🌡️ It won’t touch 20 degrees today, which makes it feel like the start of fall. We’re looking at a high of 19 degrees with largely clear skies.
🚧 This might be the least surprising news of the year. The Eglinton Crosstown LRT won’t open in 2024. To add insult to injury, Mosaic Transit Group, the Finch West LRT builders, are suing Metrolinx for not including them in operational discussions between the provincial transit agency, the city and the TTC.
🚊 Torontonians are used to terrible transit news. This story, however, bucks the trend. The King streetcar will once again serve Liberty Village residents starting Sunday after construction finished months ahead of schedule. Surely, this will solve all the neighbourhood’s traffic problems.
✈️ Billy Bishop needs a longer runway to keep operating past summer 2027, thanks to new federal safety regulations. The island airport has always been a controversial topic in Toronto. Mayor Olivia Chow threw her weight behind team longer runway yesterday but city staff don’t think extending the lease past 2033 is a good idea.
👷♂️ Canada’s temporary foreign worker program has been a breeding ground for abuse and exploitation. The latest example is an alleged incident at a Toronto Canadian Tire that saw 13 employees quit or get fired over the past year.
🚔 The Toronto police officer who stole from dead people and tried to cover his tracks by falsifying reports got seven years in prison.
🏗️ Mayor Olivia Chow’s plan to build subsidized housing at five sites across the city is picking up steam. Plans were recently filed for a project in Kensington Market.
🏢 Vacancy rates for Toronto’s premier downtown office buildings are falling. The rates for less fancy buildings outside the core are rising. Like many things, the economic recovery from the pandemic is uneven.
📉 For the sixth month in a row, crane activity in the city declined. It’s a sign of a less-than-stellar building environment and doesn’t bode well for Toronto’s housing goals.
🏡 Dave LeBlanc writes about a new development at Ossington and Geary that might prove you can build good housing quickly on the cheap.
📰 Rosie DiManno chronicles the decline of Toronto and pits it against her boss's optimistic tone on the city’s future.
Commuter corner
Subway service between Victoria Park and Kennedy stations will end early at 11 p.m. but shuttle buses will pick up the slack.
Events, dear boy, events
Canada’s Picklefest returns to the Junction on the weekend.
El Mocambo hosts the Toronto Burlesque Festival from Thursday to Sunday.
Director Guillermo del Toro hosts a fundraiser at The Revue on Thursday night.
Billie Eilish is at Scotiabank Arena tonight. Fred Again follows her on Thursday and Friday.
If you’ve ever laughed at a David Sedaris book, now’s your chance to see him in person. The author is at Massey Hall on Wednesday to do some readings and a Q&A session.
Toronto’s Coin Expo takes over the Toronto Reference Library on Friday and Saturday.
Nuit Blanche goes from sundown Saturday to sun up Sunday in one of the marquee arts events of the year.
The Greek International Film Festival starts tomorrow and runs through October.