This week in Jerusalem: Money for the city

Money for the city

According to the law, in the absence of an approved state budget local authorities are forced to make do with 1/12 of the previous year’s budget. The capital of the State of Israel does not currently have a budget for 2024, but as it turns out, this limitation does not apply to so-called “special budgets,” the majority of which are earmarked for development. Therefore, in the last week of 2023, Mayor Moshe Lion’s coalition managed to approve Jerusalem’s special budget. Designated for the capital’s development, its NIS 6.2 billion is the highest budget ever approved by the municipality and reflects a twofold increase over the one approved some five years ago. It will be used for upgrading infrastructure, roads, and sidewalks; bicycle paths; railway works; and road building. Additional development will include renovation and upgrading of kindergartens and educational institutions; refurbishment of shelters; establishment of remote viewing systems in public areas; and protection of educational institutions. Also planned are increased accessibility to public buildings and public spaces; upgrading of the multipurpose Pais Arena Sport Hall, Sultan’s Pool, and other cultural and sports institutions across the city; restoring public parks; and continued investment in the transition to underground garbage bins across the city.

Saved again

The Lev Smadar movie theater has once again been saved from closure at the last minute – this time, thanks to the initiative by a group of local residents. Less than a month before its final closure, a solution was found that would allow the iconic cinema to continue operating in its original premises in the German Colony. Neighbors managed to raise funds and sign a binding agreement with the owner of the property and the owners of the Lev cinema chain, who will assist with the costs on an ongoing basis, to ensure the continuation of the activity of the much-loved movie theater complex. As part of the new agreement, the neighborhood residents, united under the Smadar Initiative, will be allowed to host various cultural activities at the complex and develop a business model that will generate additional income to finance the entire project. The agreement is for a period of five years, during which either party is entitled to withdraw, giving six months’ advance notice.

Our sidewalks

Parking on sidewalks throughout the city has become a serious problem, with pedestrians demanding their rights, while drivers, under the auspices (or the blind eye) of the municipality, allow themselves to block the sidewalks, thus forcing the pedestrians to walk on the road. The organization In Our Streets is fighting the Jerusalem Municipality on this issue. Its members are demanding the cancellation of permits allocated by the municipality to park on sidewalks in various locations in the city and have petitioned the municipality at the local magistrate court. The court has accepted In Our Streets’ petition and ordered the municipality to examine the existing parking arrangements on the sidewalks in the city. The municipality claims that such an arrangement has not been implemented in years and that the complaints are simply an attempt to discredit it in the public eye.

Rent me a home 

As part of the Apartment to Rent project, 135 housing units are to be built for long-term rentals of 20 years in the Givat Mordechai neighborhood. According to the terms of the tender, a quarter of the apartments will be rented out at a reduced price to those eligible for social housing. Five companies submitted their proposals for the construction of the project, and the winning company is the Asdan Group, which offered NIS 13.8 million, including development expenses and VAT, equivalent to approximately NIS 102,000 per housing unit. Safra Square is interpreting the fact that there were five bidders as indicative of the return of entrepreneurs to the long-term rental market, and this seen by the municipality as a start to easing the high cost of housing.

Youth here and there 

Jerusalem has received the highest number of youth evacuees in the country and recently opened a complex that will provide them with an alternative to staying in hotels and prevent them from wandering the streets. Two thousand evacuee youths have arrived in Jerusalem since October 7. The young people, used to their own rooms or sharing with siblings, are now bunking with their parents, which often leads to friction, seclusion, or even wandering the streets of the city. In conjunction with the community centers, the Education Ministry, and the Jerusalem Municipality, and in cooperation with the IDF, a complex has been established for the young evacuees. The huge tent formerly used by the Aspeklaria Theater at the First Station has been filled with poufs, colorful carpets, and ping-pong tables, and every afternoon the evacuees enjoy enrichment workshops alongside free activities. Recently, two new youth clubs have opened. The social services for youth at Safra Square are employing young Jerusalemites, such as teenage street musicians, workshop leaders, and Jerusalem artists, to help with the evacuees.

Take out the chairs 

The exemption from the fee for outdoor use of tables and chairs at coffee shops in the city center has been extended for an additional year, following the approval of the city council’s last meeting for 2023 last week. This exemption translates into thousands of shekels of relief for Jerusalem businesses and was first approved to assist business owners during COVID-19.

HaMesila Park take 2

The residents of Baka are initiating a green axis in the inner part of the neighborhood, which will include the construction of a bicycle path, an initiative promoted by the residents, with the support of the community administration and the municipality. The road and sidewalk will be made a single level, and the area will be pedestrianized along the axis and linked to existing parks such as Gideon Park. The axis, which is about one kilometer long, will pass along Ephraim, Gad, and Zevulun streets. The cost of planning and execution will be in the millions of shekels, and the work will begin this year. The neighborhood’s urban planner says the initiative, aimed at benefiting pedestrians and cyclists, was proposed and developed by the residents themselves. The downside is that the project will reduce the parking spots available in the area.

Students or soldiers 

Nearly 60% of the students of the Shalem Academic Center in Jerusalem have been drafted into the reserves since the start of the Swords of Iron war. While almost all other academic institutions in Israel opened their doors for the academic year at the end of December, Shalem, which during the COVID period was the first to reopen, will be the last one this time, waiting until January 28 in the hope that by then the students who have been serving in the reserves since Oct. 7 will be able to join their friends. The Shalem Academic Center was founded 11 years ago as the sole institution in Israel that operates following the liberal arts model of elite universities abroad, and all its students receive thousands of shekels in living-expense scholarships. The late opening of the school has not affected the students’ rights, and they were allocated their scholarships on November 1 as usual. ❖