According to several attendees, the atmosphere in the Antoniushuis was tense from the start. Residents who came out in the meantime reported that there was a lot of scolding inside, especially towards Mayor Halsema.
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The municipality of Amsterdam previously decided to take the plug from the traditional New Year’s Eve fire in Floradorp. The working -class neighborhood in Noord has to say goodbye to a deep -rooted ritual after more than seventy years. According to the municipality, the fire is no longer safe and manageable. The residents’ meeting on Monday evening was intended to discuss the ban.
Shortly after the consultation, when Halsema left the building, she was again roughly treated on the street. Young children were also among the group that shouted her. “Even small children used the K-word against her,” said a shocked local resident.
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Heavy fireworks were set outside. Young people on Fatbikes shouted to police officers that ‘everything will go here’, referring to buildings in the neighborhood such as a school and a swimming pool. The police were visible and invisibly present in the neighborhood.
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After the meeting, Halsema said to De Telegraaf: “It was an emotional and severe evening. People are angry, because they attach to the fire. And they consider that a very important tradition. But I get persistent negative advice from the fire brigade, because the risks are too great. And then I have a hard decision.”
About the way she was treated, she said:
“I was prepared for this. I was not shocked by this. I have difficulty having an anti -social scourge.”
© Richard Mouw
About the atmosphere in the room: “I was here a few years ago, in the same building. Then it was also intense. But now it was very intense. That is of course because people are angry because of stopping that fire.”
She confirmed that there were also tensions with residents present: “I showed that I did not appreciate some things that were said. There are limits. If someone says:” I’m going to smoke now, otherwise I will kill ” – yes, then I get angry.”
Halsema said about the threatening atmosphere on the street:
“The whole of Noord will burn – well, those kinds of statements … people are afraid of riots, I understand that. But not every emotion is justified. Sometimes it sounds like incitement. And that is disturbing.”
New Year’s Eve fire
The anger focused primarily on the ban on the traditional New Year’s Eve fire on the Floraveld. “We grew up with this,” said a local resident. “We pass it on to our children. It is something that belongs to us. And now it is just taken.”
© Richard Mouw
Patrick van Bronswijk of the organizing FLORA4LIFE foundation walked away several times. “I don’t pull this, they lie everything together.”
For example, the municipality would have claimed that a car caught fire during the fire, something that brightly denies residents. “They say that a car went on fire, but that is not true. Then I say: you just lie. That is really not possible.”
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“The ban remains, that is clear,” it sounds. “But maybe it changes when they notice that they are losing the neighborhood,” said a very emotional resident.