Another Unofficial Post Office Opening in Tottenham

MP David Lammy (second from right) cuts a ribbon at the Tottenham High Road Post Office. Council adviser Chris Lane (from left to right), Postmaster Daksha Rao, Councillor Allan Strickland and branch owner Vipin Rao attend the proceedings.

Tottenham MP David Lammy cut an unofficial ribbon for the neighborhood's recently reopened post office Friday. The restored business has been a welcome sight for locals, who had to travel out of the immediate area to get mail for months, after rioters burned the original office in August.

There's a lull, but Tottenham up and running

The streets of Tottenham look busier than they did in the weeks following a riot. The burned post office has been replaced, as have most of the broken windows.

But it's still not quite the Tottenham it once was says, local shop owner Bulent  Huseyin.

Hotspurs Stay Put - Good for Business

Tottenham's 130 year old football club won't be relocating to another borough anytime soon, much to the delight of MP David Lammy, and no doubt Tottenham businesses. Club management pledged to revitalize Haringey after the attempted move to an Olympic Park stadium in East London failed.

Haringey Council Justifies Union Negotiator Salary

Haringey Council rebuffed claims that it spent public funds poorly on the borough’s National Union of Teacher’s negotiator. Responding to a recent article in the Evening Standard, the Council said the annual salary of £35,000 for the union representative actually saved money.

“It’s more efficient for the council to negotiate with a designated rep rather than thousands of teachers, which would be more expensive,” a spokesperson said.

US Judge rules on Difference Between Blogger and Journalist

A ruling by a federal judge in Oregon could shape future definitions of those considered journalists and those who aren't in the United States. 

The US district judge found a Montana blogger was not protected by shield laws for journalists, because she was not employed by a mainstream publication, nor did she make an effort to be unbiased or have any credentials.

She was ordered to pay $2.5 million in damages to a lawyer for calling him a thief and a thug.

Makes $30,000 for some journalism school bona fides look better.

Read the AP's full story.

Wikileaks and the Spy Files

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange prepares to present Spy Files, an examination of the global surveillance industry

Wikileaks says Big Brother is watching and has been for quite some time. Today Julian Assange announced the organization's release of more than 280 files detailing the activities of an international surveillance industry.

"Who here has an iphone? Who here has a Blackberry? Who here uses Gmail? Well you're all screwed," he told journalists and students at a press conference. "The reality is intelligence contractors are selling, right now, mass surveillance systems for all those products."

Heard around Tottenham

A local councillor predicts a thriving cultural scene, especially in hip hop music, will revive the borough regardless of how much assistance the government provides the area.

For their part, however, Tottenham traders fret that if money from the Riot (Damages) Act doesn't arrive soon, they'll go out of business.

A young musician says the success of rappers from around London, like Chipmunk in the north and Tinie Tempah in the south, has forced all aspiring artists to raise their game.

Occupy London Updates

Plenty of movement on London's Occupy front today.

The Evening Standard says drug use overfloweth at the St. Paul's Camp

@OCCUPYLSX tweets that students have occupied 53 Gordon Square in Bloomsbury

Ian Johnston at msnbc.com runs a great story about two financial experts sharing gifts and ideas with protesters at St. Paul's.

And a London judge sets Dec. 19 as the date for the cathedral campers' eviction hearings

A peek at Occupy LSX 'Bank of Ideas'

Occupy London's new location, just east of Finsbury Square, has a different feel than the park and St Paul's Cathedral.

Protesters from London's Occupy movement claimed a third site on Friday when they settled into a disused UBS building near Finsbury Square.

The occupiers declared squatter's rights, saying they plan to remain at the'Bank of Ideas' legally, but reports have the Swiss banking giant moving to evict.

The end of Occupy?

After a crackdown in the US, is the Occupy Movement (as we know it) on its last legs? photo by Benjamin Gunn

City of London officials restarted legal action against Occupy London after a two week break. They say an eviction will likely take several weeks and police will not forcibly remove protesters.

'I Love Tottenham' Tales: VIP Sports

VIP Sports' Bulent Huseyin stands outside his recently reopened storefront in Tottenham.

 

The final installment in our series of Tottenham businesses striving to recover from London's August riots. 

VIP Sports

 

The owner of a Tottenham sporting goods shop looks at CCTV footage of the empty street outside. “If I never saw the seconds ticking I would think the camera is frozen,” says Bulent Huseyin, who runs VIP Sports.

The shop raised its damaged shutters and reopened for business this week, three months after a neighborhood protest erupted into rioting. Huseyin expects it will take six months for his customers, mostly young men from the impoverished area, to return in force. But just opening the doors is a start.  

