A planned London branch of the famed New York jazz bar Blue Note is facing pushback following objections from the Metropolitan Police.

As the Evening Standard reports, police raised concerns about the 350-capacity venue to Westminster City Council during a hearing on Thursday, 13th February. Representatives of the Met told a licensing committee they believed Blue Note’s proposed business hours of 9am until 1am seven days a week would “expose more people to crime and disorder in the immediate area”.

The minutes from a licensing hearing on Thursday, 6th February show that similar objections were also raised by both the police and nearby residents. Some urged the licensing committee to reconsider an 11pm license, with one resident claiming that the venue would be “hugely disruptive” to the community.

The London branch of Blue Note is planned to open at the basement floor of Covent Garden hotel St. Martin’s Lane, and proposals were first put before a licensing committee in November. West End Jazz Limited is the company that plans to operate the new venue and stipulated a policy for noise complaints and dispersal of people leaving the space in order to make its application more smooth.

In a February 6th letter to the licensing committee, legal representatives for West End Jazz Limited once again stressed that they were planning to put robust measures in place in order to limit disruption to residents and others and added that “London’s cultural fabric is on the line” with regards to the space getting approval to open

Westminster City Council is expected to reach a final decision on Blue Note’s application sometime this week.

Earlier this month, we reported that London is to get its first-ever “Nightlife Taskforce”.  Set up by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the 11-person group will help tackle the “huge range of challenges” currently faced by the capital’s nightlife industry, including “the long-lasting impact of the pandemic, rising rents and business rates, staffing shortages, licensing and planning issues, and cost-of-living and cost-of-doing business pressures” as well as “protecting hundreds of venues from closure through the Culture and Community Spaces at Risk office”.

At least 65 UK venue were shut down in 2024 due to an “unprecedented crisis”, while 2023 saw 125 grass roots venues pulling the plug. 

New York’s Blue Note first opened in Greenwich Village in 1982, and has hosted performances by the likes of Kelela and André 3000 in the past year. It also has other branches in cities such as Tokyo, Beijing and Rio de Janeiro. If the London branch does get approval to open, it will be the UK’s first Blue Note.