The 30-year-old Vadrózsa is Hungary’s most prominent non-professional folk dance ensemble is to present the rich folk traditions and cultural treasures of the Carpathian Basin at world-class quality We’ve been recently convinced of this watching their fantastic 70-minute long Legacy show touring the U.S The tour began on 19 October and made five stops in 18 days paying tribute to the 1956 revolution and freedom fight of Hungary I spoke with two organizers and three dancers after the last performance of the tour at the Hungarian American Athletic Club (HAAC) in New Brunswick Vadrózsa (Wild Rose in Hungarian) Dance Ensemble is the most prominent non-professional folk dance ensemble in Hungary the group’s mission has been to preserve and disseminate authentic Hungarian folk dance and music through teaching and performing They are dedicated to highlighting the abundant folk traditions and cultural treasures of the Carpathian Basin on the global stage its members place a special emphasis on community building and educating the next generation In addition to the Vadrózsa adult ensemble with dancers ranging from 3 to 60 years of age They participate regularly at nationwide dance festivals and competitions Vadrózsa has consistently achieved outstanding results boasting numerous group and individual awards In 2024 Kristóf was awarded the highest national honour that a choreographer can receive in Hungary they have prolifically taught and choreographed throughout Hungary and in Hungarian-inhabited communities of the Carpathian Basin as well as in the North American Hungarian diaspora In addition to showcasing authentic folk dance the ensemble is open to other artistic genres: its repertoire includes several contemporary works and dance theatre pieces but at the same time they consider the results achieved to be a serious responsibility which is why humility and attention to detail are cornerstones to their work Vadrózsa seeks to set an example for the Hungarian folk dance movement and for future generations which included five stops (New York; Washington DC; Cleveland; Boston and New Brunswick) was to showcase the diversity and virtuosity of the Carpathian Basin’s folklore through a fresh the show commemorated the 1956 revolution and freedom fight using motifs from Hungarian dance and music culture and placing them in a spectacular stage setting Artistic director Kristóf Fundák confessed: as soon as they arrived in America telling them that he was very pleased with their recent premiere at the House of Traditions in Budapest but the performance could and should only get better from there ‘Every performance took place at a different venue which could improve and allowed the show to renew itself I’m very proud of the team because they were able to deliver almost 100 per cent of what I asked of them surpassing their previous performance almost every time I said “almost” only because there was a peak even though it’s been a very tiring good two weeks behind us Kristóf explained they were lucky that it hadn’t been their first time in America ‘We didn’t come to an unfamiliar environment how to get them nailed to their seats and make them applaud—of course we tried to bring that here.’ As he mentioned although the aim of a director–choreographer is clearly to please the audience—because if he doesn’t Vadrózsa’s goal is broader than that: as always in which they tried to show their own ideas about bringing folk dance and folklore to the stage in Hungary ‘The audience’s reactions and the discussions after the performances confirmed that we had found a nice balance between how to present theatre and folklore to the local community in a new way that they are not necessarily used to—at least not regularly—and still remaining likeable to the whole audience,’ he concluded as Kristóf Fundák told the audience before the performance if Vadrózsa had official sister dance groups those would be the local Mákvirág and Csűrdöngölő teams of New Brunswick ‘If we ever go somewhere else in North America in the future and I learned a lot from it personally,’ shared Ildikó who also said in her emotional post-show toast on stage that being a tour manager was an unmatched opportunity of a lifetime for her and became one of her all-time favorite projects I’ve been raised and always lived in this Hungarian American folk musician–dancer community also in the Életfa orchestra founded by my brother and I and in the Hungária dance ensemble in New York what they like and what they need—that’s another reason why I didn’t have a difficult task as a tour manager.’ Ildikó revealed that she was able to work with the dancers through her own transformation from being a parent around Vadrózsa to acting in this new capacity for a year because Lili and Kristóf always had the last word while I tried to create the environment in which the show could be successful My three children were raised in this ensemble and I’m very happy I could finally bring this wonderful treasure back home,’ she said emotionally and added that the ‘internationality’ of Vadrózsa is also shown by the fact that some of its members were born outside Hungary’s borders A few years ago Lili and Kristóf opened their training camp also for young dancers from North America later fifteen children joined that camp from North America to Hungary; not only from Mákvirág in New Brunswick ‘I’m very happy that there are also diaspora Hungarians in the adult group: Ottó Nagy from Venezuela Emese Gáspár and Zsófi Kovács from California Erica Tábi from New Jersey; and for this tour László Hajdu-Németh Jr was also invited to join the orchestra as a violinist Hungarians today have a totally different background compared to my parents who were forced to leave Hungary and had no idea when they could return Former KCSP members Lili Balogh and István Dániel Molnár also became emotional when I asked them about their tour experience Lili was able to respond first: ‘I can say on behalf of both of us that it was a very good feeling to be back; we were looking forward to meeting those we had met during our nine months as KPCS scholars and visiting the places where we had been welcomed back as friends as we almost had a second family there.’ At this point Isti took over: ‘I’m basically a distant person so last year when we first got here I told a lot of people: if they feel I’m not very friendly it’s just because I was brought up that way I’ve probably made more friends here than at home…’ the dance house movement is very competitive in Hungary so the artistic directors prepared this show to be able to be convincing at the domestic scene but also to fit the Hungarian American audience ‘It was especially difficult for both of us because the team was already preparing while we were still here as KCSP scholars so we didn’t find it difficult to devote our free time to it though.’ Lili added that the tour was preceded by a very intense two months of preparation and the show consisted of a wide range of dances Some choreographies have been in their repertoire for years but others were only created during the last two months ‘Everyone was very excited to see how the preparations and the tour would go I can probably speak for the whole group when I say that it was a great experience for our whole team,’ she concluded Not only did Ildikó Hajdu-Németh return home with this tour but Keve Pigniczky has also found himself in similar shoes He was born and grew up in Cleveland as an active scout and member of the local Regös dance group until the end of his university years When I asked him what it was like to return home and do an 18-day tour with a lot of familiar faces in the audience at every stop ‘It was quite hard.’ He explained: after graduating from university six years ago he moved to Budapest where he’s been working as an accountant ever since dancing first with the Nógrád Dance Company (on account of his great-grandmother so this was the first time she was able to visit the place where her fiancé is from ‘We got emotional quite often because of this: when the plane landed in New York and we probably will cry also when we are going to say goodbye to my grandmother Kati Vörös later today This tour was a big moment for me and Zsófi She had already met my parents in Europe; I had visited her family several times in Transylvania but this was the first time she could visit the place where I grew up It’s also an exciting situation because we are now trying to decide where we want to start a family We already know that it’s not going to be Budapest or Hungary but since both of our jobs allow us to work remotely we plan to live rather close to our parents either in Szeklerland or Cleveland.’ Finally Keve also revealed that this show was a bit burdensome for him emotionally because all four of his grandparents were 1956er refugees: ‘I didn’t use to appreciate enough my aunt I realized that I’m actually a “product” of the revolution.’ Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective Are you a transport lover or a fan of trams Then gear up for a family day at one of Budapest's tram depots which will open its doors to the public for a whole afternoon On 26 April – starting at 10 am – Angyalföld tram depot awaits visitors with exciting activities: explore the eclectic buildings and take a closer look at various types of tram cars The Hungarian community in New Brunswick has been hosting Kőrösi Csoma Program (KCSP) scholars specialized in folk dance for quite a while now and over the last two years directly from the Angyalföld Vadrózsa Dance Ensemble Lili Balogh and István Dániel Molnár have not only been involved in training five folk dance groups in New Brunswick but have also helped a number of local Hungarian organizations in multiple ways and in relation to several Hungarian events Where are you from and what do you do at home I applied to the Faculty of Teacher Training College of the Károli Gáspár Reformed University in Budapest and then I immediately started working as an English teacher and elementary school teacher in Budapest This is the only dance theatre company in the country for juniors They are accepting me back full time as soon as we get home How did the connection between Vadrózsa and New Brunswick come about Lili: The Vadrózsa Dance Ensemble was founded in 1992 They have entered the group to the national folk dance movement where they have been achieving good results in professional forums and competitions for several years It is among the top non-professional folk dance companies at this point Lili and Kristóf have been active in the Hungarian American diaspora for many years They have been regular guests at the Csipke