Toronto in review for the week ending September 28, 2012
Welcome to the 'Toronto in review' podcast for September 28, a roundup of interesting events and news out of City Hall.
Toronto Public Health invites all mothers and their babies to participate and help Toronto win the eighth annual Breastfeeding Challenge. On Saturday, mothers and babies in Toronto will compete with other cities worldwide for the distinction of having the most children breastfeeding at one time. In 2009, Toronto had the highest participation among 300 sites worldwide, with 373 babies breastfeeding at one time. This year's event will be held at the East York Civic Centre from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will include a fashion show, workshops, light lunch and prizes. Toronto mothers can also register their participation by calling 416-407-0168 or sending an email to info@latchlactation.com. Visit the Toronto Public Health website for more information.
From sunset at 7:03 p.m. on Saturday to sunrise on Sunday, September 30, Scotiabank Nuit Blanche - a celebration of contemporary art - once again returns to the Toronto's streets. This year for the first time there is a concentration of City-produced projects along King Street from Peter Street in the west to Jarvis Street in the east. Art installations in this area are easily accessible from St. Andrew and King Street subway stations. In addition to the regular Blue Night Network service, the TTC is expanding its all-night service to a portion of the subway. The Bloor-Danforth subway will run from Keele to Woodbine stations, and the Yonge-University subway will run from St Clair West to Eglinton stations. GO Train service includes extra trains to and from Union Station. Full details for this year's event are available at www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca.
St. Lawrence Market will showcase its great food and raise funds for FoodShare Toronto with an event called the "St. Lawrence Mmm Market Night: An Adventure in Flavour." During the evening event on November 8, the St. Lawrence Market's south building will be transformed with galleys of foods prepared by the market merchants. Food served will include, for example, apple-cider-smoked salmon, vodka-smoked steelhead trout, kangaroo sliders, vegetarian black-bean tacos with salsa verde, pierogies, and peameal bacon sandwiches. The evening will also feature renowned chef David Adjey and a performance called Art Battle featuring a painting challenge set to live music. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased from St. Lawrence Market merchants, online at www.foodshare.net/Tickets-StLmarketnight.htm and at the St. Lawrence Market office at 92 Front Street East.
From October 4 through October 24, the City will begin its next round of Making Space for Culture consultations to assess community needs for affordable and sustainable cultural spaces. The consultations will help provide Councillors, and those investing in cultural infrastructure, with insight about the needs and priorities of each ward.
Residents are invited to attend the consultations and to offer their input. The survey and a complete list of locations and additional information is available at: www.toronto.ca/culture/cultural-spaces.htm.
Meetings coming up at City Hall next week (October 1-5):
- On Monday, the Toronto Preservation Board is scheduled to meet.
- On Tuesday, City Council will meet.
- On Wednesday, City Council and Bid Committee will meet.
- There are no meetings on Thursday or Friday.
Weekend road closures
Three special events this weekend will involve road closures.
For Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, a series of road closures will take place on Saturday, September 29 through to sunrise on Sunday, September 30. More information about getting around during the event is available online.
For the Harvest Festival, two eastbound lanes of Dundas Street West from Runnymede Road to Fisken Avenue will be closed on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For Kensington Pedestrian Sundays, the following streets will be closed on Sunday from noon to 7:30 p.m.:
- Augusta Avenue from Dundas Street West to College Street
- Kensington Avenue from Dundas Street West to Baldwin Street
- Baldwin Street from the parking garage to Augusta Avenue
- St. Andrew Street from the parking garage to Kensington Avenue
Those who need to drive in the general vicinity of special events should allow extra time to get to and from their destination. A more complete list of events and road work is available at www.toronto.ca/torontostreets.
And finally, on Wednesday, there will be a reading event featuring the five shortlisted authors for the 2012 Toronto Book Awards. The event will take place at 7 p.m. at the Toronto Public Library, Yorkville Branch located at 22 Yorkville Avenue. For more information about this year's finalists including excerpts from the shortlisted books visit www.toronto.ca/book_awards.
Thanks for listening to Toronto in Review.