Meeting of Oleg Sorokin, mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, with supporters of preserving Kulibin Park (August 20, 2013) — a gathering with the participation of activists opposing the widening of Gorky Street at the expense of part of the park's territory and the rezoning of other parts of the park, which could subsequently permit construction there.
Held on the initiative of the mayor.
The essence of the event
An attempt by the mayor to shift the initiative to his side of the field, following the rally of supporters of preserving Kulibin Park and the subsequent series of publications attributing to Oleg Sorokin business interests leading to a deterioration of the urban environment of Nizhny Novgorod.
The meeting lasted 2 hours 30 minutes.
Statements by participants of the meeting
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As of today, Gorky Street, in the form it currently exists, looks somewhat absurd. It needs to be put in order. For that, several decisions need to be made. One decision is to widen the street. One is to leave everything as it is. One of the decisions is to remove the parking and add a fifth lane. On a 150-meter stretch, make a pocket. I'll see how many people get hurt there over a week. This is not my opinion, this is the opinion of traffic management professionals. There have been no studies. | 
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Sorokin did not give a straight answer to a single question |
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Sorokin squirmed like a fish on a hook, but had nothing to say. Although many of the audience's questions were very pointed — the conflict of interest between Sorokin the businessman and Sorokin the mayor, the closure of Reshetnikovskaya Street by him, the new business center at the intersection of Gorky and Osharskaya... As a result, Sorokin's entire strategy of behavior came down to joking things off and switching the topic to other matters, and telling about successful projects and plans unrelated to the questions being asked. Ilya Osipov |
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Sorokin tried to charm everyone.
I've never had so much "Sorokin" at once before, but now I understand why our Kovalikha grannies and aunties just melt for him and are ready to vote for him twice over! He affects people in a special way — to put it simply, he charms them. He's always been superb at this (and still is), especially with women (oh, now that's a man!!!)) That's what he decided to work on this time as well… |
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We've been stirring up alarm lately: we're a dying city, we're suffocating… Just walk down the streets! They're green! |
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At the meeting it seemed to me that O.V. was speaking sincerely when he said there was no project... At first I even thought maybe I was wrong and there was only a project for the part of the road up to the park... but then there's the posted document... everything approved and already under construction. It turns out either he himself is poorly informed (which is unbelievable), or he was SIMPLY BRAZENLY LYING. The second is more plausible. And I'm sure he couldn't have not known about the expert review. |
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Curious facts
- Press representatives were removed from the meeting with Sorokin.
- Public activists — all except Kayumov Askhat Abdurakhmanovich — were not admitted to the Public discussions of the Moscow — Kazan high-speed rail line project, held a few hours after the meeting in the same building and room.