A 15-year-old boy died last year after acquiring illegal opioids via social media. Now there have been arrests.
Updates from September, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
A family of five that’s been in Montreal for six years is facing imminent deportation to Mexico, where they say their lives are threatened by drug cartels. The petition against their expulsion mentioned in the item is here.
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Kate
St-Zotique between St-Dominique and Christophe‑Colomb is now a one‑way street, and some merchants are very unhappy, saying the change might even force them out of business.
jeather
I don’t agree with the “no parking means no one will come to our store” arguments but I at least see the argument. “Customers have to go east instead of west (or vice versa), or go one block north or south, in an area of the city where the streets are already heavily one way so everyone is used to it, they won’t bother” strains credulity.
Joey
Classic CTV News – so many details left un reported. What kind of bike lane is it? How many parking spots will be removed? “Merchants mad at the City” is actually not a news story…
marko
I always wonder why a business like a restaurant would go on a nightly news program and say, basically, that they won’t be in business much longer and don’t event attempt to to come to them because it’s a living hell where they are. You’ll be stuck in traffic and you’ll never find parking. Is that going to bring the customers in? How about try this. I’ll give it to you for free.
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Welcome to Café San Gennaro, your new favorite dining spot nestled in the heart of the city’s Italian cultural heart. Perfectly located just steps from public transit and along a busy bike path, we’re also easily accessible by foot for those living in the neighborhood. Whether you’re cycling, strolling, or commuting, stopping by Café San Gennaro is as convenient as it is delightful.Our outdoor patio sits on a lively yet peaceful street, the lush green corridor offering the ideal setting to enjoy a meal amidst the vibrant energy of the community without the hustle and bustle. Here, you’ll savor fresh, locally sourced dishes that reflect the season while soaking in the serenity of nature around you.
Whether you’re looking for a cozy lunch with friends, a romantic evening under the stars, or just a peaceful place to unwind, Café San Gennaro offers a unique blend of convenience, charm, and culinary excellence. Come by today and discover your new go-to spot!
_Ian
All this demonstrative rage and grief vs the typical hand-waving aside, this quote struck me:
Alexandre Provost, a resident of Saint-Zotique Street, added, “None of my neighbors want this. So we’re just wondering, who is this project for?”
I think at its core, tjhis is the problem a lot of people have with this kind of beautification project. Nobody asked for it, those who are speaking out are beong mocked, and we all know there probably weren’t any studies or real neighbourhood consutations done.
I think there is the perception that there is a secret construction consortium making mad cash off city projects nobody asks for., much like Louisburg and Roxboro with the roads Why are we getting bike paths when the streets are in still bad enogh shape they are dangerous to bike on, why are we getting bulb-out gardens to improve the air while semis are still allowed to idle in front of depanneurs while delivering bread & beer? That kind of thing.
You can’t blame people for being suspicious of local government and construction projects even if they are pretty, because almost everyone turns out to have been getting kickbacks or at least deals on other work projects in the end. Some kind of transparency from the people making theses decisions other than the typical paternalistic huffing and puffing would go a long way to shutting up the complainers. As it stands they just look like fat cat elitists with suspiciously nice houses for civic employees.
DeWolf
Hi Ian, I live at the corner of St-Zotique and St-Vallier and this project makes life much easier for me and my wife, and there are a lot of people in the neighbourhood who are happy about it. Especially since it’s been in the works for FIVE YEARS but was originally delayed because of opposition by intransigent Little Italy merchants who oppose everything that doesn’t make the neighbourhood a St-Leonard strip mall. Don’t tell me this project was lacking in transparency when it was first announced in 2020.
The people complaining about this drive BMWs but yes, let’s keep pretending that bike lanes are elitist.
DeWolf
Correction: FOUR YEARS. Point still stands.
DeWolf
I should also add that I was very sceptical of this project because it’s just a painted counterflow lane, not real bike infrastructure. But even just two days in, making the street one-way for cars but two-ways for bikes has changed the whole dynamic. Traffic flows better and is way more predictable. It’s safer and more pleasant for everyone.
Poutine Pundit
I live on the concerned stretch of St-Zotique and have been pressing the borough mayor to get this done for years. I was annoyed when they postponed it. I’m glad it’s finally being done, though I do wish it had been a bit more ambitious: not just painted lines on asphalt, but more of a protected lane with some landscaping (like what they did on Laurier East).
