Oooh, what’s this? AA Gill creates a storm in a teacup.
We look forward to his support 
BRITS BEHAVING BADLY
Instead of their tired, their poor, and their huddled masses, it seems the British have given New York their dilettantes, their cheapskates, and their snobbish cliques. At Soho House and other expat haunts, A. A. Gill wonders how anyone can stand his compatriots. Illustration by André Carrilho
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/04/brits200704
hahaha…totally agree, I have been frequenting Little Britain for years now only because I am married to a Brit who misses that vile concoction called Salad Cream…Myers of Keswick is NOTORIOUS for selling outdated, overpriced items such as $8 bottles of Ribena, for shame! If Little Britain is to work…tell the shop owners to “stop taking the piss!”
Comment by dd — March 21, 2007 @ 7:40 am
I’m a Brit whose lived in NY over 10 years and if salad cream and a poorly ventilated, over priced, cramped tea shop is all LB has offered to date who cares if they open a pasty shop or other ‘quaint crap’ in LB or the Bronx for that matter? Its weak marketing dribble and it should sod off back to Britain already! If T&S want to big it up why don’t they start by finding suitable premises for starters? There is enough of Britain’s past stained across the World already without putting up fences around it. Britain has such an inflated sense of importance. I think AA Gill is a tosser as well but he has a point. Creating LB is like an Irish theme pub. They only dissapoint you and always stink of piss. F’koff back to Britain. Cnuts!
Comment by Giles — March 21, 2007 @ 11:33 am
Hello, I’m a Brit too, 6 years in NYC, and, in the spirit of transparency my company came up with this idea. The inspiration came from being part of New York, it’s as inclusive as any other NY neighborhood, and when we looked into the long and varied history of neighborhoods many started in similarly small ways, whether it was Carnegie Hill, Chelsea or Hells Kitchen [RIP]. Aside from being small to start with, many are also based round business. What did you think of the party political broadcast?
Comment by The Joneses — March 21, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
I am a lover of everything English, however, this campaign is totally self-serving. There is only four businesses near Greenwich Ave. that are British themed. three of the four businesses are owned by one women. The anchor business on the block, “Tea & Sympathy”, is so small, that if you asked for an extra scone, the doors of the joint would burst open. If there were more then ten British Businesses on the block and more then just one owner, then I say go to the Mayor and get Little Britain in the city tour guides straight away. But instead this is a fantastic publicity campaign by one business owner, ok, two owners. By the way, I will be most willing to change my mind if someone can get me Jessie(Kat Slater) Wallace in my bed by Easter.
Comment by eric — March 21, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
Check out the map we drew, it details all the Brit business in the area. The heart of it might be one block but it’s bigger than that.
Comment by The Joneses — March 22, 2007 @ 9:07 am
Since Tea & Sympathy first opened 17 years ago, there are now 15 British business in the area.
Comment by The Joneses — March 22, 2007 @ 9:48 am
I don’t understand why everyone’s so cross that this campaign concerns only a handful of British businesses. You Americans know the British would make a much better job of the US if we ran it ALL ourselves, but we’ve been generous to give you a chance of running it for a while. And it’s been a roaring success ever since! Oh wait a minute, I mean patently obvious fuck-up. Well done you!
Comment by Kat Slater — March 23, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
I’m a 20-year veteran Brit exile in NY. I live about six blocks away. For a few years after moving here I used to miss my baked beans and choccy digestives. Eventually you let it go.
I remember your faux “Olde Englande” grocer’s shop opening and thinking, wow - Disneyland! Either that or you’re being ironic and pulling the wool over the eyes of our ever-gracious American hosts. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. And I am glad you have found success here.
BUT - for some reason I find this whole campaign seriously cringeworthy. It feels completely contrived, like an idea someone had after six pints of Boddies. I’m hoping against hope that you’re being ironic, but I rather suspect it’s all for real.
Why do I feel so embarrassed by the whole thing? Could it be my repressed British upbringing??? Or is it that I really, REALLY don’t want New Yorkers and Americans to judge me and my country of origin by some poorly manufactured pastiche. (Or pasties.)
Nothing against your business doing well at all, but to rename the block for two small theme park food shops is completely unwarranted. It feels fake, and if it feels fake, well, then maybe it is fake.
