Grapevine May 17, 2024 : Residence renewal

After standing gutted and empty for almost three years, the Prime Minister’s Residence finally appears to be undergoing a facelift.

In recent weeks, construction equipment has been seen entering and leaving via the garage entrance, and when the door is open long enough, passersby can see that not only the building has been gutted, but the surface of the grounds has been removed, presumably for the installation of new pipes and security devices.

In addition, national and Jerusalem city banners hanging from electric light poles, which had been battered by wind and rain and were in a tattered condition, have been replaced with fresh, new banners.

Whether this is in honor of Jerusalem Day, which will be celebrated in the first week of June, or is indicative of anticipated speedy construction work on the official residence of the prime minister is anyone’s guess. One can only presume that his presence in his private residence on Aza Road annoys many more neighbors than did his presence at the intersection of Smolenskin and Balfour streets.

Another reason to suppose that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be returning to his former abode is the presence of security personnel, who have seldom been around during the past three years. Over the past few weeks, they’ve been on duty nearly every day.

As yet, they’re not causing difficulties for pedestrians or drivers, but that could change at any time.

Some of the prime minister’s former neighbors wish that he or a successor would return to occupy the house on the corner so that the street would be cleaner, and so that there would be less traffic.

When the house was occupied, only residents of the two intersecting streets were permitted to park their cars and motorbikes, and even then only halfway down each of the two streets, farthest away from the official residence.

Exceptions were made for tradespeople and private visitors, providing that permission was obtained from the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

Non-resident drivers used to have a bureaucratic struggle with security guards if they wanted to drive into or through the restricted area. Now cars and motorbikes are parked there, as well as on the sidewalk, and cars come whizzing around the corner from Balfour into Smolenskin at some incredible speed – something they could not do in the past.

In addition, the huge tentlike structure built for the May 2017 visit by then US president Donald Trump was never removed, and covered what used to be a sterile area while Netanyahu was in office. It was cleaned assiduously every day. Now it’s totally unkempt, with discarded paper cups, cigarette butts, and other garbage.

The unfenced garden area next door is overgrown with weeds that the municipality does not bother to remove, even though municipal gardeners are working at Wingate Square, which is less than a five-minutes walk away.

Ever-changing bus routes

■ ANYONE WHO ventures beyond one’s own neighborhood knows that the whole city is changing, and not just the streets in the immediate vicinity. It can be very confusing for pedestrians, let alone drivers, because Waze has not always caught up with changes such as new streets or access to old streets where construction for the light rail has now diverted motorized traffic.

To make matters worse, certain bus routes have been eliminated, or the buses that run along them have been given different numbers.

Frustrating though this may be, it offers an opportunity to tour the city free of charge in order to view the changes and to familiarize oneself with new bus routes.

Anyone with a monthly or a free (to those 75+) Rav-Kav should take advantage of what rav kav means – “multi-route.” Just get on a bus or the light rail at a time of day when traffic is light so that you’re guaranteed a seat, and you can look out of the window. You can either travel all the way or alight wherever the fancy takes you, then cross the road and go back to where you initially boarded.

It’s a great way for newcomers to get to know the city, and for veterans to absorb the changes.

Seniors with free travel rights don’t have to limit themselves to Jerusalem. They can go all the way to Eilat. Unfortunately, they can’t go all the way to the northern border, due to rocket fire from Lebanon.

For parents with a large brood of children, a Rav-Kav adventure is the most economical means of enjoying a family outing, especially now that prices in general have risen so dramatically.

Prices rise, businesses fall

■ RISING PRICES means that people are buying less, which also means that business enterprises have a sharp decrease in profits, but not in the rents they pay for the premises they occupy. The upshot is that they move out as soon as their rental contracts expire.

The number of inner city stores with “For Rent” and “For Sale” signs on the windows is increasing, and yet construction of more multistory, multipurpose buildings with stores on the ground floor continues. Most of the stores remain empty for a very long time, such as the hotel and residential complex on Agrippas Street with a row of shops that have been empty for more than a year.

The only stores that appear to be doing good business are the discount purveyors that offer household goods, fashion, and/or accessories at affordable prices. One such store, which is close to bus routes and the light rail, opens very early in the morning when most other stores are still closed and does a roaring trade before 9 a.m. because a lot of people find it convenient to shop on their way to work.

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