#479: Neukölln fire, unreported sex assaults, Wegner apology
The NBA is coming to Berlin!
Hey all —
Lots of news today so I’ll keep it brief: Indivisible Berlin and American Voices Abroad are organizing the third No Kings protest Saturday at 2pm at Babelplatz. So much to protest these days — would be nice if politicians (both US and German) would start listening.
The half-marathon is Sunday. Your best transport bet is the subway or your own feet (including yer bike).
Have a good weekend!
Andrew
Neukölln fire
If you, like our WhatsApp group, wondered what all the emergency services hullabaloo was about in Neukölln Thursday, it was a fire in a courtyard building that officials had feared would turn into a mass casualty event, according to the fire department itself. A fire in a third-floor (or fourth if you’re American) apartment spread into the attic and adjacent flats, prompting first responders to force their way into a number of apartments to look for possible victims. One resident was discovered with life-threatening — and another with minor — injuries. One interesting detail that highlights the German compulsion for order: Apparently a wardrobe truck was in use to allow firefighters to change out of their dirty clothes. Ordnung muss sein (order is a must)!
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Supervisors failed to react to sex assault
Both a childrens services councillor in Neukölln as well as the director of a youth center on Wutzkyallee are under police investigation for obstruction of justice after they failed to inform police about two alleged sexual assaults on minors by other minors at the center last year, according to Tagesspiegel. Two employees of the center are also under investigation for refusing to render aid. Officials from both the center and Neukölln’s government allegedly didn’t want to report the crime because it would reflect badly on migrant youths, who are already under fire from conservative and right-wing politicians. At least one of the victims turned to the Madonna Girls Center for help, who then informed the center of the crimes.
No more BVG strikes (probably)
Yellow public transport provider BVG and union Verdi have likely reached a fresh labor agreement, ending the need for more strikes, according to Tagesspiegel. An announcment on the new contract for BVG’s 16,500 employees is expected any minute. Hopefully the contract covers more than just a year, which would mean the spectre of strikes would be off the table until it expires. For BVG at least. The union wants more minimum down time between shifts and more vacation days as well as more vacation pay.
Mayor Wegner is sorry(-ish)
And, in election news: Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) apologized to Berliners (ergo: us) for failing to communicate properly about how he acted during the early hours of a blackout in southeastern Berlin Saturday, Jan. 3, according to BZ. After first claiming to have been at his desk from about 8 in the morning coordinating, it has gradually come out that he played tennis for an hour, took his dog for a walk and didn’t make the phone calls to other offices he claimed to have made. He also had to answer piercing questions Thursday during a city council meeting — he chose his words carefully because it’s an election year and things aren’t looking good for him.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
⚽ St. Pauli coach outs himself, criticizes pro football
🐳 Heavy equipment frees Baltic whale
🤵♀️ Politicians call for change after celebrity porn assault
Factoid
Berlin will be one of 16 European cities that will host a European NBA basketball team starting in 2027, according to the Morgenpost (paywall). The US pro league has already lined up banks to finance a new, more-than €100 million, 15,000-seat arena in Adlershof. Alba Berlin, Berlin’s No. 2 ranked pro team, will switch to the new league and arena. No word on when the thing will be built and how the NBA is explaining its new league’s moniker: European National Basketball League makes little linguistic sense.
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