Results tagged “chinatown”

Many Torontonians are unaware that Chinatown East even exists, let alone that a significant landmark—almost a decade in the making—opened last week at Gerrard and Broadview. The Zhong Hua Men ("Chinese Arch") brings a higher profile to Chinatown East, and gives the district a gateway that its famous cousin on Spadina surprisingly doesn't have.

Walking down Spadina Avenue between College and Dundas streets, you might completely miss them, so well do they blend in with the street scene. But stop by one of Chinatown's many municipal trash bins, let your eyes wander up slightly, and you might see one, attached to a utility pole, doing its best imitation of a yellow-jacket. Chinatown has some new signage, and the gist seems to be that you really must drop that bag of miscellaneous rotting crud someplace else, no matter what language you speak.

     

Three weeks ago, Now Magazine published a first-person account of the forcible confinement and assault of regular contributor (and Pedestrian Committee member) Roger Brook. On an unspecified part of Dufferin, Brook stopped to take down one of those junk signs illegally attached to utility poles throughout the city—the kind of advertising that even right-wing city councillors get pissy about [PDF]. Despite the fact that he (and the sign) were fully within the public space, Brook was threatened and attacked by a private security guard who wrestled him to the ground, handcuffed him to a fence, and radioed the police. Private security of course has no such authority in the public space—nor had Brook done anything illegal—but silly things like laws aren't really of much interest to someone whose behaviour would warrant a feature-length investigation even if he were a cop. Brook's article gave us difficulty sleeping; we have no idea how we would handle the situation he found himself in.

The Rocker is not the best movie, but it's at least good for a laugh or two. It’s got a great cast—everyone from Rain Wilson to Howard Hesseman!—and a decent high-concept premise. See, Wilson is the drummer in an up-and-coming hair metal band, but they cut him loose and become huge. Many moons later he hooks up with a high school band and they overcome challenges, become famous, and he gets to realize his dream, blah blah blah.

A week after we took CityNews to task for their bottom-feeding coverage of a handful of rats in the window of Happy Seven, they once again led their 6 p.m. newscast with a piece on vermin in Chinatown. (Supposedly another restaurant was forced to close.) Citytv has also, we're told, been running incessant promos for its flagship news program with Mark Dailey's booming voice bragging "We got them shut down!" over images clearly identifying Happy Seven.

Photo taken just after midnight on Friday by Jonathan Goldsbie. The "For Renovations" part of the sign has since been torn off.

While most of the moose that embellished city streets during the "Moose in the City" public art display in 2000 have vanished from view, a few hardy specimens continue to graze among us. A survivor on Dundas Street in Chinatown has been rewarded for its perseverance by having the complex next to it named in its honour. Time will tell if the moose's luck will rub off on the grocery store that also bears its name or the other tenants.

Longtime Canadian Autoworkers Union head Buzz Hargrove will join other famous Buzzes, including Aldrin and Lightyear, in retirement this year. Reportedly Hargrove feels that his legacy has been cemented with this year's twin triumphs of the Order of Canada and the collapse of the Canadian automotive industry.

Toronto's extensive work on the silver screen reveals that, while we have the chameleonic ability to look like anywhere from New York City to Moscow, the disguise doesn't always hold up to scrutiny. Reel Toronto revels in digging up and displaying the films that attempt to mask, hide, or—in rare cases—proudly display our city.

Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets.

Contributor Tony Makepeace is taking us for some spins around our city with his fantastic VR panoramas. You can look up, down, side to side, in and out—pretty much every direction but back at yourself, which would be kind of creepy. Say hello to Panoramaist: the Toronto shoe-gazer's worst enemy.

What to do if you are alone tomorrow, either because you don't celebrate Christmas, or because there's no one around to celebrate with:

Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets.

Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets. Photo by Cari Miller What are we doing at Bayview & Eglinton? It’s a fair enough question to ponder. After all, there’s not...

Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets. Photo by gbalogh from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. Previously on A City Intersected, we visited Front Street East & Jarvis Street, one of...

Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets. Photo by Metrix X from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. A short walk east of Union Station will take you to one of Toronto’s...

September 25 this year is the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. That is to say, on September 25 it'll be time to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with delicious mooncakes!

Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets. Photo by funkaoshi from Flickr. On the southwest edge of Trinity-Bellwoods Park lies the quiet intersection of Queen St. West & Crawford St....

“That’s something you won’t find at Loblaws,” said Frank Yip, as he gestured toward the delectable-looking barbecued meats hanging behind glass at the deli. He’s right; though a staple in Chinatown, it’s a tantalizing display that might be unfamiliar to Toronto citizens used to a more typical grocery shopping experience. It’s also the perfect welcome to T&T Supermarket—the new best friend of Portlands-area foodies.

Do you wistfully dream of having a little corner of the city to call your own, but balk at the "Homes" section of the classifieds with its hyperbole-strewn ads and dead-eyed realtors? A new Google Maps-based website, housing123.com, tries to make things a little easier for potential home buyers across the GTA.

Those Pedestrian Sundays folk are back this weekend (July 15), and this time they're taking over Baldwin Village.

Even though Brooklyn has been part of New York since 1898, the calibre of talent that comes out of there these days almost makes it seem like a separate city again (and if it were, it would be the same size as Toronto!). Tonight, Brooklyn-based Project Jenny, Project Jan are performing at our very own Horseshoe Tavern for the Toronto stop of their tour, which has already taken them to Philly, Boston and Montreal. Joining them on the tour are Brighton-based electronica legends Fujiya & Miyagi.

Ask Torontonians for an example of Toronto food and you will have an array of different answers. One astute response may be that Toronto specializes in having everything and having it available at your doorstep.

Photo by neuroticjose from Flickr. Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets. Every summer, a 2.5 kilometre stretch of Danforth Avenue is packed with people for Krinos’ annual Taste...

Torontoist Flickr Pool member snapparker has posted this shot of the aftermath of Tuesday morning's three-alarm fire at the corner of Baldwin and Spadina, right where Kensington Market meets Chinatown. The conflagration started in a rooming house above stores at 368 Spadina Ave. Flames quickly spread to neighbouring businesses. In all, over 100 firefighters and 30 trucks were called in to battle the blaze.

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyway, onto the -ists.

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law.

Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets. People who live in the Annex are the envy of just about everyone in Toronto with a culture addiction. And why wouldn’t...

Photo by MonkeyfacedRatfink from Flickr. Toronto has been called a city of neighbourhoods: The Beach, Yorkville, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, The Annex; all have their defining characteristics that make them appealing to locals as well as visitors. And when it comes down to it, most of these areas are well-defined by the intersection of two major streets. College Street is more often celebrated, but Little Italy has got nothing on Corso Italia. If you...