Posted on

Gr8 Projects Aw8

Business Revitalization Team – True Brew

Ask anyone who has been part of one of our Business Revitalization Team all-in days, it’s fun and it’s a great feeling to be part of real change on the Danforth. The latest project of the BRT is True Brew – the cafe just east of Woodbine on the north side of Danforth.  The big day is this Sunday and we need to get volunteers to help paint the ceiling!!  All we need is a few hours of your time from 10 a.m. – noon. True Brew will secure the supplies and provide drinks and snacks for the volunteers.  Send a note to catherine_porter@rogers.com if you can help out.

The Rail Garden

How cool is this?  These folks are working on a community garden along the railway line.

The goal of the Rail Garden is to serve the neighbourhood surrounding Monarch Park (Danforth/Gerrard Greenwood/Coxwell) by reclaiming unused public land and returning it to full use by the community. The Rail Garden will have garden plots that neighbours can tend individually, in families, or in small groups. If you want to support them or learn more or both, they’re having a fundraising community dinner at the Riverdale Hub this Saturday night. (As an aside, the Riverdale Hub is a very cool initiative that I haven’t told you about because it’s outside our zone, but trust me, and take a look at the website.)

Kidzone After School Program Presents…Puss In Boots Movie Night

Friday, March 23rd at 7 p.m – 8:35 p.m. at the Salvation Army on Cedarvale Ave. (behind Gledhill school).

$3 per adult, $2 per child (2-12 yrs.), Children under 2 are free. Refreshments Bar (popcorn, drinks, chocolate bars, etc.)

Origami For Pirates
If your child is the type who attends book launches and hob nobs with the Literati, then they will definitely want to attend the Origami For Pirates event at Silly Goose Kids . There will be stories at 2 and 3 p.m., activities and chance to meet the authors – The Brothers Leung. It’s all happening from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, March 25th.
 Project Picasso 

Toronto Police Division 55 is launching an anti-graffiti project  to target graffiti in our neighbourhood. They need YOU to report graffiti zones to Officer Stephen McGran (stephen.mcgran(at)torontopolice.on.ca) and Colleen Clarke (csc(at)colleenclarke.com). They will send out a team to paint over the graffiti.   The police will approach the store owner, if it is a retail outlet, get their written permission and cover it up.

 Lock It Or Lose It

Division 55 has revitalized a program called “Lock It or Lose It.”  Break and enters of either home or car are on the rise in 55 Division.  The message is clear: put your valuables out of sight. Take your GPS out of your car at night, don’t leave CD’s in plain view in your vehicle and lock your car doors.

In your home, lock your house whether you are working in the yard, at home or going on an errand, and certainly double check your doors before going to bed. Also, take your wallet, cell phone, purse and laptop upstairs with you at bedtime. Minimally don’t leave any of these items in sight from any window or glass doors.

If your house is under renovation, check in on it often as contractors order supplies, they’re left unguarded over night and then stolen.

When you are walking or driving around your neighborhood take note of goings on around you. Don’t take coming and going activities for granted. Report anything or anyone you see that appears out of the norm on your street. Watch for people checking house and car doors, jumping fences or hangers around. If you’re unsure, call it in, 416-808-5500 south of the Danforth, or 416-808-5400 if north of the Danforth.

Turn on your porch lights. Motion or light detectors on decks, driveways and verandas deter thieves.

55 Division Town Hall

Toronto Police Service’s 55 Division in partnership with its Community Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) will be hosting a series of Town Hall meetings in 2012.  The focus of these meetings is to enhance communication and develop stronger partnerships between our community members and the police.  The Toronto Police Service believes the goal of a successful CPLC is to ensure that effective policing and joint crime prevention programming is delivered throughout our many neighbourhoods.  Members of 55 Division need to hear, first hand, the policing concerns of our residents and respond accordingly to improve the quality of life within our division.

55 Division is comprised of four policing zones.  Each meeting will be dedicated to a zone and intend to address issues and concerns particular to that area.

The first meeting will be specific to 55 Division – Zone 4 and will be held on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at Community Centre 55 at 7:00 p.m.  Residents and community members of 55 Division – Zone 4 are invited  to attend this meeting.  Zone 4 is south of Danforth to the lake, Woodbine Avenue to the west, and Victoria Park Avenue to the east.

