ALBANY — A fight outside the Washington Avenue Armory last week that injured three police officers and sparked a city zoning crackdown has forced the postponement of at least one event this weekend and is threatening another.

An Armory spokesman confirmed that a "Masquerave" party scheduled for Friday night and expected to draw 2,000 to 2,500 people has been postponed until Nov. 30.

But the spokesman, Michael Corts, said the venue still hopes to save Saturday night's Festival of the Dead, a $28-a-ticket fundraiser billed as "the mother of all Halloween parties" to benefit the Family Trauma Fund at Albany Medical Center.

"The city did say that they're willing to work with us and get this handled in a swift manner," Corts said. "And we're appreciative of that. We want the music to go on in Albany."

City officials, however, offered little to suggest they would relent.

"For the health and safety of the persons that are attending there, and for the neighbors around it, it would be in the best interests of all to cancel," Jeffery Jamison, the director of the city's Division of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance, said. "There's a stop-work order and cease-and-desist, and we're going to enforce that."

A legal notice given to the Armory's management by the city Thursday noted it "may take all action, including but limited to use of its of its police powers" to enforce the ban. Jamison said he hoped the Armory would voluntarily cancel or postpone the events to avoid having crowds of ticket holders show up.

"We want to do the right thing," Corts said. "It's unfortunate that we had to postpone an event. ... For sure, it's going to impact local business."

The cease-and-desist order was fallout from the incident last Thursday night, when some members of a large crowd pushing to get into a so-called "foam party" at the venue at Lark Street and Washington Avenue became unruly and fought with police, resulting in minor injuries to three officers and seven arrests, authorities said.

The next day, Jamison's office cited the venue for operating outside its 2007 zoning permission — effectively, in the city's opinion, behaving as a nightclub — and failing to have the needed cabaret license to host live entertainment, like concerts and DJs.

While the Armory had applied for a license before last week's incident, the city had not yet granted it. That application will now likely need to be amended with more information about security at the facility and how its management plans to protect the quality of life in surrounding neighborhoods, Jamison said. It may also require a new public hearing.

Because Saturday night's Festival of the Dead, which is expected to draw between 700 and 1,000 people, features numerous live musical acts, it too is subject to the license requirement, Jamison said. Cabaret licenses have only been required since earlier this year, when city lawmakers adopted them as a new, if controversial, way to regulate live entertainment and protect neighborhood quality of life.

The event's promoter, Lenore Granich-Berghela, said she was devastated by the potential lockout, noting the party is limited to people 21 or older and that the average age is somewhere between 40 and 60. She said the party is a far cry from Thursday night's so-called Barstool Blackout Tour, which drew the crowd that turned unruly. That event was marketed to teens and young adults, and featured DJs and a foam-soaked dance floor.

"This is an absolute freaking nightmare," Granich-Berghela said, adding that the mere threat of cancellation had prompted many ticket holders to ask for refunds and put her at risk of losing as much of $5,000 of her own money. "This is coming from such an unselfish place. We just started to pick up momentum. Ticket sales increased. I was getting really excited."

Granich-Berghela also questioned why the city was only cracking down now.

"Now they're punishing everybody. I just feel the city is at fault, too, because they allowed this to go until there was an incident and there was egg on their face," she said. The event is now in its fourth year.

Jamison said he was sympathetic, but that the city has consistently said it intends to enforce its order. The city, he said, can't pick and choose when it enforces the law.

"I don't want people to be going and planning their night and come back saying the city just let us know last minute," he said.

The Armory made changes to its security and entry policies in the immediate wake of last week's incident and sought to assure the city it was an isolated occurrence. But neighbors dispute that, saying that roving bunches of often intoxicated young people spill loudly out into their neighborhoods after some Armory events.

Gregory Teresi, an attorney who represents the Armory's management, said he planned to outline those changes again Friday morning in a letter making a last-ditch case to City Hall. Teresi said he understood the city's concerns given that the cabaret licensing system is so new but added: "We need to be partners, and it's a matter of finding a happy medium."

"If the city ultimately, at the end of the day, says, 'No way, no how,' then we live and die by their decision. But that would be unfortunate because this is a fundraiser for a children's hospital," he said. "Hopefully, reasonable minds will see the greater good that this event brings."

jcarleo-evangelist@timesunion.com • 518-454-5445 • @JCEvangelist_TU