Nostalgia Sunday – Up Rothschild Boulevard

July 31, 2011 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, design, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Politics, Social Justice, Travel 

Rothschild Boulevard has been in the news quite a lot recently as the site where hundreds of young people have set up a tent city to protest the high price of housing.

The street is one of the priciest locations in the country, so it’s quite fitting that the protesters should camp out there. A few more weeks of shouting, drumming and political photo-ops could serve to drive prices down. But probably not. Because being exclusive is part of the boulevard’s DNA.

Here’s your proof: the street was originally called Rehov HaAm (“Street of the people”) but was renamed, at the residents’ request, mind you, to honor Baron Edmond James de Rothschild.

(BTW: 3D Israel has an amazing panoramic image of Rothschild Boulevard at the corner of Herzl Street. It can be viewed here).

Israel’s Declaration of Independence was signed on Rothschild Boulevard in a building now known as Independence Hall. Before that, it was the home of Meir Dizengoff, the first Mayor of Tel Aviv.

The older part of the boulevard is built in the eclectic Orientalist style, which combined European architecture with Eastern features such as arches, domes and ornamental tiles.

But as it expanded, the street’s architectural style began to change with the times…

…and the Bauhaus or International style accompanied the street’s development northwards towards the orange groves where the Habima National Theater and Mann Auditorium were built, eventually.

Today’s tent city inhabitants sit surrounded by the Bauhaus buildings of Tel Aviv’s White City, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. Many of these buildings are falling to bits, but demand is driving the market, location is everything and the prices just keep on soaring.

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Duplex of Dreams

July 31, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, education, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, News, Politics, Social Justice 

 While the newspapers are packed with commentary on the ‘Tent Protest’ and the fact that some 150,000 Israelis took to the streets Saturday night (July 30) in the name of social justice, seeing the pictures and reading about it just isn’t the same as actually being there.

It was to “see” and “feel” a bit of history in the making that we went to Rothschild Boulevard last night.

As any Tel Aviv resident knows, Rothschild Boulevard is always teeming with people. And wandering up and down this street is an endeavor cherished by all of this city’s dwellers.

Now, the thoroughfare has been transformed into a campground. But this is no regular campsite; these campers are armed with wit, a desire for change and loads of energy.

This is a well-oiled happening. There’s a kitchen tent area, an information center, a communications tent, a yoga space and a barber tent. Some people pitched just a tent while others brought their living rooms with them.

And it was difficult not to be swept up by the enthusiasm as we walked around the tents, reading the handmade signs posted wherever the tape would stick.

Some signs were political, others were hilariously witty. Each sign was in support of one of the social crises at stake: housing, health, education, gasoline, child care, etc.

There were signs we disagreed with, and others that we endorsed.

"Duplex on Rothschild: If to dream about an apartment, then all the way." (Photo: Viva Sarah Press)

“Duplex on Rothschild: If to dream about an apartment, then all the way,” read one sign.

“Looking for a groom with his own apartment,” read another.

 There were also “house numbers” on each tent, but instead of Rothschild Boulevard, the name of the street was listed as Tents Boulevard.

Tents Boulevard instead of Rothschild Boulevard. (Photo: Viva Sarah Press)

Rothschild Boulevard is often the site of outdoor exhibits. In a way, the protest tents are an exhibition of today’s word on the street.

And the word on the street is that social services are constitutional rights. As Daphni Leef, one of the leaders of the ‘Tent Protest’ said: “We do not want to replace the government, we want much more than that – to change the rules of the game and say loud and clear: Social services are rights, not commodities.”

There were tens of thousands of people, but no one pushed. The atmosphere along the boulevard was one of hope.

The protestors are people who love their country but also want social justice. They are people who are not just asking for cheaper rent, but those who want to be able to be able to afford living in a place they call home.

Havdallah on Rothschild Blvd. during the Tent Protest. (Photo: Viva Sarah Press)

A medley of everyone seemed to be represented. A group of ultra-orthodox men held a havdallah service about 10 tents away from a young group of dread-locked Israelis, singing and dancing and jamming on their guitars. An older couple sat on one of the benches lining the paths watching as families with children on their parents’ shoulders walked by.

The pedestrian traffic going to and from the central tent area was non-stop.

I wonder how the founders of the city would react to today’s ‘Tent Protest’ taking over the boulevard that in 1909 was planned explicitly as a central public space.

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Two contrasting Jerusalem Friday afternoons

July 31, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General 

The O'Lives get down in the Jerusalem valley.

Which event would you think would draw more people on a warm Friday afternoon in Jerusalem? A grassroots indie rock show on a impromptu stage under some camping canvas in Jerusalem’s Valley of the Crosses featuring two inspired unknown bands or another outdoor gathering on the massive porch of the Malha Mall featuring decibel-crunching trance and techno music?

