A Market Square brawl last weekend has renewed pressure on business owners and elected leaders to crimeproof one of Downtown Pittsburgh’s most visible public spaces — just weeks before hundreds of thousands of visitors descend on the city for the 2026 NFL Draft.
About 40 people wreaked havoc around 5:30 p.m. Sunday on Market Square, a venerable Downtown plaza city planners mapped out just eight years after the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Some teens last weekend threw trash at storefronts. Others picked up shops’ outdoor equipment and whipped it around. Many screamed and cursed as they blocked sidewalks so pedestrians couldn’t pass.
Police said the juveniles attacked each other with pepper spray. Police then deployed their own pepper spray to disperse crowds. They later charged seven juveniles with disorderly conduct.
The headline-grabbing scuffle was ill-timed, people invested in Downtown told TribLive. It unfolded on streets lined with metal guardrails, detour signs and stacks of concrete blocks — the final trappings of a $15 million Market Square facelift that’s been years in the making.
Some say the fight also stained the blueprints of revitalization that some leaders have been championing since the pandemic ended. One group’s strategic plan aims to double the number of people living Downtown in three years and boost neighborhood retail occupancy by 10%.
“We’re investing a lot of money there … it’s very much top-of-mind,” Councilman Anthony Coghill, the Beechview Democrat who chairs the public safety committee, said Tuesday. “It’s not to say we’re not going to have problems and issues.”
Charges aren’t sticking
Police and elected leaders continue to offer scant details on potential solutions for Market Square’s headaches.
Less than 24 hours after police handcuffed and hauled away the main aggressors in Sunday’s fight, officials hustled to control the storyline. Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Sheldon Williams told reporters Monday he was confident police can keep Market Square safe.
But, he added, “these things have happened in the past — and we expect that they could happen in the future.”
“I think Public Safety is on it,” Mayor Corey O’Connor added Tuesday, after attending a Downtown business ribbon-cutting. “We want to focus on this long-term.”
Sunday’s brawl was far from Market Square’s first.
Scattered fights broke out there during Pittsburgh’s annual Light Up Night in November. One man allegedly punched a police officer. Videos online showed teens roaring through Downtown streets.
A month later, an argument turned violent when one person shot the other in the leg, then fled.
In February 2024, a Pittsburgh teen was jailed after he and others pummeled and kicked a homeless man in broad daylight. In 2022, an officer was injured breaking up a fight in a nearby fast-food joint.
The arrests can appear toothless in hindsight.
Prosecutors withdrew a felony charge against the Light Up Night suspect who allegedly attacked the officer. The case ended when he paid a $170 fine.
Court records are no longer are available online for the teen arrested for attacking the homeless man — often an indication a suspect was exonerated and their record expunged.
‘No tolerance’
Even the police bureau’s own crime data does not tell a clear story about whether the city’s central business district is safe — or getting safer.
Since Jan. 1, crime has climbed 50% Downtown through March 4 compared to the same time period a year ago, with 642 crimes reported, up from 426 the prior year.
Aggravated assaults Downtown have more than tripled to 13 in that period compared to four during the same stretch a year earlier. Robbery reports have dropped. Theft is up; car thefts are down.
One number remains largely unchanged: homicides. Nobody has been murdered Downtown since Jan. 19, 2023, when a man was gunned down outside the Wood Street T station.
While Downtown crime data is available online, Pittsburgh police were unable Wednesday to provide breakdowns for Market Square.
More officers now patrol Downtown. Those staffing boosts are paying dividends, according to Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Tim Novosel, whose Zone 2 precinct includes Downtown.
While some neighborhoods face police staffing shortages, more than two dozen officers are currently based in the Downtown Public Safety Center — a renovated Wood Street building just one block from Market Square.
When Novosel started focusing more on Downtown three years ago, sometimes only one officer on the night shift would patrol the area on the weekend, the commander said. This year, the number is up to six.
A quick response Sunday from those increased numbers kept the fight from escalating — and prevented people from being seriously injured.
“The fights were broken up there within a minute, maybe less than a minute, maybe 20 seconds,” Novosel said Wednesday. “We have no tolerance for that. There’s no tolerance for fighting.”
“And if we weren’t out there,” he added, “how many more crimes would be reported?”
Staying positive
Nicholas Coffee and Tea Co. takes the long view on Market Square, where it has run a storefront for more than a century.
The fourth-generation, family-run business weathers both the rough times and the quieter ones, said Kathy Marsico, its director of operations.