The meeting will include a brief overview of the policing issues and initiatives within 55 Division, and will focus discussions on the designated zone. There will be an opportunity for a question and answer period, and community members are encouraged to interact with members of the division and members of the CPLC.


Posted on

DECA Digest

Two things DECA to mention today…

First is a story from the Torontoist about the event DECA co-hosted with the Greenwood East Community Organization last week. About 100 people ventured into the Naval Club for this inspiring event. To read more, check out Rachel Lissner’s story here.

 

Second – a reminder about DECA’s Kids Gear Sale. We’ll have clothes, toys, gear and a variety of other odds and ends. There will be activities for kids and light refreshments.  Tell all your friends, tell a whole bunch.

Sunday, March 25th from 1-5 p.m. at Kimbourne Park United Church, 200 Wolverleigh Blvd (north of Danforth, east of Coxwell)

Posted on

Empty Storefronts Part II

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that our own Catherine Porter is looking into empty storefronts on our main street and others around the city through her column in the Toronto Star. Last week was the second in the series about a cool initiative in Australia.

 

Renew Newcastle Shows How To Create A People Magnet

By Catherine Porter

I need some Newcastle in my neighbourhood.

Newcastle is an Australian steel town an hour and a half north of Sydney. Last year, Lonely Planet named it one of the Top 10 cities to visit in the world, along with New York and Delhi, citing its great cafes, artist culture and surf.

What makes that amazing is that three years ago Newcastle was a ghost town. Or at least its downtown was, with 150 boarded-up buildings dotting its two main drags. You went there to get mugged.

Was it a new urban plan, an aggressive business improvement association? Or today’s version of a gold rush — four Starbucks?

Nope. It was Marcus Westbury, a festival director with a deep love for his hometown and a really good idea.

His idea: borrow the empty storefronts from their owners and fill them with artists, designers, fledgling food cooperatives. By borrow, he meant occupy them for free. Clearly artists and creators would love a crack at turning their dreams into a business. What about the property owners?

“They weren’t that hard to convince,” Westbury told me over Skype from Australia. “They’ve seen an enormous amount of benefit. We now have a national program, and property owners are paying us to take over their spaces.”

Westbury started a non-profit called Renew Newcastle. He took out some liability insurance. Then he approached one company that owned many of the derelict buildings.

His offer: I’ll find you creative tenants, they’ll fix up your space with new paint and clean windows on a rolling 30-day basis until you find a full-paying tenant, which you’re more likely to find.

Hipsters always follow the artists.

What started with a handful of Renew Newcastle tenants has grown to more than 70. A half dozen, including the food co-op, have grown into full-fledged businesses, paying market rent for their spaces. All but one have had to move off the main pedestrian mall to make way for those cool cafes and galleries.

When the first of Westbury’s tenants moved in there three years ago, they were robbed at night. Recently Westbury watched in amazement as backpackers worked on their laptops outside late at night.

“It’s gone from a no-go zone to a place were people feel safe,” says Westbury, 38.

Field of Dreams got it wrong. Building something isn’t enough. You have to fill it with people; then “they” will come.

Life is magnetic.

I love the story of Renew Newcastle because of its agency. I live in a desolate stretch of the Danforth where empty and dusty storefronts outnumber vibrant businesses. Each “For Rent” sign inspires hope, then resignation and finally despair, when another sure-to-fail dollar store moves in.

Many store owners seem as resigned as me: they’ve left their storefronts shuttered for years, not bothering to put out a sign.

Rather that waiting for the government or a Starbucks to turn things around, my neighbours and I have taken action too. Around the same time that Renew Newcastle started up, we began renovating local businesses — painting their walls, decluttering their window displays, putting up new signs.

Our motto became: “If one smashed window brings the whole neighbourhood down, what will one smashing window do?”

We are on store No. 6, and we’ve seen some results. A handful of new businesses and bakeries have moved in. Our problem? There are so many empty stores, we are running out of candidates.

Many are paid to stay empty.

Since 2002, the Ontario government has mandated cities to give commercial property owners a 30 per cent break on their taxes for space that has been vacant for 90 days or more. In my area, that adds up to about $3,000 per empty shop.

The program was brought in to ease the bite of recession on large property owners. But that gift should come with a string attached: a tax break for your space — until you can rent it out and no longer need the tax break.

We have the agreements, and the city management, in place. Just add a line and some new job descriptions.

