Serving LEASIDE-BENNINGTON, DANFORTH VILLAGE, NORTH RIVERDALE and BROADVIEW
St. Clair East Animal Hospital Full Service Veterinary Care 2879 St. Clair Ave. E., (between O’Connor & Victoria Park)
647-348-4889 • www.stclaireastanimalhospital.ca
inside David Nickle is on the city hall beat / 4
Free Market Evaluation
thurs april 21, 2016
www.eastyorkmirror.com ®
Controversial cafe closed down JOANNA LAVOIE jlavoie@insidetoronto.com
Local events listings /5
Baseball boom in Leaside / 3
shopping wagjag.com amazing deals on group discounts
shop.ca
shop and earn, every time!
save.ca
coupons-flyers-deals-tips
keep in touch @EastYorkMirror www.facebook.com/ EastYorkMirror
more online
insidetoronto.com
A hookah lounge at 1530 Danforth Ave., just east of Coxwell Avenue, has been shut down. On Monday, the bailiff terminated the lease agreement and changed the locks at Cloud Nine Café, which was previously known as Rotana Café. This establishment has been associated with three murders in three years. The latest incident, Toronto’s 26th homicide of 2016, happened early Sunday when a 20-year-old Toronto man, Abdullah Farah, was killed in a drive-by shooting. Investigators believe shots were fired from a moving vehicle and are looking for a white, four-door sedan. Just more than a year ago, 21-year-old Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf was fatally shot outside what was then known as Rotana Café. Beach Triangle resident Dominic Parker, who worked as a firefighter in Markham, was stabbed to death there in September 2013. Late last year, Nabil Huruy, who has a mental health disorder, was found to be not criminally responsible for Parker’s death. “I’m very pleased it has been closed down and it looks like there will be a great new use there,” Ward 30 TorontoDanforth Councillor Paula Fletcher said late Tuesday afternoon, pointing to a new child-care centre slated to take
Photo/COURTESY
Above, Abdullah Farah, 20, was shot Sunday morning outside the Cloud Nine Cafe (at left) on Danforth Avenue. It was the third murder connected to a cafe at that location in the three years, and it was shut down on Monday.
Staff photo/JOANNA LAVOIE
over that site and three adjoining storefronts. “It’s really disheartening a family had to lose a son in order for something to happen at this location.” In a strongly worded letter to Mayor John Tory, Fletcher and her Ward 29 councillor colleague Mary Fragedakis said the two previous murders at 1530 Danforth Ave. should never have been described as a “coincidence.”
The April 18 letter, which was sent to Tory prior to 1530 Danforth Ave. being shuttered, goes on to say that local councillors, along with residents and many fine establishments along the Danforth, have tried every “conceivable avenue” to shut down Cloud 9/Rotana. Police officers from 55 and 54 divisions also undertook a special project in the area, the Toronto Parking Authority stepped up security at its lot
across the street and bylaw officers were regularly made aware of residents’ complaints to no avail. The Danforth East Community Association created a new “Danforth East Means to Me” mural at the nearby Coxwell Parkette. The 30-foot-long mural project brought community members of all ages together to communicate their thoughts and feelings about building a safer area. In the letter, Fletcher and Fragedakis also expressed their disappointment and outrage that this lounge was granted a business license by the cityappointed Licensing Tribunal on Sept. 3, 2015 without hearing >>>CAFE, page 2
Fundraising to help cover man’s burial costs underway The management of Udupi Palace, a popular south Indian vegetarian restaurant in Little India, is reaching out to those who knew and loved employee Sudesh Shetty for help. Shetty died April 13 at the age of 32. Udupi Palace’s owner Hubert D’Mello, and manager Alwyn Lewis, who was Shetty’s roommate, set up a GoFundMe p a g e ( w w w. g o f u n d m e . com/67zs6pg4) earlier this week to raise $20,000 to fly their friend’s body back to his hometown of Mangalore, India, for a proper burial. As of Wednesday, upward of $19,000 has been raised. D’Mello said it will cost about $9,000 to fly Shetty’s body over to India. The rest of the money will be donated to Shetty’s family to help with funeral expenses as well as the loss of income as he often sent money home. “Sudesh’s family is very touched and very thankful, too,” D’Mello said, adding there’s also some talk of raising funds in India. While Shetty’s family is devastated by the news of his passing, his death is also deeply upsetting to both his co-workers as well as many people in the community who knew him for his friendliness and warm smile. “He was a very nice guy, very hard working and cooperative,” D’Mello said. “He was like a family member (at Udupi Palace). All of the staff and many customers knew him.”