The Mall at Greece Ridge, located near Rochester, closed early Thursday due to concerns about “large and disorderly groups of teens and young adults.”
It was shut down shortly after 6 p.m. on the day after Christmas, also known as Boxing Day, by police and mall security. According to WHAM, the Greece Police Department said it was expecting a large influx of teens after seeing posts on social media.
Greece Police said the mall was cleared without incident, but fights between several groups of teenagers broke out in the surrounding area outside the mall shortly afterwards. Two 16-year-old Rochester residents were arrested for disorderly conduct.
No other crimes were reported, police said, and there was no damage to stores within the mall or surrounding businesses. WROC reports an area Chick-fil-A refused dine-in service, only offering drive-thru, and shoppers at a nearby Target said they were asked by police to leave.
According to WHAM, a curfew was enforced at the mall last year after large fights occurred in 2023. Police developed a plan with mall security to quickly shut down the area to prevent future incidents.
In a statement, The Mall at Greece Ridge said a large number of teens were running throughout the mall creating disruptions and refusing to leave. Similar disruptions were allegedly promoted on social media at a mall near Buffalo, officials said.
WKBW reports Cheektowaga police swept the Walden Galleria around 7 p.m. Thursday as part of a “coordinated and planned effort to sweep the mall at closing time.” The preventative measure comes after the shopping center previously saw fights on the day after Christmas in 2018, 2021 and 2023.
In a separate incident, a man was arrested on Monday for allegedly starting a fight at Crossgates Mall near Albany.
WNYT reports a 27-year-old man was charged with disorderly conduct. Guilderland Police said he was intoxicated in the Dec. 23 incident; no one was seriously hurt and no weapons were involved.