Last year, measures were also taken in the Jordaan: there were fences in several streets around the Westerstraat. “There was no one walking at all,” says pub owner Joris Loman, who had less turnover last year than in other years.
A local resident tells AT5 that he thinks this option is better than Halsema’s proposed plans, which involve closing off a large part of Westerstraat: “I think that is a very good way to cordon off only a part, which also went very well last year.”
‘Complete chaos’
Dominique Kinders has a sandwich shop on Westerstraat and is adamant about the new measures. “Last year it was quiet on Westerstraat, but in the streets around it it was complete chaos,” he says.
Yet not everyone is dissatisfied with the plans. “It doesn’t seem unwise to me, the neighborhood also suffers from a lot of people,” says Iris de Waart. She also has a pub in the Jordaan. “There’s pissing everywhere and nowhere.”
Loman does have another solution for the crowds in the Jordaan: “The only solution is to stop the incoming trains at Central Station.”