Tábor (Lace Camp) organized by József Salamon and his wife and Detroit to organize Hungarian folk dance workshops there In the Csipke Tábor they have developed a close relationship with the Hungarian folk dance community from New Brunswick The Mákvirág children group in New Brunswick and the Vadvirág children group in Budapest became sister groups Dénes Kovács and Vivien Nagy were KCSP scholars in Los Angeles at the Kárpátok Dance Ensemble who has since moved to New Brunswick and is now one of the leaders of the Szilvafa Dance Group and one of the KCSP-mentors Why did you apply for the KCSP scholarship Lili: Last June, we were approached by the 2022⁠–⁠23 New Brunswick KCSP scholars Gábor Szanyó and Viola Kovács. They suggested that we should step in their shoes and apply for the 2023⁠–⁠24 cycle We thought about it for a day or two and decided to take it on Our employers were also very flexible about it we could both take unpaid leave and agreed to come back in a year Back in June we already had an online meeting where we met our mentors Isti: Even though everybody tried to provide us with all the information we realized quite quickly that there is no way to prepare for this scholarship we were in the fortunate position of being immediately involved in the community’s life: we arrived on Thursday and the next day we had a rehearsal for the Csűrdöngölő where we were welcomed as if we had known each other for months Lívia and her family picked us up at the airport and brought us here where we were greeted with a small gift basket with enough food and drink for a few days because we hadn’t thought about that before very positive impressions that I think will last a lifetime Is this your first time in America?Lili: Actually so at the beginning we were just scratching our heads.. it’s practically impossible to go shopping because I don’t like asking for favors; but then we developed good relationships with a lot of people who we could always rely on said: ‘In three days you picked up the rhythm and blended into the Hungarian community as if you had been here for years.’ Obviously it depends on your personality how quickly you can integrate I wouldn’t dare to embark on such a journey alone Let’s talk about your KCSP tasks in more detail They’ve recently started an archiving project so there were times when they had to type it up but otherwise it was mainly physical work: preparing for the monthly market We recommend to the next KCSP scholars to sit down with each Hungarian organization at the outset and clarify what the expectations are Obviously unexpected things can always happen and it’s good to be flexible but it is always worth knowing the duties and keeping the limits What was your specific task in terms of folk dancing We tried to show each folk dance group something new the biggest Hungarian folk dance competition in the U.S. but Melinda wanted a bigger folk dance show which is a bit like a folk dance festival in Hungary We started organizing this three-day event in the autumn but in the end we decided that it would be too much so instead we had the end-of-season gala on 11 May and they also performed their shows partly at the Hungarian Festival on 1 June The stage production has to be appropriate for today’s audience both in terms of visual and audio experience no longer serves this purpose; you have to add a lot of extras but from then on you can no longer call it folk dance I think they got what I was trying to convey I always tell my groups in Hungary: you can learn folk dance Lili: Different practices and rules apply everywhere the dance teachers do a mind-boggling and endless job constantly adapting and looking for solutions to things that they shouldn’t even be dealing with.. especially in the children’s groups: teachers subordinate themselves to children In the case of the two older Mákvirág groups we have managed to make them understand our point and we are very confident that the group will act accordingly next year We haven’t even mentioned whether they’d come to the rehearsals or not.. We strive for our students to learn how to dance so they can master all the steps and motifs we teach them and can use them freely when they go to parties There is obviously a big difference between being able to apply what they have learned freely and being able only to dance the sequence they have learnt they can easily get confused and lose track of where they are but also in Hungary—is that they learn the dance material at a native level at least the motifs and figures we teach them we can start to produce series of movements and choreographic elements Lili: Folk dance groups in the Hungarian diaspora are in a more difficult situation in this respect because they only have one rehearsal per week In that 2,5 hours they have to get the children to like and learn folk dance master the motifs and stylistic elements of the regions so that they can perform at the May show and at the Hungarian Festival In Hungary there are usually two rehearsals per week and there are summer camps and regular weekend camps if it’s snowing heavily and people can’t get into town we believe that folk dance training doesn’t end in the rehearsal room so we’ve made an effort to organize some kind of a team-building camp or day for every group we held a two-day training camp for the Regös