The South Etobicoke News

Serving Humber * Mimico * Lakeshore Village * Long Branch * Alderwood

Banners welcome NHL Stars to the City & South Etobicoke

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Let our national sport begin!

Two large banners and dozens of smaller posters welcoming NHL Eastern Conference players, including our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs, were placed on businesses in New Toronto.

Area residents are hoping the NHL stars will see the banners and posters from their ‘Toronto bubble’ as they travel by team bus along Lake Shore Blvd. W. for a skate at the Ford Centre for Performance, on Kipling Ave.

“We want the players to know that they are welcome as they drive by,” says Chris Korwin Kuczynski, Chair of the Board of the Lakeshore Village BIA. “We want them to have a good time and some good games in Toronto.”

One of the banner was placed outside the Maple Leaf House Grill & Lounge, at First St., where there was a well-attended media conference.

The NHL and NHL Players’ Association have announced return-to-play protocols, which features Toronto and Edmonton acting as hub cities for players to better fight COVID-19.

Most of the Eastern Conference players are expected to arrive in Toronto on Sunday, July 26.

Some are expected to practice at the Ford Centre, which is used by the Leafs.

Many spots where fans can usually see their favourite players have been shut or are non-accessible due to the pandemic.

“We want to welcome all the players on behalf of the Lake Shore Village BIA,” Korwin Kuczynski says. “We want them to have an excellent season.”

The teams will be isolated and confined to ‘a bubble’ to avert the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The NHL playoffs this year is slated to begin on July 30 after a week of training camp.

The league consists of 31 teams, 24 of which are based in the U.S. and seven in Canada.

 

 

Press Release to Welcome NHL Players to Toronto

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WELCOME NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYERS
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 
July 25, 2020 
 
Join members of the Lakeshore Village BIA as they erect two large hockey banners, and place many more smaller posters in store windows, to welcome to Toronto members of the NHL Eastern Conference and our beloved Maple Leafs for a short and exciting season.
We will be installing the banners (attached) to welcome the many NHL players and teams at the Maple Leaf House Grill & Lounge, at 2749 Lake Shore Blvd. W., near First St., at 11 a.m.
 
Several hundred NHL players will descend on the City of Toronto on July 26 in preparation for the playoffs, which begin in August. The Maple Leafs regularly practice at the Ford Performance Centre, on Kipling Ave.
 
Chris Korwin Kuczynski, Chair of the Lakeshore Village BIA, will also be available to speak on residents’ outrage to a large Municipal Shelter being opened on prime 2950 and 2970 Lake Shore Blvd. W. (the old BiWay store at Eight St.) without public consultation.
 
For further information call Korwin Kuczynski at 416-845-5777.
 

New Toronto groups outraged over new City shelter being opened

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Residents and members of the Lakeshore Village BIA are up in arms after learning the City of Toronto plans to open a massive multi-bed municipal shelter in a prime location at 2950 and 2970 Lake Shore Blvd. W., at Eight St.

Talks have been underway since last November for the City to obtain the high-traffic location that was occupied for decades by a now vacant four-storey office building and former Bi Way store.

The acquisition was adopted on July 7 by the General Government and Licensing Committee and will be considered by City Council on July 28.

The financial information was not provided in Council documents since they claim the info can affect their bidding position.

BIA Chair Chris Korwin-Kuczynski says his members are furious since no one, including the City Councillor, notified the community about the pending acquisition.

“This was very sneaky,” he fumed. “This is a very important decision for the BIA and residents and no one told us it was in the works.”

The BIA will try to defer the July 28 meeting until public consultations are held by the community.

The City has deemed the property “as the only available viable option, with a willing seller, that is strategically located in the southwest area of Etobicoke.”

“The use of the property as a municipal shelter will support City Council’s direction to expand the number of permanent new shelter beds by 1,000,” according to documents filed.

The City said the two properties ‘create a large-sized property that allows flexibility in responding to changes in shelter standards and demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.’

Officials with the City’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration say in response to the virus more space will be required with a two-metre separation between beds and other distance requirements.

“All new shelters, including the property, are being designed so that they may be converted into housing in the future,” according to the City. “As demand for municipal shelters changes, the property can be partly or wholly transitioned into supportive or transitional housing.”

Preliminary site investigations have been completed and sufficient funds for renovation and remediation have been made available.

If City Council approves the acquisition of the properties, renovation to shelter standards will commence in 2021 for the shelter to begin operations in 2022. It is estimated that it will contain about 100 beds.

The shelter will serve equity-seeking groups such as seniors, people with disabilities, individuals with mental health issues, the working poor, Indigenous people, people who identify as LGBTQ2S and other vulnerable groups.

