Upper Beaches Daily Updates
The latest news, views and things to do in the Upper Beaches neighbourhoods
Three girls subjected to indecent exposure, police report
Police have released images and video of a man they suspect followed three girls, age 13 to 14, to their home and looked through their window while committing an indecent act.
The girls, age 13 to 14, were walking home for lunch near Dundas Street East and Woodfield Road at 11:07 when they were followed, police said.
Investigators are asking for public help identifying the man. For more information, including images and video, see the police news release.
Armed suspects sought in Beach Hill home invasion
Two armed males and a female are sought by police after a home invasion near Norway and Elmer avenues early on March 20, police reported yesterday.
The incident began with a female befriending a man and going to his apartment. When two other men showed up, armed with a machete and firearm, the victim “left his apartment in fear,” police reported.
Police have released several images of the suspects.
For more details and images, read the story in Streeter News.
Knife-wielding man at Victoria Park station
A man was reported chasing TTC patrons with a knife on the westbound subway platform yesterday evening.
Police found the man and no injuries were reported, they said on Twitter.
PERSON WITH A KNIFE: UPDATE
Victoria Park Subway
– No reports of injuries
– Officers have located the man involved
– Thank-you for your patience while we investigated this matter
^lb— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) March 22, 2023
Malvern Juniors take city championship
The Junior Black Knights team at Malvern Collegiate Institute hockey won the TDSSAA city championship on March 8, Beach Metro is reporting today.
This came just six days after the Varsity Malvern girls took home gold, the paper is reporting.
See Beach Metro Community News for the full report.
Outdoor skating continues to Sunday — if the ice holds up
The city is encouraging skaters to enjoy the last few days of the official outdoor skating season at our local rinks. However, the weather seems poised to end the season earlier than the scheduled March 19 deadline.
Sunday evening is when the city starts to close its outdoor artificial ice rinks, natural ice rinks and skating trails and begin its annual conversion of spaces into skateboarding parks, tennis courts and pickleball spaces.
Meanwhile the forecast for the next four days calls for rainy and overcast days with temperatures mainly above zero.
Identity of man sought after sexual assault
An image has been released by police seeking the identity of a man wanted in a sexual assault investigation.
The alleged assault occurred March 11 before 8:45 p.m. near Danforth and Victoria Park avenues, police said.
A man reportedly offered to help a woman who was shopping in the area but ended up attacking her, before fleeing the area in a silver SUV.
For more details and suspect description, see the police news release.
Local veggie burger hailed among the best
It may have made its name for its love of meat, but a local eatery also offers one of the city’s top vegan burgers — made with Beyond Meat served on an Ace Bakery bun. So says BlogTO in s story today.
The site placed Fearless Meat, 884 Kingston Rd., at number 3 in its rundown of the best veggie burgers in Toronto.
Arrest for crosstown bank robberies 20 minutes apart
A man was arrested yesterday after a bank robbery near Danforth and Coxwell avenues, police reported today.
It was the second such bank robbery of the day, they said. Twenty minutes before the East Danforth holdup, officers had responded to a holdup call near Bloor and Bathurst streets.
In both cases a man is alleged to have worn a mask and gloves while handing a teller a note saying he had a firearm and demanding cash. The man then fled the areas with the money, police said.
A 24-year-old Toronto man faces six charges, including two counts each of robbery and disguise with intent.
Developments to change the face of Danforth
The full scale of the transformation being wrought on East Danforth by multiple highrise developments was brought home at the community consultation yesterday.
The virtual meeting heard from three development teams on the eight buildings, ranging from 15 to 55 storeys, they propose to add to the existing buildings and to eight other towers already approved for the stretch of Danforth Avenue from Main Street to Dawes Road.
Little time was left at the meeting, however, for community feedback.
See Streeter’s full report on the event.
Registration on for Easter parade
With one month to go before the 57th Beaches Easter Parade, registration is on for local groups and businesses to take part in the parade.
Community groups can register for $250 while businesses pay $450. They have until March 31 to sign up on the float registration site.
The parade takes place on Queen Street East on April 9.
Man sought for spraying subway rider with noxious substance
A subway passenger was repeatedly sprayed with an unknown, pepper-like substance on the Bloor-Danforth line between Donlands and Greenwood stations on the evening of Feb. 28, police report.
Two men, unknown to each other, were travelling eastbound when, without provocation, one man sprayed the other man in the face, police said in a new release today. Each time the victim stepped away from the attack, he was sprayed again.
A man is wanted on three counts of administering a noxious substance. For more details, see the police news release.
