Amsterdam-Noord residents relieved as NDSM excluded from Erotic Center plans

Residents of Amsterdam-Noord are relieved that the NDSM has been ruled out as a potential location for the Erotic Center, a proposed high-rise to serve as a new location for sex workers.

"It's good that the positive development of the NDSM area, currently focused on art, culture, living, and business, will not be hindered by the establishment of a mega-brothel," a group of residents stated in a press release.

On Monday, the political leaders in Amsterdam announced that Europaboulevard is the preferred location for the Erotic Center, with the other two potential sites, De Groene Zoom near RAI Amsterdam and the Docklandsplot at the NDSM-werf, no longer in consideration. The city council still has to vote on this.

The proposed Erotic Center is intended to replace some of the windows in the Red Light District. According to the mayor and the coalition of aldermen, this will improve the position of sex workers, reduce congestion and nuisance in the Red Light District, and combat crime.

Residents in Amsterdam-Noord said they believe that an influx of visitors to the future complex, which is expected to accommodate a hundred sex workers, "would have been disastrous for the existing problems of mobility, public transport connections, and parking pressure" in the neighborhood. They also feared an increase in nuisance caused by criminality and drug trafficking.

Nevertheless, residents gathered on Monday evening at the NDSM-werf to protest against the establishment of the Erotic Center, even now that Noord is not the preferred location. "We are against a large-scale Erotic Center, wherever it may be in the city," said organizer Josee Kuijpers before the demonstration. "Of course, there's relief that it won't be in Noord, but the goal of the demonstration remains that we don't want the center anywhere in the city." Residents from the Zuid district and sex workers who oppose the center also joined the protest.

"We in Amsterdam-Noord sympathize with all the residents, sex workers, and entrepreneurs who want the current functions of the Wallen to be preserved and who wish to address the nuisances of drugs, crime, and the ever-increasing stream of tourists,” Kuijpers said.

The Amsterdam VVD and the VVD faction of the district committee Zuid expressed no support for the intended location. "The VVD faction has always insisted on strict conditions that the Erotic Center can only be realized in an area where there is sufficient support and its establishment does not infringe upon the safety and livability of the area," according to a statement.

"Therefore, the VVD advocated for the construction of the Erotic Center in a newly built area. This is clearly not the case with the location in Amsterdam-Zuid,” the statement reads.

A spokesperson for the Zuid district said they are waiting for the city council's decision on the plan.