The South Etobicoke News

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

 Rexdale’s Admiral Crumple with some fresh tracks inspired by the Las Vegas massacre

by

ADMIRAL Crumple is back with some fresh Hip Hop tunes from Vega. Courtesy photos.

 

Up-and-coming Rexdale Begamot Hip Hop artist Admiral Crumple is plugging some new tunes.

Admiral Crumple wants the community to know that he has released his first full-length film to DVD.

He is pleased with the film, Drab Vegas, which was filmed in the City that Never Sleeps five days before the shooting massacre more than three years ago.

“The film is shot in Las Vegas and has a few original Hip Hop beats playing throughout,” says Admiral Crumple. “The conversations are about the challenges, but also the hopes and dreams of modern life.”

The October 2017 massacre saw a gunman open fire on partiers on the Las Vegas Strip attending a Route 91 Harvest Festival.

Some 60 people were killed from the 1,000 shots that were fired by a gunman from the 32 floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Some 411 people were wounded, which rose to 867 when it was all said and done in what is called the worst mass shooting in the U.S.

The gunman later killed himself with the gun.

Admiral Crumple’s film is described as ‘dark and hardcore’ by some, while others said it is “an inspiring documentary, adding to the quality of hip hop and film culture.”

The Official Trailer for Drab Vegas can be viewed at youtube.com

The DVD can be purchased by sending $21.95 + $10 Shipping (U.S.) via Paypal to admiralcrumple@hotmail.com

Mimico Square is alive with the sounds of music and dance

by

By BOB SUMMERS

Mimico Square is alive with drawings, music and dance.

Artists used spray chalk to lay down a giant dance map, including a large cat and then the dancers took over.

It is part of the Toronto Arts in the Parks @dancetogetherfestival event at Mimico Square, located in Amos Waites Park, 2445 Lake Shore Blvd. W.

It started with an organized dance event September 13 and then turned into a “participate as you want” event with dancers invited to use the dance map to do whatever dances they would like into the first days of October.

It would have been a larger event if it hadn’t been for COVID restrictions.

The Dance Together Festival is co-produced by Toronto-based dance artists Kate Nankervis and Katya Kuznetsova. The outdoor neighbourhood event is made possible through the Toronto Arts Council Animating Toronto Parks grant and is part of the Arts in the Parks programming.

Local dance artists will lead dance workshops in diverse styles, including Swing, Salsa, Kizomba, Contemporary, Street Dance, and more.

The festival is free and open to all levels, ages and abilities.

Dance Together Project is all about fun and accessible partner dance lessons for beginners. Far from strictly ballroom, the genres include anything from Slow Dance 101 to Salsa, as well as Wedding Dance instruction and composition, tailored to the song(s) of your choice.

You can share your dance or pose on Instagram to be entered in a draw for prizes in dance and art classes, art prints and more. Check out the prizes on @dancetogetherfestival Instagram.

All classes and events are beginner-friendly.

The event wraps up October 4 but the map will stay until rain washes it away. Those who want to dance are urged to dress comfortably for moving.

Club that was scene of a shootout in New Toronto temporarily shut

by

An alleged afterhours club associated with recent early-morning gunplay that sparked outrage among New Toronto residents has been shut for now.

The venue, at Lakeshore Blvd. W., and Ninth Street, has been under the microscope since a horrific September 8 shootout in which more than 80 bullet casings were found in the aftermath of an alleged gender-reveal bash.

Area Councillor Mark Grimes, in an update, said eight officers from 22 Division, four agents from Municipal Licensing & Standards, and another from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, visited the ‘event-space’ on September 12 to conduct a check.

‘We attended the space to find out if it was operating in compliance with established bylaws,” Grimes wrote on social media.

“The venue was found to be operating without the proper business license and Toronto Fire found violations contrary to the Ontario Fire Code,” he noted. “The business cannot operate until they bring these matters into compliance, which likely won’t be for approximately two months.”

The City will be working with Toronto Public Health to confirm if the space is compliant with Public Health regulations.

