NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The City of Niagara Falls raised a flag in front of City Hall on June 19.
The planned parade didn't happen because the organizer said he failed to get the necessary insurance for the event.
Jacob Fleming, Sr. said he takes responsibility.
"There was a series of stipulations inside of the insurance that were not made clear. Every time I went and got something and came back, got something, came back, then I ran out of time," he said.
Fleming added, "it is my fault, because I could have did things differently. I had no idea what was being asked of me because it wasn't clear in the page five instructions, and when I reached out for clarity, I wasn't given the exact clarity of that. So I'm gonna say it was my fault, but I did start on this in February. There were some changes. There were certain questions that I asked and I didn't receive the help that I needed to get those things," he said.
The mayor of Niagara Falls, Robert Restaino, told 2 On Your Side that he was hopeful.
"The application for this event was first filed on May 12, a month before this event," he said. "So we had a month to circle everything together, and eventually a second application was filed yesterday, and still notwithstanding all of it, in that one-month period from the May 12 application to the June 18 application, we were having conversations with organizers about what would be needed."
One day before the holiday, the mayor said he was part of an email from the Department of Public Works about setting up the park for the event.
"Ultimately, it failed because of the insurance coverage," Restaino said. "If you're going to be using city personnel, or if you're going to be using city assets or city resources, having insurance is appropriate with regard to the taxpayers interests."
Niagara Falls councilman Brian Archie said, "I think that to make the event on this day be successful and momentous, it's one to try to collaborate with partners that have activities going. We are a small city, so it would benefit us to pull resources to actually stretch the area and landscape that we could cover if folks would work together and unify."