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Shoeshiners Say They Will Stay
The "shoeshiners" of Central
Park are not giving in to the
Municipality of San José's order
to stop them from applying their
trade in the park.
Though the chairs donated to the
are being stored, a group of
shoeshiners have decided to
fight city hall and were out
over the weekend serving their
customers as usual.
For now, the Municipality is
waiting on the outcome of the "recurso
amparo" - appeal - made to the
Constitutional Court before
sending it's troops - the
Municipal Police - to forcibly
remove the shoeshiners.
Saturday, the group threatened
to resist the police if they
tried to force them out,
however, the confrontation never
came.
The Municipality is keen on
cleaning up the streets and
parks of the city. Last year,
after a battle of years, the
Municipality won the approval of
the courts to remove the street
vendors from the sidewalks and
in January of this year, shortly
after the new year, with force
they acted against the vendors
who decided to stay put. The
confrontation was peaceful.
The next challenge for the
Municipality has been the
removal of large signs from
storefronts along the Avenidas
Central (the Boulevard) and
Segunda and adjoining streets.
In that case, the Municipality
won the right to control the
size and type of signage
displayed the various merchants
along those two main
thoroughfares.
These actions by the
Municipality is part of the plan
to re-organize the city centre,
taking back the public areas and
spaces,
making the city centre more esthetically
pleasing as well as a safe place
for residents and visitors
alike.
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