group back in October These two days together started a close bonding between the young people that gave a very good impetus to the whole year Previously the group went with six couples and about 12 children The older and the middle group of Mákvirág had a training camp in January but we also organized a party night for the older ones Almost everyone participated and they had a great time everyone would be able to dance so freely from the material they had heard all year that we would put the choreography together in three days but practically half of the choreography was done on the first night and from then on the camp was very good fun How have you been involved in the preparations for the Hungarian Festival the biggest event in the local Hungarian community life Lili: We indicated to our mentors and to the local organizations that we would be completely free during the week of the festival we only asked them to let us know in time when and where they needed us Everything went smoothly; there was only one day of tension when we had to make chicken paprikash for 800 people at the Club but she has never made chicken paprikash in such quantity lifting big pots and pans to and from the stoves and cleaning 1,600 chicken legs and continuously stirring the paprikash.. and overall we had a good time at the Festival Lili: We visited nearby New York several times. We also got to Cleveland once but unfortunately haven’t had time to go back since then Isti: We accompanied the New Brunswick Regös dance troop to the Golden Wedding because they were invited by the Cleveland Regös dance group whom they had met at various scouting events and developed a close relationship The two groups tried several times to put together a troop-building weekend but it didn’t work out due to the busy schedules and long distance The show was the first foreign Hungarian cultural event that was shockingly amazing to experience We had no idea that Cleveland would have such a deep bench and ecosystem for Hungarian folk dance Almost every Regös dancer from the past 50 years performed on stage with an attitude and quality that trumped even professional folk dance companies in Hungary where we hiked almost all the hiking trails Isti: Indeed. Our next long holiday will be a trip to Florida with some friends. We have also been to Canada. We went to Montreal for a workshop given by our art directors Lili and Kristóf, and we had some time to look around and see the city. If all goes well, we will return with the Vadrózsa Dance Company for a two-week East Coast tour from October 18⁠–⁠19 to November 3⁠–⁠4 Do you keep in touch with the other scholars where everyone could tell us how things were going and help each other if needed There will be a closing conference on 10 July after which we would like to meet again informally so that after nine months everyone can share their own experiences We can learn a lot from each other and what we share can also help the program I’ve started to put together a list of useful information and advice for the newcomers Isti: Friendships have also developed between KCSP scholars, and we can call Bence Hajdu from Washington, DC and Daniel Indri from New York friends. We also have a good relationship with Marci Hajdú from Passaic/Garfield and we recently had a farewell party at the Hungarian House in New York for six young adults who will be studying in Hungary Isti: We’ve already indicated to them and their parents that we’re going to create a chat group where we’ll provide all the necessary information for them. If they need any help, they should let us know. We plan to have a Budapest⁠–⁠New Brunswick monthly meeting so that everyone can report on their studies and how they are feeling We’ll pick up those who are traveling alone at the airport We don’t let go of their hands; we want to give back the good things we’ve received from them What are the three most important things you take home from here Lili: The positive American attitude that the Hungarians born here also have Csilla Varga’s positive outlook and world view really struck us She sees the world so differently and has such a different approach to problems than we are used to back home She focuses on the solutions and doesn’t despair if something doesn’t work out as planned She is aware that everyone is volunteering here and sets her expectations accordingly they follow it up until it’s resolved...or let it go I would like to send a message to the Hungarians back home: there are Hungarians in the U.S. come and see what it’s like to be a Hungarian here.. It is in Hungary's interest that our churches remain not only inanimate parts of our cultural heritage but the homes of living communities - declared the Head of the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday At the thanksgiving service held for the renovation of the church Gergely Gulyás emphasised that Christianity is the "most personal public matter" Looking at the history of Hungary from the founding of the state to the present day it is clear what Christianity has added to the lives of Hungarians - it can be read in the news of MTI The minister said: "We must remember how it shaped our thinking and culture how it showed the way in good and bad times how it gave us strength to endure difficulties and hope to believe in the coming of a better age even