London’s police has stopped a world famous jazz bar opening up in Soho on the off chance customers may be robbed on their way out.
The Blue Note Jazz club has applied to open a 350-seater venue beneath St Martins Lane hotel in central London.
It would be an off-shoot of the Blue Note club in New York, which has been dubbed as one of the most famous venues in the world.
They have asked to be able to stay open until 1am, but like an over-bearing parent, London’s police said this will be far too late as it could ‘expose more people to crime and disorder’.
Jazz fans are at risk because they will ‘leave the venue late at night’ and can be targeted by illegal taxis who ‘prey on the vulnerable’.
One resident even said jazz lovers may be ‘disorientated’ by leaving the venue when it is cold at night.
They wrote: ‘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 into the cool night air.
‘They will be immediately vulnerable to the gangs of criminals who already prey on similar groups of people in the Soho area.’
This is despite London Mayor Sadiq Khan assembling a Nightlife Taskforce to try to save the city’s dying late night venues.
The Blue Noe Jazz operators insisted it was important to their business to stay open until 1am, arguing they cannot function as a jazz club without later hours.
It said: ‘London’s cultural fabric is on the line here. Grassroot music venue infrastructure will fall even further and remain below replacement rate if new venues like this application are not supported.’
London suffered a 19% decline in late night venues since Covid lockdowns, with iconic venues including Tiger Tiger and G-A-Y announcing their closures or planned sales.
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The Music Venue Trust said around one grassroots venue was closing per week nationally.
G-A-Y owner Jeremy Joseph said ‘there is no point fighting to stay open anymore’ and blamed Westminster’s strict licensing, Nimby residents and the area ‘losing its queer identity’.
The Mayor told Metro: ‘I understand there are tensions between different parts of London, it is a city for both play and rest.’
But noise complaints are still stopping venue owners across the hospitality sector from expanding their businesses.
Victor Garvey, who runs Michelin star restaurant SOLA in Soho, told Metro he wanted to extend his permissions by just one house to allow diners to enjoy a longer time at the table.
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