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First it was illegal guns, then it was Guardian Angels, are deposed club kings the next thing to cross the border into Canada? We got tipped off by Jen Chung of Gothamist that Peter Gatien, infamous NYC club king, is hard at work getting his new club ready for Toronto. Our city became his adopted home after he was hounded out of NYC. New York magazine has a massive article on the man. Here's a few things we managed to tease out of it.
Giuliani cracked down on Gatien's clubs which included the Limelight and Tunnel. Like any great clubs they were reputed to be haven for drugs, sex and everything that a mayor cracking down on crime hates.
The formerly eye-patch wearing Gatien, was originally from Cornwall, Ontario, and has partnered up with local real estate developer John Cheong to build Circa (formerly Lucid) on Richmond Street. Circa is going to be a four-storey behemoth of a club and include a gallery space and movie theatre which makes Torontoist wonder how the local residents (all those well-heeled condo-dwellers) are going to react to it when they get kept awake at night by more rowdy 905ers.
Also make sure you check out the all-entertaining sidebar chart.... complete with seal hunt reference! Paved also has some more background here.
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Torontoist is just getting tipped off about this now? Martini Boys broke this story a year and a half ago.....Martini Boys!
I kid.
Oh, and as someone who lives in the neighbourhood, if this club brings more 905ers to the area it will be like taking a piss in the ocean.
this is great news, sort of. as a new yorker, it is sad to see that he is finally admitting the state of freedom in NYC is under attack. As a Torontonian, it is nice to see my point being proven: Toronto is freer and funner [sic] and should be actively promoting its club district as one of its international draws.
You are always so hard on the Richmond-Adelaide massive :-P If people only knew what kind of talent regularly makes its way to the city, perhaps more people from outside of Canada would actually know Toronto has a skyline!
PS best sidebar ever :D i couldn't have done a better nyc-toronto mashup myself!
Legendary Peter Gatien!
This is going to be hotter, heavier and out of this world. Mark it!
If you haven't read the article, you've got to see it to believe it. It's is MASSIVE- Totally Postive and once again puts TORONTO on the map.
Who does this guys PR? Maybe we should hire them to promote Ontario?
that's EXACTLY what i was thinking ^^ toronto's new tourism campaign should be club-themed, and helped along by mr. gatien
I wonder whether the club owners (as a group) have ever approached Toronto Tourism / Ontario Tourism with the idea of such an innitiative? That's one way to get the kind of campaigning you're (^^^) talking about off the ground.
So I wonder what Kevin wrote in the e-mail he recently sent Mr. Gatien *ponders*
But really, Toronto needs a new slogan and logo for sure, but maybe we can keep the flag? ;)
Oh shit, an EYEPATCH? That's like...a key element of being evil.
Do you really expect the dinosaurs who coordinate Toronto's tourism campaign to promote, dare I say, the fact that Toronto is fun and has a great club scene? I mean, that would put it on par with Miami, Ibiza, London, and New York. Imagine if Toronto hosted a Summer Music Conference at the same time as Pride or Caribana and celebrated to the world that Toronto is a city of festivals all summer long. Come on, that takes vision and leadership, something that Toronto has been sorely lacking for decades.