in the most difficult times." Speaking about the Angyalföld congregation he recalled: at the beginning of the last century some enthusiastic young pastors started the mission in the poorest working-class district The mission gained new strength when the "exiles of Trianon" the "van-dwelling refugees" resettled from Transylvania to Angyalföld The renovated Frangepán Street church of the Budapest-Angyalföld Reformed Parish was built in 1933 (Source: frangepan.hu) The people who live here not only built it but also preserved the church and the congregation during the most difficult decades of the 20th century - even at the cost of enormous efforts - said the minister He emphasised: church building is always community building The Angyalföld congregation who listen to the word of God together on Sundays and the 400 schoolchildren who study Reformed religious studies in the Angyalföld schools form a community A community whose members participate in each other's lives and take advantage of the many opportunities for meetings provided by the church A thanksgiving service was held for the renovation of the Angyalföld Reformed Church (Photo: Budapest-Angyalföld Reformed Parish Facebook page) President of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church explained a section of the book of Proverbs in his sermon and said: One of the wisest pieces of advice of Solomon is that a person should not start with himself Because "he who starts with himself will sooner or later be left alone" sooner or later realises that "we do not start with God The common and essential thing in the history of the biblical people is that they never started something calling him to take his people out of the "house of slavery" and he stopped Paul Apostle on the road to Damascus so that Saulus could become Paulus Zoltán Balog touched on the following: true knowledge begins with a shock of wisdom is when a person is moved by the fact that the creator of the world praises them for opening the way to knowing him adding that this is a never-ending story called eternity The renovated church from the entrance (Photo: Budapest-Angyalföld Reformed Parish Facebook page) called it important that the district's churches remain and serve the community the cooperation between the local council and the historical churches in the district is balanced and harmonious The foundation stone of the Reformed church and parish The renovation of the church began in 2017 with the rebuilding of the tower which was damaged in World War II and then temporarily restored and in 2022 the roof and facade were renovated The cost of the investment was covered by a donation from church members and government support won through a tender Cover photo: The renovated Frangepán Street church of the Budapest-Angyalföld Reformed Parish on 26 March 2023 (Photo: MTI/Noémi Bruzák) © 2025 Látóhatár Kiadó Lap-és Könyvkiadó Kft Úgy tűnik nem található semmi ezen a helyen IMPRESSZUM SZERZŐI JOGOK ADATVÉDELEM FELHASZNÁLÁSI FELTÉTELEK This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The Secretary of State for the Development of Budapest and its Agglomeration informed the MTI on Friday that the planning of these investments had begun Balázs Fürjes announced that plans are being drawn up for a new overpass above Rákosrendező Station The public road bridge will include cycle paths The new route will connect Zugló and Angyalföld creating a new route between the 13th and 14th Districts of Budapest which have been cut off from one another by the train tracks.     The Secretary of State noted that the route would divert traffic from Hungária Boulevard and support the creation of a car-free City Park According to a concept agreed by the government and Budapest City Council in the Budapest Development Council Kós Károly Promande and Heroes Square will be designated pedestrian zones will be built at the terminus of the Millennium Underground Railway on Mexikói Road Plans for the car-free City Park (Source: Budapest Development Centre) An open EU public procurement tender for preparing plans for these infrastructure developments was published on Friday Balázs Fürjes emphasised that the goal was to return the entirety of City Park to pedestrians The concept supported by the government and the city council will see Kós Károly promenade and Heroes Square become pedestrian zones Access to Állatkert Boulevard will be limited in off-peak hours Surface-level parking will also be a thing of the past except for a short section of Állatkert Boulevard adding that a new underground car park had just been opened under what was once 56-osok Square Visual of a car-free Kós Károly Promenade (Source: Városiget Zrt.) The government aims to create a City Park that is more livable and has cleaner air while also ensuring vital transport connections for those travelling by rail Balázs Fürjes added that the Budapest Development Centre created plans for the car-free City Park in cooperation with Városliget Zrt emphasising improvements to public transport safer options for cyclists and diverting through-traffic The Secretary of State emphasised that it would be best if commuters relied on public transport for the entirety of their journeys Development of the Budapest–Hatvan railway line is already underway while plans for improving the Budapest–Veresegyháza line