BUSINESSES IN FEAR AS CURFEWS CONTINUE & CLEAN-UP BEGINS IN ROCHESTER

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Many Rochester businesses, their businesses destroyed by fire, thieves, and vandals on Saturday night, woke up Sunday morning to find out they did not have to face clean-up alone.

An estimated 2,000 people showed up at Frontier Field parking lot Sunday morning with rakes, brooms, shovels, gloves, and garbage bags, and were sent in small groups  to locations all over Rochester that needed to be cleaned up  after the Saturday night riots. The call for help was made on social media, particularly Facebook.

One place that was destroyed was the new Family Dollar on Dewey Avenue.  It opened just recently, much to the delight of neighborhood residents, as it was a clean and new business selling general items, as well as food.  However, on Sunday morning it was discovered nearly everything including food, phones, pillows, rack, full of sunglasses, small appliances and other items were gone, and windows and displays broken.  What wasn’t taken was destroyed, shelves overturned, and general garbage left behind.  However, a group led by volunteer David Ortiz showed up to help clean up the store. “This is our neighborhood. This was beautiful, but the kids woke up this morning afraid of what they were seeing…it makes no sense, community members destroying our neighborhoods and the businesses we depend on….”

On Sunday, there was a small (about 75), peaceful Black Lives Matter protest at the Liberty Pole in Rochester.  There was little further violence on Sunday, but both the City of Rochester and Monroe County are still in a state of emergency, and the 9p.m. -7 a.m. is still in effect. Two hundred state troopers were deployed to help Rochester City and Monroe County deputies police keep order. However, it was a quiet night, and video of the streets showed many boarded up buildings, either because they were hit by vandals and thieves on Saturday night, or as a precautionary measure taken on Sunday in case the riots and thievery continued.

In a Sunday press conference held by Rochester and Monroe County officials, people were asked to stay home to make police jobs easier and for the safety of citizens.  Mayor Lovely Warren said, “we know there were outsiders here, outside the Black Lives Matter group, and they set a trap, and our community fell right into it….it was our community that destroyed our neighborhoods.“ Holding up pictures of people setting fire to cars in the Exchange Street parking lot,  she said.  “These are some of the individuals who took the bait and started to loot. We have a lot of video and license plate numbers, so don’t rest at home thinking you got away with this, because you didn’t.”  Thirteen people had already been arrested by 2 p.m. Sunday, with police looking for dozens more.

Although many Rochester business owners found their stores totally destroyed by thieves, vandals, or fire, even those businesses that were not badly hit are showing signs of the fear spread to the city business owners by the vandals and thieves.  Many Rochester and Greece business owners spent Sunday boarding up glass windows, removing the most valuable merchandise from their stores, and generally making plans to protect their businesses.  Said one Monroe Avenue merchant to tv crews, “I saw across the street they were boarding up, so we (and the next door business) are doing the same.  It’s better to be safe than sorry.”  The owner of Murphy’s Law on East Ave. said he and others would have a security force on hand. He had some damage including broken front windows but noted, “at least I’m not open right now because of the pandemic…this would have scared customers away….” He has now boarded up all the front windows on both of his closed bars (due to coronavirus) and reinforced entrances in fear of more vandalism on Sunday night or after.

Euphoria Liquor Store on East Main St., Rochester, was broken into and decimated.  According to the owner, “ A large group kicked in the front window first and were taking pints and quarts off the shelves, but later, they were in the back room carrying out full cases.” He said he watched the video, and it “made him sick,” but he was able to get some recognizable faces on his store video which he posted on his website and provided to tv stations who are running it on their nightly news. The business has been in the family for 60 years, and according to the owner, “ we always felt safe until this.” He and his family stood guard on Sunday while they boarded up what remained, but planned to have a security force at the business “until it’s safe.”  According to the store video, there were about 20 people involved in the Euphoria thefts in two waves of thievery about an hour and a half apart  About $20,000 worth of merchandise was taken. At the Villa, one of the earliest businesses vandalized, a crowd broke down the glass doors with a 2 x 4, and despite many wearing masks, the employees inside recognized many of them as customers and neighborhood people. According to owner Raeann Mastrodonato, about $100,000 worth of merchandise was taken.  “They took everything,” she said, holding back tears. She and her husband have owned the store for about ten years.

Even at least one church was vandalized on Saturday night. Church of God and Saints of Christ on Harrison St. was broken into. The damage was discovered on Sunday morning by churchgoers. Video showed the vandal in the sanctuary looking for something to steal, and breaking mirrors in the church. However, the church video led to the suspect in the case to being identified and arrested on Sunday afternoon.