Syracuse, N.Y. – In the early morning on May 31, Syracuse police responded to reports of multiple fights and gunfire after a party with several DJs ended at the Westcott Theater.

Two buildings and three cars were hit by bullets, according to police and local business owners.

After the May incident, Syracuse code enforcement officials used their emergency powers to order the theater closed. The city later cleared the theater to reopen.

Neighboring business owners interviewed by syracuse.com | The Post Standard said they would like the theater to provide better security and crowd control at future events.

The Westcott neighborhood is home to an eclectic array of restaurants, diners, coffeeshops and boutiques that sit on a two-block stretch surrounded by a residential neighborhood not far from Syracuse University.

Dan Mastronardi, the owner of the theater, did not respond to multiple inquires for comment.

Every fall, the neighborhood hosts a street fair that celebrates the diversity and uniqueness of the neighborhood.

Sam Essi, owner of Munjed’s Middle Eastern Cafe across the street from the theater, said the incident in May could have been avoided had the venue hired security for the event.

“When you unleash two to six hundred people out into the street, and there’s no ordinance or security or anybody guiding them out of the area, then that tends to draw an issue,” he said.

Essi said the residential nature of the neighborhood requires local business owners to be held account for how their business impacts the surrounding area.

“If you’re leasing your venue to a third party to have an event, that’s still your venue,” he said. “You still have an obligation to the neighborhood.”

He worries that the incident may impact traffic to his business, which already experiences a drop-off when college students leave for the summer.

Essi’s cousin, Eva, owns Mom’s Diner next door. She found “a dozen or so bullets” on the ground outside her diner the morning after the gunfire in May.

“For the most part, when there’s good, promoted shows, it brings great business,” she said. “The only concerns we have are at night, when there are unannounced or private shows that we can’t really understand what’s going on.”

She said the gunfire incident, alongside another large fight that happened outside the venue in March, have caused people who aren’t from Westcott to hesitate in visiting the businesses.

“When things are posted online, people have commented that they do not want to come up to Westcott Street because of that,” she said. “So, it’s a deterrent.”

Jeanette Moralez, who owns Las Delicias, a Caribbean restaurant down the street from the theater, said the incident made her feel unsafe leaving her restaurant late at night.

“I’m here at 10 o’clock at night,” she said. “If an event like that was to happen again, then that means the security at the site is not available or reliable.”

Not every Westcott business owner believes Mastronardi is responsible for the incidents that have occurred after his shows.

Next door to the theater at Tex-Mex restaurant Alto Cinco, owner Johanna York said while the gunfire incident was “concerning,” she thinks Mastronardi is “trying to do some good things.”

“I think he’s not being given much of a chance,” she said. “Although that event is very unfortunate, I still don’t know that that can be blamed upon him.”