2025 September 25: Community Meeting | Water Main Break

This is an Invitation-only meeting to discuss the aftermath of the water main break under Monroe Avenue. All residents and businesses in Upper Monroe are invited.

The meeting background and agenda may be found at the bottom of this page.

Photos from the meeting

Audio from the meeting

This recording captures the meeting held by the Upper Monroe Neighborhood Association (UMNA) on Thursday, September 25, 2025 that covered the water main break under Monroe Avenue on Saturday, September 13, 2025 and it's immediate aftermath.

See below for chapters and approximate timestamp on the recording:

00:00:00 to 00:01:35 - Welcome/Admin

00:01:35 to 00:09:10 - Presentation by Samuel Bouele administrator of the Brotherhood of the Cross & Star church

00:09:10 to 00:14:45 - Introductions & agenda review

00:14:45 to 00:39:50 - John Brach representing Mayor Malik Evans reviewed the incident itself and what's ahead for the reconstruction + Q & A with dialog.

00:39.50 to 01:01:13 - Residents from the affected areas described their experiences including their losses, their insurance claims and related information; business described their experiences including the impacts on their business operations; residents who experienced impacts related to redirected traffic through the neighborhood also spoke. Q & A with dialog.

01:01:13 to 01:21:45 - Elected officials & staff offered their thoughts about what they heard from affected residents, any suggestions or observations about what they thought might be relevant to the incident + Q & A with dialog.

01:21:45 - Closing

---

The Basics

WHEN: Thursday, September 25th at 7:00 PM

WHERE: Brotherhood of the Cross and Star Church - 1006 Monroe Avenue (corner of Rosedale & Monroe)

WHO IS INVITED:

• All residents & property owners in Upper Monroe

• All businesses & non-profits located in Upper Monroe

• Mayor Malik Evans

• Mary Lupien, City Council (East District) & all other members of Rochester City Council

• Linda Hasman, County Legislator (23rd Legislative District)

• Harry Bronson, NYS Assembly (134th Assembly District)

• Samra Brouk, NYS Senate (55th Senate District)

• City of Rochester Department of Environmental Services staff member(s)

• City of Rochester Neighborhood Service Center staff member(s)

• Representative(s) from the Monroe Avenue Merchants Association

• Representative(s) from the Monroe Avenue Revitalization Coalition

PROGRAM SEQUENCE:

• Welcome, introductions, agenda, etc. by UMNA. UMNA will facilitate the meeting

• DES will describe the circumstances leading up to and following the water main break including what to expect going forward.

• Residents (including tenants) & property owners who suffered property damage will be given time to describe their situation followed by businesses and then other residents of UM.

• Elected officials will be asked to offer their observations and ideas.

• Closing

This meeting notice will not be promoted on UMNA’s social media channels. Please share this invitation with UM residents and businesses.

This is a private, invitation-only meeting. The media is not invited into the facility/meeting so that all parties will have an opportunity to openly & reasonably discuss the situation.

If you have questions, please send a note to [e-mail]

---

This program is also listed on our Events & Meetings calendar. Click here to go to the official UMNA Events Calendar.