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July 4, 2008
Eco-ravers will surely welcome the opening of an eco-club in Kings Cross: it is apparently to be dance powered. Groovy. Tourism New Zealand are to bring their giant rugby ball to London for the 2011 World Cup draw. A sixteen year old mega-drug dealer is to be jailed. Was the brutal killing of two French tourists all over a robbery? The Met are to establish a dedicated, 75 strong knife crime unit. Londoners are...
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Those people persevering with wordy email scams from Nigeria, involving "confidential business transactions" worth vast amounts of money, civil unrest and promises of mighty rewards for the simple act of paying their expenses really ought to take a leaf out of the audacious book of the fake Contessa de Aliva, one crafty Elda Beguinua of Dulwich. This charming lady defrauded major financial institutions and persuaded an entire retinue to wait on her before conning...
Continue Reading "Counterfeit Criminal Countess Clinked"
Crayolas, set squares and glue-on sparkles to the ready: a competition has just been launched to design the next generation of Routemaster buses. Voters will of course recall that the much-loved bus was a key plank of Boris Johnson's manifesto, as he tempted bendy-bus loathers by claiming the articulated eyesores would be banished from our streets in favour of a new fleet of Routemasters. Yet during his first two months in office the topic...
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Thinking of adding your footfall to the hordes that have already made the British Museum our most popular cultural attraction? Might not want to do it today - there's a strike on. Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) and Prospect are planning to down tweed jackets at 2pm, having been most untickled by a proposed 1.6% pay offer. Management claim the museum will remain open, though access to some galleries could...
Continue Reading "Strike At British Museum"July 3, 2008
Unmasked: not all dentists are mere sadists – some are highly talented sadists. Twickenham and Chiswick bridges are 75 today. Old enough to join a bridge club? BP have become an Olympic sponsor. No bloody wonder with the amount they’re charging for fuel. It’s guilt money. Another teenage stabbing: this one in Croydon. A youth has been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Wanstead doesn’t normally conjure images of the risqué, but its Labour...
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July 3, 2008
In a live broadcast press conference, Boris Johnson has announced an independent inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct against Deputy Mayor Ray Lewis. The press conference is unfolding with Ray Lewis himself present, and many of the questions directed to him concern his dismissal from the church. He is saying he is unaware of any dismissal. Mr Johnson has mentioned that he will not suspend Mr Lewis from his role as Deputy Mayor for...
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Reports that hate crime is on the rise don't really surprise us. In the wake of the earlier shocking news about the murdered French students and the relentless wave of violent crime we seem to be riding at the moment, we're not really feeling the love at all. However, Barnet is specifically reporting a 20% increase in reported race crime, whilst other boroughs report a decline. Statistics, of course, can be wonderfully open to...
Continue Reading "Surprise, Surprise, Hate Crime On The Rise"Boris has clearly been caught short of a few bob on the long, late night cab ride home. Today, he announced a trial period allowing cab drivers to stop on red routes, in the wee hours, to enable their fares to visit the ATM and pick up cash for their fare, having inadvisably squandered it on that last round of drinks. This move is to improve passenger safety and to help get us home zippily...
Continue Reading "Red Route Stopping Waiver For Late Night Cabs Home"Sickening details of the so far motiveless murder of 2 French Imperial College research students have emerged over lunchtime. The stab wounds inflicted on the two men were so extensive that the attack has been described as "frenzied" and the DCI in charge of the case spoke of how everyone involved in the investigation has been "deeply shocked" by the extent of the attack. No murder weapon has yet been found. The attacker set fire...
Continue Reading "Met Mystified Over Shocking New Cross Murder"
Having already proved itself best in London, the British Museum has now ensconsed itself as the most popular cultural attraction in the UK. Elbowing out competition local (Tate Modern) and far-off (Blackpool Pleasure Beach), the 249-year old institution tempted 6.04 million people through its doors over the past 12 months, many to see the warriors of Qin Shihuang's Terracotta Army, who were to be found at ease in the Reading Room. Coming up next...
