Posts Tagged ‘Ukraine’

intersections – Yonge & Bloor

Posted: July 16, 2022 in intersections
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below: Looking west on Bloor towards Yonge. The pink flags fly in front of Holt Renfrew.  One Bloor East with it’s curvy vertical lines and 76 storeys dominates the sky.  The blue structure is the top of ‘The One’ at 1 Bloor West – It may be short now but it won’t be for long.   There will be 82 storeys once it’s completed (maybe in 2023?)

looking west on Bloor towards Yonge, front of Holt Renfrew Store, new tall building at 1 Bloor East

an older man with thinning grey hair walks on sidewalk, Bloor Street, towards Yonge, and scaffolding over sidewalk because of construction

A few minutes at Yonge and Bloor in mid-July

a young woman with long hair holds a cup of coffee as she walks on sidewalk under protective covering beside construction at Yonge and Bloor

below: Hoardings on the south side of Bloor Street

hoardings and scaffolding, and some people walking by, on south side of Bloor close to Yonge

below: Construction.  Blank whiteness on The One as it slowly rises.

Construction of The One at Yonge & Bloor, one Bloor West

below: Hanging Ukrainian flags on the southwest corner of Yonge and Bloor.

southwest corner of Yonge & Bloor, woman hanging Ukrainian flags on scaffolding holding up sidewalk protection around construction site, an older man is crossing street in electric wheelchair with the help of a woman in blue

below: South side of the intersection.  At least the facade of the older buildings on Yonge Street are being preserved.

south side of intersection of Yonge & Bloor, people waiting for traffic lights, some cars, older buildings being saved during redevlopment of the area

below: Looking south on Yonge from Bloor.

looking south on Yonge from Bloor, construction on west side, new building on east

Ukrainian flags for sale, other signs re war in Ukraine, on corner of Yonge & Bloor

below: Looking east on Bloor from just west of Yonge Street.  Rising 88 feet above the sidewalk is the metallic ‘Safe Hands’ sculpture by Ron Arad.

looking west on Bloor at Yonge

below: Anti-Putin protest, northeast corner

Canada Post box on sidewalk, a community bulletin board full of posters and papers, a protest sign in blue and yellow that says kill Putin, he murders kids.

below: Waiting for a green light, northwest corner (more construction!)

4 people waiting for traffic light to turn green, on sidewalk by construction hoardings at northwest corner of Yonge & Bloor

Bloor street street sign in front of building under construction,

way up Yonge Street

Posted: April 14, 2022 in construction, history, intersections, locations, stores
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between Steeles and Drewry/Cummer.

Once it was the hinterland but now it feels like the city just goes on and on and on….

below: In 1955 this was the view looking south on Yonge from just north of Cummer/Drewry. This was the center of the community of Newtonbrook, named after the Newton Brook Wesleyan Church founded in 1857.  A general store and post office were opened here in 1863 on the northeast corner of Yonge & Drewry (possibly the buildings on the right side of this photo).

black and white photo of yonge street looking south from Cummer

photo credit: James Victor Salmon, found on Toronto Public Library website (public domain).

below: It’s not taken from exactly the same viewpoint (traffic!) but this is what you see looking south on Yonge Street now.

yonge street, looking south from drewry and cummer, large new condo development with 3 cranes, some traffic,

below: Looking north up Yonge Street from just south of Cummer/Drewry.  The large house is on the southeast corner of Cummer and Yonge.

old black and white photo of yonge street,

photo credit: Tim Chirnside, found on Toronto Public Library website (public domain)

below: The intersection of Yonge and Cummer (to the east) and Drewry (to the west) today.   The large house in the black and white photo above would be on the far right of this picture.

northeast corner of cummer and yonge, large red brick apartment building, small strip malls

below: Yonge Street is also Provincial Highway 11.

toronto street signs, cummer ave., yonge street, as well as provincial highway 11 sign for yonge street

below: It is a major transportation/transit route.

GO bus stop and Viva bus stop markers on yonge street

below: Happy Nowruz! or in other words, Happy New Year!  It is the Iranian New Year; the beginning of spring; a new day!  The banners were by sponsored by Tirgan, an organization that “promotes cross-cultural dialogue between Iranian-Canadians and the global community at large.”

red banner on utility pole on yonge street that says happy nowruz

below: There are many other cultures that are well represented in this part of the city.

signs for stores, restaurants and businesses on yonge street, popeyes louisiana kitchn, legal services, accountant, mary's cosmetic clinic, etc

small hand written sign that says big parking lot

cleaning up in front of a new building on yonge street

below: Like so many parts of Toronto, there is a lot of redevelopment taking place. Blue and white development notice signs are everywhere.

blue and white development notice sign on vacant lot on yonge street, houses, and newer highrises in the background, residential area, Newtonbrook

crooked metal fence around a vacantlot that has been paved over, yonge street, about to be redeveloped

man adjusting signs on hoardings around a construction site

view southward on yonge street, behind chainlink fence

below: To be (possibly) replaced by 25 storeys, 347 residences and a daycare.

sign print shop storefront with development notice sign in front

below: Seoul Plaza with it’s Korean BBQ restaurant and other businesses (not all Korean) – also with a development notice sign in front.  I’m not sure of the size of the development but it looks like your average  20ish storeys on podium condo.

Seoul Plaza on Yonge street, restaurant and businesss, with blue and white development notice sign in front

strip mall on Yonge street with cars parked in front, Arzon Super Market, Papa Cafe, nanaz Salon, plus other businesses

billboard that says bigger and better, on yonge street, pedestrians on sidewalk

below: Looking south from Moore Park Ave

looking south on the west side of yonge from Moore Park Ave., people walking on sidewalk, stores and restaurants

below: Looking north to the intersection of Yonge and Steeles.  Steeles Ave has been the northern boundary of the City of Toronto since 1953.  All of the tall buildings in this picture are north of Steeles and are in Thornhill (York Region).

looking north up yonge street to the intersection of yonge and steeles with many highrises north of steeles

looking down a short alley to a pale grey side of a house, same grey as building on north side of alley

below: Pro Ukraine stencil graffiti.

spray paint stencil graffiti, black trident on blue and yellow map of ukraine

below: I’m not sure what the spring will do but someone has been putting up a lot of posters for the Communist Party.

graffiti text sprayed on map and wall of bus shelter says the spring will (illegible), partially removed posters below that for communist party

communist party posters on a grey metal street boxcommunist party posters on a red box on the sidewalk

old Christmas decorations and empty buckets behind a restaurant

man sitting in a bus shelter, brick apartment building behind him

graffiti of a cartoon like young man with a big red nose

Ukraine Invaded

Posted: March 15, 2022 in graffiti and street art
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Two new murals have appeared in Graffiti Alley and Rush Lane, both in reaction to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia.  First:

mural in Rush Lane in blue and yellow, text in Cyrillic alphabet, bird, white dove with branch that is half yellow and half blue

part of a mural, white dove of peace with a branch in its claws that is half blue and half yellow representing Ukraine

crow-like bird with beak open wide as it makes noise, top part blue and bottom part yellow, for Ukraine

UPDATE: The above mural is a group effort.  The bird, a nightingale, was painted by Nick Sweetman.  That link should take you to an instagram post that describes the thinking behind the mural.  It also lists mr_tensoe2,  SpyOne, and TwiceBorn as the collaborators.

below: … and second, a painting that has already been scribbled on.

street art portrait of Putin in grey tones, wearing a baseball cap that says Make Russia Great Again, background is half blue and half yellow for Ukraine. It has already been scribbled on