There was recently good news that, strangely enough, received little attention: the municipality of Amsterdam wants a fireworks-free New Year’s Eve. The city is thus leading the way and will hopefully set an example for other cities. Amsterdam did not want to wait for a national ban and took the lead itself.
This does not mean that Amsterdam will enter 2022 completely without fireworks. Professional fireworks displays will be held on Museumplein and possibly in other parts of the city. According to the municipality, a majority of the population has had enough of the nuisance caused by consumer fireworks.
Except for the fireproof fireworks fans, no one will argue with that. The Amsterdam city center in particular had become a kind of Syrian war zone during the turn of the year, where only the bravest dared to venture into. The pets hid in the broom closet, shivering, while their owners tried in vain to make themselves heard during the explosions. Long live the new year!
Last year there was already a national fireworks ban in connection with corona, but Amsterdam found enforcement too difficult at the time. Will it work this year? I don’t dare to take an oil ball on that just yet. Enforcement is not the municipality’s greatest strength. In Amsterdam, enforcement is usually only carried out intermittently, especially shortly after certain measures have been introduced. Enforcement here is more an act of whim than of inspiration.
No light on the bike? The police will get you! In the first months after the introduction, the traffic police lie flat on their stomachs in ambush along all kinds of busy roads and canals. Unforgettable scenes with old mothers who stumble with their bicycles to the side, where a stern cop catches the failing taillight in the act. “Where is the journey going, ma’am?”
It never lasts longer than, quite frankly, a year. After that, everyone, young and old, will once again be able to paddle through Amsterdam completely obscured without hindrance, preferably against the direction of travel and staring at the telephone – something that has long since been stopped. All this at your own risk, though. Anyone who causes a collision can always try to blame the driver.
In some periods, the municipality also tries to remove surplus bicycles – rusty wrecks that have not been ridden for years – from the cityscape. Then you see sturdy, uniformed men in teams bloodthirsty to attack the bicycle. You almost want to encourage them. Especially at the Central Station, this finally created a beneficial space for the better bicycle in the bulging bicycle racks. But not long. Just go and have a look. And don’t fall over the carcasses.
These experiences make me somewhat skeptical about the upcoming New Year’s Eve. The majority of the people may be in favor of the fireworks ban, but as is well known, there is now a militant minority that is by definition against everything the government has decided.
I can already hear them saying indignantly: “Firework nuisance? How so? For whom? Deaf old cocks?” They organize a demonstration on Dam Square and lift Thierry Baudet onto a high cart with a megaphone. It roars: “Fireworks don’t exist!”
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of October 20, 2021
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