City responds to Armory owner’s claim of being ‘unreasonable’

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A day after the owner of the Main Street Armory accused the city of being “unreasonable,” the city gave its side of the story.

Sunday, the City of Rochester responded to the Main Street Armory’s statement about the deadly stampede there last Sunday, which killed three people and injured several others.

News10NBC reached out to the city on Saturday. We asked for them to respond to the claim they unreasonably denied the Armory owner Scott Donaldson and his legal team’s request to reschedule a meeting between the city and Donaldson.           

The city said they first requested a meeting with Donaldson for Monday, March 6. When Donaldson asked for the meeting to be moved to Wednesday, March 8, the city agreed.           

But, when Donaldson’s attorney contacted the City on Tuesday, March 7, asking to reschedule it for the second time, the city said no.

Here is the full statement from the city:

“The City of Rochester requested to hold a meeting with Mr. Donaldson on Monday, which he requested to be rescheduled to Wednesday, and the City accommodated that request. On Tuesday, the City received a call from Mr. Donaldson’s attorney, asking to reschedule to accommodate the attorney’s schedule. The City of Rochester has a responsibility to those who lost their lives or were injured to move forward expeditiously. Given the seriousness and urgency of the matter, the City felt it could not postpone the Wednesday meeting date and time that Mr. Donaldson had previously asked for and agreed to, and is otherwise unable to accommodate additional delays.”

Here is the full statement that the law office Gallo & Iacovangelo released on behalf of the Armory:

The Main Street Armory, Scott Donaldson, and his team are devastated by the events that occurred on March 5, 2023. Our deepest condolences go out to the families, friends and loved ones of Rhondesia Belton, Brandy Miller and Aisha Stephens. Over the years, the Armory has successfully hosted hundreds of events. The Armory is confident that when the investigation concludes it will be determined that the Armory complied with all applicable codes, regulations, and laws, as it has in the past. The City took unilateral action in denying the Armory’s renewal for an entertainment license and inaccurately stated that Scott Donaldson simply “failed” to appear at a meeting requested by the City to be held on March 8, 2023. Mr. Donaldson’s attorney contacted the City on March 7, 2023, and requested that the meeting be adjourned until later in the week, or early the following week as he was engaged in another legal matter. The City summarily dismissed this reasonable request and decided to deny the renewal of the entertainment license, a license that the Armory possessed for years. Mr. Donaldson, on behalf of the Armory, cooperated fully with the City on the date of the incident, and continues to do so by consenting to the City’s request to inspect the premises which is scheduled to occur on a date chosen by the City. The thought of hosting another concert at the Armory while the families, friends and loved ones of these women grieve remains the furthest thing from Mr. Donaldson’s mind. Again, the Armory and its team’s thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and all members of the community impacted by Sunday’s events.

RELATED:

• Third victim dies after stampede following concert at Main Street Armory (March 9)
• Woman killed in crowd surge at Rochester concert honored by medical staff for organ donation (March 8)
• Events at Armory on hold amid investigation after fatal concert (March 8)
• After Armory tragedy, security expert talks what to do if trapped in stampede (March 8)
• More questions than answers for Rochester family of stampede victim (March 7)
• Second concert stampede victim dies, third victim fighting for her life (March 6)
• City officials investigate events at the Armory; Were rules followed? (March 6)
• People, parents recount stories of getting trampled inside the Armory (March 6)