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www.eastyorkmirror.com the city David Nickle on the city hall beat / 7

Check out the local event listings/ 5

photos Feeling the vibe at Peace Camp / 3

Constituency Office 1821 Danforth Avenue, Toronto T: 416-690-1032 F: 416-690-8420 mprue-co@ndp.on.ca www.michaelprue.com

East York dancer Heads up inspires youth with arts festival

Owners wait to hear fate of their stores

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TARA HATHERLY thatherly@insidetoronto.com

Four-alarm fire impact

In a few years, one Toronto resident went from breakdancing in East York to inspiring youths around the world through hip hop with his Unity charity and urban arts festival. When Michael Prosserman, also known as Bboy Piecez, discovered breakdancing and the creative outlet urban arts offer, he had to share it with others. Fast for ward a few years, and Prosserman and his Unity charity, originally started as a high school class project, have helped more than 100,000 Canadian youths, and others around the world, learn positive expression, stress management and leadership skills through urban arts.

REBECCA FIELD rfield@insidetoronto.com In the early morning hours of Saturday, a resident living above Andrea’s Gerrard Street Bakery came home from a night out and saw an orange glow coming from the building on the corner of Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street. “He’s the one that called 911,” said Judy Ouk, President of East Chinatown’s Chinese Chamber of Commerce. “During the phone call the explosions went and blew right out the window.” This phone call ended up bringing 70 firefighters to the scene of the four-alarm fire that broke out at 5 a.m.

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As a teen

tenants displaced

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As a teen, Prosserman found himself stressed and angry, and unable to express and relieve those feelings positively. Instead, he bottled the emotions up inside, causing him to become physically sick. “When I found breakdancing, or as we call it, B-boying, I was able to just let out all that stress, and it could just seep into the floor and get out of my body, and I was able to focus not only on what was in front of me, but on my future,” explained Prosserman. “That connection to using the art form to relieve some of the stress I had as a young person is really what helped me out, and helped me get to where I am today.” Using breakdancing, beat boxing, spoken-word poetry and graffiti art to engage youths, Unity empowers them to become positive community role models. >>>michael, page 8

Twenty-six tenants were displaced by the fire, which brought down the building, and is keeping surrounding buildings closed until Monday at the earliest. “It was very bad for the businesses, but we’re lucky that nobody was killed in the fire,” said Ouk whose husband owns Bill’s Lobster down the street from the collapsed building. Hazardous material crews continued to clean up Tuesday as the Fire Marshall waited on a structural engineer to determine whether surrounding buildings needed to be demolished as well. Trinh Huynh, owner of Sammi’s Gift Shop at 585 Gerrard St. E., had all of the goods in her store destroyed by smoke and water damage as a result of the fire. “I think I lost everything in there,” said Huynh who built up the business over 20 years. “I do hard work. I’m a hard worker and I’ll build back my business.” >>>area, page 8

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Photo/MANNY RODRIGUES

ON THE FIELD: East York Pythons’ Romario Bryan leaps for a head ball over Weston Wolves 96 defenders during Ontario Cup under-17 action at the L’Amoreaux Hydro Fields in Scarborough on Sunday. East York went on to win the game 4-1.

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