The City of Rochester has withdrawn a lawsuit after reaching a settlement over owed funds for the Little Italy Festival. In April, the city filed the lawsuit, claiming the Little Italy Association hadn't paid $5,483 it owed for police services during the 2017 festival. Along with the $5,483, the city's lawsuit also demanded the festival re-pay an additional $4,000 it had been given by the city. Orsi says the final settlement was less than half of what was initially asked for.
In a lengthy statement on Monday, Silvano Orsi, the association's president, again said the lawsuit was politically motivated. "This very petty lawsuit was nothing more than a political-payback exercise, approved by the Mayor, and sought by some racist, bigoted and very disrespectful members of the current city administration, who apparently couldn't handle vocal criticism of last year’s Capelli Stadium situation," writes Orsi.
