Weekend roundup for 19 June
Includes piazzas, pizzas, protestors and portals
š®š»āāļø Following the independent report into the murder of private detective Daniel Morgan, the Home Secretary announced sheād written to the Met Commissioner to ādemand a detailed response to the panelās recommendationsā. Priti Patel has also asked the police watchdog, Her Majestyās Inspectorate of Constabulary, āto consider how best it can look look at the issues raised by the damning reportā.
Donāt expect too much from the HMICFRS (their track record isnāt great) and donāt expect Cressida Dick to be going anywhere anytime soon. Despite many calls for her to be held to account, as Vikram Dodd points out in the Guardian, āDick has previously survived what many thought would have ended her careerā (the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in Stockwell in 2005), and the Commissioner has already announced she has no intention of resigning, insisting she is an āhonourable personā.
š® Sticking with the Met for a second: A man has been charged after the BBC journalist Nick Watt was abused by anti-lockdown protesters outside Downing Street on Tuesday. The Met initially tweeted that its officers āwere not in the immediate vicinity of the incident,ā but after everyone with eyes and an internet connection pointed out the fact that there were literally dozens of officers stood right there, it deleted that tweet and issued another statement saying the force would be āreviewing our actions with a view to improving the policing of eventsā.
š¦ The big news of the week has to be the plans to pedestrianise part of Oxford Circus. Thereās a lot of fluffy language (stop saying āpiazzasā!) and āindicativeā artistās impressions (see above) around this announcement, but the basics are: the sides of the junction that face Oxford Street will be pedestrianised, while Regent Street remains as a normal road. The plan is for the two sides of Oxford Circus to be completely car-free from November, and a competition is being run to come up with plans to revamp the area. Oxford Street Tube could also get some new entrances.
š“ The other big transport-related news is that TfL has won its appeal over the Streetspace programme. It would take us at least two newsletters to give you the full story on this, but the basics go like this: In January, a High Court judge ruled that TfLās programme to promote active travel (temporary cycle lanes, wider pavements, the controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhoodsā¦) was unlawful. But TfL appealed the decision and on Wednesday they won that appeal, prompting Sadiq Khan to declare that the decision, combined with his reelection, āforms a double mandate allowing us to continue with our bold measures.ā The taxi industry (which brought the action originally) is less happy, and thereās a chance this could now go to the Supreme Court.
š The Daily Mail has been digging into Uberās London prices after āLondoners hit outā at the company for ācosting more than a black cabā.Ā Basically, what the Mail ādiscoveredā after taking a bunch of Uber rides at different times wasā¦ surge pricing. āMailOnline has compiled Uber receipts revealing how typical prices have not increased - but surge charges can see a journey double in price,ā said the paper, before noting that, with lockdown easing, thereās more surges happening (they could have saved themselves a bit of time and read this New York Times article, as exactly the same thing is happening there).
šļø In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a 69-year-old, pro-Palestine activist climbed to the top of a crane at One Nine Elms (reports on the height of the crane have varied, but you just need to know that itās a really high crane). He eventually spent 37 hours up there, unfurling a Palestine flag and recording some frankly terrifying video.
ā“ļø On Wednesday we told you about The Canal and River Trustās plans to reduce moorings for people living on boats along the River Lee. Cyclist magazine claims the removal of 500 or so homes from the river could also lead to an increase in āviolent theft and other serious crimesā on the river, as thereād be fewer people in the area, particularly at night. Ironically This Is Money ran an article this week explaining why houseboats could be the next property boom.
š¢ Weāre not avid readers of ArabianBusiness.com, but this week the site spoke to Simon Murphy, CEO of the company behind the Battersea Power Station development. In the article Simon is very keen to boast that his company has ātaken this old derelict building in Central London and created a community,ā ā¦ and then he mentions that 20% of the properties have been sold to āMiddle Eastern investorsā. (A reminder that, during construction, the development company reduced the number of affordable homes it originally promised by 40%, citing ātechnical issuesā).
š Crossrail testing has ramped up. The number of test trains running through āthe central core tunnelsā has recently doubled to eight trains per hour. As always, Ian Visits has all the details.
š The 'fashion rental service providerā Rotaro has opened a pop-up on Carnaby Street so they can host ācreative workshops and panel discussions addressing sustainabilityā (as well as rent you clothes from the ābest and brightest brandsā) More details here.
š° If you have a Financial Times subscription the paper has published a couple of good London-related features this week. The first, Inside Londonās Docklands, traces the ātransformation of this once derelict wasteland into a commercial and residential powerhouse,ā while the second, Booming Brixton, examines how gentrification has āencroached on the heart of the UKās African-Caribbean communityā.
š¶ We promised you some nice dog news this week, so here it is: Battersea London has opened a āhydrotherapy suiteā to āhelp dogs with injury rehabilitation, weight loss, muscle pain, general fitness and mental wellbeingā(and also to provide LiB readers with cute pictures of wet dogs).
Arts and culture bits
š The pictures of the restored Trafalgar theatre (above) were released this week, and it does look pretty impressive. The work has restored the 1930s detailing that had been hidden for 90 years, and what was the two small spaces of Trafalgar Studios is now a single ā630 seat art deco wonderland.ā More pictures and video here.