Australian governments — both federal and local — have jumped on board. They now fund Renew Newcastle to do what the market couldn’t. Sydney is the most recent recruit, with a similar program starting on its Oxford St. this month.

Good ideas are meant to be borrowed. Toronto should be next.

Posted on

All The News That’s Fit To…er..Send Out To Cyberspace

DECA 2012 – New and improved!  Now with fast action scrubbing power!  We’ll clean up your neighbourhood and your life!

The first executive meeting of 2012 will be Tuesday, January 24th at 7:30 p.m. E-mail me if you would like more information at natasha.granatstein(at)gmail.com

What’s Up With The Empty Storefronts? – That’s a question we’ve been trying to answer for years. We’ve heard all sorts of rumours, conjecture and conspiracy theories. Now, DECA’s own, Catherine Porter, is trying to get to the bottom of it for the benefit of all the main streets in this crazy town. Read the first instalment in her Toronto Star column here.

Coyotes – A coyote was spotted on the front lawn of 160 Coleridge Ave on Thursday night, just after midnight. Tell your cats to watch out.

Dollarama – Rumour has it that a Dollarama is slated to move into the space on the N.W. side of Woodbine and Danforth in the old Kresge’s/Ethiopian centre space.

Posted on

So Much To Say

Apologies dear reader, I’ve been neglecting you.  Always something else that needed to be done.  No matter, there is lots to tell you about today.  I’m going to give you the news in this post and then send out another post in the next few days with a bunch of Danforth Gems to tell you about.  Don’t let the length of this post discourage you.  If you need to take a break and go make a cup of tea in the middle, do so, but make sure to come back and read all the way to the end.  Trust me, you won’t want to miss the last section.

Danforth East Arts Fair – September 17/18

Coming soon to a park near you: the third annual Danforth East Arts Fair. On Sept. 17 and 18, East Lynn Park will transform into an outdoor gallery where artisans from near and far will display and sell their wares.  The first application deadline for artists’ applications is April 30, so get cracking. Download your application at www.deca-arts.caThis volunteer-run, juried arts fair sprang out of an idea that a resident put forward at one of our meetings back in 2007. You see what happens? Action, people. It’s amazing what a few committed, created citizens can do.

You may remember the iron ukuleles from last fall’s arts fair. Or the skull rings. Or the gorgeous oil paintings. Or the beautiful harp music wafting through the park as people wandered down the path. Maybe you enjoyed a slice of pizza under the sun as you watched all the activity.

If you’re interested in helping out this year, drop the arts fair folks a line at deca.arts@gmail.com. And put Sept. 17 and 18 on your calendar now. Whether you’re helping out or enjoying the show, you wouldn’t want to miss it.

DECA’s Business Revitalization Team and Cozy Cafe and Bakery

Stephen Caissie photo

By guest DECA diarist, Catherine Porter

The Cozy Cafe’s anniversary party/ community celebration was a huge success — both for the lovely sisters Vera and SzaSza, and for those of us lucky enough to drop in, eat and dance.   At one point, I looked up at my two kids dancing in front of my neighbour, musician extraordinaire, Chris Bennett, and I thought: damn, we are lucky to live here.

The sisters figure about 300 people came to their party, given the jugs of coffee they went through. It was so crammed when I arrived, I could barely make it through the door. There was great food, of course, great music, and as promised, at the end of the party, the sisters and the Ontario Folk Dancing Association led some Serbian and Jewish folk dances around the store.

I have written a couple columns about the Cozy Cafe, and the generosity showered upon it by our east end hood. (Not to plug them, but in case you want to read the background here they are:  http://tinyurl.com/3ca2ced, and http://tinyurl.com/4sltfet. Okay, that was plugging them….)

It’s quite a story, really — that a stranger would offer to renovate your store for free, that a strange flooring company across town would offer to give you the flooring for free, that a customer with a furniture company would throw in two $600 tables for free, that a designer would sketch out a brochure and a photographer snap the photos of it, and that locals would drop off cheques, only because we all love this place and want it to thrive and keep serving us food and laughter.  This type of stuff doesn’t happen much.

So, for the record, a few people need to be thanked:

*Chris Bennett and Lucas Stagg from Twelfth Fret played at the party, which was wonderful.

