Now more than ever, says Simon Wilson, critics are good for restaurants and good for their customers too. The real problem in media coverage is the exact opposite: it’s uncritical feel-goodism and the lack of critics. Everyone’s a critic. It’s always been true about restaurants, because we all eat so we all know what we … Read more
Does the minister of finance understand the needs of Auckland? He lives here, so of course he does, right? Here are five things, and the speech to accompany them, that Simon Wilson would love to hear Steven Joyce deliver in his first budget speech today. Read all our Budget 2017 coverage here. 1. “Every child … Read more
Don Rowe visits the hallowed warrens of Supertrash in Eden Terrace, only to find its owner preparing to close up shop. Supertrash! Or is it ‘No Eft-pos’? Judging by the size of the respective signs outside it’s the latter. Judging from what’s inside it’s most certainly the former: books, a breadbox, golf clubs, blazers, ladders, … Read more
The Auckland Council is going to decide soon whether begging should be banned. There’s a better approach, says Auckland City Missioner Chris Farrelly. A colleague of mine found a man waking up in Aotea Square a few winters ago. It was early in the morning and fog – it might as well have been fog … Read more
Mike Lee, councillor and former chair of the Auckland Regional Authority, explains why he thinks the Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Michael Barnett has got it wrong on a port sell-off – and why Mayor Phil Goff is an even bigger problem. This is part two in our debate on the future of the Auckland … Read more
The Storm in the Port is a new series in which the key players in the debate over the future of the Auckland port put their cases. First up, Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Michael Barnett, who argues that selling it off could be one of the best things to happen to the city in … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: the deepest, dearest road project in New Zealand was meant to have opened over a month ago. Toby Manhire critiques it. There is so much to like about the Waterview Tunnel. The subterranean nucleus of the Waterview Connection, “New … Read more
Devonport is getting that new retirement village but developer Ryman Healthcare has agreed to make it more like, you know, a village. Is everyone happy now? Well, almost. The citizens and architects of Devonport have won their dispute with Ryman Healthcare. The company is now just one legal step away from building its new 600-unit … Read more
Sure, Alfred Ngaro screwed up royally – but there was a lot more to the National party conference this weekend. Steven Joyce let a budget secret slip, Paula Bennett stole the show, and the party revealed its 10 point plan to shut down Labour, writes Simon Wilson. “I can’t tell you how proud I am,” … Read more
We conclude our week-long series of encounters with guests due to appear at the Auckland Writers Festival as Rachael King interviews the fairly fucken fantastic Ivan Coyote. Last year, Ivan Coyote stood on stage in front of a sell-out crowd at the WORD Christchurch festival and delivered gut-punching stories of love, gender, body scars, family quirks … Read more
Finally, some good news about traffic in Auckland. Simon Wilson sings the praises of the new spots in Shortland St. Credit where it’s due. The council has put big beige spots on Shortland St at the intersections with High St and O’Connell St and it’s all kinds of wonderful. Some people are going, what does … Read more
The best coverage of the Auckland Writers Festival continues right here, as the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to long, intelligent encounters with guest writers. Today: Charlotte Graham talks with Susan Faludi, author of the classic 1991 book Backlash. Read more Auckland Writers Festival coverage from the Spinoff here The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Susan … Read more
AT has defended its attempt to keep buses on Victoria St – thus sabotaging plans for a park along that road – by claiming the support of both the University of Auckland and AUT University. What do the universities say? Remember that plan to turn Victoria St into a limited-access roadway with a park all … Read more
The very best coverage of the Auckland Writers Festival – the most expansive, the most intelligent – is right here, as the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to encounters with guest writers. Today: Simon Wilson talks with Jay Rayner, a man who can demolish the reputation of the poshest restaurant with a single … Read more
The best coverage of the Auckland Writers Festival continues right here, as the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to long, intelligent encounters with guest writers. Today: Holly Walker talks with Chris Kraus, an American writer who worked for newspapers in Wellington before creating the belated smash-hit feminist novel, I Love Dick. Read more Auckland Writers … Read more