“As far we operate here, it’s business as usual,” Marsico said this week as commuters huddled under the shop’s historic pressed-tin ceiling to order their morning coffee. “The family tries to take a very different approach to things. We try to stay positive about Downtown.”
Positive, though, does not involve blinders.
City officials have encouraged Market Square shops and storefronts to set up outdoor seating, Marsico said. The coffee business, however, won’t do that “until there’s some sort of solution in place” to address the rambunctious youths sometimes unleashed in the square.
Nicholas Coffee and Tea has built relationships with numerous businesses Downtown. They share their privately owned security cameras’ feeds with the police bureau’s network, though there’s not always a livestream.
“It takes a village — it takes law enforcement and it takes nonprofits that want to help,” Marsico said. “They are doing everything they can. But things have to change long-term. This is not a short-term problem.”
The Original Oyster House has anchored Market Square for generations, serving fish sandwiches there for more than 150 years. Surrounding roads are peppered with locally owned staples like Nicholas Coffee and Tea, Primanti Bros. or relative newcomers like the restaurant Alta Via.
But storefronts and restaurants owned by Pittsburghers don’t dominate the plaza. Much of the square is run by corporations, including caffeine purveyors Starbucks and Dunkin’, sandwich shops Subway and DiBella’s Subs, and on-the-go eateries Chipotle and Moe’s Southwest Grille. Two banks also operate branches there.
None of those businesses responded this week to numerous phone calls, emails or website contact forms seeking comment.
Taking AIM, one teen at a time
The Pittsburgh-based group AIM — an acronym for “Achieve, Inspire, Motivate” — has paid observers, counselors, mentors and violence interrupters to walk routes Downtown for four years now, according to Jason Richard, a senior leader with the organization.
For the past two, up to eight staffers have focused on patrolling Market Square.
While funding strain for the nonprofit group has slimmed its staff, Richards and a second senior leader, Von Madden, continue to patrol the city’s central business district after school and on weekends.
In the past two years, they’ve logged thousands of engagements, five-minute coaching sessions and interventions with teens. Sometimes, when private and foundation funding is tight, Richards and Madden walk their patrol unpaid.
“The first half of our work is prevention,” Richards said. “And when conflicts arise, we’re prepared to lead interventions there, too.”
Social media feeds the beast. Pittsburgh Public Schools Wednesday warned students to avoid a planned “Downtown Takeover” event Friday night that had been gaining steam online.
District spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said “out of an abundance of caution” families were notified to discourage attendance.
The event “is not sanctioned, not supervised and poses serious safety concerns for our students,” the statement read. “We ask that you speak with your child about making safe, responsible choices and avoiding unsupervised gatherings such as this one.”
Councilman Bobby Wilson, whose district includes part of Downtown, also sees social media fanning the flames of unrest among Pittsburgh’s youths.
The North Side Democrat said “better connections” made in the city by groups like The Center that CARES, which signed a $6 million contract with Pittsburgh last year for group violence intervention and social services, are helping.
But the problem appears Sisyphean.
“This is just scratching the surface of something that’s happening all over the nation, thanks in part to social media,” Wilson said Wednesday. “I definitely support more programming but it sounds like we’re in a bit of a confusing situation here. There are a lot of moving parts.”
Richards sees progress in Market Square — one teen at a time. He’s watched high school dropouts who once roamed the square return to the classroom and earn diplomas. Richards said some have invited him to their graduation ceremonies. At least three teens teetering down dangerous paths turned a corner and started volunteering for his group, he said.
“Are there more positive interactions than negative ones?” Richards asked. “I’d say, ‘Absolutely.’ ”
Playing her part
Richards zipped over to Market Square Sunday afternoon when he got word about the fight. When he arrived, things were cooling off. Several teens stayed behind after the fight’s main aggressors were taken away in handcuffs.
“I let them know how I felt,” he said. “Then, we grabbed a garbage bag and some gloves and started cleaning up. Like I tell them, ‘We clean up and we repair when we cause harm.’ ”
Teens stayed behind to talk with Richards but did not join in picking up the trash.
Jen Grippo, owner of the Original Oyster House, said she’s making sure her business plays its part. Grippo hosts meetings for Richards’ group in her restaurant and invites the team’s staffers to warm up there during winter walks.
She thinks such programs are central to fixing problems in her business’s front yard.
“No disrespect to the O’Connor administration but we keep talking about ‘We need a system, we need a system, we need a strategy that works,’ ” Grippo said. “But we have it.”
“So, allow AIM and others to work and collaborate,” she added. “The work they do is so incredibly amazing, I can’t say enough good things. And I’m going to do everything to ensure everyone has a seat at the table.”
