oprescu's latest illegal massacre: str. Haralambie Botescu 18 - Încă o clădire istorică la pământ...

(Photo source) sorin oprescu, Bucharest's grotesquely corrupt and incompetent mayor, ploughs on in his frenzied, hell-bent determination to destroy the city's patrimony where Ceausescu left off. Those who care and grieve these losses at his hands are a tragic, shameful minority seen as nutty eccentrics standing against progress and modernity. Doubtless, if there were to be an election tomorrow, oprescu and all those others intent on eradicating the Bucharest we know and love would win again. And again. And again and again and again. Today's Romania is sadly made up of a majority of mitocani and I feel desperately sorry, as always, for the minority I mention often. Voting is carried out with unrelenting mirror psychology - criminals vote for criminals, thieves for thieves and imbeciles for imbeciles.

(Photo source) Str. Haralambie Botescu nr. 18 which is part of Romania's Architectural Patrimony and in a 'protected zone' (nr. 02 - Calea Griviţei) is being completely and ILLEGALLY demolished RIGHT NOW to make way for the continuation of Diametrala Buzesti-Berzei-Uranus - easy to do at the weekend when there's no one around to stop it, under the noses of a city that doesn't give a damn. No need to add that the demolition is underway without any signs or indications of a 'chantier' - legal requirements. Legal? oprescu? Huh!

According to Hotnews, a police team from sector 3 eventually showed up at the scene once most of the 'work' was pretty much finished, remarking that authorisation had been given.

Built in the late 19th century by architect Ion Socolescu in a wonderfully eclectic style which combined classic with early neo-Romanesc, the features of Ottoman influence are, or rather, were stunning. The house featured on the 1911 architectural plans of Bucharest under the name "Moștenitorii Caliopi Dumitrescu". The original owner of the building was certainly Caliopi Dumitrescu considering the initials C.D visible on the house.

(Photo source) In 2011, the courts FORBADE PMB's plans to demolish Haralambie Botescu 18 - a decision which was final and not open to appeal.

THIS from Romania Libera published in 2011:

'Curtea de Apel Bucureşti a suspendat, în 30 iunie, definitiv şi irevocabil, autorizaţiile de desfiinţare emise de primarul municipiului Bucureşti pentru 38 de clădiri, în condiţiile în care municipalitatea a demolat deja 36 dintre ele, informează organizaţia Salvaţi Bucureştiul într-un comunicat, potrivit NewsIn.

Din cele 38 de clădiri, 17 imobile erau situate pe segmentul Mircea Vulcănescu - Dinicu Golescu şi 21 de clădiri pe segmentul Calea Griviţei - Mircea Vulcănescu.

Au rămas în picioare clădirile din str. Haralambie Botescu nr. 18 şi str. Cameliei nr. 20. Decizia Curţii de Apel Bucureşti împiedică Primăria să le demoleze şi pe acestea, susţine organizaţia non-guvernamentală. Acesta este al şaselea proces pierdut de Primăria Capitalei pe subiectul Buzeşti-Berzei, arată organizaţia Salvaţi Bucureştiul.'

(Photo source) But, as always, oprescu has ridden rough-shod over the law which is made for little people after all, not megalomaniacs like him, and done the deed anyway.

There is no appropriate adjective to express the heart-ache, the nausea, the revulsion that such a sight causes those precious few still fighting tooth and nail to save the city they love from oprescu's psychopathic massacring. No matter how many times he and the PMB are dragged through the courts and found guilty of illegal demolition, he keeps right on going, ripping the heart out of the city, hacking up its arteries, mangling its organs and bludgeoning the breath out of it in any way he deems fit.

For those who don't give a flying crap, this building counts for nothing. Why keep it? What good does it serve? For those who care, it is a jewel with a soul, a past and a future. Or was.

I simply cannot write anymore...

For more, see Istorioare Bucurestene, Observatorul Urban Bucuresti, Hotnews, Buna dimineata, Bucuresti and Ziare.

My thanks to Doina Vella for her kind permission to publish her photographs and to Silvia Colfescu for sharing her knowledge of the house's history with me.

Comments

[Sarah in Romania]

PS. Diana, thank you again - I have edited the text above

[Sarah in Romania]

Dear Diana,

Thank you so much for commenting and indeed, you are perfectly right. My comment on today's Romania was off the mark in as much as it loaded everyone into the same basket - something I always fight to avoid and there, I did the same thing. I should perhaps have used the word 'majority' instead, since it is the small minority who are outraged by the corruption, the demolitions, the abuse of power, the urban terrorism (architecturally speaking) and sadly not the majority... Sometimes, however, if you read more, you'll see that it just becomes too much and I let rip.



I'm sure the local Edinburgh folk would not simply walk on by if the building in question was a historic monument. At least, I pray they would not...



Thank you again so much for your comment and please forgive the generalisation written in anger and indignance, grief and rage.

Best wishes,

Sarah

[Diana]

Hi Sarah, what is happening is apalling and I understand your frustration. When I came across your blog, my immediate reaction was to forward the link to all the facebook groups I belong to, all the people I know but then I got to this bit: 'Today's Romania is a nation of idiots, ignoramuses and mitocani'. That's not true or fair and, even if it were, hurling insults right and left is no way of gaining support for a cause. I am Romanian. I'm not much but I mean well. I've lived for the past 18 years in the UK, in Edinburgh. Beautiful town, well preserved, tough planning laws, carefully enforced and yet, you still see architectural crimes to get your blood boiling. Private owners of beautiful Victorian-style houses add hideous extensions on to them. Mafia-style tricks employed by property developers such as: buy beautiful property (typically, a Victorian house with 2 or 3 levels) in prime location in town, with large surrounding garden -> let it run down -> declare it beyond repair -> demolish it -> replace it with as many flats as you can squeeze in, cheaply built and characterless (so that you can't be seen to clash with the local style) -> sell each for way over what they're worth. And the local Edinburgh folk walk on, minding their own business, paying mortgages, collecting kids from nursery, you know, getting on with the usual daily chores. They are not stupid, they are not 'mitocani' just busy or resigned to the fact that things have to change. The only time you will see them kick into action, is when the development takes place on their own doorstep. Even then, if you present the new development as an enhancement to their area, they will applaud you - what would you rather have next to your house, a run down architectural masterpiece full of squaters or a set of shiny new flats and their wealthy owners? I think you can guess the answer. So, if you want support for your cause, don't insult people, motivate them. On another note: Oprescu's 'plans' are not just a loss of architectural heritage, they are also a classical example of short-sighted urban development. They shouldn't build more roads in Bucharest, on the contrary, they should go out of their way to develop public transport and do their best to keep traffic out of the city (apologies to any of those who feel the need to show off their shiny BMWs).

[Sarah In Romania]

Dear Horia,

Thank you for your message. I only wish that these posts would travel further than just here... I write them to try to do exactly as you say, but if they stay only here, a blog which is read by... I don't know how many (not enough in any case), then these heinous crimes do not get the outraged and indignant attention they deserve. Becali in jail? Huh! oprescu should have been locked up several years ago considering the number of times the courts have found him guilty of illegal demolitions (at present 7, I think)...

[horia]

dear Sara, thank you for your steady work and detailed report! you do a great work, especially because you document everything in english, so that these crimes can be tracked also by international public and politicians, not just by the romanian ones (which are well known not to care at all, unfortunately...)