Rochester, NY Special Events & Permits: Block Party Permits (2026)

1(H)(2) sets out Rochester's block party rules within the broader special event street-closing permit. Applicants must submit a special event permit application to the Director of Communications, along with a street closing petition carrying signatures of support from at least 60% of the residents on the block proposed for closure; the Director may approve or deny based on both the general special-event factors in Subsection E and these block-party-specific requirements. Subsection H(2)(b) defines a block party as the closure of one block, from intersection to intersection, in a residential area, using barricades, at the request of and for the benefit of the immediate neighborhood residents.

Subsection H(2)(c) then limits who may attend and what may happen: attendance is restricted to residents of the neighborhood whose block is closed, there is no admission charge, and no vending or amplified entertainment is permitted at all. The closure itself is capped at six hours in duration and cannot extend past dusk. Applications are reviewed under the same general factors that apply to all special events under Subsection E, including availability of police, fire and emergency services, competing requests for the same streets, and the applicant's history running similar events.

Subsection C requires a nonrefundable application fee set through the annual City budget, and Subsection B makes clear no street-closing special event, including a block party, may proceed without the Director of Communications' permit.