Hackney wasn't very happy that Jacqui Smith singled it out as an unsafe place to walk alone, late at night. We sympathise with Ms Smith as it's not our favourite place to hoik it home from in the small hours but it was bad press nonetheless. Spotting an opportunity to be a local hero, MP, Diane Abbott, bounced back for the borough and organised a late night stroll round the mean streets of Hackney,......

Residents of Stoke Newington, you should be proud. Local proprietor Kirit Ved is flying the Stokey flag all the way up in Birmingham where, at a glittering ceremony, he has just been named Independent Newsagent of the Year 2007. VED News, on Church Street in N16, was singled out by the judges for its impressive range of newspapers and magazines from around the globe. Reflecting Hackney's polyglot populace, Mr. Ved stocks titles from the......

Fake holy water seized! By God! Fake fags seized! By dog! Calls for Edgware Road station to change its name to Chapel Street Market. Which has the surreal advantage of being an anagram of The Spectral Meerkat. UPDATE: Seems it's actually Church Street Market. Whoever can come up with the best anagram for that wins a goat. Do you really, really enjoy plastic carrier bags? Is their acquisition at the expense of the environment......

Perched on the rooftops of London, there are hundreds of statues warding off pigeons and other unwanted birds. And no, we're not talking about Antony Gormley statues. We're talking about owls. Plastic owls that keep us safe from invading hordes of pigeons. But what happens when those plastic statues come loose from their fixings? After all, we can't let them just drop into the streets. They're not doing their jobs if they're randomly attacking......

You have approximately 48 hours until the most [insert adjective of choice here] holiday of the year descends upon us. If Londonist were a girl, she'd appreciate a box of chocolate and maybe some flowers. (And actually, if Londonist were a boy, some chocolate wouldn't be a bad idea either. But you could probably skip the flowers.) You can buy chocolate just about anywhere, this much is true. But there are a few standouts......

A Royal Family of clowns, teddy bears and moomins, spotted on a wall down Stoke Newington Church Street. But does anyone know who painted this unorthodox royal portrait?......

The ne'er-do-well who pinched a handbag outside the 'Designer Bargains' shop in Kensington Church Street yesterday must have absolutely shat his knickers after being apprehended by a total of fifteen policemen. Just who was this guy? The Hulk? Quite why it needed two patrol cars, a BMW pursuit car and a van to stop this menace is a bit of mystery, but then perhaps we shouldn't be complaining about a surplus of police resources......

We've got our new transport chief and the poor bugger's name is Peter Hendy. Pete is the current director of surface transport (buses) and will start the role in February. Say hello to Pete everybody! A 27-year-old man was arrested on Kensington Church Street yesterday in connection with the July bombings. That's the 44th arrest now, but who's counting? George Galloway has cleared of any wrong-doing concerning the signing of motions while away from the......

Well, here we go again. Londonist's not-inconsiderable powers of augur and haruspex (plus a machine-like publicity campaign) have alerted us to the imminent release of JK Rowling's latest grimoire. Stores will be open long past the witching hour tonight as millions of children and special adults clamour to get their hands on the sixth and penultimate book of the series. And, we confess, Londonist will no doubt be there too, with all the dignity......