The Westcott Theater faces possible permit revocation ahead of council vote

The Syracuse Common Council set the vote on The Westcott Theater’s special use permit for Sept. 14, after neighborhood residents gathered to share their opinions at the venue’s public hearing on Wednesday.

“I don’t want to walk to a place I go to get coffee in the morning to have to walk through police officers and cars to find out the windows have been shot out,”  Rocco Feola, 46, an admissions advisor at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, said. 

Feola, who is also a local musician, said he refuses to perform or attend events at The Westcott Theater. 

“I will not play there out of principle because until they do the things that are set in place to keep the community safe, they’re proving that they value profit above all else,” Feola said. 

After an 18-page city zoning report illuminated a series of issues including gunfire outside the theater, alleged permit and security violations and two people being stabbed inside the venue last month, Syracuse Code Enforcement has asked the Common Council to revoke the theater’s permit. 

“Twenty shell casings found in a parking lot. That’s not a bar fight gone sideways. That is a massacre waiting to happen,” Syracuse City Auditor Alex Marion said. “Venues need to be responsible for their own security and safety, and they should not be reliant on the Syracuse Police Department (SPD) as a fallback. That means something is going sideways to begin with.”

Photo by Aisha Sow

David Mastronardi, owner and long-time talent buyer of The Westcott Theater, testifying at the public hearing on Wednesday evening.

Westcott business owners have been calling for an increased police presence across the entire neighborhood to ensure community safety, including Carla Morales, owner of Las Delicias Restaurant. Morales also said the few recent incidents at The Westcott Theater are minuscule compared to the 26 years she’s operated her business in the area. 

“If we get rid of this theater, in two years we will see an empty Westcott Street…it brings a lot of business into that space,” Morales said. “Post 9/11, we had no sales and went dead. We were pulling our hair out. Right now we’re in the same scenario over this.”

Anthony Dickens, a fellow Syracuse business owner and nightlife patron, started a change.org petition demanding accountability for discriminatory acts committed by the Syracuse city agencies. Dickens explained he has previously sat down with city agency officials in order to resolve various issues facing Syracuse club owners, particularly those whose clubs patronize minority promoters, DJs and customers. 

“If this can make you close down something so integral to Syracuse as a landmark, and it’s one of the only medium-sized music venues in the city…if you can get closed down over the Syracuse police not wanting to pitch in for certain communities, then when else do we take a stand,” Dickens said. 

The city closed the theater on August 13 until further notice, the same day The Westcott Theater business owner Daniel Mastronardi filed a lawsuit against Syracuse’s Director of Code Enforcement Ryan Shiel. 

Mastronardi testified that, outside the issues the venue has faced recently, he has never had any other serious infractions in his 18 years operating it.

“It makes me sad, and quite frankly, it makes me disappointed and embarrassed that after nearly two decades of investing in the city and the community, we’ve reached a point where the future of the Westcott Theater is being questioned,” Mastronardi said. 

Mastronardi plans to host a press conference on Friday to outline next steps for the Westcott, ahead of Monday’s vote.