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City Sindex

Vaughan councillor fails to read parking sign, commits “political suicide”

Tony Carella (Image: vaughan.ca)

We don’t know if arrogance, absentmindedness or laziness was to blame when Vaughan councillor Tony Carella slipped his wife’s car into a handicapped parking spot outside Longo’s last month. The infraction might have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for a picture snapped by an astute shopper while Carella was pulling out of the space. “Carella should be ashamed of himself,” the amateur photojournalist told the Star. The councillor denies any nasty intent: “I have never knowingly parked in a handicapped spot. I might have done it, but never consciously.”

We wonder whether Adam Giambrone could have salvaged his mayoral bid if he’d used a similar defence.

• Vaughan councillor admits to using handicapped space [Toronto Star]

| Leave a Comment » March 10, 2010 | 4:20 pm | Greg Hudson

Read All About It

The truth behind turducken, Corey Mintz now cooking for monkeys, the suffering of Roncesvalles

Get stuffed: turducken weighs in at a hefty 900 calories per slice (Adam Selwood)

• With the charm of a bloated pit bull and packing a painful 900 calories a slice, turducken might be a “guaranteed show stopper,” but how much do we know about this beast of a roast? Though some say that the chicken-in-a-duck-in-a-turkey is distinctly American, created by either Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme or Hebert’s Specialty Meats in Maurice, Louisiana, the roots of the roast go well back into culinary history. The evolution of meat stuffed with meat, however, reached a likely unbeatable pinnacle in 19th-century France with “rôti sans pareil,” which consisted of 17 stuffed birds ranging from a bustard to a tiny garden warbler. [L.A. Times]

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| 2 Comments » December 18, 2009 | 9:07 am | Matthew Hague

Deathwatch

How the mighty have fallen: 24 more restaurant closures

closed-sign Since our last report on restaurant closures in August, the wake of the worst economic storm in decades has forced scores of eateries to shut their doors forever. This roundup is as broad as it is long, with stalwarts falling beside start-ups, and takeout chains closing alongside legendary dining rooms. Here, our sad look back at two dozen of Toronto’s former restaurants.

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| 6 Comments » December 2, 2009 | 2:41 pm | Matthew Hague

Deathwatch

Study of Ossington hip strip is bad news for new restaurant owners and patio lovers across Toronto

A dim view of Ossington (Photo by Jessica Darmanin)

Some have a rather dim view of Ossington (Photo by Jessica Darmanin)

When Toronto’s most notorious fuddy-duddy, Joe Pantalone, championed last May’s ban on new licences along lower Ossington, the city agreed to examine the strip in order to better plan its future. The results of the study were released last week, and—surprise, surprise—they suggest slowing growth. Among the recommendations made in the report: an ongoing ban on backyard patios, a size limit for restaurants and a regulation that would require every restaurant to provide parking spaces.

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| 17 Comments » October 23, 2009 | 4:31 pm | Fraser Abe

Urban Decoder

Can I really get out of a parking ticket by applying for a court date?

With our city short on courtrooms and judges, $30 parking tickets aren’t exactly a priority, so, yes, fighting a ticket will probably make it go away. Of the 198,165 Toronto drivers who appealed tickets in 2008, only 10 per cent were issued a trial date. The requests are on the books as “scheduled for court,” but chances are, they will remain in parking ticket purgatory forever. In the past, paying up has been easier than going through the administrative rigmarole of filing for a court date, but the recent launch of parkingtickets.to may change that. The Web site allows you to register your infraction information on-line and pay $10 to have the site’s creator, Greg Kasparian Jr., schlep down to Metro Hall and file your dispute by proxy.

• Question from Josh Bluestein in North York

Wondering about the waterfront? Curious about construction? Perplexed by politics? Ask the Urban Decoder a question here.

| 1 Comment » February 5, 2009 | 9:33 am | Toronto Life Staff

Urban Decoder

My neighbours put chairs out to reserve plum parking spots

Photo by Michael Lehet

Saving a space on the street—whether with pylons, recycling bins, hockey sticks taped to milk crates, or balloon-bedecked chairs marked “Party Parking”—falls into the totally-illegal-but-rarely-punished category. Offenders are technically “encumbering the streets,” a violation of bylaw 313. Penalties, however, are hard to dole out because the infraction is beyond the mandate of Traffic Police Forces: no vehicle means no license plate, which means no number to write on the ticket. Rather, enforcement falls to the Traffic and Right of Way Office, which doesn’t have regular patrollers. To tattle on your neighbours, you’ll have to call in a complaint, after which an officer will, in the words of Traffic Planning Manager Angie Antoniou, “bring a notice of warning to the door, politely seeking compliance.” If this doesn’t stop them—and who wouldn’t be scared straight by a polite request for compliance?—a second snitch could garner a $100 fine.

• Question from Elaine Brundage near Yonge and Eglinton

Wondering about the waterfront? Curious about construction? Perplexed by politics? Ask the Urban Decoder a question here.

| 3 Comments » February 5, 2009 | 9:32 am | Toronto Life Staff