The residents’ Facebook group on St. Vallier has 19 thumbs up and 7 angry faces, suggesting there’s perhaps a quiet majority of people supporting this. Projet gets reelected with large majorities in this neighbourhood with every election because of initiatives like this that make the city more pedestrian and bike friendly.
Final note: CTV and a few Italian shop owners are up in arms about loss of parking, but **NOT ONE PARKING SPACE HAS BEEN REMOVED**. They removed a lane, but no parking. In any case, parking is never a problem around here–I can always find a spot within a block of my apartment, so removing a few parking spots for landscaping wouldn’t change much.
walkerp
Not from that neighbourhood, but thirding DeWolf and Pundit. The bulb-outs and traffic calming have made the Plateau Mile End much better to bike in, safer for peds (though I don’t have stats, just an impression) and just look really beautiful. This is not some bobo imposition from above. We want these things.
Ian
Well, now we know who the local voice of gentrification in Little Italy is …
DeWolf, I know you have a chip on your shoulder about anyone who doesn’t toe the line for Projet’s special flavour of “urbanist” greenwashing so I take your comments as a newcomer to the neighbourhood with a grain of salt, but maybe Poutine Pundit could call up CTV to act as a counter to the Alexandre Provosts of the neighbourhood, then. Whether Projet wins majority is neither here nor there as a bellwether of public sentiment as voter turnout is low – but they have certainly mobilized the gentrifying vote.As a Mile End local for over 35 years I like the bulb-outs and twee gardens too, but I can see the frustration of residents (let’s not even get into merchanats) who feel like thereis a lot of prettification going on when we still have more immediate infra problems. Even just putting in crosswalk lights, enforcing no-idling lawas and having consistent pedestrian crossings at intersections with traffic lights would be a huge improvement, but that doesn’t look as good as gardens on every corner, painted bike lanes, and 10 thousand dollar benches.
Chris
>Nobody asked for it…
Citation please. 🙂
Lots of people asked for exactly this general idea, by electing Projet to both borough and city.
>DeWolf, I know you have a chip on your shoulder about anyone who doesn’t toe the line for Projet…
Frankly Ian, you seem to be the one with a chip on your shoulder wrt anything Projet does. Your view is of course widely shared, but let’s not pretend the opposite view is held by “nobody”.
Ian
I was directly quoting the CTV article, “Alexandre Provost, a resident of Saint-Zotique Street, added, “None of my neighbors want this. So we’re just wondering, who is this project for?””. Did you read it?
I admit I am referencing DeWolf’s accusation against myself and others on several occasions of “having a chip on your shoulder” about whatever he disagrees with as an offhanded dismissal. Kind of an in-joke, I apoloigize for any confusion.
To be clear, I don’t dislike everything Projet does per se, what I dislike is the holier-than-thou attitude they seem to espouse, copied by many of their advocates. They really are pretty elitist in many regards and are clearly a force for gentrification of a very specific sort despite claiming all their decisions are based on urbanism & environmentalism.
Of course nobody wants to go back to the grim, seedy, run-down version of the Plateau but bike paths and planters aren’t the answer to all the infrastructure problems of the city, let alone all the infrastructure problems of the Plateau – or adjacent rapidly gentrifying neighbourhoods.
jeather
Someone they interviewed saying “The lurkers support me in email” does not actually prove that this is true.
DeWolf
That’s me, Mr. Gentrification, the tenant who works as a freelancer! Every time I leave my non-renovated apartment to ride my bike somewhere a kitten dies and a real salt-of-the-earth type has to leave for Trois-Rivières.
Ian is completely off the rails if he thinks this is a gentrifier vs old-timer dispute. The people who turned their duplex into mansions with garages for their Audis aren’t happy about the change. Nor are the Little Italy business owners who drive into work because they live in the suburbs. But my neighbours who rent their apartments and don’t own cars?
walkerp
I have a lot of respect for that generation of western european immigrants who came to Montreal in the 50s 60s and 70s, but they are really stuck in the past and resistant to change when it comes to cars and parking spots. I have had several jaw-dropping interactions with them over the years on this issue, including a protest against closing St-Dominique in front of the church at Parc Lahaie where the guy was screaming “C’EST UN DEPOTOIR!” at the farmer’s market that was there to show how nice it would be. Likewise, the wife of the old guy who runs that stereo repair shop up on Parc above Bernard ranted at me about how the Tour de l’ile should be shut down because she had to walk an extra block to get her ride to her church.
