Having faced nearly five months of a cityscape completely blanketed in white, it seems that Warsaw's residents have grown accustomed to the snowy state of affairs. Some have even embraced it, such as Jerzy Wierzba.
Along with his family and friends, Wierzba has organized a protest against the clearing of snow on one particular street - Agrykola. This unique road cuts through the famous Lazienki and Ujazdowski parks, linking two main roads on either side. However, Agrykola has long been closed for regular traffic - only city guards and emergency services occasionally use the street.
It has become a wintertime tradition to use this path, as it is been rarely cleared of snow in the past, as a trail for cross-country skiers and children on sleds. Wierzba and his group of protesters wish for the city to completely stop clearing the snow from this road, so that families can continue to use this road for winter sports and frolics. He claims that the salt used to clear the snow damages the trees and gas lamps in the historic parks. Recently, Wierzba and his small group of supporters held a light-hearted protest in the park with their children and pets, holding colourful handmade signs with such slogans as: "A child with a sled is a person and a Varsovian too!"
So far the city of Warsaw has not given in, claiming that the road is an important thoroughfare for emergency services and that the gas lamps mentioned by Mr. Wierzba need repair and up keeping on a regular basis (and thus require proper access).
What do you think? Would you like to see Agrykola closed completely and kept as a winter sports trail?
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