Lawrence Heights skateboard park

New facility opens after four years of pressure by local kids
By Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier May 18.)

Shaquille Williams, second from left, has been pushing for a Lawrence Heights skateboard park since 2006. It opened May 1. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

Teen Shaquille Williams has been waiting four years to hear the sound of boards and bikes rolling through Lawrence Heights.
Williams and his friend Joshua Orticello pushed for a local skateboard park for nearly four years and it opened May 1 at Lawrence Ave. West and Varna Drive.
The pair, both 14, solicited a campaign promise from councillor Howard Moscoe in 2006 and went door to door getting over 200 signatures in favour of the skateboard park.
The persistent youth followed up with Moscoe and city officials in order to ensure their dream came true.

Vacant shops on Yonge strip

Businesses find it hard to survive in Midtown
High rents, aggressive parking enforcement, few shoppers
(Written for Town Crier April 27/09)

Town Crier and Vaughan Today colleagues at the OCNA awards. Kris Scheuer in the centre with glasses, dark hair and black dress.

I wrote this story a year ago, but tonight, it was up for the Best Business & Finance Story category at the Ontario Community Newspaper Association awards ceremony. I didn’t win. I came third out of the 67 or 68 entries in that category. But it was a fun night with some Town Crier colleagues and a chance to catch up with my two favourite Humber College journalism professors Terri Arnott and Carey French.

Now here’s the story I wrote…

Clifford Wong closed his Yonge Street clothing store Basique Attitude. He was not the only struggling shop.Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

By Kris Scheuer
By the time you read this Clifford Wong will have closed up his Yonge St. clothing shop Basique Attitude.
He’s not alone. A visit on Yonge between Eglinton and Lawrence Aves. on April 22 reveals about dozen vacant shops along this busy North Toronto strip.
“I’ve been here 16 months. It’s hard to survive,” says Wong just days before his shop was to close for good on April 25. “I love this area, but it’s very difficult to survive.”
He’s had three stores in Richmond Hill for 15 years, but says it costs $7,000 monthly for commercial rent and property taxes in Toronto for his store at 2581 Yonge St. He also mentions street parking enforcement that acts as a deterrent for shoppers.
“People are scared to park here,” he says.
The Uptown Yonge Business Improvement Area’s members have noticed the same problems.

Ron Singer ward 15 candidate

Eglinton-Lawrence candidate worried about traffic and safety
Singer runs for third time against incumbent Howard Moscoe
By Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier April 22.)

Ward 15 candidate Ron Singer. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

Ron Singer is running for councillor in Ward 15 on a platform of crime reduction, safety and traffic — especially as it relates to the new revitalization plan for Lawrence Heights.
“They will bring in 10,000 more cars (as) they want to bring in 8-9,000 more (residential) units,” said Singer, of the Toronto Community Housing plan for the under-served neighbourhood.
“With more cars, the main intersection will be blocked and people will be racing down (side) streets.”
Drivers may turn down residential side streets to avoid congested main roads, he said, which could increase safety risks for kids.
“I am fighting how this will be set up. I don’t want to see a small kid hit by a car just to say, ‘I told you so,’” he said. “Cars and kids don’t mix well.”

Yonge Eglinton redevelopment site

Dozens of homes vacated to pave way redevelopment
Meanwhile a ghost town has emerged as old houses stay empty
By Kris Scheuer
(Written Feb 24 for Town Crier.)

Empty homes await demolition if redevelopment approved. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

Right in the heart of North Toronto on Duplex and Berwick Avenues sits a ghost town of sorts.
Almost two-dozen old houses sit vacant at 54 to 74 Berwick and 191 to 211 Duplex.
There is no mystery as to why these homes are empty. The entire site is part of a redevelopment application that would see the houses demolished if the project is approved. The proposal is for 20, 3-storey town houses fronting onto Duplex Avenue and a 17-storey condo tower with 215 units facing Berwick Avenue.
None the less, as this site is just one block south of Eglinton Avenue and a street west of Yonge Street it is an oddity to have so many houses standing empty.
It’s a mere two-minute walk from one of the city’s busiest intersections and across from the Minto towers, around the corner from high rise office buildings, the Eglinton subway, banks, shops restaurants and an indoor mall with a movie theatre.

North Toronto voters’ high expectations

Coun. Karen Stintz governs a very politically active ward
Residents put pressure on politicians to side with them
(Column written Feb. 5 for Town Crier.)

Eglinton-Lawrence Councillor Karen Stintz represents a very politically engaged Ward 16 that has high expectations of their local reps.
The ward has six ratepayer organizations as well as tenant associations, condo boards and co-ops.
On top of that is the very active Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations that represents three dozen ratepayer organizations in the broader midtown area. And they are a politically active bunch.
Stintz says this is a blessing not a curse.
“One of the strengths of the North Toronto community is they are highly engaged and relative to the city there’s a higher than average voter turnout,” she says. “The community is very engaged and that’s not just during an election year it’s throughout a person’s (political) term.”

North Toronto highrise revised

Erskine Ave proposal higher than previous  development application
Eight-storey building called unfit for area of single-family homes
By Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Dec. 18)

Paula Greco points out from her Erskine Avenue balcony several houses to be affected by the planned residential development. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

Paula Greco’s view from the balcony of her Erskine Avenue building could soon change from that of single-family homes to an eight-storey residential tower.
And she isn’t happy about it.
Greco overlooks a redevelopment site at 88 Erskine and 73-79 Keewatin avenues.
Verdiroc Development first applied to build a five-storey seniors’ residence and now has a new proposal for a 78-unit residential tower.
“It just doesn’t belong,” Greco said.

OMB says no to highrise in North Toronto

Area residents celebrate after appeal of Montgomery Ave. development turned down
By Kris Scheuer
(Originally written Sept. 18 for Town Crier.)

Residents Jordan Applebaum, Naomi St. John and Helen Oakes tear at signs informing public of application to build a 25-storey highrise. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

The Ontario Municipal Board rejected an application for a 25-storey highrise on a residential street in North Toronto much to the joy of the residents who fought against it.
“I’m delighted,” said 83-year-old Helen Oakes, who lives on Helendale Ave. one block from the proposed highrise. “We are delighted. We defeated the developer.”
Top of the Tree Developments Inc. had planned to build the highrise at 34–70 Montgomery Ave. It also applied to redesignate sections of Roselawn, Duplex, Montgomery and Helendale Aves. as apartment neighbourhoods paving the way for future intensification over several blocks.

Accessible services needed in Toronto

Ye Ha Levson finds it hard to climb the stairs at United Bakers Dairy eatery. Photo by Francis Crescia/Town Crier.

Customer clambers for a ramp so she can more easily enter her favourite eatery

By Kris Scheuer
(Written July 30 for Town Crier.)
North Toronto senior Bonnie Wynne wants an accessible entrance to one of her favourite dining spots: the Jewish eatery United Bakers Dairy Restaurant.
The 83-year-old, who had a stroke and relies on a walker, has frequented the eatery for more than 20 years, has recently asked the owners repeatedly to install a ramp. So far the response has been: it’s not possible.
“It didn’t bother me at all until I had the stroke a couple of years ago,” said Wynne, who has lived around Bathurst St. and Lawrence Ave. for 50 years.
“I get around with a caregiver,” she said. “She takes my walker and I pull myself up the railing and steps.
“It’s a lovely restaurant,” she added. “It’s getting in that makes it difficult.”