Public consultation to be held on three massive Danforth developments
Thousands of residential units with several thousand more residences could be added if three planned developments on Danforth Avenue, between Main street and Dawes road, are approved.
A virtual community consultation on all three projects is being held on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. City planners and Beaches East York councillor Brad Bradford are scheduled to take part.
A total of eight new buildings, ranging from 15 to 55 storeys are being proposed.
For more on the projects and the online community meeting, see Streeter’s Thing To do listing.
Posters oppose Bradford’s mayoral run
Flyers have appeared on streets in Beaches-East York calling councillor Brad Bradford two-faced, headed “Deceive in the East” — a takeoff on “Believe in the East,” his slogan in the 2022 council race.
They have also popped up on social media, including on Twitter.
The posters are apparently intended to oppose Bradford’s expected campaign for mayor.
They purport to show his record of voting runs counter to the image he presents as a progressive politician.
Summerlicious applications open
Winterlicious seems barely over and it’s already time for local restaurants to sign up for the summer edition of the fixed-price dining festival.
Applications to participate in the Summerlicious program will be accepted from today to March 22, the city has announced.
This year’s Summerlicious runs from July 7 to 23 and there’s good news for participating restaurants: the fees have been cut to less than half the pre-pandemic rates. The new fee is $550. The city says this reduction should “make it easy and affordable for restaurants to participate and will encourage more Toronto residents to dine out and celebrate Toronto’s diverse culinary scene.”
Restaurants can find more information on the City’s Summerlicious 2023 Restaurant Participation webpage.
Fundraiser for Turkey at St. John the Baptist Norway
A fundraising event is planned for St. John the Baptist Norway church on March 4, from 2 to 6 p.m.
Baked goods and other items will be sold to support earthquake relief in Turkey. See the Streeter Things To Do listing for more information.
Federal rep ponders what he could do as provincial leader
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith appears closer to declaring himself a candidate for the Ontario Liberal leadership, though he won’t make his final decision until next month when the party sets the rules for the race.
That’s what may be gleaned from a CBC story today in which the Beaches-East York MP, who has been touring the province for a possible run, touted his experience as an outspoken backbencher in Ottawa as showing he could bring democratic renewal to the Ontario political scene.
Soup-tasting competition to return to Centre 55
Some talented soup chef is going to win a Silver Ladle (and some cash) for making the best soup in town — and the rest of us get to taste all the entries on March 2.
That’s when Community Centre 55 holds its annual soup-tasting competition. Becoming a judge (a taster) costs just $5, with the money going to support the centre’s programs.
More about the competition in Streeter’s Things To Do listing.
Local home prices dropping, real estate board says
Home prices are down by 12 per cent from last year in this area, according to figures recently released by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. The report indicates the year-over-year decrease for the real estate “E02” area, including Beaches, East End-Danforth and Woodbine Corridor.
As of January, the average home here is now about $1.3 million, TRREB reports. Single, detached houses have taken the biggest hit, dropping 13.8 per cent to about $1.6 million.
Charges in ‘hate-motivated assault’ of child on local bus
A man has been arrested for an alleged assault near Danforth Avenue and Main Street, an incident that police are calling a hate-motivated offence.
It is alleged on Feb. 8 a man threatened several passengers on a bus near the Main Street Station, made racial slurs, and assaulted a 12-year-old. He reportedly left the bus and fled before police arrived. The child suffered suffered minor injuries, police said.
On Feb. 20 a Toronto man, 32, was arrested and faces three charges.
After consulting with their hate crime unit, police said the investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence. See the police news release for more details.
Parking restrictions eased for Family Day
Police have announced they will not be ticketing vehicles parked on the street on Feb. 20 on rush-hour routes and in areas with posted Monday–Friday regulations.
Bradford touted for mayoralty run
Beaches-East York councillor Brad Bradford says he’s received calls asking him to run for mayor, since John Tory’s sudden resignation, according to a Toronto Star article about possible candidates yesterday.
Bradford, who was supported by Tory when first elected to council in 2018, reportedly told the Star he hasn’t decided yet whether to run for mayor.
Leslieville market moves indoors
The Leslieville Farmers’ Market has partnered with the Neighbourhood Food Hub to launch the indoor Hub Community Market — bringing us farm produce and more every Sunday, starting Feb. 19, in an indoor setting.
More information on the Streeter Things To Do listing.
Skate Day is back at Ted Reeve
Beaches-East York’s city councillor, MPP and MP are joining together to host their annual Skate Day at Ted Reeve Arena.
It takes place on Feb. 19 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
See more information on this event at the Streeter Things To Do listing.
