This anti-homeless iron bench, installed in Nangis, elected “most deceitful device” by the Pics d’or ceremony

SDF – Grilles, peaks, compartmentalized benches, rocks, flower pots… Not without irony, the Abbé Pierre Foundation organized this Monday, November 18 at the Théâtre de l'Atelier, in Paris, the third Pics d'or ceremony which intended to “reward” the worst anti-homeless devices installed in public spaces.

Hosted in particular by comedians Blanche Gardin, Amelle Chahbi and Guillaume Meurice, the Pics d'or ceremony aims above all to raise awareness about the use of street furniture preventing, intentionally or not, people from lying down, or even sometimes even just sitting in public space. She also denounces the political measures taken by certain municipalities towards homeless people, such as anti-begging orders. So, which street furniture was rewarded?

Paris, Marseille and Lyon singled out for their anti-homeless furniture

This year again, the selected devices competed in inventiveness to prove to be as inhospitable as possible. Like these metal blades placed along a wall in Le Mans, awarded in the “Blood scruples” category, which rewards “the most uninhibited device”.

Among the cities with the most named street furniture, Paris is at the top, followed by Marseille, Strasbourg, Toulouse and Toulon. The devices located in smaller towns are not left out, such as the one located at Nangis station, in Seine-et-Marne. It won the prize for “most deceitful device” thanks to its bench topped with mesh metal seats. This category distinguishes the “passive aggressive furniture (…) which blends into the landscape, without appearing to do so” lucky that “the smallest corner must be carefully made impassable”.

But it was the city of Lyon which stood out from the crowd by receiving the public prize, entitled “The nail”, “symbol of frank and crude hostility”thanks to its XXL-sized flower pots placed under a porch. The system on Boulevard de la Villette, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, where arches under the metro 2 overhead line were filled in so that no one could take shelter there, was also pinned down.

A rejection of the poorest and most vulnerable

The Golden Peaks ceremony also distinguished the political measures most unfavorable to homeless people: the anti-begging law implemented in the city of Vaud, in Switzerland, as well as France's migration policy towards exiles from Calais .

“In an insidious or completely assumed manner, the poorest, the most vulnerable, are rejected and have the greatest difficulty finding a place in public space to rest, to take shelter”denounces the Abbé Pierre Foundation in a press release. Quoted by France 3the legal manager of the foundation Noria Derdek recalls that “ the main victims are homeless people. These ledges can allow them to rest after a day of wandering and possibly to stay there for a long time, given that they have no private space, no warm sofa. »

The Pics d’or ceremony is also an opportunity to raise awareness among local elected officials “ so that they are attentive when public contracts are awarded”and that they “put in place reporting measures for owners and merchants when devices are installed in private buildings”. “We must solve the problem of homelessness rather than making it invisible or displacing it”concludes the Abbé Pierre Foundation.

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