“They’re going to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb,” Grimes said.

City officials said the business hasn’t applied for a permanent liquor license.

Grimes said with event spaces, those who are renting the space are responsible for securing their own Special Occasion Permit (SOP) to allow for the temporary sale of liquor. These permits are administered by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission.

City officials are to be notified of any indoor SOP applications that are submitted at the address.

Irate residents have been calling without luck for a meeting with local police and politicians to talk about the shootout in which more than 80 shots were fired by rival groups. Shots damaged about a dozen vehicles and burst a gas pipe.

The Toronto Police Centralized Shooting Response Team are investigating the incident and anyone with information are asked to contact 22 Division at 416-808-2200, or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.

 

Two locked and loaded handguns seized by police in traffic stop

by

Two fully-loaded handguns (one in the photo) were seized by two sharp-eyed 22 Division officers during a traffic stop.
Police were patrolling the South Etobicoke area on September 8 when they observed a vehicle travelling with an improper licence plate.
“Our keen officers conducted a traffic stop which resulted in the arrest of two individuals with two fully-loaded handguns,” police say.
Police are warning “these guns are not toys.”
“They are serious weapons to hurt others,” according to officers. “These individuals have no reason to possess these firearms other than to hurt our community members.”
Police have stepped up patrols in the New Toronto following a Wild West shootout last weekend when some 80 shell casings were found in the vicinity of an afterhours booze club on Lakeshore Blvd. and Ninth St. area.
Police say a suspect was using a deadly machine pistol to fire rounds, which hit about a dozen vehicles and a gas line. One man was shot in the thigh area.

Shoot-out by rivals in New Toronto afterhours club party clash

by

More than 80 bullets were flying in New Toronto as you slept.

It was a wild-west shootout as one man was injured and more than a dozen vehicles laced with gunfire in a feud by rival parties attending an afterhours club.

At least 80 bullet casings were found when the smoke had settled down in the early morning of September 8 on Eighth St., near Morrison St.

Police and politicians believe the gunfire erupted around 4:30 a.m. at the scene of a new after-hours club that recently opened up near Lakeshore Blvd., and Ninth St.

Officers say a ‘gender reveal’ party, which was well advertised on social media, was taking place at the club.

Councillor Mark Grimes says he is working with police and City officials to have the club shut down and for more officers to begin patrolling the area.

Residents say the club became rowdy after midnight when dozens of cars, and club patrons, usually lined the laneway.

One man was shot in the leg, and will recover, and another was provided life-saving emergency medical aid while passed out on a couple’s front lawn.

Police said the brazen occupants of two cars in the area were shooting at each other, and then were seen fleeing the area at a high rate of speed before police arrived.

Lakeshore Blvd. W.  between Seventh and Ninth Sts. was shut for traffic and the TTC for hours as police searched for forensic clues, which included cars laced with bullet holes which smashed the windows, sides and even one with a flat tire.

Witnesses say one suspect was shooting what appeared to be a ‘machine pistol’ which peppered rounds everywhere as bar patrons, partygoers and witnesses scrambled for cover. Others with weapons at the party were shooting back at the gunman.

A gas meter was struck by one of the bullets and Enbridge had to attend to shut the gas off, police said.

Police say this is among the most shells collected recently from a Toronto crime scene.

Area residents say the gunplay demonstrates that a City plan to open a shelter nearby will only make things worst, with more people coming into the community.

This has been the third shooting, and a stabbing, in the area in the past month.

Police are going through video of the area and say mugshots of the suspects will be released soon.

 

 

Questions raised in the hiring of executive at Lakeshore Arts

by

The Board of Directors for Lakeshore Arts is being accused of skirting around their anti-Black equity policies in the recent hiring of an executive director.

The well-known arts program, in an open letter on social media, said they are engaging in an external consultant ‘who specializes in anti-oppression and anti-racism training.’

“This is the first of many steps that will need to be taken to help identify and eliminate white supremacy within Lakeshore Arts,” stated the August 31 letter signed off by the program’s Board of Directors.

