After New Year’s scandal – “Ghetto” in Vienna: “You feel left alone”

Mitterhofgasse. Three children light a Swiss firecracker from the street and throw it in the direction of the under construction sidewalk. With a full shopping cart, a lady walks past unsuspectingly and is only a little shocked when the fireworks explode a few meters next to her. A vast area. In the courtyard, a group of young people sit on stone steps.

“Actually we are not aggressive”
One of them is Mahir: “The elderly don’t do anything anyway. Only the little ones are a bit cheeky here,” he says. How do residents deal with this? “If they are disrespectful, they are also racist,” Mahir continued. “But not everyone”, his neighbor replies. Sometimes “Foreigner, go back home”. And some “offend Muslim parents here too”. When insults come? “It is best not to stress. But if they overdo it, we’ll talk back,” goes the creed. “Actually, we’re not aggressive,” says another as his cell phone rings. A counter shot of the scene that went viral is shown – a police detention center under construction on New Year’s Day. Mahir’s friend: “Although I had nothing with me and did nothing, I was checked on the ground. They told me to go home. I didn’t want to, but then I went home.”

One of them does not want to be filmed. He says the rioters came from other districts and were long gone when the police arrived. Even parents were arrested. A 15-year-old girl was also pinned to the ground. He himself could hide in the bushes. Police are now investigating parts of the official act on this New Year’s Eve.

Many want to move to the country
Vanessa walks past the football cage with a pram. She has only lived here for a year, “out of necessity, because of a bigger apartment”, but grew up near Floridsdorf. “There was also a police operation on Halloween.” Although the neighbors in their stairwell are “nice, friendly, polite”. “I would like to move to the countryside. At the moment I don’t have the money, but I’m saving something and putting something aside,” says the 24-year-old. Then with the children Alina (4) and Lyan (2) “from Vienna, that’s more pleasant – also for the animals”.

“You feel very alone”
Sabine and Hana have been friends since childhood. “I’m already considering moving. I’m looking for an apartment now and I’m trying to get away because this is almost becoming a ghetto,” says Sabine. Her friend Hana works at Wiener Wohnen: “Every day we see things here that are actually not okay. People put furniture next to the dumpsters and left everything behind. The stairwells are dirty. You feel very alone.”

‘Suddenly 30 young people around me’
When Sabine’s son was 14, she heard someone threaten him over the intercom: “Next time I’ll cut your throat.” She runs downstairs and confronts the youths. “Who said that?” Suddenly she is surrounded by 30 people. The answer: “We are Chechens, you have no business here.” “There used to be a pool in front of the 26th staircase. It was so much fun here,” Sabine remembers.

“Everyone is confused…”
Elvis is from Macedonia, just got home from work. He has lived here for a total of 15 years. He wants to move, “I can’t do it anymore”, preferably in the countryside. “There is no future for the children if they grow up here.” It’s gotten worse. He tries to de-escalate situations. “It doesn’t matter if it’s young or old, everyone is confused, no respect, everyone is shouting. But young people are our future.”