Is nothing sacred? Are there no traditions that are safe? Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen is trying to shut down that city's famous (or infamous) Red Light District!
The process has already started, but people who run local bars, brothels and souvenir shops are not impressed at all by the council's plans to bring new life to 'their' part of town and have got together recently in a group named Platform 1012 (the district's postcode number) to do battle with the municipality.
Wim Boef, chairman of Platform 1012, said:
"Just look around you, such an enormous variety of people. And they're all enjoying the place, whether they're grabbing a bit to eat, or going to a sex theatre or sex shop. If you want to see paintings by Rembrandt, you go to the museum; for a visit to a prostitute or sex show, you come here."
Mayor Cohen said:
"Foreign tourists will see in coming years the famous area will shrink. However, it it will not disappear. The famous red light district is part of Amsterdam."
I guess he hasn't figured out that, without the Red Light District, and the "Coffee Houses" famous for serving pot and hash, there wound be all that many tourists in Amsterdam!
(Sorry, no pix with this post.)