Continue Reading "British Museum's Bragging Rights"July 2, 2008
A bloody great shopping mall will be gateway to Olympics Boris is going to consult on the Congestion Charge extension in September But would 41,000 alleged missing votes have kept him in Henley? Proof that Londoners shouldn't go trekking north of the Watford Gap And finally, there'll be an open air office in St James' Park tomorrow complete with Wi-Fi, a reception area, boardroom, creative room, work desk area and even a water cooler....
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Boris may not have been able to save our Post Offices, but he has succeeded in reversing a decision to close dozens of Underground ticket offices. The move, a Livingstone money-scrimping initiative, was opposed by passenger groups amid concerns that safety would be compromised by staffless stations, and Johnson's decision to keep them open was greeted as [cliche alert] a "victory for common sense". As relations between the City Hall incumbent and his predecessor...
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Get Dixon of Dock Green on the blower. See if DCI Burnside of Sun Hill is still kicking about ('Tosh isn't, sadly). A lack of security staff for the 2012 Games has led a senior police figure to recommend that veteran officers are brought out of retirement for the Olympics. Having outlined a £600 million pound security plan earlier in the year, officials are now concerned that there simply won't be enough able and...
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A pink pot hastily filled with flowers marks the spot in Bellenden Road, SE15, where a girl in her twenties was fatally stabbed last night. Londonist doesn’t have a big powerful camera like the gentlemen of the rest of the press, so we can’t show you the blood-stained pavement. But we can describe the sense of mute shock and disbelief that hangs in the air in Peckham this morning. It was only yesterday in...
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While you ponder how much you would miss the Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar, consider also the well-beloved BBC Television Centre, currently in the middle of its own listing row. While the BBC itself wants to be rid of the iconic but crumbling building, English Heritage has waded in to ask the Government to slap on a Grade II listing to save it from the pervasive and insistent hands of developers. Once listed,...
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July 1, 2008
Kew is going placcie bagless. A man has been stabbed to death near the Elephant and Castle. A measles epidemic is predicted unless more kiddies get jabbed. London did the honours for the world premiere of Mamma Mia last night. 75% of London pubs are suffering ‘cos of the smoking ban. Tickets to see our Andy win tomorrow are fetching up to £1,500 a piece. Messing about on our river photo taken from abovebelowh2o’s...
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Sell your house right now and buy some art: that's Londonist's advice for beating the credit crunch. At least, that's the only conclusion to draw on hearing that Christie's have had a second record-breaking art sale inside of a week. This one saw a new world record set for a Jeff Koons sculpture – £12.9 million for his 'Ballon FLower, Magenta', a huge chrome sculpture that has stood on display in St James's Square...
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Despite a cast of cheerleaders including Lord Foster and Zaha Hadid, Poplar's Robin Hood Gardens estate, whose plight we reported on in March, appears doomed. A proposal to have the Brutalist masterpiece / eyesore (an opinion that depends on how many black turtleneck sweaters you own) given listed status has been rejected, and with 80% of residents baying for the block to be destroyed, it will likely go the way of all concrete. Good...
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Good news for those of you who wish to get within touching distance of the infamous Winehouse beehive, but don't fancy eating a knuckle sandwich for your troubles as that Glasto reveller did on Saturday: the chanteuse is to have her ever-frail physique immortalised in wax at Madam Tussauds. Amy will tread where our erstwhile PM remains persona non grata, and will likely be a popular draw, not to mention a disturbingly realistic one: we...
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It seems in Southall, one must ask oneself, do I want fries and a yellow wheelclamp with that? Two families in Southall should consider moving to clamping-free Westminster after two identical clamping incidents have put their cars and fast food buying habits out of action. Locals Kamran Victor and Tony Martino both had their cars clamped in the car park of MacDonalds, Southall branch on Uxbridge Road by overzealous area director Atul Pathak, who...
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