Dear City of Toronto, I am…

Dear City of Toronto,

I am following up on my email below dated Janauary 17, 2023

From: Gabriel Bengino [mailto:gabriel@tsems.com]
Sent: January 17, 2023 8:27 AM
To: Councillor Saxe <Councillor_Saxe@toronto.ca>; Edward LaRusic <Edward.LaRusic4@toronto.ca>
Cc: Martin Janks <martin@tsems.com>
Subject: RE: 1901 Yonge street driveway issue

Dear Councilor Dianne Saxe (c/o Holli),

Issue: The placement of bike-railings/lanes (or whatever they are called, as it is not clear what we even call them) that have sprung up overnight in front of our doorstep ,here at 1901 Yonge Street residential building south of Davisville avenue , has been seriously impacting our mobility and safety and way of life and poses risks that are in serious misalignment with rights of our residents (mainly seniors) as outlined by the Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Decision/Action requested: The new bike installation/blockage/lane right outside 1901 Yonge Street main entrance has to be stopped/reversed immediately.

Rational: This action by the city, to aid the bikers and to allegedly reduce traffic, has been done without any consultation and proper research, moreover, it shows lack of foresight on the part of the City for our residents and their guests/visitors as it disregards the need for reasonable access by residents to mount/dismount vehicles/ride that previously could stop in front of their residents “to pick them up and drop them off”. Overall disregard for disability aspects for 1901 resident is evident by anyone visiting the site in-person (vs. just looking at photos/maps while sitting behind a desk in the office).

Outlining specific cases that do not fit into the access points Maogosha provided:
• We are not discussing the small railings that were placed many years ago to prevent newspapers from falling!

• We are discussing the hostile take over of our main pickup/drop off access point for ambulance, taxi, wheel trans, cars etc.

• The Balliol side, the back of the building outdoor visitor parking lot and the bus stop north of Davisville suggested by Maogosha are totally unworkable and inaccessible by our mostly seniors and mobility-challenged residents.

• We frankly wonder if Maogosha and/or any of the esteemed city planners have actually taken the time to come and take a look at this location in person, and if they have, we seriously wonder if they have ever placed themselves in the place a of a person with a walker or cane who can only walk a few feet maximum with assistance (specially in rain or icy conditions) to hope on and hop off a car/ride/taxi?

• The suggested access points are mainly out of question and not real access point for seniors/disabled members of our community in this building. As they are all about 100-200 feet away and specially with the surface of our sidewalk being somewhat steep and wide (which by the way many bikes and scooters still speed through it despite having their own lane now in front of the building, posing many risks!).

• The residents of this building are law-abiding people who pay a lot of money in the form of various fees and mainly hefty property taxes to live in an accessible building while the bikers do not pay any tax or insurance and do not share any liability when they choose to speed against the direction of one way traffic on these lanes and choose to ride the opposite way, surprising the pedestrians.

• Many of these bikers and scooters are seen often going in various directions ON the sidewalk in front of 1901 and hence the hostile takeover of not just a portion of the street which is literally our driveway buy also traumatizing the pedestrians and residents alike, all which they do not share the liabilities and risk as: they do not own a license plate (can’t be tracked/fined), they do not have liability or any sort of insurance, last but not least, they do not even have any sort of license demonstrating they can abide by and respect road safety and rules and for all we know many could be inexperienced bikers who just happen to be “borrowing someone’s bike for the day!. This whole concept of allowing they this much invasion and” unshared” liability when we are required to share so much with them for free is rather mind-blowing!

We are providing evidence below to the city that the newly placed extended bike paths and associated railings on Yonge street do not work and we feel they show a lack of regard for the 1901 residents who are for the most part either senior citizens and elderly or challenged by some form of disability impacting their movement and walking/standing for longer than a few feet to get to their ride and any vehicle for their mobility.

Background & Details: The blockage to comfortably mount/dismount a taxi/car/ambulance/etc. is a seirous access issue. These installed railing/flags are right in front of the main entrance at 1901 Yonge street, a corner building steps from the busy Yonge & Davisville intersection needs to be reassessed and ideally removed. When we first complained last year it was evident from the response that we got which outlined that back door as an alternative access point, we were certain that no one has really taken the time to study the unique position and place of this building and definitely no one has taken the time to consider accessibility issues.

The building has two other access points other than this main entrance at Younge street side which is the subject of our complain:
1. Underground parking: not everyone has a parking spot or a car. Moreover, getting to the parking requires a few minutes of walk to get to still.
2. Back door (which was suggested in an earlier response by a city staff who first responded to our complaint): it’s totally inaccessibly and one has to go through steep stairs and multiple little steps/hurdles to get to it! So that one is out of the question entirely.

These railing were placed suddenly and without any consultation with us as mentioned earlier, and we feel proper care and research has not been done to assess its impact on the residence of the 1901 building who are mainly seniors or dealing with a disability (hence the reason for them to choose this location that used to be most accessible prior to this somewhat hostile takeover by the new change in place in the form of “bike lanes and rails”.

1901 residents are impacted by this takeover of their main access point to mount/dismount a car, an ambulance, hopping on a ride without having to walk half a block and specially cumbersome and somewhat impossible for those dealing with disabilities and dealing with lack of accessibility they now face.

Those who have the luxury access and a person to assist them in accessing a car by using the underground parking (which still requires the disable or challenged person to be moved to that location and spend a few minutes more to walk to get there) are few and not everyone can get a ride from the secure private underground parking discussed above, as it is reserved for those who own a car and have access to this place - and still it is not the most accessibly way for a person who is not driving himself/herself. and many aren’t!.

One of our residents has disability research background to inform continuous improvement of policies and programs in government and this email has relied on her knowledge of related issues as well and summarized as such to the best of our ability here. This letter to request this bike rail implementation and reversal has been written with reliance on current trends and city/gov. obligations as such and is well supported by rights of a disabled person according to ”the Ontarians with disability act” and other resources related to it as well.

Thanking you in advance for any and all support you are able to provide us with.

Warm regards,

Concerned 1901 Residents (c/o TSE Property Management team in charge).

/photos attached

Thank you,

Gabriel Bengino, CMRAO
Licensed Condominium Manager
Senior Property Manager

T. 905. 764.9166 x 50
f. 905.882.0228
e. gabriel@tsems.com
30 East Beaver Creek Rd, #107, Richmond Hill, ON, L4B 1J2
Property Management, Financial and Consulting Services

From: Councillor Saxe <Councillor_Saxe@toronto.ca>
Sent: Monday, January 9, 2023 10:20 AM
To: Gabriel Bengino <gabriel@tsems.com>; Edward LaRusic