Broadway Market

Broadway Market is an east London street running from London Fields to the Regent's Canal in the London Borough of Hackney.The street is on the traditional boundary of the Haggerston area of Shoreditch (the south-west part of the street) and Hackney proper. Old 'Borough of Shoreditch' signs can still be seen above street name signs in that south-west part of the street.Before the late 20th century it was the site of a busy fruit and vegetable market, but this slowly dwindled over time - in the early 2000s, market activity was limited to a couple of stands selling produce. On 8 May 2004 a food market was launched on Saturdays which has since become firmly established. Broadway Market is closed to traffic when the market is being held (9am - 5pm). Thanks largely to the market a number of new restaurants and boutiques have opened in the area.The ongoing development of Broadway Market has sparked a local debate about the perceived gentrification of Hackney and the way Hackney council disposed of some of their commercial property portfolio. In late 2005 a group of local protestors occupied 34 Broadway Market (Francesca's café) to bring attention to the issue. Despite being evicted on 21 December 2005 the building was successfully reoccupied on 27 December (replacing the demolished roof in the process) before the protestors were again evicted on 23 February 2006. Ultimately the battle was lost and the former proprietor of Francesca's cafe now runs the Little Francesca's juice stall on Saturdays in Broadway Market. The battle did not end, however, and local shopkeeper Spirit, whose shop was sold to an overseas developer by Hackney Council, fought several court battles to regain his property after proving that Hackney Council had cashed the cheque for his purchase deposit prior to selling his property to an overseas development company. Ultimately Spirit lost his battle too - winning in court but unable to reverse the transaction.