by 14 minutes ago
That's the second time I've read about this random London landlord in the span of a month on HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44682759
by triceratops 40 minutes ago
Have a third! https://www.londoncentric.media/p/picturehouse-central-cinem...
by elthran 24 minutes ago
Interesting... I could easily see this becoming a Guy Ritchie film (British crime comedy) :-)
by NKosmatos 43 minutes ago
> the pub campaigners and the council won: the China Hall was ordered to remain as a pub.
But it was too late for Norris. The fight had taken it out of him, and his health deteriorated rapidly. He died on 22 June 2023, aged 74. Some 250 people turned up to his funeral in Honor Oak.
Sounds like a class act.
As long as there are no negative consequences for billionaires to behave like this they will continue to do so. Only a matter of time until people take matters into their hands. by barbazoo 46 minutes ago
Thing is, for it to truly stop an incentive has to be removed. It shouldn't be a profitable idea. A business open in a particular place has to be the most profitable business possible there. What's the problem if it's not the pub? Drinking rates are nosediving in UK, and that's a good thing, a generation ago half the country was spending their life sloshed days long.
by anovikov 43 minutes ago
He's making it unprofitable by doubling the rent.
The pubcos have made it unprofitable by profiteering.
Neither of these are indicative of a free and functioning market.
Are you a sockpuppet for the other user here that wrote a very similar comment ? by stuaxo 37 minutes ago
What a shame. The pub culture in London was excellent when I visited - a real highlight of the people. The amount of friendly strangers I chatted with over a beer at a pub that had outlasted (or at least been repaired) through the Blitz in WW2 is astounding. A really beautiful city.
by jjice 45 minutes ago
A friend of mine from the UK told me that pubs might be the country’s greatest contributor to the downward spiral of the legal system and government there. It was anecdotal but he joked that the reason they have all this authoritarianism on the table is because no one can be arsed to do anything but commiserate at the pub.
by righthand 50 minutes ago
Sounds kind of glib.
Pubs are now incredibly expensive, a lot of this comes from the pubco scandal. At the other end you have people like Mr Aziz ensuring these hubs of the community get shut down.
People are more likely to organise if they have somewhere to meet. by stuaxo 41 minutes ago
Sounds like a shill for whoever that billionaire monster is that’s swinging their proverbial dick around here just to have more stuff than his also empty billionaire friends.
How about the community aspect of it? Anything positive from people gathering, being social? by barbazoo 44 minutes ago
Sure. How about the alcoholism aspect? Anything negative from people peer pressuring others to socialize a certain way with poison?
by righthand 43 minutes ago
It's OK, you don't have to go to the pub. Or if you do go, just have a lemonaid.
by stuaxo 41 minutes ago
Oh don’t worry , I don’t plan to step foot in the UK considering how deep into authoritarianism it has slipped. I don’t see it unslipping in the next decade. Plenty of bars with nearly the same culture here.
Clearly there should be some truth to my friends anecdotal joke if you’re responding this way. by righthand 32 minutes ago
What a strange thing for your friend to say.
by nicky0 46 minutes ago
Why is that? Pub culture is probably deeper there than the drinking culture in America. Just because there are healthy social aspects to it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t rotted over time.
by righthand 44 minutes ago
There is a huge elephant in the room. Am I really the only one who can see it? by raffael_de 19 minutes ago