urban renovation – The Real Jerusalem Streets

An Inside Look at What’s New this Week in Jerusalem

July 16, 2023July 16, 2023Sharon A

It was hard to decide on only three of the special things from this past week. There was so much happening on and off the Jerusalem streets you may not have heard about, but should know.

Ok, only two were really inside and one very much outside.

Who remembers the old President Hotel on Ahad Ha’am Street?

We stayed there once on an organized tour and I remember saying the 1-star status at the time meant there was a toilet in the room.

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I had heard it was being used as a new Social Space and drove by to share a photo a few weeks ago, but that didn’t get shared at the time.

Then I started out last week to see inside but got distracted by a loud noise.

Oh no, I thought, not another protest group marching thru the Jerusalem streets. But I was wrong. They were color war teams of a local youth group. I ended up following them in the opposite direction that day instead.

So finally, here it is!!

Remember this photo? Yes, the hotel was this run down – not Photoshop.

For a very long time mostly abandoned, as in this photo from four years ago.

However, now stepping inside I got a pleasant surprise. At the end of the hall, a dance studio opened in March, and the dancers were having a lesson.

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A wall mural was clean and neat and new.

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I looked through the metal grating and saw a bar space ready to open,

and an impressive colorful meeting area, smaller spaces around and above.

Tables were set up outside, but only a few people seemed to know about Jerusalem’s newest urban renewal by the reaction to my post on Facebook.

The side of the building that faces Keren Hayesod Street is still an eyesore and has been for years. It still needs work, but the lower levels are a huge improvement and it looks like they are working their way up.

I wrote about Urban Recycling in the past. Plus, we have appreciated the Social Space renovation at the old Shaare Zedek Hospital.

2. A much more well-known Jerusalem meeting space is the Israeli Knesset.

Walking to the Negev Hall for a meeting, I was so surprised to see Alan Clemmons, a former State Senator from South Carolina, to my embarrassment, I at first called him – Sam Clements.

The halls were filled with Knesset Members interacting with visitors.

The meeting I attended started late, as members were busy voting. But the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus held its opening meeting. I learned that with each new Knesset, caucus meetings have to be held anew, as they do not carry over from one government to the next.

Speakers from the government and opposition, as well as security officials, called on Israel to start defeating its enemies, in the event titled “How Should Israel Win the Next War?”

Held in coordination with the U.S.-based Middle East Forum, which manages the Israel Victory Project, it’s an initiative seeking to change the public discourse on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

While the Jerusalem street where the Prime Minister lives is often closed, walking the Knesset halls one would never realize troubles outside.

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3. The 40th Jerusalem Film Festival opened in the Sultan’s Pool on Thursday night, with thousands filling the outdoor amphitheater stands.

Award-winning actor Dame Helen Mirren was on hand for the premier.

The British actress stood out elegantly dressed in white lace. Director Oliver Stone was also honored – wearing the red tie, also in the front row, as everyone stood when Israeli President Herzog and his wife Michal entered.

President Isaac Herzog was the first of several speakers.

Helen Mirren, the actress who starred as Golda Meir in “Golda,” got the most attention that night, for her brilliant performance in an excellent movie.

The Yom Kippur War was a difficult time, yet the movie has a few moments of comic relief and was well-paced. Even though everyone knew the ending, the film kept viewers entranced. An amazing depiction of a great woman at the most difficult time of her life.

The Jerusalem Film Festival, JFF40, runs from July 13 – 23, 2023.

Showing “Golda” as the opening event made this year indeed special.

Want to guess where else I was?

I have lots more to share for next time, so check back next week.

A clue–this sunset was not in Jerusalem but in southern Israel.

Everyone is trying to stay cool and hydrated, as it’s very hot this week on the Jerusalem streets. So very glad it did cool off to enjoy the movie, as most summer nights in Jerusalem have been reasonably comfortable.

10 Things to Love About Jerusalem

December 19, 2021December 19, 2021Sharon A

The sense of uncertainty about what will happen next is ubiquitous.

Israel’s borders are closing again and isolations are becoming mandatory. Will the US be the next to be declared a red country?

Tourists were coming back to Jerusalem and tour buses were seen on the Jerusalem streets. But how many trips have again been canceled? Long-planned meetings put on hold.

In our neighborhood, a school is back on Zoom classroom sessions with so many students sick with corona.

However, there are positive things to share from this week in Jerusalem.

I love that no matter how many times you walk down the same streets, there is always something new to see or a new angle to notice, as you can see here at the entrance to Mamilla Mall.

At Mamilla Mall, I stopped for a moment to take a photo of the men at the mincha minyan, praying outside in the middle of the day. I loved that friends who walked by also noticed and commented.

Amazing how a short walk becomes longer when you stop to talk with friends you have not seen in too long a time.

The construction is just everywhere, as the buildings go up and up.

The noise is often deafening as the digging goes on and on.

Most of King David Street is completed. But the next phase here at Mamilla Junction is beginning. Watch out, this week the extension to King Solomon Street is to be closed as the new water lines are installed.

Won’t we all love it when the roadwork is done?

