Jerusalem Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky was escorted out of the Jerusalem City Council meeting on Monday night by his security personnel after the local store owners and merchants became too unruly.
Hundreds of Machane Yehuda area storeowners and merchants converged on City Hall for the council meeting, decrying the closure of Jaffe Street last week as work progresses on the Jerusalem light rail.
In fact, the presence of the construction and major street closures from Machane Yehuda down the length of Jaffa does impede shoppers’ ability to access many stores in the downtown area, which has been converted to a major construction zone.
The storekeepers exclaimed they oppose the light rail and they do not intend to remain silent as the city “puts them out of business”.
When the meeting became too colorful, the mayor was escorted out of the room via the balcony exit by his bodyguards.
Others, including Deputy Mayor Pollack were bold enough to use the main entrance, opting to confront the angry Jerusalem storekeepers on his way out of the meeting.
One merchant, Eli Levy, stated this was indeed a first that the mayor of Jerusalem had to be extricated via a balcony to leave the city council chamber.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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4 Responses
I support the light rail.
It should have been constructed about 50 years ago (as a regular tram). You have that everywhere in Europe.
It is completely illogical and impossible for a city of 800,000 to be completely dependent on buses for its public transportation.
In Europe, it would have a metro (subway) and tram (streetcar) net, and buses in between.
The construction on rechov yaffa is a mess and closes off the entrances to Machne Yehuda. When a person sees and feels their parnasa eroding, anxiety & panic sets in. Can anyone blame the anger and despair of the merchants who make an honest living for their families and the customers who benefit from lower prices? HELP is needed for both. A mayor has to make decisions that impact on all, positive & negative. Our people have the DNA of a ‘stiff necked nation’ who will be supreme.
yerusholayim isn’t supposed to be like the rest of europe!!!!!!
Light rail has been a boondoggle everywhere it has been tried. There is not a single place that has made it work. It eats up resources, causes greater congestion, and people still don’t use it. Go read some actual studies, instead of reacting from instinct. Buses make much more sense, but they’re not so pleasant and they don’t look as nice, and most of all they don’t make politicians look good, so they get pushed aside for these money sinks.