Paris booksellers won’t let their street stands along the Seine be removed for the 2024 Olympics

By YOUCEF BOUNAB
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Paris booksellers who work on the banks of the River Seine for decades are refusing to leave during the Paris Olympics next year. The opening ceremony will be held on the Seine, taking place outside of a sports venue for the first time in the Games’ history. The Paris police prefecture ordered the removal of 570 “stationary boxes” — street stands out of which booksellers have operated for decades on the quays of the Seine. The prefecture fears that the boxes could be used to conceal explosive devices. The booksellers’ association proposed that the boxes be sealed before and throughout the opening ceremony.