Nieuws uit Amsterdam

Announcement

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 12:06:13 +0100

Almost half a year ago, I took News from Amsterdam out of the moth balls to cover the local election campaign. The campaign is over, and News from Amsterdam will be put back on hold. I will continue writing about Amsterdam on my blog occasionally.

Election event on Monday for internationals in Amsterdam

Sat, 17 Mar 2018 13:02:42 +0100

Green party GroenLinks is hosting a Rock the Vote event on Monday, where party leaders of GroenLinks, PvdA, SP, D66 and VVD will pitch their ideas for Amsterdam. An estimated 89,000 internationals are eligible to vote in the local election next Wednesday.

Amsterdam to get English-language commercial court

Fri, 09 Mar 2018 19:24:25 +0100

A commercial court will be created in Amsterdam where international disputes can be litigated in English. The Lower House has approved this decision yesterday. The court will be located in the court building at the IJdok.

Offering rental home to expats may constitute discrimination

Fri, 09 Mar 2018 12:41:25 +0100

In the past, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights has found that offering a home for rent exclusively to expats is discriminatory. The ruling has new relevance after a home in the former squat Slangenpand was offered ‘preferably for rent for expats’ by a real estate agent.

‘Consider banning lorries from Stadhouderskade’

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 09:20:44 +0100

Rik Torn (council member for the VVD) has asked the city administration whether measures are needed to ban lorries from the Stadhouderskade in order to promote traffic safety. Various fatal accidents have occured, for example near the Ferdinand Bolstraat. Many accidents involved lorries, Torn indicated, adding that neighbourhood residents are concerned about traffic safety.

How the crisis was discussed by the city council

Sun, 04 Mar 2018 13:07:09 +0100

It won’t come as a surprise that the term crisis was used a lot in 2009. There was some debate about the nature of the crisis:

Voting advice in English

Fri, 16 Feb 2018 08:22:10 +0100

Many foreigners living in Amsterdam are eligible to vote in the 21 March local election, but little information is available in English. However, News from Amsterdam has now published an English translation of its popular voting advice application.

Bike share mainly used by highly-educated men

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 08:21:25 +0100

The bike share scheme operated in Amsterdam by Flickbike was popular mainly among young, highly-educated men, mostly without children. Users of the bikes would otherwise have used public transportation or have walked. These preliminary conclusions were drawn by researchers of the University of Amsterdam.

The ‘smart city’ is not a campaign theme

Sun, 04 Feb 2018 12:11:37 +0100

«Municipalities with well-meaning ambitions to become ‘smart’ are surrendering to technology firms and violating privacy laws,» investigative journalist Saskia Naafs recently concluded. Amsterdam would like to be a smart city, but this is hardly a theme in the campaign for the local election on 21 March.

Deliveroo riders are on strike

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 19:22:27 +0100

In a number of neighbourhoods in Amsterdam, it’s currently not possible to order meals from Deliveroo. The website indicates this is because it’s busy, but deliverers have announced they are on strike. Trade union FNV says Deliveroo is also experiencing problems in Haarlem and Utrecht.

How to say ‘stadsdeel’ in English

Sun, 26 Nov 2017 10:00:00 +0100

Wikipedia calls Amsterdam’s stadsdelen boroughs, but News from Amsterdam calls them districts. The official list of translations of municipal terminology, which has recently been updated, may provide guidance. According to the city government, stadsdeel should be translated as City District.

Ice-cream parlours, cheese stores and bicycle rentals

Sun, 19 Nov 2017 09:11:32 +0100

The centre of Amsterdam has 177 businesses targeting tourists and shops selling food and drinks for immediate consumption. Those include at least 23 ice-cream parlours, 24 cheese stores and 31 bicycle rentals, according to a list (pdf) published by the Amsterdam Municipality.

Acting out ‘Amsterdam cycling traditions’ to sell bicycles

Thu, 16 Nov 2017 17:51:00 +0100

A Dutch casting agency is looking for cyclists to appear in an advertisement for Veloretti, a company that produces retro bicycles. They want to act out Amsterdam cycling traditions such as «a bride sitting on a carrier, drunken students stuck in a tram rail, cycling couriers speeding through town and a mother carrying two children, a bag of groceries hanging on the handlebars».

Cycle couriers plan protest against piece-rate pay

Tue, 31 Oct 2017 15:30:00 +0100

Deliveroo cycle couriers have announced a protest at the Museumplein in Amsterdam on 14 November. Deliveroo wants to cancel employment contracts for 2,000 workers and hire them on bogus self-employment contracts, trade union FNV Riders Union claims.

Candidate for bicycle mayor plans to protest with a can of paint

Sun, 29 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0200

Tomorrow, voting starts for the new bicycle mayor of Amsterdam. The most outspoken candidate is Camila Pinzon, who wants to ban scooters from the cycle paths and raise parking fees. Protests should help achieve these goals.

Left-wing collaboration in Amsterdam

Sun, 22 Oct 2017 10:11:10 +0200

This weekend, PvdA (social-democrats), SP (socialists) and GroenLinks (green party) have announced a left-wing pact. The parties criticize the ‘worthless’ coalition agreement of the new right-wing national government and opt for a city that is sustainable and characterised by solidarity. At the same time, the pact is an indication that the signatories want to form a coalition after the local election in March 2018.

News from Amsterdam reactivated

Sun, 08 Oct 2017 11:20:00 +0200

In view of the local elections in March 2018, News from Amsterdam has been temporarily reactivated. Five years ago, I suspended updates to the website.

Dutch rail passengers are observed by cameras in advertising columns

Mon, 04 Sep 2017 20:58:38 +0200

«What are those mini cameras doing in that advertising column!», a Twitter user asked today. In a response, Dutch Railways (NS) said that advertisers use the cameras to assess whether passengers look at advertising and for how long.

Bike share in Amsterdam: who benefits

Sat, 05 Aug 2017 15:00:13 +0200

Over the past weeks, Amsterdam has been flooded by rogue bike share bicycles that can be rented with a smartphone app. Big business, according to newspaper het Parool. Amsterdammers responded to this commercial junk by placing bicycles at bulky waste disposal sites. The municipality has announced it will remove all bike share bicycles, and subsequently regulate the market.

Airbnb’s agreement with Amsterdam: some insights from scraped data

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 17:16:29 +0200

Airbnb is under fire. The platform would harm the liveability of Amsterdam neighbourhoods and drive up house prices. In December last year, Amsterdam and Airbnb signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to deal with abuses. According to Airbnb, the agreement is already bearing fruit. Airbnb thinks Amsterdam should focus its enforcement efforts on other platforms. But Amsterdam wants to introduce a registration requirement for holiday lettings, a measure Airbnb vehemently opposes.