are being made Heroes Square will become a pedestrian zone and surface-level parking will be limited (Photo: Balázs Both/Pestbuda.hu) Some commuters arriving into Budapest by car will have the option to switch to public transport at the P+R car park on Mexikói Road Balázs Fürjes added that as commuters will mostly use the car park on weekdays visitors to City Park on the weekends and on holidays will have an easier time finding parking spaces As all traffic that does not stop at Mexikói Road will continue along Hungária Boulevard the overpass between Zugló and Angyalföld is needed to divert traffic from the already busy road Promenád above the Museum Underground Car Park (Photo: MTI/Zoltán Balogh) He added that the bridge would be designed to not divert the traffic of the M3 motorway through the residential area with exits towards Dévényi Street and Vágány Street By diverting some traffic from Hungária Boulevard the overpass will also lead to cleaner air in City Park added that the overpass would accelerate the rehabilitation of one of Budapest's largest rust-regions The tram line will be planned to Béke Square via the new bridge and Szegedi Road At Béke Square it will connect to the existing Lehet Street – Béke Street network The decision-makers confirmed that local councils and other stakeholders would be involved in the planning process Cover photo: Cars to be banned from City Park alongside extension of tram line 3 and construction of new overpass (Photo: Városiget Zrt.) One of the worst and rather infamous pedestrian underpasses in Budapest which connects Bajza Street in Terézváros with Bulcsú Street in Angyalföld which at the time was designed to wean people off dangerously running over rails has been in a neglected condition for decades.  The underpass was not in better condition in 1974 than it is today (Photo: Fortepan / No.: 204793) accident-prone underpass will soon be renovated - as it can be read on the website of the 6th District which is dangerous due to unseparated bicycle traffic and has not been cleaned before was hampered by the complicated ownership and maintenance relations (besides Terézváros the 13th District and the capital are also interested) and its renovation is expected to last until November (Photo: Facebook / Terézváros) during the works that will start after 23 August which is almost the same age as the capital will be renewed: the lighting will be dismantled and rebuilt the entire inner surface and exterior facades of the underpass will be tidied up the utility trench under it will be eliminated and the former dangerous plating will be changed which will also ensure safe pedestrian traffic and the subway is expected to be closed throughout the fall Cover photo: The Bajza street underpass (Photo: terezvaros.hu) had an unassailable lead in Sunday’s by-election in Újpest The by-election was held in the parliamentary single-member constituency No 11 in Budapest covering most of Újpest and a small part of Angyalföld The election had to be called because Varju resigned from his seat on 6 December 2024 after being sentenced to a final fine by the Kúria for hooliganism assault and disturbing the electoral order several opposition MPs went to the headquarters of the Hungarian state news agency MTVA to have their 5-point demand read out on air A serious scuffle broke out between Varju and the guards: four security guards tackled him his fellow MPs were then knocked to the ground and eventually had to leave the public media The DK politician was convicted of assault and battery in connection with the incident and of disturbing the electoral order because he had also forced an independent MP to resign in Újpest in 2018 According to the final turnout figures of the National Election Office (NEC) 24,190 out of 73,241 people on the electoral roll turned out to vote This would have been a low turnout for a normal parliamentary election Varju beat the Fidesz candidate running against him in Újpest-Angyalföld in both 2018 and 2022 most recently as a joint opposition candidate This time no opposition parties other than the Democratic Coalition ran The order of the three most important candidates in the election as the year before the general parliamentary elections It was also the last parliamentary election not to be held on the basis of the district boundaries redrawn by Fidesz at the end of last year An early parliamentary election was held in mid-January this year in the Tolna 02 constituency Péter Magyar announced before the election in Tolna 02 that the Tisza Party would not run a candidate in that or any other mid-term election this term As we wrote today, Péter Magyar said that PM Orbán drove drunk, built a luxury estate in Hatvanpuszta with zebras, a palm house, and armoured cars – details HERE The “real” measure of support for the Democratic Coalition (DK) is shown by its recent by-election results rather than propaganda “disguised as polls”, the opposition party’s deputy leader said on Monday Csaba Molnár noted that DK’s candidate won a by-election in Budapest’s 4th and 13th district with 52 percent support In this instance DK ran on its own rather than as part of an alliance DK has also garnered 11 percent at a by-election in one of the most Fidesz-dominated districts in Tolna County earlier this year election results cannot; at least