Torre del Greco. During these scorching August days, the historic and important Piazza Santa Croce, the city's religious center, although closed to traffic, has effectively become a shameful and dangerous motocross track.
This situation, which has been developing for some time now, has to date seen no specific and concrete intervention by the municipal administration to deal with the numerous and dangerous offenders.
And so, at all hours of the day and night, in the beautiful square, in addition to seeing kids playing football, there are frequent races of minors, moreover without helmets, riding mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles or driving electric scooters , sometimes souped up, who whizz undisturbed, far and wide among the frightened passersby and unfortunate tourists.
In fact, there are even worse things, like witnessing two adults crossing the square on a motorcycle with a child in the middle, obviously both without helmets.
Faced with such an unsightly and worrying scene, with numerous complaints of vandalism against the basilica's façade, residents, particularly local merchants, despite their disheartened feelings, continue to protest. "There's a lack of enforcement, that's the real problem," says one longtime retailer. "There's no point in hiding the lack of education and civic sense. The only solution to protecting pedestrians and the city's image is a fixed, or at least mobile, local police station, as is the case in all other Italian cities."
A simple and concrete solution, the one proposed by the shopkeeper and others, yet never adopted by the current administration, as reported by Giovanni, one of the many residents of Piazza Santa Croce, "for us the problem is unsustainable, especially for the elderly and the vulnerable.
"It is unacceptable," he added, "that the mayor and the relevant authorities, faced with such critical situations, continue to plan for the daily presence of more police officers at the beginning of Via Veneto, but not in this square, which is the beating heart not only of the historic center, but of religious life. Therefore, we once again urge the authorities to take the necessary urgent measures."
It seems to me that the situation in the square has become very difficult and dangerous, especially for children and the elderly. There are very few controls, and scooters are racing around without any safety features. Something must be done.