Epress.am News from Armenia
Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan recently called and spoke with Ashkhen (Valerie) Gordzounian, the owner of Le Cafe de Paris situated on Yerevan’s Abovyan St. Recall, about two weeks ago, according to a city hall decision, the owner was required to dismantle the cafe’s outdoor patio as part of a larger drive by the municipality to improve and “clean up” the downtown core. Gordzounian subsequently contacted the mayor for more information. She notes that this particular section of the cafe’s outdoor patio does not block the sidewalk.
As told to Epress.am by the French-Armenian entrepreneur herself, during their phone conversation, the mayor assured her that he has nothing against either Gordzounian or her cafe.
Margaryan told the cafe owner, “Be patient for one to two months and the cafe [patio] will again be in operation.”
“The mayor informed me that they are carrying out work to improve Abovyan St. and are demolishing all the unlawful structures [on the street]. I likewise, as a person who loves this city, am in favor of improving the city and removing unlawful structures. Respecting the mayor’s word and hoping that after that work the city will truly become beautiful, I will wait. Being a diaspora Armenian, I’m thinking that the mayor doesn’t tell lies,” she said.
Ashkhen (Valerie) Gordzounian also mentioned that she is faced with financial difficulties as a result of the dismantling of their patio. According to her, they had just sewn and put together the plastic sheets forming the “walls” of the outdoor patio, assuming other expenses so the outdoor patio could be operational also in winter, and if she knew that their work would be prohibited, she wouldn’t have assumed those expenses.