The operation takes a minute, time to find "the right peak" and the padlock opens, intact. At night, José ( the first name has been changed ) hides the latches of the Parisian parks to protest against their closure. A hooker with a "real job" who exercises his amateur activity: "I am not a burglar, I have never stolen anything", he assures after having illegally opened an entrance to the Buttes-Chaumont park in Paris (19th century). José who loves the night and his "Batman atmosphere" decided to take action with the announcement of the deconfinemen t. The trigger came when the young man realized that May 11 was not bringing the reopening of green spaces with him. "In Paris, the apartments are small, […] We are unconfined, but there is nothing to do, everything is closed," he notes.
During a daytime operation in which he opened the Coulée verte, in the 12th century, children and walkers took advantage of the deal "with a smile to their ears". A moment that José savored: “Everyone found themselves inside. It was a pleasure to see joggers running in the wild rather than next to cars. "
He faces 5 years in prison and a 75,000 euro fine
These municipal padlock opening operations are not always "successful". José concedes: "It's a bit of a cat and mouse game. In the morning, there are guards who close the doors. " The amateur hooker counts on his luck with the park employees "maybe one morning, one of them will have forgotten his tools" and with the police who "have better things to do than arrest a guy who walks with three padlocks ”. This hobby makes him theoretically risk 5 years in prison and a 75,000 euro fine.
Contacted about the wild reopening of some of its parks, the town hall of Paris reminds the vigilance of its services: “City security agents make regular rounds in all closed establishments of the municipality. City services have not noted a significant increase in intrusions into parks and gardens since the start of containment. ” The reopening of Parisian parks is a debate between Anne Hidalgo and the government. The mayor of Paris wants Parisians to be able to access green spaces again. A request refused by the government, which fears as asserts the Minister of Health, that the walkers "cannot respect the barrier gestures". Pending the official reopening of the gardens, Parisians have moved to plan B by colonizing the sidewalks of the city.