not by the opposition,” Molnár said The DK politician also lambasted other opposition parties saying that the Tisza party had stayed away from the election but “still influenced it by calling [on voters] to stay away” the Two-Tailed Dog party “campaigned against DK by copying Fidesz’s smear campaign that branded Varju a criminal…” he said and website in this browser for the next time I comment Y"},"category":false,"taxonomy":{"active":false,"name":"category"}},"markup":{"custom_html":true,"wpp-start":"","wpp-end":"<\/ul>","title-start":"","title-end":"<\/h2>","post-html":"{thumb} {title} {stats}<\/span>{excerpt}<\/p><\/li>"},"theme":{"name":""}} You have successfully joined our subscriber list SupportUs Newsletter © 2025 DailyNewsHungary | All rights reserved City Park and Heroes’ Square will be car-free a new overhead bridge is to be built at Rákosrendező railway-station and tram line 3 will be continued towards Angyalföld district Massive changes are to set in motion in Budapest by the investment projects of the government Every day about a million people arrive by car to the central districts of Budapest from the outside areas and the capital’s agglomeration. This year the government has already announced construction works of motorway M1 to avoid the capital Another important goal of the government and the city is to make at least two-thirds of these people choose public transportation and avoid the centre areas there is a need for new bridges and overpasses the Development Centre of Budapest (BFK) of the Prime Minister’s Office starts the preparation plans of a new overhead bridge in Pest Secretary of State responsible for the development of Budapest and its agglomeration The new overhead bridge will be a public road overpass; it will ensure the extension of the circular tram trail 3 and include a bike road and a pavement This overpass will finally solve the issue of connecting the two districts of Angyalföld and Zugló; in other words The Secretary of State pointed out that with this overpass they can decrease transport on Hungária avenue and make the City Park car-free the Kós Károly promenade and the Heroes’ Square will both become completely car-free according to the joint concept accepted by the government and the Council of Public Developments of the Capital. “The City Park completely needs to be given back to pedestrians and those wishing to have a rest and find some calm” – said Balázs Fürjes to metropol.hu. He also added that above-ground parking they opened a new underground parking lot under Dózsa György road This parking area has three levels and 9000m2  with 800 parking spaces together try to strengthen public transportation to completely get rid of car traffic around the City Park partly with the help of supporting the use of bicycles and with redirecting traffic to other areas The best solution would be if commuters chose public transportation directly from their homes – claimed Balázs Fürjes The overhead bridge planned over the railway station of Rákosrendező can solve the long-existing developmental problem of the so-called “rust zone” The circular trail of tram 3 is unfinished right now its connection to other districts of Pest can be constructed in the future The tram trail arriving from the direction of Bosnyák Square will go through this bridge until Béke Square on Szegedi road where it will be connected to the already existing line between Lehel street and Béke street BFK will ask residents in the area and the municipalities involved on everything related to the developmental plans to make the City Park car-free Two new parking areas will also be created One on the territory of the already existing P+R area at the bus and trolley stop of Mexikói road and the other one at the end of M3 entering the city the development of the train line of Hatvan which acts as a direct line between the capital and its agglomeration they are already working on increasing the capacity inside Budapest several establishments are under construction They will mostly be used by commuters during the day Some bad news among all the good is that the already busy Hungária avenue will not be in a much better position as the traffic banned from Kós Károly promenade will mostly go through here the already mentioned overhead bridge is very much needed It is essential to develop the bridge in a way that it does not direct traffic of M3 towards Angyalföld and Zugló a highway exit will be built right next to the railway leading cars towards Dévényi street and Vágány street Another way to reduce traffic would be to introduce a congestion charge for cars entering certain parts of the city although that would also require a lot of infrastructure development in terms of cameras and IT systems Funny how all these developments are undertaken by institutions (PM office BFK and Városliget Zrt) who are ultimately not accountable to Budapest residents/voters and using Budapest tax money Nobody voted for these people in Budapest taking all these decisions for us Also funny how how the mayor of the city (the one whose program people voted for) is completely left out from all of this your mayor is doing nothing for residents….only what he is doing is bla bla bla… From home to work by car 15-20 mins (30 mins during rush hour) by public transport over 1 hour (changing 3 tram/bus lines)