Why do geezers hang around the Blackstock Road?

edited May 2009 in Local discussion
WHy do all those guys hang out outside Cafe's on the Blackstock Road?
Where are they from and what do they do?
Are any of those Cafe's worth going into?
or are they off limits to everyday people?

I quite fancy a mint tea one evening......

Comments

  • Is cultural innit.

    Algerians and whatnot.

    Went to one cafe once and bought some cake. Got it home and it was mouldy on the bottom.

    They're friendly enough. Used one of the barbers once. Price was good, but I still got scalped.

    Scalped! HAHAHAHAHA.

    Oh suit yerself.
  • edited 9:59AM
    I think half of them are police informers
  • benben
    edited 9:59AM
    Yes, they're Algerian, and many of them use the mosque. Reflecting this, the street is busier at certain times of day and on certain days. I don't think many live locally. I've always assumed that those who hang out in the street don't have enough money to buy coffees from the cafes.

    I've bought sandwiches and cake from a handful of the cafes, and have always had pretty good experiences. Some feel more welcoming than others, and there are almost never any women in some of them, which may influence how welcome you feel. But they're certainly not intimidating, in my experience.

    As for police informers, it was certainly rumoured that the second-hand record shop that was open along there for a short while was a police set-up which gathered intelligence prior to the big police raid last spring.
  • edited 9:59AM
    There was a 2nd-hand record shop there? Is it the place that is now a trendy "modern antiques" furniture shop?
  • edited 9:59AM
    hi there,

    yes they are friendly and some wave to my son in my pram but they are annoying as they block the pavement all the time. it really annoys me as they hang out in so many groups and its hard to navigate all of them also they spit a lot on the pavement so combined which drives me insane trying to dodge that too!

    someone who works there says she sees them doing drug deals all day. lovely.

    I know some women who find it quite intimidating being leered at walking down the road by the groups of them as well. There seems to be more and more groups once again of them. They just seem to hang about doing not very much all day.

    I cant wait for my nursery to move back to Tollington Park so I dont have to go down there anymore.
  • benben
    edited 9:59AM
    Yes, it was only there for a few weeks, near the Seven Sisters Rd end of the street. It wasn't very good.

    The modern antiques place further down Blackstock Rd does not appear to be doing a roaring trade, although there is some nice stuff in there. There is also a great place for post-war furniture/ bits & bobs on Mountgrove Rd, called Bennet and Brown. I've already bought a plan chest from there, which the guy stripped down and then stained really beautifully.
  • edited 9:59AM
    Pointless milling - as Phil says, it's cultural, innit. The Italians are just as bad, hanging round their gelaterias and piazzas... I don't find them intimidating at all, in 15 years of walking down Blackstock, I've never had an issue with it at all. Plus one of the butchers does quite a good line in merguez.
  • edited 9:59AM
    i think it's more to do with the fact that a lot of these guys sleep in shifts because they live 5 to a room rather than 5 to a house and their job opportunities are a) work in one of the shops at the top end of blackstock road, and b) run drugs around london. it's necessity rather than enjoyable continental milling IMO.
  • edited 9:59AM
    Baltimore got nothing on Blackstock.
  • edited 9:59AM
    a couple of years ago i saw a guy walk out of one of those shops with a huge kitchen knife behind his back and start walking really quickly south down the road. smooth as anything this guy in a suit walks out of one of the other shops, crosses the road, snatches the knife out of his hand, hides it up the sleeve of his suit and walks into another shop. the first guy turns around in astonishment, sees who's taken the knife and starts running, no-one chased him, bloody odd.
  • edited May 2009
    I used to regularly buy food from the grill two doors up from the laundrette, and it was always good. The best lamacun in Finsbury Park. I once made the mistake of saying 'salam' to the guy who worked the grill, swiftly followed by an apologetic 'err... sorry... that's the only word I know'.

    If you're interested in buying some of the goods that float around on the Blackstock Road, quite a bit of business goes down in the launderette. Sportswear mostly, but other items have cropped up.
  • edited 9:59AM
    I bet the second hand record shop did a roaring trade in copies of "The Police" and "Informer" by Snow!
  • edited 9:59AM
    DId anyone else find the first post strangely poetic? In fact I slipped into BBC English mid way through the thread title. Weird.
  • edited 9:59AM
    I've been walking down Blackstock Road for 8 years now and although I don't feel intimidated, I do wish they would go away. My girlfriend however, hates it. They are all men, who seem to always be smoking and due to the fact they ain't getting much, leer at any girls that walk by. It's not innocent Italian style hanging about - they are selling drugs, phones or whatever.

    In the defence of the area, the cafes are all nice and serve good food. The owners of the shops are always very friendly and like it if you take an interest in all their foods.
  • edited 9:59AM
    I lived on Blackstock Road for years, between two of the cafes, and I have to say it was one of the safest places I've lived in London. It was like having a 24 hour guard on your front door.

    I also appreciated the fact that if I were to stumble home tipsy of a night there were people around, OK sometimes they're a bit leery but in general they're polite enough and I overall felt safer having them there. I also can't speak highly enough of the people in the supermarket by the bus stop at seven sisters end - a proper local store.
  • edited 9:59AM
    This is all starting to sound a bit like people who reminisce fondly about the Krays. "Ooh they were villains, but they were good to their mothers. I've never felt safer walking than when the Krays ruled the manor. They were hard but fair." etc.
  • edited 9:59AM
    I'm pretty sure the Krays didn't hang around dealing dodgy sim cards.
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