Strasbourg will subsidize the Christmas market in … New York

Will the famous Christmas market in the city of Strasbourg be exported to the sidewalks of the Big Apple? Launched by the tourist office, the idea seems to be gaining ground and the city of Strasbourg even seems to support this Christmas market project in New York. According to information from France Bleu Bas-Rhin, an envelope of 66,660 euros intended for the organization of this Alsatian market in the middle of Broadway was to be voted on June 24 in the city council. In total, the Eurometropolis has planned to pay 133,340 euros in funding.

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For the moment, the budget for the operation is not yet completely closed, even if more than a million euros have already been raised by the promoters of the project, specifies the radio site. But for this Alsatian market to emerge across the Atlantic, a total of 1.4 million euros must be collected. To find the remaining funds, the city of Strasbourg plans to set up a popular subscription in order to “allow all Alsatians to participate, to give a boost”, as said to France Bleu Paul Meyer, deputy to the mayor in charge of tourist affairs.

Keep control at all costs

According to him, this project “touches the heart of the inhabitants of the region. We have already raised more than 400,000 euros in the private sector”. But be careful, out of the question to do anything and accept any financial donation. Thus, the money that some rich Americans offered to finance this Alsatian market in New York was refused. The deputy mayor assumes and even explains himself clearly: “We preferred to keep control of the operation rather than accepting money which would have given us constraints”.

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The Strasbourg Christmas market should therefore take place in New York from December 5 to December 20, according to the statements made last April by Jean-Jacques Gsell, president of the Strasbourg Tourist Office. The Big Apple will be the fourth city in the world to briefly host the famous Alsatian market. Before her, the cities of Beijing, Moscow and Tokyo had this privilege.

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