{"id":1299,"date":"2011-06-17T00:03:36","date_gmt":"2011-06-17T03:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=1299"},"modified":"2016-05-19T08:36:22","modified_gmt":"2016-05-19T11:36:22","slug":"the-square-is-ours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=1299","title":{"rendered":"The Square is Ours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"pracadopovo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An abandoned square has become famous! A place for entertainment, inhabited by the homeless, street vendors, and pagode-lovers alike, this square\u2019s existence is now being threatened by new construction. The Carlos Gianelle Square, located in Alc\u00e2ntara, one of the most populated neighborhoods of Sao Gon\u00e7alo in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region, was sold by Mayor Aparecida Panisset for the meager sum of R$150,000 (approximately US$93,000). A shopping mall, connected to a nearby bus terminal, is scheduled to be erected in the square\u2019s place. On May 12th, 2011, neighborhood residents took to the streets surrounding the square for a protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe resistence of the population is due to the sale of a public landmark that is considered an emblem of traditional and historic significance to the neighborhood,\u201d explains small business owner Ulysses Soares, 50, owner of the nearby market ATC. He is one of several business owners who, together with the OAB (Order of Brazilian Lawyers), organized a street rally and produced a petition in favor of the plaza. The petition received approximately 3,000 signatures. \u201cNo one is against the construction of a shopping mall. The real question is the legality of the act,\u201d adds the market owner.<\/p>\n

One of the controversies is the price of the square, sold for R$150,000 in an area where a store does not sell for less than R$200,000. But the real issue lies within the law, which prohibits the sale or transfer of a public square at all. According to prosecutor Karine Gomes, \u201cdisaffection\u201d (the use of a plot of public land for private means), is unconstitutional. \u201cA square can never be demolished for commercial exploitation,\u201d she explains. At most, the protesters would accept a trade of their square for a public hospital, another of the city\u2019s major needs.<\/p>\n

Residents protests were not heard by the municipal government, but they did find sympathy with the 4th Criminal Court, from which a temporary restraining order has suspended construction until the judiciary addresses the legality of the work. The area around the square is now entirely cluttered, affecting both vehicular and foot traffic. \u201cThe construction has taken over a space where cars used to drive; it has ruined the traffic loop and blocked the pathway of pedestrians, generating unneccessary disruption,\u201d laments university student Samantha Rodrigues, 23, who lives near the square.<\/p>\n

The project does not forsee any evictions, but, nonetheless, construction nearby will greatly inconvenience neighborhood residents. They are also worried about the heightened traffic flows – both on foot and by car – given the creation of the shopping center. \u201cWe have a square, and it can\u2019t just be taken away,\u201d protests small business owner Paulo Sergio, who runs JN market and who also participated in the May 12th protest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas An abandoned square has become famous! A place for entertainment, inhabited by the homeless, street vendors, and pagode-lovers alike, this square\u2019s existence is now being threatened by new construction. The Carlos […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1328,336],"tags":[139,109,140,1197,141,18,171,120],"writer":[84],"translator":[131],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-by-community-contributors","8":"category-violations","9":"tag-alcantara","10":"tag-community-business","11":"tag-corruption","12":"tag-greater-rio","13":"tag-privatization","14":"tag-protest","15":"tag-public-space","16":"tag-sao-goncalo","17":"writer-andreia-coutinho","18":"translator-micaela-lillard-browning"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=1299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}