Hey 20 Percent,
Be careful what you wish for.
Iâm writing this in Paris, where former mayor Anne Hidalgo built 1,500 kilometers of bike paths and ushered in a revolution in two-wheeled transport.
But Hidalgo also ushered in a level of cycling chaos that would send Germans to the hospital. Bicycle lights arenât seen as mere suggestions here, theyâre not even acknowledged. Cyclists speed through intersections when and however they see fit.
As a pedestrian, youâre on your own and you never know where the next Drahtesel (wire mule or bike) will come from.
Also, most of the cycling traffic seems to be rental e-bikes with the occasional parent bike taxi and e-scooter thrown in. Theyâre all zooming along at electricity-assisted speeds Berlinâs cargo bikes couldnât even dream about. To be fair, Iâm in the Arondissements in the middle, so I have no idea whatâs going on out of sight of the Seine, but I canât imagine itâs much different.
I love a cycling future, I just didnât realize the level of anarchy attached to it.
Still, we did see one cyclist stopped at a traffic light last night coming back from dinner â it was green.
âHeâs waiting for it to turn red so he can go,â my (German) wife said.
Maybe ride a bike this weekend?
Andrew
đ§ Mauriceâs 20% Berlin News Quiz is back next Wednesday!
Krach (SPD) chaos
The center-left SPD in Berlin is experiencing its own form of chaos after Hannover prosecutors searched the home of the partyâs Berlin mayoral candidate Steffen Krach less than two weeks before the September 20 election. Prosecutors are accusing him of corruption for providing secret documents to an allegedly friendly company bidding for a vacant piece of government property, according to RBB24. Krach himself said a donation made by the company to the Berlin SPD was immediately returned and denied any wrongdoing in the tender, which the allied company lost. The chaos will have little effect on the election â the SPD hovers at fifth place in polls, meaning Krach has no chance of becoming mayor.
Furnished, temporary rentals can be banned, sort of
And now thereâs a tiny bit less rental-chaos after a Berlin court ruled that districts can prohibit temporary, furnished rentals, a loophole that allows landlords to charge higher rents. But districts can only reject the rentals in Milieuschutzgebiete, according to T-Online. Milieuschutzgebiete are designated areas in each district where renters enjoy extra protection to maintain a neighborhoodâs social fabric and support lower income households. A NeukĂślln landlord sued after the district had forbidden her from renting out 15 furnished apartments temporarily at between âŹ23.26 and âŹ32.63 per sqm â the allowed rent for an unfurnished abode in the area is âŹ10.37 per sqm. The landlord lost, giving officials yet another tool to fight greedy, greedy landlords.
Tie the knot in a tram
Weâve all at least once wished the BVG would do a little less marketing and a little more to combat its own chaos but this publicity-ploy is kind of funny â Berlinâs public transport provider is looking for three couples to get fake married in a tram Oct. 11. You can apply here (German only) and they make it clear that the marriage wonât be legally binding but will be used for marketing. And you can bring guests! I applied, because why not?
đş 𼨠Germany-wide news 𼨠đş
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â Germanyâs connection to 9/11
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Factoid
Depending upon who you ask, Berlinâs shortest street is either the unimaginatively named StraĂe 54 in Heinersdorf or the Eiergasse in Mitte. StraĂe 54 weighs in at 17.2 meters, according to Tagesspiegel (paywall), and is sandwiched between a Tedi discount store and the Freies Land garden allotment colony. The adorable Eiergasse in the Nikolaiviertel has been heralded as the shortest at 16 meters for years, but some sources say itâs actually 18.
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Iâm planting my flag on this hill: stop using âanarchyâ as a synonym for chaos and disorder đŤŁ
That framing serves those who hold powerâand want us to believe that dismantling unjust systems and governing ourselves could only end in catastrophe.
So yes, âanarchyâ might sound dramatic in a negative sentence. But perhaps the word youâre looking for is âbedlam.â
And if you do use âanarchy,â try using it positively:
âFor many, 1990s Berlin offered a glimpse of the beautiful possibilities of anarchy. Places like Tacheles emerged from extraordinary personal freedomâbut also from deep collaboration, collective responsibility and the courage to build without waiting for permission.â
Anarchy isnât the absence of order. Itâs the absence of rulers.
And I dare say, Anarchy is why so many of us 25% choose to live in Berlin, and would love it if the place was even more anarchistic.
The police enforces one rule very strictly in Paris: youâre not allowed to wear headphones while cycling. Solution: everyone who wants to listen to music while cycling hangs a boombox on their bike and blasts it really loud