The South Bayview Bulldog

In the context of City Council’s decision to install bike lanes on Bloor St. West, the Globe and Mail columnist Marcus Gee has authored a thorough-going attack on the idea of street parking, demanding that Toronto “grow up” and eliminate it. It is an extraordinary series of objections to this useful (and profitable) form of parking including the alleged arrogance of a driver who wishes to park in front of a hardware store. (Find a hardware store). There is an easy assumption in Mr. Gee’s story that bicycles represent the civilized future of transportation and that cars should, perhaps, be removed from the City altogether. He seems to think that store owners who complain about the loss of parking are fabricating a problem.

STREETS TOO NARROW BECAUSE OF PARKING?

His suggestion that the streets of Toronto aren’t wide enough because cars park on them will surely draw snorts of derision from business and residents alike. Of course, automobiles carry far more people than bicycles every day. They will continue to do so because most people — the vast majority — are unwilling or unable (how shocking) to ride a bicycle. As always, readers are invited to comment but please, those who think Gee is correct, refrain from arguing that the bicycle was here before the car. So was the sedan chair. Take a look. Marcus Gee, Globe and Mail 

Toronto Hydro says it is working to restore power to as many as 500 customers in East York Monday morning. The hydro outage map shows an area north of Lumsden Ave and east of Woodbine  Ave.

Bite Me Grill at 1620 Bayview has closed its doors and is papered over. The all-day breakfast and lunch restaurant has been in business there barely six months. Hope was high that a practical eatery would be able to make it, especially since the original Bite Me on Danforth is still open.

Police have released a clear picture of a man who robbed a woman in a bank vestibule as she was using an ATM machine.  It happened Thursday, March 10, 2016, at 10:40 p.m. at a bank in the Roncesvalles Avenue and Fern Avenue area. The wanted man was armed with a knife and container of aerosol repellent. During the robbery, the man’s disguise was removed from his face and he fled  He is described as 25–35, 5’8” – 6’0”, medium-to-large build.

The large space at 1591 Bayview Ave. has been leased to an as-yet unknown tenant by Paul Slavens Real Estate. The east-side space between Second Cup and Badali’s Fruit has seen many occupants in recent years and is among the largest premises on the street. It was most recently a Sleep Country and was the location of the infamous Jefferson Homeless Shelter deception organized by the charity Raising the Roof. For many years it housed The Trend Shoppe and in the 1990s was a TD  Bank branch. The guessing among merchants and Bayview Ave. regulars as to what will land there is intense Sunday. The leased signs appear to have gone up late Saturday or early Sunday. It appears the new tenant has also taken the adjoining shop which was previously occupied by the Flight Centre.

Silver award winner Leaside Wildcats Atoms get their medals

A snapshot of the glory and the agony of competitive sport could be seen in Leaside Gardens at the March Madness Hockey Tournament Sunday. The 10 years-and-under (Atom) teams from Leaside and Nepean battled to a 1-1 tie right through the overtime. Then in the dreaded shootout, the goal tenders faced first one round followed by second round — and the score was still 1-1. In the third round Nepean scored and Leaside did not. So it was that joy prevailed among the families from Nepean and many a dad of a Leaside player had to console his heartbroken daughter. A few minutes later at the awards in the William Lea Room, Wildcats president Jennifer Smith had praise for both teams and their hard-fought efforts.  Leaside Awards video  Nepean Awards video.

CBC

Late evening accident at Yonge and Eglinton — Global News

Police say a driver may have had a seizure which led to a dangerous collision between  a Hyundai and a Ferrari Saturday night at the corner of Yonge St and Eglinton Ave. The vehicles crashed into the CIBC branch on the southeast corner. One person. a pedestrian, is in hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The accident occurred just before 11 p.m.and closed Eglinton between Yonge and Duplex Ave. and Yonge Street from Soudan and Roehampton Aves.for several hours.

Weather Network

See later post

A sad drama played out on South Bayview in the north block Saturday as a woman and her daughter parked to have lunch at Original’s. They caught the attention of the parking officer and made sure it was okay to park within the available space near the hydrant outside Puregress Med Spa. It was okay, he said. The women purchased two-and-a-half hours of parking and went to lunch. When they returned they found their car had been towed. Angry and upset they flagged down a parking enforcement car. The officer driving the car punched in the license number and told the women that the vehicle had numerous unpaid parking tickets. So the cost of the lunch and some carelessness with was an extra $150 or maybe more to retrieve the car and payment of the disregarded tickets.

Being Canadian

Sunday is voting day in the Kraft Hockeyville competition to win $100,000 in upgrades for a deserving arena. There are many places competing across Canada but there seems hardly any more worthy of this kind of boost than the Angela James Arena in Flemingdon Park. As the video below shows, this important hub of the Canadian sport for kids from Flemingdon and Thorncliffe Park is badly in need of roof repairs, decent dressing rooms, a simple water fountain and adequate heating. Sorry as its condition might be, the James arena has been embraced by immigrant boys and girls as a place to be more Canadian. Everyone who  can should go to the Hockeyville site and help them give this important place a facelift.