Blue Note Jazz Club's London Expansion at Risk Over Fears of Rising Crime
According to The Standard, plans are in place for a 350-seat venue to be established in the basement of the St Martins Lane hotel in Covent Garden. If the application is approved, the venue would be open until 1am, seven days a week.
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However, a Licensing Sub-Committee Report from the City of Westminster has outlined a number of objections from the local police enforcement, who have objected to the venue's construction on the grounds it would undermine the licensing objective of 'prevention of crime and disorder'.
Airing their fears at a hearing with the Council on Thursday (Feb. 13), officers claimed that granting the application for the venue would 'expose more people to crime and disorder in the immediate area and further afield'. The report issued by the City of Westminster also included diagrams outlining antisocial behavior, robbery, theft, and violence in the immediate area, with the Metropolitan Police Service stating their belief that the addition of the new venue 'could add to crime, disorder and public nuisance within the immediate area'.
'Police are concerned that if the LSC grant this application within the CIZ [the West End Cumulative Impact Zone], there would be an increase in demand on an already overstretched police service and other emergency services,' the report added, noting that despite their objections, police have however met with the applicant to discuss matters.
The report and hearing also included statements from unnamed local residents who shared their concerns and suggestions for the potential venue. These included recommendations that the venue's operating hours be limited to 11pm in order to limit the 'potential for crime and exploitation of vulnerable jazz lovers'
'It is suggested that it is extremely likely that some of the dispersing jazz lovers may be inebriated to a greater [or] lesser extent [or] perhaps slightly disorientated by their emergence in to the cool night air,' one resident wrote. 'They will be immediately vulnerable to the gangs of criminals who already prey on similar groups of people in the Soho area. The 1:00 am exit could become a crime hot spot.'
The applicant has however responded to these concerns in the report, noting that a 1am closing time is 'integral to the music scheduling in the basement and the viability of the cultural use' of the venue.
If the application for the venue is approved, it would become the latest iteration of the Blue Note Jazz Club to open around the world, and the first in the U.K.. Founded in New York City in 1981, the club has since expanded to other locations throughout the U.S. (including venues in California and Hawaii), and internationally (including Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Milan, Beijing, and Shanghai).
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