美国国家公共电台 NPR In Amsterdam, Even The Tourists Say There Are Too Many Tourists

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Amsterdam is famous for its nightlife, which appeals to adult visitors. But Amsterdam has now become the latest European city, after Barcelona, Dubrovnik and Venice, to crack down on mass tourism. Amsterdam has fewer than a million residents, but 20 million people visit the city every year. And things get particularly bad at night, when young drunk men go wild in a city where both prostitution and pot are legal. Joanna Kakissis tells us how Amsterdam is trying to tame the nightlife without killing¹ it. And just a quick warning - this story has some adult themes.

KING: Imagine trying to sleep to this outside your front door every night.

(CHEERING, LAUGHTER)

BERT NAP: When they start yelling, when they start puking in your potted plants, that's horrible.

JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE²: Welcome to Bert Nap's life. He writes language textbooks for a living. And he and his wife live in a cute house next to a church in Amsterdam's Red Light District. If you're about to say, well, what did you expect, Mr. Nap, don't bother. He's already been told off by drunk guys in Elvis costumes. All British tourists, he says - one he caught peeing in his mailbox.

NAP: I went up to one of them. And I asked, well, why don't you do that in your own hometown? And he said, you are selling drugs. You are selling prostitution. I buy it. So he literally³ said, you [expletive] off because we buy your streets. We are paying for it. And just move. Go live elsewhere.

KAKISSIS: Bert Nap has been here for 40 years. In fact, people have lived in the Red Light District for hundreds of years. The neighborhood's always been a draw for visitors. But now it seems it caters⁴ only to tourists. Think cannabis cafes instead of grocery stores, trinket shops with condom key rings instead of places where you can actually get keys made or the smell of a popular stoner treat replacing the fresh bread and bakeries.

NAP: We have streets just selling waffles and Nutella. And people coming here think that's our national food.

KAKISSIS: Tourists pack the tiny alleys⁵ near his home, passing prostitutes standing⁶ behind glass windows. An American couple Bettina and Brett Carroll walk by holding hands. They're here on their honeymoon⁷ and are actually staying in an Airbnb in the Red Light District.

BETTINA CARROLL: And we noticed that last night we couldn't sleep because people were yelling. They were screaming until 4 o'clock in the morning, which was - I couldn't imagine living here and hearing that constantly.

KAKISSIS: Since even the tourists noticed the problem, something had to be done. So the Amsterdam city council is doubling the tax on hotel rooms, sharply curtailing⁸ Airbnb and banning new souvenir shops.

KAKISSIS: There's also this video targeted to the most problematic group - young guys.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: To increase awareness⁹ about what is or isn't allowed in the city.

KAKISSIS: The video appears on booking websites and at airports and explains there are hefty fines for yelling outside someone's house or using canals as toilets. Udo Kock is the city's deputy mayor.

DEPUTY MAYOR UDO KOCK: Look. At the end of the day, it's very simple. If the only reason - the only reasons for you is to come to Amsterdam to get drunk or get stoned, then don't come.

KAKISSIS: But if your reason is nightlife, don't worry. The city still believes in it and leans on this guy for help.

NIGHT MAYOR SHAMIRO VAN DER GELD: My name is Shamiro van der Geld. I'm 32 years old, and I am the night mayor of Amsterdam.

KAKISSIS: Not nightmare as in bad dream - he is the mayor of the night. And that means understanding all the things people want to do.

VAN DER GELD: Is nighttime something for people who want to dance? Or is nighttime something for people who want to read? Is nighttime something for people who want to paint? Or, like, who are the people who also want to live at night?

KAKISSIS: The mayor of the night is wearing a deep-purple hat and a nose ring. We walk through central Amsterdam as the sun sets. He seems to know everyone on the street.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: He's really popular. He is. He is.

VAN DER GELD: Well, I talk with different types of people. I talk with clubs and club owners, programmers, stakeholders who are interested in nightlife or have their company in nightlife.

KAKISSIS: He's had to deal with tourists who overdose and jump out of buildings or who get stoned and then ride bicycles into traffic.

VAN DER GELD: Things that happen with people who do not understand or know how we live.

KAKISSIS: He's especially trying to reach out to kids, locals and tourists with initiatives like a late night space for teenagers.

VAN DER GELD: This group of kids, they wander on the streets. And from being bored, they start smoking hash or weed. And they find a cheap bottle of alcohol. So we need to create some place where they can hang out, where they can meet - somewhere that they don't get bored.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Everybody's waiting for him to dance.

KAKISSIS: This night policy has a record of success in Amsterdam thanks to Mirik Milan, a bearded former concert promoter who made the mayor of the night an official position here and held the post until earlier this year.

FORMER NIGHT MAYOR MIRIK MILAN: I really functioned as a liaison¹⁰. I really was bridging the gap between government and the nightlife operators - but also people that just enjoy nightlife.

KAKISSIS: Over coffee near a canal, he explains that he helped license¹¹ all night clubs away from the city center.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KAKISSIS: They feature electronic music of course, which is a huge draw for young visitors.

MILAN: One-third of the people that come there, they are foreign tourists. So they are not hanging in the city center. They're hanging out in the outskirts¹² of the city. The night is an opportunity where we can spread out people.

KAKISSIS: Milan travels the world helping¹³ cities create their own mayors of the night. London now has a night czar. And the idea has spread to the U.S.

MILAN: I just recently made the list.

KAKISSIS: So Pittsburgh and Iowa City?

VAN DER GELD: Yeah, good old Iowa City - and then New York, Fort Lauderdale, Austin.

KAKISSIS: In Amsterdam, Bert Nap, that neighbor terrorized by screaming tourists every night, hopes the mayors of the day and the night can calm the rowdy crowds outside his door.

NAP: People think they have to go to this pinpointed¹⁴ small Red Light District in Amsterdam. Well, it's ridiculous. There are so many things to see in Amsterdam - great things instead of this stuff. Tourists are only encountering tourists. You don't see the genuine Dutch.

KAKISSIS: You know, the genuine Dutch hiding out in their homes from drunk guys in Elvis costumes - the ones who want to make peace with the night. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Amsterdam.

(SOUNDBITE OF NOISIA'S "MANTRA (MAT ZO REMIX)")

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

5 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

8 curtailing   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They will be curtailing the discussions at two thirty. 他们将把讨论缩短至两点半。 来自互联网
• Individually, banks are acting rationally by retaining their capital and curtailing lending. 此外，银行们正在合理地保留其资本和减少贷款。 来自互联网

9 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

10 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

11 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

12 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 pinpointed   

准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的过去式和过去分词 )； 为…准确定位

参考例句：

• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice. 他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。
• Computers pinpointed where the shells were coming from. 计算机确定了炮弹发射的位置。