The motion before City Council can be viewed here http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.GL14.11

 

 

Live music Saturday at a Twenty Seventh Street Jam

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Enjoy live music by the lake.

Members of the community are invited to a Twenty Seventh Street Jam taking place July 25 and featuring some top area musicians.

The physically distanced jam will take place on Saturday between 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the foot of Twenty Seventh Street, near the lake, according to a posting on social media.

Hosted by musicians Ed Ho and Christopher Plock, the band will feature Eric St-Laurent on guitar, Mark Dunn on bass and vocals, Joe Cullen on drums, Peter BonGiovanni on percussion and Plock on sax and vocals.

The band will be accepting donations for MasksForMeals.org, in support of community food banks.

MasksforMeals is a local initiative inspired by friends in the Mississauga and Oakville area who were moved to help during COVID 19.  Three women began sewing masks for friends and families after Dr. Theresa Tam suggested they may help limit the spread of infection.  At the same time, they were struck by the growing need for food banks as people lost their jobs and food supply diminished.

Rather than charging for the masks, they asked for a donation to local food banks.  Word soon spread through social media and the goal is to expand the effort across Mississauga and Oakville.

Music lovers are urged to bring a chair, face mask and respect physical distancing rules.

Residents having fun online with fountain that lacks flair

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Many Humber Bay Shores residents are still fuming online about the new Jean Augustine Fountain, which they call cheap and lacking a safety fence.

“The lack of fence is a valid concern,” says resident Eric Code. “That was a lot of money spent for aesthetic change that benefits few.”

The structure was updated this year with an ornamental fountain added in what was previously the Jean Augustine Park Pond that was surrounded by vegetation.

Code writes that “the old pond supported wildlife, including ducks and songbirds. This fountain never will.”

“I don’t think this new fenceless fountain was well thought out,” he reminded others on social media. “Our public spaces should be driven by the greater public they serve.”

Hundreds of Humber Bay area residents have gone online in recent weeks to blast the fountain and those who had it installed. Many want a safety fence erected around the fountain because young children play on the rocks.

Marta Legrady says she preferred the former pond.

“It was previously an overgrown fountain, it turned into a pond environment with lack of maintenance,” she wrote.

Lisa A. Sharples says the fountain “looks like designed by a two-year-old, it’s a circle of blocks.”

“It should have been a playground for kids since there isn’t one really close and with so many kids in the condos it would have been great for them,” Sharples says.

Still many other contend the fountain is a waste of money with Lake Ontario hundreds of feet away.

 

Summer in the 6IX starts on Monday to help keep teens busy

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Here is some ideas for parents who are searching for interesting things to keep their children busy.

More than a dozen area facilities including Marie Curtis Park will be taking part in Summer in the 6IX, a new City program to keep youth busy.

The free program, which kicks off on July 20 and runs for the summer, is designed for Toronto teens and young adults from the age of 13 to 24, who will be offered opportunities to drop in, meet up with friends and take part in fun, themed activities.

”Summer in the 6IX will be available to all Toronto youth at a variety of parks,” according to promotional materials. “There will be three session times offered daily at multiple locations across the city, seven days a week.”

Some of the activities include dance, fitness, ecology, sports, leadership, employment, arts and the media.

The programs are taking place at Marie Curtis Park, Sir Adam Beck park, James S. Bell, Gus Ryder Pool, Ken Cox Community Centre, Rotary Peace Park outdoor pool, Prince of Wales park, Ourland park, Amos Waites Park, Mimico Memorial park and many others.

City officials say the program was developed with Toronto Public Health with a strong focus on health and safety and for participants to maintain physical distance from other individuals and groups.

The equipment will be sanitized between uses, or individual supplies will be provided. Staff will conduct a verbal health screening with each participant prior to the program start and collect caregiver or participant contact information, should tracing be required.

Children under the age of 12 are eligible for another program, called ParksPlayTO, which is also being run by the City, MLSE Foundation which brings sports programming.

ParksPlayTO will offer activities such as nature exploring, gardening, active games, arts and crafts, family fitness, story-telling and music circles for children and their caregivers. Any child age 12 and under accompanied by a caregiver age 18 or older can participate in ParksPlayTO.

Find out more at www.toronto.ca. Registration required.

Police moving in on masked culprit accused of defacing their monument

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If anyone knows this woman, tell her to get in touch with the cops.

Police have identified a woman, who they say, is a ‘person of interest’ in a June 20 defacement of  their cherished Ontario Police Memorial.

Investigators have released mages of a woman wearing a mask in connection with the vandalism.

