“Can you smell that? It’s the disinfectant I used.” Newspaper seller Denival Santana, 70 years old, cleans the sidewalk where his stall is located every day, in Ramos de Azevedo Square, in front of the Municipal Theater, in the center of the capital, São Paulo.
It has been there for three decades, witnessing the comings and goings of tourists, the rush to work of São Paulo residents, and the routines of the homeless. Denival says he knows everyone: “Mayor Ricardo Nunes himself came here and received me,” he says, commenting that his painting is “small, but it has the same heart as the mother.”
But the story of the newsboy with that title is about to change. Recently, Denival received notification from the São Paulo City Council. The document stated that he would have to leave there due to work planned to be carried out in Viaduto do Chá, Praça do Patriarca and Praça Ramos de Azevedo.
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Conditional closure.
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Denvale has seen the changes in the region and will now be the target of one of them
Jessica Bernardo/Metropolis2 of 4
Every day he washes the sidewalk with disinfectant
Jessica Bernardo/Metropolis3 of 4
Denval Santana has been in banking for 30 years
Jessica Bernardo/Metropolis4 of 4
The kiosks in the area will be moved to the street behind Thetro Municipal
Jessica Bernardo/Metropolis
The renovation, worth R$70 million, includes moving its kiosk to the street behind the Municipal Theater. Where the newsagent operates today, the Ricardo Nunes administration (MDB) wants to establish a base for the Municipal Civil Guard (GCM).
“They warned me, but I ask you: Do you need to remove the business from the place?” he says.
Denval cannot accept change. “When I took over, things were a mess,” he says. “I fought, I talked, I called who I had to call. (…) I always cared about this here. Leaving like this? It’s not possible.”
From his stand, the newsboy watched the area transform. He followed Mappin’s Store, where he bought a refrigerator and other appliances, to close. Recently, the same building was announced as a future Sesc unit. He kept a close eye on the business in the immediate vicinity of Vale do Anhangabaú. Much has changed while he has been around.
“I have a history there,” he says, recalling the time he took the position. He says he is now trying to talk to friends he has made in the area to try to take the complaint to the city hall, just a few meters away.
A young woman interrupted the story to ask where the entrance to a new bar in the area was. She appears to be holding a resume in her hand. “Their entrance at night is in front of the mall,” Denival says.
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When he finished his explanation, he looked at the reporter: “A newsstand is a reference for information. It should be appreciated.” The interview was stopped several times so he could meet people. In one, two tourists asked if he was selling São Paulo-themed stickers. “I only have a postcard,” replied the newspaper seller.
He fears that changing the location will affect customers. This view is shared by the neighboring bank employee, 32-year-old Tais Augusta, who will also have to leave.
“Everyone here already knows that,” she says, who has worked there for 14 years. “(If) you go somewhere else, just so you can build a clientele again, you’re going to be out of pocket.”
On Conselheiro Crispignano Street, next to his colleagues’ future address, fellow newspaper vendor Julio Cesar, 43, says there is “no room for another kiosk”, but he would welcome anyone who went there.
A start date for work on the Viaduto do Chá has not yet been set, but it is expected to begin in the first half of next year. The bidding notice for the project is scheduled to be published soon.
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