Since this summer, unusually bumpy bricks can be seen at the corner of Bethaniƫnstraat in Amsterdam's Red Light District. Part of a municipal experiment, these bricks, with their small and large bumps, aim to deter drug dealers from standing at the street corner. However, local residents and shopkeepers remain skeptical about the effectiveness of this approach.
Amsterdam is allowed to keep tourist shops out of the city center by not allowing new souvenir shops and other stores aimed at tourists to replace closing ones, the Council of State ruled on Wednesday.
Sex workers, business owners and residents from the Wallen neighborhood, as well as the Zuid and Noord districts, will protest on Thursday against the proposed erotic center. Through this protest march, they aim to express their disagreement with the city's plans to relocate the window brothels from the Red Light District to an erotic center situated in a different part of the city. The march is being organized by Mariska Majoor, the founder of the Prostitution Information Center."