A Paris Neighborhood Is Suing the City for Leaving It Too Dirty

Visit Chateau Rouge Market in Paris on an average evening and you could be forgiven for assuming a riot had just taken place. Packing cases litter the sidewalks, old produce squelches under foot and you may even spot the occasional scuffle between traders. Such is the unchangingly shabby state of this corner of Northeast Paris on market days that locals are now taking legal action against their own city.

This spring, residents are suing the city of Paris for “breach of equality”—the cleanliness of their area is so below normal Parisian standards, they insist, that municipal neglect is turning them into second-class citizens. They want €20,000 worth of damages, admittedly a flea bite for a city of this size and wealth. The damage to Paris’s reputation may be less easy to manage, however. For a city that this winter vowed to become a “model of cleanliness” for all of Europe, the upcoming court case is embarrassing to say the least.