Some businesses give an icy middle finger to King St. pilot
The Star spotted the ice sculptures outside a small number of King St. businesses on Wednesday -- although not all of them agreed with the protest.

Thestar.com
Jan. 17, 2018
Tamar Harris

Businesses on King St. are displaying ice sculptures of raised middle fingers in protest of the King St. pilot project.

On Wednesday, the Star spotted the icy artworks outside of Kit Kat, Portland Variety and The Office Pub. The sculptures depict a fist with the middle finger raised, underneath the words “fuddle duddle,” a phrase then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau famously claimed he had said in 1971 after he was spotted mouthing a profanity.

Another sculpture stood outside a fourth King St. business, Z-Teca, but the restaurant later denied involvement in a Tweet.

Al Carbone, owner of Kit Kat, confirmed to the Star on Wednesday that the ice sculptures are in protest of the King St. pilot project, but declined to comment.

San Yoges, owner of The Office Pub, said the ice sculptures are to get people’s attention.

“I just wanted to support and help, let people know that we’re losing business,” he said, adding he has seen less people walking and driving on the street.

Yoges said he does not mind the pilot project during the day time, because walk-in traffic remains.

“It’s just the nightlife. It’s affected a lot of business on King St.,” he said, adding his delivery business is down almost 75 per cent.

Mexican restaurant Z-Teca denied involvement Wednesday, tweeting that the sculpture outside their business was “definitely out there without our consent,” and was removed.

“It’s not our sign. We didn’t put it there,” Z-Teca tweeted. The restaurant had earlier tweeted it supports the King St. pilot.

Councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) said the ice sculptures are not a good way to attract customers.

“Just as the city has a responsibility to work with local businesses to assess and modify the pilot, local businesses have a responsibility to work with the transit riders and the residents of Toronto who are looking to eat, shop and drink at their establishments,” he said.

Streetcars are faster and more reliable since the pilot took effect, Cressy said, with a 25 per cent increase in people using the streetcar since the pilot began two months ago. He added that people working in the Financial District “are actually getting to work on time, that people are getting to meetings on time.”

Food and beverage businesses between Bathurst to Jarvis Sts. have expressed that “there’s a lot of confusion at the moment, which we’re working closely with them to rectify,” Cressy said.

The city is now offering two hours of free parking near the pilot project. Changes to the pilot, including an exemption to turning restrictions in the evening and weekend for drivers and a two-hour TTC transfer along the route, are also being considered.

Beth Reynolds works on King St. and walked by the ice sculpture outside of Kit Kat on Wednesday afternoon.

“I was surprised, but then I just kept walking, to be honest,” she said, laughing. “I think in the city you just kind of get used to things like that.”

Reynolds added that she used to drive to work, but began taking the streetcar a few weeks after the pilot began in November.

“It was easier to just get on transit,” she said.