Heads should roll, writes Simon Wilson. Auckland Transport is preparing to ask for government funding to build an expensive and inefficient bus route through the central city, blocking plans for a new park, despite its own analysis revealing it has chosen the wrong option. Why? How do senior executives at Auckland Transport manage to keep … Read more
The very best coverage of the Auckland Writers Festival – the most expansive, the most intelligent – is right here, as the Spinoff Review of Books devotes the entire week to encounters with guest writers. Today: Hera Lindsay Bird talks with George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo, the stand-out novel of 2017. Read more … Read more
Do the Devonport nimbys have a point? Is it good enough to settle for developments that are merely ‘good enough’? Simon Wilson reports on the retirement village project that has big implications for the whole city. My parents spent their last years at a Ryman Healthcare facility, so I know a little about that company’s … Read more
Prime Minister Bill English made his big pre-Budget speech in Wellington yesterday. He mentioned Auckland exactly zero times. Is this a deliberate election-year strategy, asks Simon Wilson. It’s three weeks till Budget Day. Three weeks until the government sets out the financial framework for the programme it will take into the election in September, now … Read more
A chef from “the best restaurant in the world” has taken charge at Clooney in Freeman’s Bay. Good news? Some of the local critics have raved, but, surprisingly, not all of them. So how good is this Jacob Kear really? And how good has he made the restaurant, and how much would you pay anyway? … Read more
Israeli-born Yael Shochat is the owner of much-loved Fort St institution Ima Cuisine. She writes about the essential role immigration plays in her restaurant – and why the Labour leader’s vow to slash immigrant numbers by ‘tens of thousands’ has her deeply worried. Two years ago, after 17 years living here, I received my New … Read more
The minister of finance just announced a multi-billion dollar spend up – and Auckland should be very worried. Simon Wilson explains how the government’s traffic plans are badly stuck. Congestion for motorists on Onewa Rd isn’t any better than it ever was, Cr Richard Hills told his colleagues on the Auckland Council today. Despite all … Read more
Auckland Transport wants a rail line from the CBD to the airport. Council does too. So why does a start date seem further away than ever? Simon Wilson examines what’s gone wrong and how to make it right in the dispute over rail to the airport. Light rail is trams and heavy rail is trains … Read more
Techweek’17 is almost here. Don Rowe previews the event and curates a few selections for the discerning event-goer. After a hugely successful debut in 2016, Techweek is back – and now it’s gone national! Last year’s event, TechweekAKL, saw more than 10,000 people – including investors, business leaders, entrepreneurs and even Joe Public – gawking at … Read more
Here’s a quick and easy and inexpensive way we can all get more excited about Auckland. Change the names of things! No really – Simon Wilson is serious about this. There’s free burgers or something if you can answer all five of these quick questions: What’s the CRL? What’s the LTP? What about the UP? … Read more
A new initiative to teach yoga and mindfulness to troubled youth is effecting remarkable change. Don Rowe visits with Atawhai, a new initiative from Kristina Cavit and The Kindness Institute, ahead of their inaugural end-of-programme event this Sunday. In a small room off the Point Chevalier Community Centre in Auckland, miracles are taking place. One … Read more
Hoping for more green space in the city centre? Auckland Transport has other plans, and there are just three days left to tell them what you think. Remember the City Centre Masterplan? Possible not, at least not unless you’re a policy wonk working for (or possibly against) the council. But it was a good thing, … Read more
Alex Casey interviews Eleanor Bishop, a theatre-maker whose new work reimagines the rugby classic Foreskin’s Lament in the world of Tony Veitch and the Chiefs stripper scandal. If a phone case is a window to the soul, the pink “well behaved women seldom make history” emblazoned on theatre-maker star Eleanor Bishop’s pretty much nails it. … Read more
When the council took a much-loved piece of playground equipment out of Grey Lynn Park, the kids fought back. Monkey bars – remember them? That moment you found the courage to walk upright on the top! And when you discovered you were strong enough to hold your own weight, swinging from one rung to the … Read more