Today our neighbours at 2 Laxton visited their landlord, Gojko Kuzmanovic at his residence off Royal York Road. Tenants put him on notice to do long neglected repairs in their units and common areas in the building. “When I moved in the unit was filthy and I had to stay with a friend while I cleaned it
Today our neighbours from 116 Spencer blocked their landlord from stealing their patio furniture and barbeque. “We sat here having coffee and donuts while he tried to throw out our stuff. He says he has the authority, but he’s not in the right, and he can’t make us leave,” said Sadie, a tenant at the building.
@dsherwoodb reports on LAO Board Chair’s real estate connections… Last week Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) made front page news when it announced a major attack on Parkdale, cutting 45% of its funding to Parkdale Community Legal Services (PCLS). What wasn’t reported was LAO’s Board Chair Charles Harnick’s connections to Toronto real estate interests. We think
This morning at 8:00am, in the midst of our daily grind, over 300 Parkdale parents, students, teachers and workers met on Jameson. We came together to demonstrate our strength in the face of attacks on our neighbourhood. We made a commitment to stand together in the struggles ahead. We committed to defending our homes, our
At 8 AM on June 5 Parkdale tenants, students, teachers and workers will stand together on Jameson Avenue to demonstrate our power and unity against threats to our jobs, schools, services and homes. The Parkdale Community Legal Clinic is facing closure. Our schools are facing cutbacks. Refugees no longer have access to legal support. The
THIS IS PARKDALE Volume 2, Issue 4 – May 2019 ONE DAMN THING AFTER ANOTHER It can sometimes feel like we’re surrounded. It feels like we’re under attack. In a lot of ways we are. Every week (even every day) brings a new threat to our homes, our schools, our jobs or the services we
On Saturday, March 30, our neighbours at 1 Springhurst and their supporters delivered a letter to landlord Ryan Rakowski at his Forrest Hill home. Rakowski is trying raise tenants’ rents by more than 8% to pay for repair work that was needed after years of neglect. Our neighbours can’t afford this huge increase. When our
The struggle against displacement in Parkdale continues… Today our neighbours at 103 and 105 West Lodge occupied the head offices of Timbercreek Asset Management. Joined by Parkdale teachers whose students live at the buildings, tenants delivered more than 150 work orders detailing disrepair in units. Today West Lodge tenants put Timbercreek on notice: we will
Deborah Savage is a working-class organizer and long-time friend of Parkdale Organize. She and her neighbours made news this week when they occupied their homes in response to their landlord locking them out. You can read their story in the Toronto Star. In light of their recent struggle we are re-posting this interview with Deborah
Today our neighbours from 109 Jameson along with members of Parkdale Organize visited the Forest Hill home of landlords Angelo and Linda Scioscia. We delivered a letter and twenty repair orders and demanded they do the repairs and stop threats of eviction against our neighbours now. 109 Jameson is one of the few remaining mid-rise
Today tenants at 1340 King along with members of Parkdale Organize delivered a letter to landlord Evan Johnsen at his Parkdale home. Johnsen is trying to evict 1340 King tenant Stanislav, a masonry worker who has lived in the building for twenty years. In summer 2018 Stanislav transferred to a new unit in the building.
Today our neighbours at 1251 King defeated their landlord’s eviction case against rent strike organizers Mark and Pratussa. Respect to Mark and Pratussa for standing their ground and again demonstrating that working-class people in Parkdale can and should refuse to back down under threat of eviction. Harassment, pay-offs, legal tricks and high-priced lawyers can’t beat
Today our neighbours at 1336 King, along with members of Parkdale Organize, visited the Mississauga home of their landlord, Marina Grmusa. Grmusa is evicting our neighbours Melissa, Cesar, and Marco. We made it clear that our neighbours are here to stay. In August, Grmusa tried to strong-armed Melissa and Cesar into signing forms which would
A LOT CAN CHANGE IN A YEAR Last May 1 saw something new in Parkdale: the MetCap Rent Strike. It started on May 1, 2017 but began months, if not years, before. Thousands of people in Parkdale have been struggling for years as tenants, as workers, as parents, as indigenous people, as immigrants and the
The rent strike at 1251 King has ended in victory. Nuspor has withdrawn the above guideline rent increase at our building. Seven months ago the MetCap rent strikers declared victory. Their victory inspired us and made our rent strike possible. Like them we organized, took direct action and won. We organized under different conditions. MetCap
Late last week rent strikers at 1251 King received notice from their landlord, Nuspor Investments, requesting a meeting to settle the strike. Last night rent strikers met to elect their committee. Rent strikers will meet representatives from Nuspor to make their demands clear: drop the above guideline rent increase and do the repairs now. They have agreed
Over the long weekend flyers were delivered to Michael and Marsha Lax’s neighbours in their Bathurst and Sheppard-area neighbourhood. More flyers appeared in the area of Bnei Akiva schools where Michael Lax sits on the Board of Directors. Today Metro Newspaper profiles three rent strikers from 1251 King. These are three of the dozens of
Michael Lax, landlord and director of Nuspor Investments, has sent eviction notices to the rent strikers at 1251 King. On Sunday night rent strikers met and unanimously agreed to continue to withhold their rent until Michael Lax drops his application for a rent increase above the guideline at the building. The rent strikers are not
In press coverage of our struggle, you’ll often see that predatory landlords, poor living conditions and hardship are the focus. Reporters interview talking heads from government-funded organizations that have nothing to do with our organizing. In this and other videos from Sub.Media you will see what the story of Parkdale is really about. This is
Tenants from 1251 King held firm on their demand that Nuspor drop an above guideline rent increase that aims to pass off the costs of a $296,935 lobby renovation, as well as over $35,000 of other costs, on to the tenants. A trial date will be set as a result. Today was in no way
Teachers at Queen Victoria Public School in Parkdale will protest in support of rent strikers at 1251 King on Thursday morning. Many students at Queen Vic live at 1251 King. Their teachers support them and their parents on rent strike. Teachers demand Nuspor drop the above guideline rent increase and do the repairs now! What: Parkdale Teachers’ Protest
Nuspor Investments: Drop the rent increase now! Tonight, at a meeting called by the building committee at 1251 King, tenants committed in numbers to going on rent strike February 1. The tenants demand their landlord, Nuspor Investments, drop the above guideline rent increase at the building now. In an attempt to intimidate tenants, Nuspor hired
This morning a group of our neighbours from 1251 King, along with members of Parkdale Organize, travelled together from Parkdale to the uptown offices of the landlord, Nuspor Investments. We came to demand Nuspor drop the above guideline rent increase at the building. We also brought a stack of requests for repairs that have gone
Our neighbours at 1251 King are beginning to organize against an above guideline rent increase at their building. Their landlord, Nuspor Investments, is trying to raise the rent way above the guideline to make tenants pay for cosmetic renovations to the lobby and hallways. Meanwhile, the landlord ignores problems in units and expects our neighbours
Download PDF here “GENTRIFICATION” IS THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG It seems like everyone nowadays is talking about ‘gentrification’ in the neighbourhood, especially now that two condo towers are slated to go up at King and Dufferin. Parkdale Organize agrees that gentrification is a real problem. We don’t necessarily agree with everyone about what gentrification
From our neighbours who work at the Ontario Food Terminal: We have just returned from signing the contract. All of us voted yes on the proposals. Everyone is happy with what we have and we are looking forward to returning to work tomorrow, after almost two weeks on strike. For all of us, this is