It all began after an urgent August 18 letter from Natassia Morris, a former Operations Manager at Lakeshore Arts (LSA), that was signed by six other Black artists.

They claim the recent executive director’s position, which was vacant, was obtained by Ashley Watson, another white woman, despite the program’s anti-black and equality policies that was put in place last June, in which staff committed look at other nationalities for jobs and opportunities.

“We will work to ensure that racialized people attain leadership positions in our organization not only part time, temporary or entry level positions,” Morris wrote.

She complained that Watson had previously held other positions on the Board and was staff at Lakeshore Arts.

‘Your placement of …, another white woman, as the new leader of LSA was a violent action towards the Black communities that support you,” Morris’ letter stated. “It is for this reason that I as a former member of LSA management team and a Black woman (along with other artists) simply cannot remain silent.”

She wrote “the culture of silence equates to complicity, and it has created a dangerous and toxic environment for Black artists, community and non-profit workers.”

“Your placement of Ashley at the helm of your organization is rooted in white supremacist culture,” the letter alleged. “It is a vicious cycle that we have seen repeated ad nauseam.”

They accused the Arts program of harbouring racism.

“Just as anti-Black racism has been an insidious, often unacknowledged across Canada, so too your organization actively evaluate and confront how you have maintained systemic racism and oppression,” the group said. “How will you take action against those in all your operations.”

The Board said there is an “urgent need to be held accountable for our actions in order to confront and dismantle white supremacy in our organization.”

 

Summer Music Series online virtual concert

by

Its hot outside and we are aching for some summertime jazz in the city.
The jazz is not going to happen.
But, Lakeshore Arts is partnering with Mimico-by-the-Lake BIA to present The Summer Series on August 28.
The online virtual concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. and feature local and musical acts.
This is a fundraiser for the Jean Augustine Centre for Young women’s Empowerment, which has been forced to cut some of its programming due to COVID-19.
You can donate at jeanaugustinecentre.ca, in honour of the “Summer Music Series.”
Stay tuned for more information and some of the artists being featured.
Also local brewery, Great Lakes Beer has launched a fundraising beer called Empowerment to help raise funds for the centre.
Please note that the Lakeshore Arts Long Branch Public Library mural box was painted in the last few days by artist Nazli Nahidi.

Lucky’s promises the best poutine and fried chicken in the city

by

Restauranteur Marcus Soumh is thankful that Lucky’s Chicken N’ Waffles ended up in New Toronto after being refused a lease in a more expensive part of the community.

“It worked out better for us,” Soumh says. “The people are great and we get a lot more walk-in traffic here.”

The clean and newly-renovated restaurant advertises the ‘best poutine and fried chicken in the city.’

“We sell the best Halal buttermilk fried chicken in Toronto,” Soumh promises. “Come ready to eat you won’t be disappointed.”

And their style of licking chicken is catching on as there are often many chicken-lovers waiting outside the 2977 LakeShore Blvd. W. store as their orders are cooked.

The chicken is tasty and good, so is the poutine, which I tried, and must say is thick and cheesy with tasty curds, which they say comes from Quebec.

They have a number of poutines available including the Yardbird poutine, Classic poutine, veggie poutine. And their Chicken and Waffles, for $19, comes with three buttermilk fried chicken drums on a waffle with Lucky’s maple sauce and maple syrup.

The eatery had a soft opening on August 1 and Soumh says so far it has been very encouraging for him and his staff. It did take them a long time to find the location they wanted.

“I have travelled a lot and eaten from a number of chicken waffle places,” he explains. “I know that people liked it so I though why not.”

Originally from Montreal, he says area residents have warmed up to his style of poulet.

“The community has been great and the people awesome,” Soumh says. “Most of the people are very supportive and want to try our food.”

Even other restaurants nearby like Kitchen on the Sixth have tweeted about the tastiness of Lucky’s chicken wings and other dishes.

“The food is great and I have told other people to eat there,” says local resident Nima. “I hope that they do well and I will be coming back.”

