First Friday: Recent violence prompt changes to Downtown Phoenix event

First Friday: Changes being made to Phoenix event

Big changes are coming to First Friday on Roosevelt Street in Downtown Phoenix, and organizers say the decision was made due to recent violence. FOX 10's Megan Spector reports.

PHOENIX - Big changes are coming to First Friday on Roosevelt Street in Downtown Phoenix, and it's a decision that organizers say is heavily due to recent violence.

What we know:

First Friday will not include the arts market street closure and vendor experience on Roosevelt Row for the foreseeable future. However, Roosevelt Row’s small businesses and galleries will continue to stay open on First Friday.

Local perspective:

First Friday typically fills Roosevelt Row with vendors, music, and thousands of people looking to check everything out. But more recently, there has been a shift.

"Over the years and more recently over the course of the last few months, there have been negative repercussions from that street closure," said RJ Price of Downtown Phoenix Inc. "And we collectively have had to make a really hard decision, but a really thoughtful and intentional decision to do some reevaluation."

Large fights and shootings have made public safety a major concern.

"Certainly the highest priority, public safety is always the highest priority," Price said. "So anytime that people are getting hurt, in some cases losing their lives, that requires immediate and swift attention."

It is a shift the brick-and-mortar businesses on Roosevelt have felt too.

"We’ve seen fights, right up here from our balcony," said Donny Ades of Roro Dogs on Roosevelt Street. "We’ve seen about 300 teenagers gather in this parking lot across from us. And then random fights just broke out."