Nik Wallenda worries for his sister ahead of latest stunt

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Nik Wallenda worries for his sister ahead of latest stunt

2019-06-21 23:03 Last Updated At：23:10

As Nik Wallenda prepares to walk a wire 25 stories above New York's Times Square, he admits he's a little uneasy. And for good reason: His sister, Lijana, will join him for the first time since a near-fatal accident.

"Of course, I'm nervous. How would you not be? You know the fact that I'm going to be risking my life, along with my sister who nearly lost hers to that same wire," Wallenda said.

Two years ago during a rehearsal for an eight-person pyramid stunt to break a Guinness world record, something went awry, and five performers were injured, falling 30 feet. Lijana Wallenda suffered severe injuries to her face that required reconstructive surgery.

That's what makes this stunt feel more stressful than when crossing a 1,500 foot gorge near the Grand Canyon, or his 1,800 foot walk over the Niagara Falls.

"People may not understand that, but the fact that my sister's on that wire with me, I'm so concerned about her and her safety that I can't really focus on myself. And that that's nerve-racking," he said. "The fact is that I'm so concerned about her that I won't be able to focus a 100 on myself. And, in really doing this, I need to be able to focus 100 percent."

This time, the siblings will start from opposite ends of the 1,300-foot wire, which will be suspended between two Times Square towers. In the middle, Lijana Wallenda will sit on the wire and let her brother step over her. Both will then continue to the opposite side. The attempt will air live Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

While dangerous, the stunt won't be death-defying. That's because New York law requires the Wallendas to be tethered. "It doesn't impede us from falling. It impedes us from falling all the way to the ground," said Nik Wallenda.

Wallenda says he constantly draws on his family's 200-year aerial legacy over seven generations.

"We've learned a lot. We've learned a lot by loss of life, too. Look, I've lost seven family members doing this. So, it's trial and error in a sense. We figured a lot out. But, look, the danger — it's the real deal."

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Venice launches experiment to charge day-trippers an access fee in bid to combat over-tourism

2024-04-25 12:09 Last Updated At：13:42

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Under the gaze of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launches a pilot program Thursday to charge day-trippers a 5-euro (around $5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.

Signs advising arriving visitors of the new requirement for a test phase of 29 days through July have been erected outside the main train station and other points of arrival.

Some 200 stewards have been trained to politely walk anyone unaware of the fee through the process of downloading a QR code. A kiosk has been set up for those not equipped with a smartphone. Once past designated entry ports, officials will carry out random checks for QR codes that show the day-tripper tax has been paid or that the bearer is exempt.

Transgressors face fines 50 euros to 300 euros. The requirement applies only for people arriving between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Outside of those hours, access is free.

“We need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents,’’ said the city’s top tourism official, Simone Venturini. “We need to safeguard the spaces of the residents, of course, and we need to discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some particular days.”

Venice has long suffered under the pressure of over-tourism, but officials say that pre-pandemic estimates ranging from 25 million to 30 million visitors a year — including day-trippers — are not reliable and that the pilot project also aims to come up with more exact figures to help better manage the phenomenon.

By contrast, registered visitors spending the night last year numbered 4.6 million, according to city figures, down 16% from pre-pandemic highs.

Venturini said the city is strained when the number of day-trippers reaches 30,000 to 40,000. Its narrow alleyways are clogged with people and water taxis packed, making it difficult for residents to go about their business.

Not all residents, however, are persuaded of the efficacy of the new system in dissuading mass tourism, and say more attention needs to be paid to boosting the resident population and services they need.

Venice last year passed a telling milestone when the number of tourist beds exceeded for the first time the number of official residents, which is now below 50,000 in the historic center with its picturesque canals.

“Putting a ticket to enter a city will not decrease not even by one single unit the number of visitors that are coming,’’ said Tommaso Cacciari, an activist who organized a protest Thursday against the measure.

“You pay a ticket to take the metro, to go to a museum, an amusement park; you don’t pay a ticket to enter a city. This is the last symbolic step of a project of an idea of this municipal administration to kick residents out of Venice,” he said.

Venturini said about 6,000 people had already paid to download the QR code, and officials expect paid day-tripper arrivals Thursday to reach some 10,000.

More than 70,000 others have downloaded a QR code denoting an exemption, including to work in Venice or as a resident of the Veneto region. People staying in hotels in Venice, including in mainland districts like Marghera or Mestre, should also get a QR code attesting to their stay, which includes a hotel tax.

The tourist official says interest in Venice's pilot program has been keen from other places suffering from mass tourism, including other Italian art cities and cities abroad such as Barcelona and Amsterdam.