I think there is the general resistance to any change that happens when we get older but this generation in particular saw the city as a ghetto and the goal was to get out to the suburbs where you can have lots of land. Implicit in that is the right to drive and park whereever you want. They aren’t rational on this issue.
DavidH
Alexandre Provost, a resident of Saint-Zotique Street, added, “None of my neighbors want this. So we’re just wondering, who is this project for?”
Well, I live there and I don’t know him. That tells you all you need to know. I wish he wouldn’t talk for all of us.We live near Christophe-Colomb and have been waiting for the city to complete the one-way transformation of St-Zotique for years. It will make going out with the car sometimes slightly more complicated. So what !?This was promised a long time ago. They initially back-tracked and stopped the transformation at Christophe-Colomb citing temporary road work that made it too complicated. The rest of St-Zotique (east of CC) was made better by the change. The part that remained is where all of the terraces are, it will be even more improved by it. Eating outdoors is always more pleasant on a calmer street, same with shopping.
People forget that this is to make the whole street more coherent and fluid. It’s already one-way for most of its length. Having the one-way/two-way change back and forth is not good for flow. They did a lot of that on the Plateau under Ferrandez and it creates problems. Even now that people are used to it, Plateau streets clog as soon as there is construction or an unexpected closure.
They are removing a handful of parking spaces that were blocking the view of cars coming out of the alleys and such. From what I understand, these spaces would not be allowed with today’s rules. It’s the same they did on St-Denis with the REV. The larger space in front of those rare driveways for cars to exit and reach the street improve the visibility of oncoming cars make it safer for everyone. This is an area dense with pedestrians including lots of families, visibility is key. It’s a win.
There will never be enough parking to accommodate the restaurants there if everyone comes by car, there are just too many. They need to send a different message and cultivate a different clientele, different behaviors. Some restaurants south of St-Zotique got together years ago to offer valet parking for the area. The scarcity is not new and has nothing to do with the bike path or the one-way signage.
Kate
walkerp, people from that generation who get onto Facebook express similar feelings about cars and parking, it’s entirely predictable. I keep half an eye on the Park Ex group where it’s a pain because they tend to derail all discussions about everything.
CE
I was in the neighbourhood yesterday afternoon and took a ride down the new path. A bit disappointing that they didn’t paint a path going with traffic like on Laurier east of St-Laurent. I also stopped at Café San Gennaro for the first time which I guess proves no publicity is bad publicity. Coffee was good, lemon cookies were excellent! I doubt I would have passed the cafe had the bike path not been built, I usually avoided St-Zotique on my bike as it was narrow and crowded with cars but I imagine I’ll ease there more often now and likely discover some new businesses.
dhomas
“A secret construction consortium making mad cash off city projects”. This project cost $60k, according to the article. That doesn’t sound like “mad cash”.
I wish they would do more of this in my neighbourhood! We desperately need bulb-outs and traffic attenuation. The amount of people going over 60 in the 30 zone next to the park and/or driving through a painted bike lane is insane.
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Kate
Pablo Rodriguez is to resign from the federal cabinet and run for leadership of the Quebec Liberals. This is supposed to be formally announced Thursday morning but is all over local news now.
walkerp
He has great hair for politics.
Ian
Great hair goes a long way in poitics chez nous.
Kate
And then there’s the René Lévesque comb-over…
Chris
Wow, jumping from a sinking ship to a sunken ship. Either genius or idiocy.
Kate
Half a year is an eternity in politics. Neither Liberal party is done.
walkerp
Especially in Quebec, I would not be surprised at all if the Liberals are back in power here within a decade. Wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t either. I mean who the hell heard of the CAQ 10 years ago? And wasn’t the PQ destroyed forever after their last loss?
H. John
Pablo has been in the House and Commons from 2004 to 2011, and again from 2015 until now; and, he was in the cabinet since 2015 until now. My own opinion is somewhat negative. I first met him when he was organizing for the Paul Martin leadership bid (Chretien was still PM).
I’ve been trying to think of any policy where his participation was important to bringing it to fruition at the federal level (I’m using Marc Miller or Sean Fraser as two examples in the present cabinet where I can easily think of what they accomplished). Pablo’s time at Heritage which saw the introduction of the Canadian policy for Facebook and Google news does not bode well.
I’m looking forward to seeing him interviewed this Sunday on Tout le monde en parle.
Ian 22:01 on 2024-09-18 Permalink
Nitazene is stronger than fentanyl, and not to nbe messed with. Not like this kid would know, RIP.