Closed Suing City restaurant to reopen in Buffalo

The owners of the University Heights neighborhood restaurant were hoping to reopen their doors after a violent incident on the street near their restaurant. They are now heading to court after city officials denied revoking their business license.

READ MORE: Violence forces another venue to close in Buffalo, New York

Early in the morning of Saturday, May 25, 2024, Dairus Spates, 42, was rushed to Erie County Medical Center with multiple gunshot wounds. Mr. Spate was pronounced dead by medical authorities due to his injuries and was shot just outside the Luxor Steak and Lobster on Main Street, according to the Buffalo Police Department.

Since that shooting, the city of Buffalo has ordered the upscale restaurant and nightlife venue to close. A few weeks after the shooting, the owners of the Luxor had an administrative hearing with various Buffalo city officials, during which they closed the restaurant. The owners of Luxor denounce the injustice because some city officials did not appear at the hearing and it appears that they also did not examine the evidence presented by Luxor in their defense.

According to the Buffalo News, this is just one of many reasons the restaurant is now suing the city of Buffalo in New York State Supreme Court to force the city to allow Luxor Steak and Lobster to reopen.

According to the Section 78 lawsuit that was filed against the City of Buffalo and Catherine Amdur, the City of Buffalo Commissioner of Permitting and Inspection Services, government officials acted: “Arbitrary and capricious” and they “lack of evidence supported by the file“.

The city has failed to establish a definitive disciplinary process, as evidenced by the immediate forced closure of LUXOR, while allowing establishments subject to similar complaints to remain open and/or reopen after multiple shootings and acts of violence.
-Steven M. Cohen, Luxor attorney

Several community members gathered at Luxor on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 to support the restaurant while organizing a peace rally. One of the general sentiments from the crowd and owners was that other restaurants and bars in Buffalo have experienced similar incidents of violence around their establishments and are not facing the same consequences.

On Tuesday, May 7, 2024, Madjid Elbert, 46, was shot and killed on the terrace of the Del Denby tavern, on Hertel Avenue; this establishment was closed for a short time and then allowed to reopen. This was not the first incident to occur in Buffalo’s popular Hertel-Parkside neighborhood.

In the early hours of Saturday, June 1, 2024, three men, all in their early 20s, were shot to death outside Cole’s and Mr. Goodbar’s on Elmwood Avenue, and those two establishments were allowed to remain open.

Luxor owners will have a hearing on this issue before the State Supreme Court on Friday, June 28, 2024, with Supreme Court Justice Michael Siragusa.