Join the movement to keep Sydney’s favourite late night kebab joint open

Article image by Ken Meredith / Flickr

Istanbul on King is a Sydney institution, supplying the drunken denizens of Newtown with late night kebabs (and the city’s best chilli-chicken-cheeseburger) for well over a decade.

But now, the SMH writes that the mighty snack vendor is under siege: the City of Sydney has threatened the shop with fines if they continue to serve past their assigned midnight closing time.

As we reported last month, the crackdown isn’t part of a grand City of Sydney and Australian Medical Association conspiracy to shut all Newtown food vendors at midnight. Instead, the City has judiciously chosen to wait until now to enforce existing midnight closing restrictions for three shops near Newtown’s Marlborough Hotel: Istanbul on King, Mr Yeeros and the nearby City Convenience Store.

As Istanbul on King owner Yasar Er told the SMH, his recent application to have his trading hours extended was rejected, meaning he’s had to shut the doors at midnight since November last year.

But now, there’s a grass roots movement to get Newtown the late night cheeseburger and chips action it deserves, for the sake of anyone who’s ever cut a late-night sticky-rug at Tokyo Sing Song, as well as the hungry shift workers at the nearby RPA Hospital.

A Change.org petition has been created by hungry Newtown local Dylan Griffiths, to convince the City of Sydney to formally extend the trading hours of Istanbul on King and Mr. Yeeros. As Dylan writes, “I’m bloody hungry right now but I can’t get a kebab in Newtown… We must fight back against this imposition on our nightly lives!”

You can join the movement by signing the petition over here, and be the change you want to eat.