Another resident Cinderalla posted online that the food was delicious and the service was outstanding.

“It is a great addition to the neighbourhood,” she wrote. “Their prices seem very reasonable, the food really great taste and excellent customer service.”

 

Emerging artist Naz making beautiful art in Long Branch, Alderwood

by

Emerging artist and illustrator  Nazli ‘Naz’ Nahidi loves painting contemporary works including Bell Box Murals and cutting-edge street art.

Nahidi  on Monday will be joining more than a dozen visual artists to paint her second Bell Box Mural in south Etobicoke. She painted her first last year.

“Her work is emotionally charged and in part echoes the visceral effects of emotions as well as personifies feelings,” her website says. “She explores themes of connection, disassociation, closeness, fear and being.”

The 2020 Etobicoke Lakeshore Bell Box Murals begin on August 10 and runs until August 23 during which visual artists will paint 16 boxes in the Long Branch and Alderwood areas.

Since 2009 artists from the Murals Project have painted over 350 murals on Bell Canada outdoor utility boxes in 36 communities throughout Toronto, Southern Ontario and Quebec.

The Iranian-born artist has painted two large outdoor murals in Don Mills and assisted on the maintenance of the Mural Routes Connections mural on Don Mills Rd.

She also last year painted a digital for the Fringe Festival’s temporary patio, Postscript.

For the next two weeks Naz will be painting a box at 1 Thirty Second Street, and she welcomes visitors.

Check out more of her work at https://www.naznahidi.com/ and Instagram: @nznhidi

The Bell Box Murals are a partnership between Ward 3 councillor Mark Grimes, City of Toronto, Lakeshore Arts, and Community Matters Toronto.

Other Bell Box Mural artists include: Marley Allen-Ash, Heidi Berton, Talie Shalmon, GETSO, Jieun June Kim, Gosia Komorski, Daniela Rocha, Laura Smith, Camila Wong, Katika Marczell, Linh Thai, Andre Kan, Yasaman Mehrsa, Andrea Rodriguez and Melika Saeeda.

 

Work to begin on Bell Box Murals and Eighth St. Skatepark

by

Sure to beautify our community.

The 2020 Etobicoke Lakeshore Bell Box Murals begin on August 10 and runs until August 23 during which visual artists will paint 16 boxes in the Long Branch and Alderwood areas.

Since 2009 artists from the Murals Project have painted over 350 murals on Bell Canada outdoor utility boxes in 36 communities throughout Toronto, Southern Ontario and Quebec.

Selected artists include: Marley Allen-Ash, Heidi Berton, Talie Shalmon, GETSO, Jieun June Kim, Gosia Komorski, Daniela Rocha, Laura Smith, Camila Wong, Nazli Nahidi, Katika Marczell, Linh Thai, Andre Kan, Yasaman Mehrsa, Andrea Rodriguez and Melika Saeeda.

The Murals Project is a partnership between Councillor Mark Grimes, City of Toronto, Lakeshore Arts, and Community Matters Toronto.

Work is also ongoing on the Eighth St. Skatepark Murals Project to enhance the facility through murals by local artists.

The project began in the summer 2017 with a mural created by Lakeshore Art’s ARTiculate: Youth Leadership In the Arts program, led by artist Moises Frank (Luvsumone). Additionally, the bowl was painted by Moises and artist Javid that year.

In 2018, the project gained momentum through community fundraising and support from Grimes and StreetARToronto. Through consultation with the local community and representative from the Toronto Skateboarding Committee, the project created five new murals across the park by artists Fatspatrol, Peru, Chris Perez, Nick Sweetman, and Moises Frank.

This summer four new murals are being added to the skatepark and upkeep will be made to an existing mural.

This year’s project will focus on providing mentorship in the field of mural art; the project will provide opportunity for artist assistants and one mural art project coordinator to be mentored, in an effort to build up the mural art talent in the city.
Painting at the skatepark is scheduled to run September 8 to 22, with an opening celebration tentatively scheduled for September 26th.