* Local east ender Alex Zamayoa  and Mi Casa Furniture for the tables

* DECA member Steve Caissie for the photos

* Thomas Giannousopoulos for the brochure design

* the DECA Business Revitalization Team for weeks of work on the store, from the frosted window, to painting, changing the store layout and lining up artists to show their work there.

For those of you who don’t know about us, the Business Revitalization Team has now helped transform six stores along the Danforth, starting a couple years ago with Plank Road Market. Our tagline is: “If one smashed window can bring a whole neighbourhood down, what can one smashing window do?” By improving the look of a few stores along the strip, we hope to draw new stores to the area and fill the Danforth in.

The Cozy Cafe was our latest business. If you have another business in mind, which is a gem in the rough, let us know! Email me at catherine_porter@rogers.com

Our team consists of stagers, designers, business branders, real estate agents and schleppers like me who are sick of waiting for a change to come to the Danforth, and want to do something about it. Our rules are simple: it has to be a store with the right stuff but the wrong look. It has to be a store we want to see prosper in the hood. (So, no questionable massage parlours.) The owners have to be people we want to spend our free time with — nice. We supply the expertise and some of the leg work, the owner supplies the basic supplies.

Empty Storefronts

At our last DECA meeting (minutes to come soon), we talked a lot about empty storefronts.  We all hate them.  What can be done about them?  We’re thinking we’d like to try and find out.  Why are they empty is the first question.  Taxes, disinterest in maintaining the commercial space when the residential is rented, absentee landlords are a few of our thoughts.  Then we’ll try to figure out what might be done about it.  This article  from Open File is great place to start thinking about it.  Be sure to read the comments too.  If that inspires you to want to get involved in this little project, send me a note – natasha.granatstein(at)gmail.com

Dealicious – Today’s Menu – $25 for $50 worth of food – until midnight tonight (Thursday)!

First – check out the latest local dealicious.ca deal from a store called Today’s Menu.  Located at Woodbine and Gerrard, it offers deliciously prepared meals cooked by chefs on location, with the unbeatable convenience of either delivery OR shopping at. Meals are made fresh daily and quick/flash frozen to lock in flavour: all you have to do is heat and serve.

East Lynn Farmers’ Market

Are you a musician interested in busking at various Farmers’ Markets across the city this summer?  We’re looking to fill 4 spots per week (Sunday 10-2pm, Tuesday 9-2pm, and Thursday 9-2pm and 3-7pm)  If you’re interested, please contact Diana at diana.mymarket@gmail.com

Community Clean Ups This Saturday

Make sure you get yourself to one of the many community clean ups that are happening in our neighbourhood this Saturday.

  • Earl Beatty School 10 am – noon with the Earl Beatty Community Centre, school and eco team
  • Danforth Avenue 11 am – noon – Clean eastward with the Danforth Mosaic BIA – meet at the corner of Coxwell and Danforth
  • On your street.  In your nearest park.  Wherever you see a public spot that could use a little TLC.

All Candidates Meeting – Wed April 20, 2011 

The good people at the Beach United Church and Neighbourhood Link are hosting an all candidates meeting for the federal candidates in Beaches East York on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.  140 Wineva (north of Queen) from 7-9 p.m.  They’re even offering light refreshments – how fancy.

Were you the victim of a break and enter?

In the last few months there has been a rash of break and enters in Division 55 from the Beaches up to Danforth Ave. Police have arrested a couple and allege that they are a husband and wife who integrated themselves into their neighborhood in a normal, friendly manner then set out to rob their neighbours.  Much of what they allegedly store is now available to be claimed. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of a robbery in the last few months call the police at 416-808-5500 to describe your stolen items and then you can set up an appointment to view the goods and hopefully reclaim what was stolen.

Posted on

Reminder – Party Today!

Please join DECA’s Business Revitalization Team and the sisters of Cozy Cafe and Bakery today (Saturday!) from 4-7 p.m. as we celebrate the grand re-opening of the cafe.

The heart-warming stories of generosity that have arisen from this project will renew your faith in humanity.  It’s chicken soup for the east Toronto soul.  Maybe it’s the paint fumes (I’ve been over there painting all evening), but I think that the delicious food will fill your belly and the warmth and kindness will fill your soul.

Yup.  Time for bed.  And no, I haven’t been drinking.

Can’t wait to see you there – on the south-west corner of Danforth and Woodbine beside Pizza Pizza.

Natasha