Report our potholes to be fixed
You may see repair crews out on the roads today as the city launches its first pothole-fixing blitz of the year.
Chances are, though, plenty of Beach potholes will remain unless they are reported. To get those car-wrecking eyesores filled, report them via the 311 Toronto mobile app, online at Toronto.ca/311 or by calling 311.
The city says most repairs are carried out within four days of potholes being reported.
‘Hate-motivated’ assault reported on bus near Main
And the reports of violence on the TTC keep coming. On Feb. 8 police were called to Main Street Station after a girl was reportedly assaulted on a bus near Main Street Station.
Police are calling it a hate-motivated crime because a racial slur was allegedly made.
See the police news release for details and images.
Winter Stations rising on the beach
This year’s winners of the Winter Stations art installation contest have been chosen and you can watch six of their works being built on Woodbine Beach.
Three university teams are involved in this year’s Winter Stations. See the Toronto Observer story for more about this prestigious event.
This ward soon to have three cameras to catch speeders
The city is adding 25 automated speed enforcement cameras, one for each ward in Toronto. The most recent ASE site in Beaches-East York is on Main Street south of Swanwick Avenue.
It joins two other such cameras in the ward, currently located on Wolverleigh Boulevard, west of Glebemount Avenue, and on Gerrard Street East, east of Beaton Avenue.
See the full Streeter story on the new cameras.
Two arrested in alleged home invasion
Three days after a reported home invasion near Woodbine and Norway avenues (see Jan. 29 item below), the man and woman suspects have been arrested, police say.
Police received information from the public that led to finding the two in the area of Danforth and Cedarvale avenues, according to a news release.
Arrested on Jan. 31 at about 7:30 p.m., the Toronto man, 38, and Toronto woman, 3o, face a total of 14 charges, including breaking and entering, robbery with an offensive weapon and assault with a weapon.
For more details, see the police news release.
Have you spotted the orange pigeon?
Social media is reporting an unusually orange pigeon hanging around with other normally hued birds in the east end — notably outside Shopper’s World on Danforth Avenue at Victoria Park.
If you see it, tell us. The world wants to know.
Man and woman sought in home invasion investigation
Investigators are looking for a 38-year-old man and 30-year-old woman after an alleged home invasion, police said yesterday evening.
In the early hours of Jan. 28, two people armed with knives allegedly broke into a residence near Woodbine and Norway avenues and attacked a tenant. The tenant suffered serious injury, police said.
More information and images of the suspects are available in the police news release.
Town hall budget meeting for east-end residents
Have your say at the town hall meeting on the city’s 2023 budget, co-hosted by Toronto-Danforth and Beaches East York councillors. The meeting’s on Feb. 3. See more about it in Streeter’s Things To Do listing.
JAN. 27 REMINDER: Winterlicious starts today at restaurants across Toronto and in Leslieville. See Jan. 20 item below.
New CafeTO fees to hurt local eateries: Fragedakis
Local restaurants may be hit hard by the changes to the city’s CafeTO program this year, says Mary Fragedakis, executive director of the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA. She was talking to John Moore on Newstalk 1010’s Moore in the Morning program today.
City council is considering a staff report that proposes charging new fees for restaurants participating in CafeTO.
“Many small businesses are struggling terribly right now … and this is another stressor,” Fragedakis said. She predicted the new fees would put CafeTO out of reach for many of them.
Hear the interview on iHeart radio, including Mayor John Tory’s defence of the fees.
Identity sought in assault investigation
Police are looking for a man shown on security cameras after an alleged assault near Danforth and Jones avenues at about 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 24.
The victim fell to the ground and sustained serious injuries, police say.
The police news release provides an image and more information.
Start making reservations now for Winterlicious dining festival
Winterlicious is back, set to offer prix fixe lunches and dinners from Jan. 27 to Feb. 9.
Upper Beaches-area restaurants participating in Winterlicious Toronto include The Beech Tree and Bowl of Karma on Kingston Road.
You can find the entire Toronto list on the city’s Winterlicious page.
CampTO registration set to open
It’s time to start planning the kids’ summer camp activities at local parks and centres this summer. The city has announced its CampTO programs are online for your consideration, ready for registration beginning Feb. 11.
Some new programs have been added to the CampTO lineup for the programs that run from July 4 to Sept. 1.
Camp locations in and around the Upper Beaches area include:
- Adam Beck Community Centre, 79 Lawlor Ave.
- Birchmount Community Centre, 93 Birchmount Rd.
- Main Square Community Centre, 245 Main St.
For more information on the program and registration, see the Streeter calendar listing.
About this article:
