Neighbors marched to protest the policies "authoritarian" of the Government of Larreta

Residents of different neighborhoods of the Federal Capital took to the streets this Monday to protest what they consider “authoritarian” policies and aimed at “favoring the speculative real estate market and handing over public space for commercial uses.”

Self-convened in Villa Crespo protested to demand from the Government of Buenos Aires a channel of dialogue against the claim for “annoying noises, concentration of people and street closures” generated in recent weeks by the numerous massive recitals at the Movistar Arena mega-stadium, located in that neighborhood.

The mobilization was at the intersection of Dorrego and Corrientes avenues, where the demonstrators displayed a sign with the legend “No to the Movistar Arena in Villa Crespo” and generated a partial cut to vehicular traffic.

“ruined our lives and we are here to say enough is enough and ask for someone to come and give us a solution”, claimed Bárbara, a neighbor of the area, who added: “Six months ago, since the restrictions due to the pandemic were lifted, we have an average of one recital every two days”.

The complaint from the neighbors alludes to the sequence of recitals that were recorded in the mega-stadium, which became daily, and caused “disorders” among residents living in the vicinity of the site.

They also complained about “the permanent light pollution” by the posters of the megastadium, the vibrations in buildings in a radius of ten blocks, the cars double parked and on the sidewalks, the prolonged campouts of those who go to the recitals and the dirt that remains after each show.

The property adjoining the Atlanta stadium Don León Kolbowski became Movistar Arena in 2017, when the Buenos Aires Legislature approved the modification of the project that authorized the construction of a sports center to a private “microstadium” exempt from paying ABL for 40 years,

“Until the head of Government Horacio Rodríguez Larreta attends us, we will continue to complain on this corner”said Luis Angió, a resident of Villa Crespo.

And he added that in the neighborhood they are “tired of the problems” generated by the mega stadium “seven days a week”

Within this framework, they demanded a work table with the Buenos Aires government and that progress be made on a law “to change the use of the mega-stadium for sporting events,” as they proposed in a bill presented three years ago that “never was dealt with in the Legislature,” they said.

They asked Larreta to deactivate the Metrobús work on Alberdi and Directorio avenues

Neighbors, merchants and representatives of neighborhood entities of Communes 7, 9 and 10 agreed this Monday to demand that the head of the Buenos Aires Government, Horacio Rodriguez Larretathat cancel the Metrobús work on Alberdi and Directorio avenuesconsidering it “unnecessary“, and they announced that, if they do not have an answer, they will start an “active campaign” to make the claim visible, which will include street protests.

The definition was agreed upon during a meeting that took place this afternoon in the hall of the Alberdi avenue shopping center, where the community council members of the Frente de Todos (FDT) and Juntos por el Cambio (JXC) were also present.

There, they established that they will send a letter to the head of the Buenos Aires Government, as well as to the officials of the area, in which they will detail the arguments for which they do not agree with the exclusive lane.

The refusal contemplates the Metrobús for groups that will have an extension of 5.8 kilometers along Communes 7, 9 and 10and that was recently confirmed by the head of the Buenos Aires Cabinet, Philip Michaelto “improve public transport travel times”, for which it will have a central lane and parking will not be allowed on both sides of the sidewalks.

Last week, in a resolution of the Community Board 9 -which includes the neighborhoods of Mataderos, Parque Avellaneda and Liniers- the representatives of the FDT and also by some of the JXC ruling party They rejected the execution of the lane and warned that they did not receive any type of consultation in this regard from the Buenos Aires Governmentfor which they evaluated that they failed to comply with the organic law of the Communes.

During the meeting this afternoon, one of the community members who endorsed the resolution from JXC Hernán Poggi -which originates from the Civic Coalition- explained that “from the ruling party we say no because we are neighbors and because it is not a priority”.

Poggi also remarked that the space representatives who report to Elisa Carrió and who hold a position in the other boards affected by the future Metrobus route will also express their refusal.

From the FDT, Fernando Moya, from Comuna 10, He described the work as “arbitrary and without consultation” and stressed the fact that “the Buenos Aires government has not even enabled its own junta members to discuss it.”

For her part, Lorena Crespo, a community member of 9, pointed out that Larreta’s administration “skipped all the representative bodies to impose its project from the Executive.”

Miguel Sorrentino, a merchant for more than 40 years on Alberdi avenue, said that they are “psychologically affected” by the issue and called on their peers to “be united and analyze action measures because businesses are going to have to close.”

Leaders of the Alberdi Club, the Assembly of God Association, the Alberdi Este Merchants Union, the Management and Participation Table of Parque Avellaneda, Cuenca en Red and the Siete Esquinas Community Center also participated in the meeting.

At the close of the meeting, those present agreed to work on the design of an “active campaign” regarding their demand that includes, in addition to the note to the Executive, also street protests.

In this sense, they mentioned the “semaforazos”, a protest methodology that does not contemplate the interruption of the vehicular passage; however, they also analyzed the possibility of making a partial or total cut.