Results tagged “petergatien”

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

Premier Dalton McGuinty says that he is not prepared to follow Quebec's example and ban cell phone use while driving, in spite of studies showing that the practice is more dangerous than driving drunk. McGuinty said that "some people also distract themselves by drinking coffee, eating and applying makeup while driving" and he wouldn't know where to draw the line. Because if you can't stop one stupid and extremely dangerous practice, there's no point in stopping any of them.

Peter Gatien was, at one time, the undisputed king of nightlife in New York City. After being driven out of the United States by a government crackdown on nightclubs led by former New York mayor and current American presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, Gatien made Toronto his home, and is now opening CiRCA in the former Playdium/Lucid location on John Street.

Toronto came in 5th in the livability survey of the Economist Intelligence Unit, behind Vancouver, Melbourne, Vienna and Perth. While we can rightfully be proud of our score, it's kind of like being one of the kids who sits in the front of the room near the teacher while all the cool kids like New York and London are having a lot more fun down in the 40s and 50s.

If there is one thing Toronto is world-class in and world-renowned for, it is dance music. Toronto sees some of the world's most famous international music acts play its bars and clubs every weekend, and according to a recent article in Toronto Life, they bring with them at least $125 million in economic activity. Well, music enthusiasts, bartenders, club district employees, club owners, event promoters, and young people beware: a nightlife crackdown is coming to Toronto and the fight to save your scene (or your livelihood) will not be easy.

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.