On the same day anti-police demonstrators held a rally at Nathan Phillips Square and on University Ave. in front of the U.S. Consulate. Members of the OPP Queen’s Park detachment discovered the monument had been defaced with “BLM” scrawled in red spray paint.

The memorial to fallen police officers is located on the Ontario Legislature grounds in a park in the Grosvener St.-Queen’s Park Cres. E. area.

Unveiled in 2000, the memorial features twin bronze statues of male and female police officers flanked by a granite eight-panel wall of honour inscribed with the names of Ontario police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past 200 years.

Police urge anyone with information to call 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers.

Popular Tucker’s Marketplace chain falls after 44-years

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The food was good and people loved the friendly place but in the end the virus killed it.

Another Etobicoke popular buffet restaurant, Tucker’s Marketplace, which graced the Airport
Strip area for many years has been shut down due to COVID-19.

The chain shut its well-liked restaurants in Etobicoke, Ottawa and Burlington last March after being hit hard by the pandemic.

“Unfortunately, it seems the undeniable reality is that COVID-19 will be with us for some time,” Tucker’s said in a statement. “Restaurants will be required to operate with capacity restrictions and to main physical distancing.”

The company was flying high just a few years ago and by 1984 had 21 successful locations across Canada and in the U.S. Midwest, officials says.

The company teamed up with a venture capital firm in 1994 to relaunch the chain as a buffet. By then it was down to three locations, and tried take-out without success.

“We have concluded therefore, that there is not a profitable path forward for our business,” Tucker’s officials say. “Sadly, we are writing to tell you that we will not be reopening our restaurants.”

The restaurant’s antiques and unfinished brick walls were a call back to the chain’s first incarnation, Mother Tucker’s Food Experience. The restaurant started in a 1920s warehouse in downtown Edmonton in 1976.

 

Tempers flare for electric vehicle parking spot at Sherway Mall

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This is what some residents may call a first-world entitlement issue.

Social media is up in arms after video of a female motorist driving a non-electric car goes viral after she refuses to move her vehicle for a driver seeking legitimate electric vehicle parking at Sherway Mall.

Mall security officers had to be called to break up a fracas as the woman kept arguing and refused to move from the spot which was clearly marked for electric vehicles only.

The June 11 incident was captured on video and posted online where it has garnered hundreds of shares.

“She feels she is privileged to blatantly park there and defend her right to park there,” says Shelley Robinson. “The spots are designated for those with special need who need electric cars, or are handicapped or expectant mothers.”

Marjan Akhi says the spot is always taken for other cars that are non-electric and it is “’very disappointing.”

“They should get a ticket for that,” Akhi warns.

“This is very selfish behaviour all around,” writes Rita Dufresne.

“Unless it’s abuse or harm, a revenge or shaming video just drags you down to her level,” warns Atreyi Mukherji.

Paula Torres says humanity is going down the drain.

“This reminds me when stupid people park in spaces for disabled people because they think the regulations don’t apply to them,” she says.

James Porter says it is private property and if the woman does not like the parking she can shop elsewhere.
“All she cares about is herself,” says Cathy Nagy. “All she had to do was go drive around to find another spot.”

“The world is already going through so much and these ignorant people just have to make it worse for others,” says Michelle Verano Zorrilla.

 

 

Eight Street Skatepark survey and new murals this summer

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The Eight Street Skatepark is a home for many young people during the summer.

A short survey is being circulated online by Eight Street Skatepark to collect community feedback for new murals being added this summer to the park.

Top muralists like Moises Frank (Luvsumone), Fatspatrol, Peru, Chris Perez and Nick Sweetman have their art proudly displayed in the Skatepark. Some of the art has faded from the weather and has to be redone.

Artists as Frank, Perez and Sweetman are in high-demand in Toronto and elsewhere. Many were recently involved in a Black Lives Matter Graffiti Alley that took place during the marches for equality last month.

“We plant to create four new murals to the skatepark this summer and provide maintenance to an already existing mural,” Skatepark officials said on Facebook. “This year’s project will focus on providing mentorship in the field of mural art.”

The project will provide an opportunity for artist assistants and a mural art project coordinator to be mentored, in an effort to build up the mural art talent in Toronto.

“Our goal is to collect community feedback so that the new murals being added to the Skatepark this summer reflect the community needs and ideas,” they said. “We have to ensure they are enjoyed.”

Located at Eight Street Park, at the corner of Eight St. and Birmingham St., the concrete community skatepark has a mix of flow and street, with a tough 5’ peanut-shaped bowl. This skatepark includes various sized quarterpipes, banks, stairs, rails, hedges and granite capped hubbas.

For further information contact skateparkmurals@gmail.com