At last, reconstruction work on the old Knesset Building, slated to become the new Knesset Museum, appears to finally be moving along.

The entrance to Balfour Street was open! It had been without a security guard, an exciting development for those of us who live in the area. We were forbidden to walk down the street, and now there is a sign to pull the pedestrian gate open.

A TV media crew was wandering around and taking a video. At one point in the recent past, there were five layers of security and a huge black curtain. Now, new security cameras have been installed instead.

I had to go back again to check if it was real. The last time I walked down this street was the summer Obama was running for US President (first time!) and Olmert was Prime Minister.

Here you can see what was blocked, under strict security and now is quiet.

Security officers dressed in black jackets on motorcycles were out along Jaffa Road. It was good to see them chatting rather than having serious work to do.

The annual Hanukkah decorations are gone and stowed away.

But Santa near Jaffa Gate in the Christian Quarter is still this month.

Reindeer have lit up the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens for the nighttime show since before Hanukkah.

The YMCA has more decorations and new lights this year.

At New Gate, a Christmas Market is open in the evenings until December 22nd, however, the sign says that it is limited to 500 people.

I am not sure I like it, but I am still amazed to see young children on the Jerusalem streets walking alone, like this little girl walking from New Gate,

or outside along the path by the Old City Walls going towards Jaffa Gate,

or little ones leading even younger ones in Nachlaot.

But for children, I just love the new lion in the Gan Sacher, Sacher Park play area.

This week the 11th Temech Conference was held at the Jerusalem Convention Center. Temech services Jewish businesswomen and entrepreneurs, and the conference is a popular annual networking event. I loved the various areas decorated for women to sit and talk.

The day-long programming was full of excellent speakers, so it was hard to catch up with friends you had not seen in too long. Plus recognizing new acquaintances from online meetings was a challenge. Did she seem so short or so tall, so thin?

When the Hebrew and the Anglo groups merged for a late lunch it was hard to get everyone in one photo, but safe to say most everyone was Energized.

In the Artist Colony across from the Old City walls is Kol HaOt, a studio for art with connections to Torah, and a venue for the Jerusalem Biennale.

During the corona lockdown last winter, 48 artists were able to use the space to create a piece based on one of the 48 ways Torah is acquired.

I loved many aspects of this 5th Jerusalem Biennale, but more another time.

Ready to walk home I heard music, the fountain was on at Teddy Park. The show went on and on – better to share a short video than a photo.

Winter music festivals are back! The 12th Hullegeb: Israeli-Ethiopian Arts Festival, Chaznut Performances, and more – I love the varied cultures.

Chagnival at HaMiffal is this week at The Miffal, however, not sure what it is.

I love what they did in the old abandoned building. Do people know about it?

I LOVE JLM, especially on a sunny winter day or a clear cool night.

I love to take a walk and see what’s happening on the Jerusalem streets.

Here’s hoping those millions of tourists that were expected before corona shut down the skies will be able to return –

and soon.

Jerusalem Looking Up and Down

November 7, 2021November 7, 2021Sharon A

There are days Jerusalem feels like one big construction site. Taking advantage of the pleasant weather, I walked around to see what’s new on the Jerusalem streets and to share with you.

The lights are on again at the Israel Museum as night events are returning.

The corner where King George Street becomes Keren Hayesod Street near Paris Fountain is so dangerous for pedestrians, we now have a crossing guard. The sidewalk is so ripped up, sometimes two men are on duty.

The street adjacent to the new National Library is finally without any visible construction equipment.

Walk past the library you see the new government offices rising to the sky.

Walk around them and look across the Begin Highway to the new hi-rise apartments of Kiryat Moshe. A row of these is planned to replace the old smaller dwellings. The row of three hotels near the city entrance which used to be considered tall is dwarfed in comparison.

And then there is the Jerusalem Gateway project!

When the gate was open, I entered hoping to find a shortcut. I had a meeting near the main bus station, an area of Jerusalem that has continually changed over the past three years.

As always, my shortcuts end up taking longer. However what a sight this was, digging down and down.

This was a photo taken in 2012 of the Jerusalem Gateway project.

These photos are of the same part of Jaffa Road as it is now.

And a closer look at the construction rising well above ground level.

Nearby is the old Shaare Zedek Hospital on Jaffa Road that has had several tenants since the last patient left its stone walls. The 5th Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art is set to open here on November 11th.

The area behind it and the blue fence is to be a major building project.

Construction cranes and wires obstruct the view of the Chord Bridge.

Looking down its seems that it will be a long time before this is finished.

But all around Jerusalem, the development projects start by digging down.

Then look up and there’s more being lifted in and out of building sites.

Our local builder buddies ask for their photos often when I walk by.

Who remembers when this hotel was the only tall building in Jerusalem?

The Hilton Hotel, which became the Crowne Plaza, is now the Vert Hotel.

But, soon it will have competition for the tallest hotel and King George Street will have a new look.

Seeing the second group of foreign tourists greeted in the Vert lobby was exciting. Hopefully, international tourism will begin again. Individual visitors, not just groups, have a possibility to come into Israel as of November 1, 2021. But, there is a long list of legal requirements to enter.