Grant Avenue

Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown district. It runs in a north-south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Francisco Street in the North Beach district. It resumes at North Point Street and stretches one block to The Embarcadero and the foot of Pier 39.

Grant Avenue is primarily a one-way street; automobile traffic can only travel northbound. In 2012, however, the two blocks of Grant Avenue between Sutter Street and Geary Boulevard were converted to two way traffic in order to ease southbound traffic congestion during the multi-year closure of Stockton Street, part of the construction plan for the Central Subway.

History

When California came under the control of the United States following the Mexican-American War, the street now called Grant was named Dupont Street, in honor of a Naval admiral from the USS Portsmouth (Portsmouth Square, located one block east, was named after that ship). In the following years, Dupont Street became the location for various opium dens, brothels, and Tong wars.

Eddy Grant

Edmond Montague "Eddy" Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese British musician. He was a founding member of The Equals, one of Britain's first racially integrated pop groups. He is also known for a successful solo career that includes the platinum single "Electric Avenue".

The AllMusic journalist Jo-Ann Greene noted: "Eddy Grant stands among an elite group of artists as one who has not just merely moved successfully across the musical spectrum, but has actually been at the forefront of genres and even created one of his own. From pop star to reggae radical, musical entrepreneur to the inventor of ringbang, the artist has cut a swathe through the world of music and made it his own."

Early life

Grant was born in Plaisance, British Guiana. When he was a young boy, his parents emigrated to London, England, where he settled. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park.

Career

Grant had his first number one hit in 1968, when he was the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the group The Equals, with his self-penned song "Baby Come Back". The tune also topped the UK Singles Chart in 1994, when covered by Pato Banton featuring Robin and Ali Campbell of the reggae group UB40. Notably, he openly used his songwriting for political purposes, especially against the then-current apartheid regime of South Africa. The Clash recorded a version of "Police on My Back" for their Sandinista! set.

Electric Avenue

Electric Avenue is a street in Brixton, London. Built in the 1880s, it was the first market street to be lit by electricity. Today, the street contains several butchers and fish mongers and hosts a part of Brixton Market, which specializes in selling a mix of African, Caribbean, South American and Asian products. It is located just round the corner from Brixton tube station (1972). The elegant Victorian canopies over the pavements survived until the 1980s.

In popular culture

The road gave its name to Eddy Grant's 1983 single "Electric Avenue", which reached #2 on both the UK and U.S. singles charts. The song was inspired by the 1981 Brixton riot.

Bombing

On 17 April 1999 the neo-Nazi bomber David Copeland planted a nail bomb outside a supermarket in Brixton Road with the intention of igniting a race war across Britain. A market trader was suspicious and moved it round the corner to a less crowded area in Electric Avenue. The bomb went off, injuring 39 people.

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References

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States and is the United States' 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border in the Atlantic Ocean with Rhode Island, east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the north and Ontario to the west and north. The state of New York, with an estimated 19.8 million residents in 2015, is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City, the state's most populous city and its economic hub.

With an estimated population of nearly 8.5 million in 2014, New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. The New York City Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City is a global city, exerting a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment, its fast pace defining the term New York minute. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York City is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world, as well as the world's most economically powerful city. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State. Two-thirds of the state's population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% live on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th century Duke of York, future King James II of England. The next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany.

Flower Drum

The Flower Drum is a notable multi-award winning Chinese cuisine restaurant in Melbourne, Australia.

It has reached the Restaurant magazine Top 50 several times, ranking it as one of the world's finest restaurants. The Flower Drum is widely regarded as a Melbourne institution.

It is frequently booked months in advance.

It is located just off Bourke Street in Market Lane in the Chinatown precinct of the Melbourne CBD.

It is owned by Executive Chef Anthony Lui, William Shek and Patricia Fung.

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