The actual body count – by my own estimates, having spent time at both events – was 30 for the indie rock tent and about 1,500 for the deafening trance party. To be honest, I was expecting a little more parity when I went to pick up my daughter at the trance party after spending a lovely two hours at the alternative Woodstock, but it’s understandable that the mind-numbing techno vibe so unquestioningly beat out the thoughtful and soulful sets by Yehuda Ledgely and The O’Lives.The forest event was done guerilla-style through Facebook postings, it was difficult to find and hard to get to without a car. The Malha event was at the MALL – where else do teenagers feel more comfortable? (the party was 18-years old plus entry due to the sale of alcohol, but it looked like most of the crowd was 16-20).

Surely, not in a field with a small group of grungy Israeli 20 and 30-somethings, sitting on mats or on the ground listening or dancing to cerebral rock. Nothing much has changed since the days when I was a teen and the ‘cool’ kids listened to Boston or Journey in arenas while the fringe group I belonged to sneak away to small clubs to see The Ramones and Talking Heads.

But it’s also nice to know that there are still bands like The O’Lives, whose members couldn’t be more than 22 or 23 who are intent on creating their own rock and roll magic, and artists like Yehuda Ledgely, who when he performs, suggests that you are in the presence of undiscovered greatness. It’s unlikely the crowd at the techno party had such thoughts.

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Foto Friday – Meet the High-Rises

July 29, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Business, design, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, News, Picture of the Week, Politics, Profiles, Social Justice, Travel 

The headlines this week are all about the housing crisis. Initially, the protest against high rents and purchase prices started in Tel Aviv but by the end of the week had spread to country’s the north, south and east. The “Tent City” protesters have talked a lot about the luxury apartments that the municipalities, and by extension, the government, favor. But given that a picture is worth at least 500 words (adjusting for inflation), here are a few of the outstanding projects that really stick in the average non-homeowner’s craw.

Akirov Towers. Most prominent resident: Minister of Defense and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

The Ramat Gan Diamond Bourse, which was first to define the TLV-RG urban skyline.

To the south: the Neve Zedek Tower casting its long luxe lifetyle shadow over quaint and trendy Neve Tzedek, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Tel Aviv. To the North: The Yoo Towers, designed by the master, Philippe Starck.

The rest of the country is not free of this luxury high-rise scourge. Worse yet, the farther out you get from the center, the funnier the names get. Meet Haifa’s Sail Tower and Netanya’s Sea Opera.

And Jerusalem’s Holyland, the project that launched a thousand corruption lawsuits!

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My kingdom for a parking space in Tel Aviv

July 28, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, Travel 

Tel Aviv residents may be complaining and protesting about the high cost of housing, but I think they should add the lack of parking spaces to the list.

Going to spend a night last week at Ramat Gan Stadium to see Paul Simon in concert, my wife and decided to make a mini-vacation out of it and stay overnight in a Tel Aviv hotel. We chose a relatively modest establishment on Hayarkon St, along the Mediterranean.

Upon arrival in the afternoon, we noticed that along the side of the hotel was a small parking lot, with enough spaces to hold a dozen or so cars. They were blocked by a linked chain with locks. So while I idled outside, my wife went to the lobby, checked in and inquired about parking. She was told that for NIS 40, we could buy a parking space for our time there, and could come and go as we pleased. We just had to call into the front desk and they would send someone out to unlock the chain.

Even though it wasn’t free, it didn’t sound bad, so we took it. After spending a nice afternoon poolside and taking a walk along the beach, we drove to the show – which was stupendous – and returned the five kilometers back to the hotel at around 11:30 pm.

It didn’t seem like there were any empty parking spaces, so my wife went into the lobby again. She was told that the parking was ‘first come first serve.’ When she told the clerk that we had paid NIS 40 for a reserved space, she was told there was no such thing, that she had been given the wrong information. At the least we demanded our money back, but the clerk said we’d have to wait and talk to the manager in the morning.

So there we were, out NIS 40, and with no place to park at midnight on a Thursday night in Tel Aviv. A pay parking lot across the street was charging NIS 50 for overnight parking but only until 7 a.m.

I didn’t relish such an early wake up call, so while my wife went up to the room, I drove around the neighborhood a bit, and found a place on the street a few blocks away. But as we were walking away from the car, someone passing by offered the information that you need a resident parking sticker to park on the streets – and that the police ‘do’ ticket even overnight.

I went back to the 7 a.m. parking lot, but now they were filled up. Tired, angry and hot, I noticed a sign for underground parking across the street and eased down the ramp. The fee – NIS 60 for 24 hours. I had no choice but to bite the bullet.

But on the way back to the room, I stopped at a 24-hour convenience store along the beach and bought a package of Pepperidge Farm chocolate chip and macademia nut cookies at an outrageously inflated price and brought it up to the room. I figured we deserved it.

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