In the first meeting with district mayor Nikolai, in August 2023, Mr. Nikolai has been informed about the numerous people within the Karmelitermarkt-Initiative that have the capacities and the will to extensively support Mr. Nikolai architecturally, in finding ways to finance the project and to support logistically to make the goals of the initiative come true.

Unfortunately, Mr. Nikolai has not kept his word. Since August 2023, Mr. Nikolai has been rejecting any further conversation or meeting. Mr. Nikolai’s behavior seems to follow a certain pattern. Other people with similar initiatives in the neighborhood have similar experiences. There is a first meeting with Mr. Nikolai. Follow-up conversations or meetings do not take place, then. 

There have been happening some neighborhood embellishments with trees; including the one in the Rotenkreuzgasse. Unfortunately, such embellishments will not significantly cool down the coming heatwaves in the future in a sustainable way for the people that live in the many narrow streets of our neighborhood. Here, a lot of public money is misused to hermetically re-seal the surface of the sidewalks and streets around these newly planted trees; with dark-colored asphalt that significantly heats up during summer; instead of investing the same money in significantly unsealing the surfaces of the sidewalks and streets especially in the narrow streets of our neighborhood and investing the money in light-colored surface material that does not heat up significantly during summer and – hence - has a cooling effect during heatwaves.

In the coming year, and in 2025, there will be elections on the federal level and in Vienna. In both elections, people have the possibility to cast their ballot for people and parties that best represent the interest of supporters of the Karmelitermarkt-Initiative regarding a greener and cooling remodeling of the Karmelitermarkt. So far, the number of supporters of this initiative shows that more than half of the 7,200 people that live right at the Karmelitermarkt or in its vicinity longs for a cooling and green remodeling of the Karmlitermarkt, within a year; into a place that is a space of enounter. 7,200 people are about 10 percent of the entire electorate in elections in the Leopoldstadt district. So, it is potentially the 7,200 people in our neighborhood in the next elections in 2024 and 2025 that will be decisive in which party or which person in the district of Leopoldstadt will lose or gain the leadership, politically.

Are you interested in an event, concert or a Karmelitermarkt-encounter in order to better get to know each other, right at the Karmelitermarkt? Post your ideas.