The most famous innkeeper in the world has filed a complaint against the Municipality and the Port Authority: “The waves come between the tables. Venice is falling apart, and nobody is doing anything. A signal was needed”
Alberto Vitucci
October 01, 2024
“Here everyone is complaining, and no one is moving. The city is falling apart, and nothing is happening. I thought something had to be done, right away. The situation is out of control.”
Arrigo Cipriani is the most famous innkeeper in the world. Ninety-two years old and still in the limelight. A successful entrepreneur with his historic Harry’s Bar, the restaurant in San Marco in Calle Vallaresso founded by his father Giuseppe in the 1930s, a favorite destination, among many famous people, of Ernest Hemingway.
And then there is Harry’s Dolci in Giudecca, the clubs in New York, the farms in Uruguay. The racing Mercedes, the boat. A grit and a desire to fight that have remained the same for decades.
Now Cipriani has instructed his lawyers to sue the Municipality and the Port Authority, which is located right under his premises in San Marco. The suit is aimed at all those who should be controlling the speed of boats in the lagoon.
A sensational gesture.
“The situation has become unsustainable. Everyone is running and no one is moving. It gets worse every day. It is dangerous to go boating, there is damage to the banks and to businesses, in bacino San Marco, at Giudecca, along the internal canals. And no one cares.”
So, you decided to take legal action. Do you think something will happen now?
“Yes, I am convinced of it. If public opinion moves, someone will have to do something. The authorities and politicians will finally have to listen to us.”
Has the situation worsened?
“Of course! There are no controls and the motorboats do what they want. There have also been victims of injuries due to accidents, but everything continues as it has before. The high waters worsen the situation, and the Istrian stone marbles on the banks have turned green and are covered in algae. Yesterday I saved a lady who was walking on them with her son. They don’t understand, they don’t know what this city is like. It is fragile and needs to be protected.”
How did this initiative come about?
“I have been reporting, in vain, for some time now that my business, Harry’s Dolci della Giudecca, is now unable to operate. The waves are coming into the fondamenta, and are splashing the customers sitting at the tables where we regularly pay for outdoor seating.”
And then?
“I put a small breakwater, a wooden plank for protection. Not a concrete wall. However, they made me remove it, because the Superintendency says it can’t be done.”
But the gondoliers in St. Mark’s Square have breakwaters to protect themselves from the waves.
“Exactly. Do something, I said. Nothing. The wooden plank is not beautiful. It is not decorum. Is it beautiful instead to allow the waves to destroy our city? Then I thought about filing a suit.”
Harry’s Bar here in San Marco is also at low height and subject to moto ondoso.
“Of course, from the windows we see the disaster, especially during certain periods of the year and on weekends, or when there are high waters, which are constantly increasing. At Giudecca the situation is now unsustainable. You can’t get close to the shore, and the foundations are being over swept by the waves even when there is no wind, because everyone is going fast. It is a disgrace. And no one intervenes; the responsibilities have been passed around for years between the various authorities. I think it’s time to say enough. And I hope that my suit will now go forward.”
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Ed. Note: Since Cipriani filed his suit there have been three consecutive incidents in the lagoon directly related to moto ondoso and boat traffic:
October 07, 2024
Racing Gondola Capsizes in Wave Motion in Venice: Young Man Saved
Accident on the morning of Monday, October 7 near the island of San Giorgio: the gondola was being towed by a small boat and capsized when a motorboat passed by.
October 12, 2024
Regatta sailors in training hit by a launch in the lagoon in Venice
The incident occurred on Friday at 6:30 p.m., in front of the island of Vignole. The winners of the historical regatta Teresa and Angela Pinzan were on board a mascareta.
October 13, 2024
Venice, collapse at the Imbarcadero: two piers end up in the water
Among the possible causes a structural failure or a wave. On the afternoon of Saturday, October 12 at Punta della Dogana a five-year-old girl ended up in the water.
Source: La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre
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