem,” he said.

ESSI said that the residential nature of the neighborhood required local business owners to be taken into account the impact of their business on the surroundings.

“If you rent your place to a third party to have an event, it’s always your place,” he said. “You still have an obligation to the neighborhood.”

He is concerned that the incident can have an impact on traffic to his business, which is already falling when students leave for the summer.

The cousin of Esssi, Eva, has Mom’s Diner next door. She found “a dozen bullets” on the ground outside her dinner in the morning after the shots in May.

“For the most part, when there are good shows promoted, it brings big business,” she said. “The only concerns we have are at night, when there are unexpected or private shows that we cannot really understand what is going on.”

She said that the shots incident, alongside another big fight that occurred outside the site in March, made people hesitate who are not Westcott to visit companies.

“When things are published online, people have commented that they didn’t want to come to Westcott Street because of this,” she said. “So it is a means of deterrence.”

Jeanette Moralez, who owns Las Delicias, a Caribbean restaurant in rue du Théâtre, said the incident had made him feel dangerous when he left his restaurant late at night.

“I’m here at 10 a.m.,” she said. “If an event like this should happen, it means that security on the site is not available or reliable.”

Not all of Westcott business owners do not believe that Mastronardi is responsible for incidents that have occurred after his programs.

Besides the theater of the Tex-Mex Alto Cinco restaurant, owner Johanna York said that, when the shots were “worrying”, she thinks Mastronardi “tries to do good things”.

“I think he is not very lucky,” she said. “Although this event is very unhappy, I still don’t know that it can be blamed for him.”