Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Green Lanes grocer in the Observer
Sorry if anyone already posted this (or about this) I couldn't see anything. This is Dostlar, at the bottom of Cavendish Road, from p21 of yesterday's Observer (14/08/11)
Tags for Forum Posts: green lanes, london troubles, observer
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Thanks Gillian. I talked to Bora on the Sunday morning. He was sat in his shop admidst the mess and he had the glaziers in already. I guess it's thanks to the local Turkish community that we weren't facing more damage. Only two shops on Green Lanes itself.
Here's Bora's shop on the Sunday:
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Permalink Reply by GillianM on
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I agree - you wouldn't mess, would you! Actually I think this has a positive influence on the place all the time - you just don't get groups of kids loitering, making trouble or being intimidating on the street (at least on Green Lanes) and I certainly feel a lot more secure with people like this at the end of my road.
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Permalink Reply by Paulie on
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I hate to say this but I feel this confidence is misplaced. These chaps were not there to protect the area generally but to stop looters damaging or stealing from Turkish and Kurdish shops and restaurants on Green Lanes. In that they were generally effective. However the presence of such shopkeepers cannot be said to make Harringay as a whole safer.
The reason there are no gangs of kids on Green Lanes is fairly evident. There are very few teenagers or young men living in Harringay. Tottenham, yes, Hornsey, yes, Finsbury Park, yes. But not Harringay.
For those who are interested, there was an interview with this shopkeeper in Sunday's paper.
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I don't want to be tempting fate by saying "we'll never have teenage gangs in this area" but at the same time what I am saying is we shouldn't think that we are safe from crime just because of the shopkeepers on Grand Parade. After all, doesn't the ladder have its share of burglaries and other related problems?
Green Lanes itself isn't somewhere I can particularly relate to or feel at home in in any case. The Salisbury, yes, but even that got smashed up a couple of years ago. But that was after a wedding...
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I think that one of the reasons that Green Lanes feels safe is that it has a more or less 24 hour culture meaning that it's rare to walk between the railway bridge and the Salisbury with out seeing people around and businesses open.
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Well what I would reiterate is that personally I feel safer with these guys there. I love the fact that there is a very close family-based community 20 yards from my front door where my face is recognised in the shops and restaurants, they know my little boy, talk to him and slip him treats, and where there are people around all night. If I had to run out in the middle of the night for a bottle of milk I would feel safe. Nothing to do with riots or baseball bats!
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Permalink Reply by Paul Harvey on
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A little harsh paulie, I'd say that these guys were doing more than protecting just turkish and kurdish shops and restaurants in the area, they were keeping the area safe from a rioting mob, not fair to suggest it was purely self-interest motivating these guys. We all benefitted.
True that shopkeepers can't keep the whole area safe, but maybe we've all got something to learn from them... They're prepared to stand up for themselves, organise themselves and stick up for what they feel is just, when the chips are down. I admire that immensely...
Good on them.
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We all benefited from their actions which I applaud to the rafters. But I don't think that was their motive - that was to protect their community.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Well, yes. There was very little burglary, petty crime, anti-social behaviour or general looting in parts of West Belfast, Derry or at home in Crossmaglen until normal policing was restored introduced a decade or so ago.
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