But you did grand pulling some celebs - Mike Myers, Jools Holland, et al. (Jools, what were you thinking?)
Anyway. Storm in a teacup in the scheme of things. Enjoy your 15 minutes. Pip pip!
Comment by Mr D — March 24, 2007 @ 7:23 am
Well, I guess you can’t please everyone but for every 1 person who holds your opinion about 100 more have actually signed the petition in support.
It does stike me that the only people who are vocally agaist this idea are a small group of ex-pats, as David Remnick said, “the English are the only people to feel schadenfreude about themselves”, which I think goes someway to explaining your perspective. Just today the business community of Chinatown came out in support, as well as the local businesses who support it, as you see in the map we put together.
Is it about creating a destination for any Anglophile in America? Yes, unashamedly so, something that will benefit all the businesses in the area, which is something Brian Andersson, New York’s Commissioner of Records recognised. He recently said, “The designation of “Little Britain” would be a wonderful nod to New York’s historical cousins and America’s most steadfast ally. It would spur more visits to the West Village by native New Yorkers as well as out-of-towners and foreign tourists in search of that quintessential British flavor. So much of our common culture is influenced by the UK in music, television, theatre, lierature, what’s a couple of blocks to acknowledge it?”
Overall, as a Brit in NY and proud to be here, it’s just a case of wanting to be part of the NY tradition, just like my Chinese landlady is! I love living in America and I love the old country, whereas some people, I think, are slightly embarrassed of being British.
Is it fake, no, even a cursory glance at the history of naming New York neighborhoods would prove that.
As for the celebs, they eat there, they’re regular customers and why not ask for their support?
Comment by CFLB — March 28, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
CFLB, thanks for the reply.
I completely understand why you would paint us few dissenters as jaded and “slightly embarrassed of being British”. I find that slightly insulting and also simplistic. I am clearly NOT an “ex-pat feeling schadenfreude”. Schadenfreude (ironic that we need a German word for it) means “joy at the misfortune of others”. That’s NOT it. I quite clearly stated that I am happy your business has been a success. I’m always happy to see Brits do well in the US. That’s why we come here.
It’s not about sour grapes, it’s about a sense of authenticity.
If Greenwich Avenue was a well recognised center for many Anglo businesses, if lots of us had gathered there and had somehow recreated the old country anew in our adopted city, if it was like W31 turning into Koreatown in the early 90s, then yes, I would be with with you, why not? It would make sense.
But it’s not like that.
It’s basically Tea and Sympathy jumping the gun and playing a huge self-serving PR game by co-opting our “national identity” and representing itself as the rest of us. The other British businesses are there for cover. (If anything, Myers should be the center as he’s been around forever.) That’s why it feels fake. There’s so little substance behind it. I see droves of tour bus people wandering up and down Greenwich asking “Where’s this Little Britain, then? Is it just that tea shop?”
It’s Pythonesque humour at its (unintended) best.
(hmm… maybe I will sign.)
Comment by Mr D — April 3, 2007 @ 9:10 pm
Hi, think the humour is pretty obviously intended in all thats been made. Ta!
Comment by CFLB — April 4, 2007 @ 10:28 am
no insult intended, my point was remnick said the brits only people to feel schadenwhatever about themselves…a twist on the dictionary def. and quite a clever insight into the brits…arguably.
Comment by rupert — April 4, 2007 @ 10:33 am
Myers are big supporters…Jenny, who works there, has been a fantastic help.
Of course you are absolutely entitled to your point of view, we think the points you make have been answered by other people in thge blog.
Cheers, CFLB.
Comment by CFLB — April 4, 2007 @ 10:51 am
hey mr d
The New York Times article from 1902 answers the point you made. We just posted it.
Cheers
CFLB
Comment by CFLB — April 10, 2007 @ 6:15 am
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Trackback by 854e372c428f06192098 — October 14, 2007 @ 5:37 am
AAGill is an England hating twat! End of story. He is a seriously useless waste of oxygen. Well, I don’t expect anything better from a drug addicted scottish wanker. Oh yeah, his dad was English to! Ha! ha! So he isnt a jock; he’s half English. I bet he hates that.
Comment by M Anderson — March 5, 2008 @ 10:11 pm