'I Love Tottenham' Tales: 2XL Recruitment

Boards surround the burned shell of 2XL's longtime offices on Tottenham High Road

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Photo by Alan Stanton.

Part four in our series examining Tottenham businesses riot recovery efforts.

2XL Recruitment

Somebody will foot a very large bill for London’s August riot. Wednesday’s Evening Standard estimated that tab could rise to £370 million, 300 of which would go to businesses damaged during the four days of violence.

Tottenham recruiting and training center 2XL is one of those firms waiting for compensation from the Riot (Damages) Act, the 1886 law that says impacted areas’ police funds must cover riot costs.

With the Metropolitan Police concerned about potentially massive deficits, however, no payment plan has been created and negotiations are ongoing. That’s a problem, says 2XL director Angela Hall.

A Tour of Finsbury Square's 'Occupy' Camp

After St Paul's decision to halt the eviction of 'occupy' demonstrators (for now), we take a look at pictures and the latest news from the Finsbury Square camp.

'I love Tottenham' Tales: Pride of Tottenham

Video by BhamUrbanNewsUK

Part three in our series on Tottenham businesses and the riot recovery effort. 

Part III: Pride of Tottenham

The owner of Pride of Tottenham--a pub on the High Road--hasn't had much good news since Aug. 6, when he estimates rioters caused more than £70,000 of damage.

There was one good day of business, says Niche Mufwankolo, when Tottenham Hotspur played arch-rival Arsenal. Other than that the place, like the street itself, has been remarkably dead. 

Now there are reports Haringey Council will exempt those hardest hit by the riots from nearly eight months of the business rates they pay in order to operate.

"I think it might be something very big," Mufwankolo said. "But I haven't heard about it from them yet."

Finsbury Square Site Nears 'Saturation Point:' Occupy Press Team

'Occupy' organizers say the camp at Finsbury Square will soon reach its limits if it hasn't already.

An organizer at the 'Occupy' protest in Finsbury Square said the site is nearly full.

"We're almost at the saturation point," said Paul, 33, a member of the camp's shelter and security teams, who was laid off from his data analysis job in May. "That's why we're frantically moving things around."

'I Love Tottenham' Tales: Paradise Gems

Paradise Gems owner Steve Moore says Tottenham High Road "just seems quieter" since the riots

A second installment in our ongoing tale of businesses in Tottenham fighting to recover from the riots. 

Part II: Paradise Gems

On the morning of 7 Aug. jeweler Steve Moore walked to his workplace of the last 21 years on Tottenham High Road. The rubble was still smoking. After a night of rioting, Paradise Gems was gone, its safes buried, decades-worth of moulds destroyed.

Moore estimates he lost more than any individual trader in the borough--but, he says, don’t believe the destruction made him want to pack up and leave.

Haringey Council Press Release: Tottenham Business Rate Relief

Haringey Council  PR 4226    25/10/2011    [For Immediate Release]

Riot-hit firms offered a business rate reduction

In a huge boost to riot-hit firms Haringey Council is offering hundreds of traders a reduction on their business rates to help them cope with lost trade and damage.

Occupy Mongolia? Man from the Land of Genghis Khan Gets in on 'Occupy' Movement

Friend sent me a short article about a Mongolian official joining the 'Occupy' movement. 'Occupy Sukhabaatar Square' in Ulan Bator just might be next.

'I Love Tottenham' Tales: The Eye Pod

A banner from the 'I Love Tottenham' Campaign'

Everyone in the North London neighborhood of Tottenham agrees life has not returned to normal. But the riots that erupted in the area this August impacted businesses differently.

This week and next we’ll look at interviews with five area entrepreneurs from the past week, as they battle to recover from changes and damage to the borough.

Part I: The Eye Pod

In some ways the Eye Pod was lucky. John Se, who co-owns the Tottenham eye-ware store, says the business sustained only minor damage to a sign and shutters when looters took over the High Street on 6 Aug.

But he and his business partner are still worried about the future. Along with street traffic, sales fell after the riot and haven’t recovered. If they don’t improve, the shop will close.

“Of course we’re worried,” Se said. “It’s not really showing signs of going back to normal.”

Occupy London Spreads to Finsbury Square

Occupy London expanded to a second site at Finsbury Square in the city center a spokeswoman for the movement said.

The activists set up about 30 tents at the new site around 5 pm today during a ‘tour of corporate greed’ around the London, according to Occupy London facebook-page creator Kai Wargalla.

“Everyone was surprised” she said, “including the police.”

The protests, which started at and around St. Paul’s Cathedral on 15 Oct., are entering their second week.

St. Paul’s closed its doors citing safety concerns related to the protests.