'Paris has changed permanently': a day on duty with mayor Anne Hidalgo

April 25, 2016 4:52 AM

For Hidalgo, it has already been an extraordinary time in office. “After the attacks, there was suddenly a sense of community, of closeness; a need to stand up and be together. I felt that change in people and I can still feel it. It fills me with hope.”[slGuardian]
posted by ellieBOA (2 comments total)

Mayor Hidalgo has done a lot of great things for Paris, and her heart is in the right place, but as for standing up and being together? Not everyone is welcome to do so in Paris.

Now that most Jews seldom go in public with anything identifying them as such, greater Paris's antisemitic community is escalating matters. A locksmith was lured into a beating because he had advertised on a Jewish radio station.

Standing together with Parisians and holding candles for an evening is all well and good, but that sense of community is not running much deeper than that.
posted by ocschwar at 9:05 AM on April 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

Hidalgo has always seemed genuinely dedicated to making Paris a better city on a human level.

I also love this about her – quote from the bit about working with Valérie Pécresse:

“We have different political ideas, but we work well together,” she says. “I know the media prefers women in politics to be hysterical so they can portray us as aliens, but it’s hard enough already for a woman to get to the top in politics.” With that she smiles, turns and walks off.

posted by fraula at 11:42 AM on April 25, 2016