š½ First ābest ofā list of the week is from the Guardian, who asked the author and photographer behind the new book London's Record Shops to mark Record Store Day by choosing the capitalās 10 best independent record shops .
šļø Also from the Guardian, their architecture critic takes a look at the garden island thatās been built over the Hudson River in New York, and asks: did London āmiss a trick or dodge a bulletā when it abandoned the Garden Bridge?
āļø Most sci-fi story of the week: PORTAL is a non-profit initiative that aims to build a ābridge leading us to the awareness of unity,ā and to, ermā¦ ātranscend this sense of separation and be the pioneers of a united planet,ā (watch the video to find to a tiny bit more about what this this actually is). Right now thereās a āportalā between Poland and Lithuania, but the site promises one connecting London to Lithuania āsoonā.
š” Camden Market may be getting an āobservation wheelā. Apparently the Marketās landlords have put forward proposals for a āgiant new installation to be built by 2022,ā that would feature āglass pods that are themed on a musical artist or genre that depicts Camdenās longstanding music heritage.ā
š« The Arcola Theatre in Dalston has announced plans for āa brand-new outdoor performance space and barā. The new space, called Arcola Outside, will be built on a site near the existing theatreās main building and will ābe covered by a giant roof structure, offering protection from the weather whilst maintaining excellent airflowā. If you want to help make the space a reality, the theatre is looking for donations and sponsorship.
š° Another week, another āimmersive experienceā. This time itās Netflixās Spanish-language drama, Money Heist, thatās getting the interactive treatment. Money Heist - The Experience will apparently be housed in āone of the most iconic venues in Londonā (any guesses?), will last between an hour and 75 minutes and, as well as letting you live out all your armed robbery fantasies, thereāll also be a āthemed bar with appetisers and bespoke cocktailsā. (N.B. The Doctor Who immersive experience just opened, and so far the reviews have been decidedly lukewarm.)
šø Hoxton Mini Press, the amazing indieĀ publisher behind One Hundred Years: Portraits of a community aged 0ā100Ā by Jenny Lewis (see our interview with Jenny here), have just announced the publication of two new beautiful guides: An Opinionated Guide to Sweet London and Parklife: AĀ love letter to Londonās green spaces.
š» Dogs in swimming pools not enough for you? How about models in oversized animal heads wandering about Trafalgar Square, playing musical instruments in Piccadilly Circus, and boozing it up in Soho? (Itās a campaign for Stella McCartney).
Food and drink bits
š¢ The Sticky Mango restaurant in Waterloo will be celebrating the life of Anthony Bourdain later this month āwith a special menu inspired by the chef-restaurateur and fundraising for hospitality mental health initiative the Burnt Chef Project.ā The restaurantās owner has also commissioned a mural to be painted on the front of the restaurant (above).
š Top Californian chef Nancy Silverton is bringing her Pizzerria Mozza to the Treehouse Hotel near Oxford Circus.Ā Hot Dinners has all the details about why this is a ābig dealā and what will be on offer (itās not just pizza).
š¬š· London Eater reports on the āminiature Santorini-on-Thamesā that has popped up just south-west of Tower Bridge, as part of theĀ Summer by the RiverĀ event.Ā Although itās designed to ārepresent a collage of Mediterranean coastal townsā London Eater notes that the this faux ācontinental public piazza,ā (thereās that word again) is actually part of a huge āpseudo-public space, one of a growing number of privately owned developments designed to look and feel like public landā.
š¦ Over in Islington a new oyster spot has opened up in the form of Raw Boys. The concession inside the Boutique Grocer has a raw bar serving a range of British oysters as well as shellfish, smoked salmon and some mean looking Bloody Marys. If you live within three miles of Islington, they also have a subscription service that delivers ā12 of our Oyster of the Month, plus a matching wineā to you every month.
š£ āCult US egg-based restaurant chainā Eggslut is opening its third London location this summer. The spot near Old Street will serve up signature menu items including āThe Fairfax - a sandwich made from soft scrambled eggs with cheeseā and ātruffle and rosemary sea salt potato hash brownsā.
š Staying in Shoreditch: a new outfit is taking over the old truck yard where Dinerama was until last year. LaLaLandās incredibly vague website just says that it will be āa multi-level street food market experience opening in summer 2021ā alongside a hastily-Photoshopped artistās impression. Weāre guessing itās Los Angeles themed?
š· Hectorās is a new wine bar and bottle shop thatās just opened on Ardleigh Road in Dalston. Well, right now itās just a bottle shop, and it will remain that way for a few weeks at least. But there will be a bar eventually, and it will be serving up wines by the glass and bottle alongside small plates (obviously - there always has to be small plates).
š The second ābest ofā feature this week comes from Forbes and their list of Londonās Most Glamorous Restaurants. Worth it for the way they describe Hakkasanās location on Hanway Street as ātucked away downstairs at the end of a dark laneā.
Long read of the week
Esquire has a pretty amazing feature on the āCondom Kingā whose business helped to saved hundreds of thousands of lives during the āLondon Rubber Warsā of the 1980s.
