Sunday, March 13, 2011
Bye bye Boustan?
Famed and cheap local Lebanese eatery may soon be shuttering its beloved doorsFamed and cheap local Lebanese eatery may soon be shuttering its beloved doors
by ELISABETH FAURE
March 3, 2011
ENDANGERED BOM PERENNIAL: Boustan
Another Montreal landmark may soon be shutting down.
If you’ve ever been a broke student, drunk at 3 a.m. on Crescent, or just been downtown and hungry (or all of the above), you’ve likely eaten at Boustan. The Lebanese fast-food joint has been a perennial Mirror Best of Montreal Best Cheap Eats fave for years, and has been around a quarter-century.
Despite its continued success, the famed late-night eatery’s days are numbered. Owner Imad Smaidi (aka “Mr. Boustan”) has put the resto up for sale, since his sons Fadi and Jamal have decided not to continue the family business.
“My kids, they’re not interested,” says Smaidi, who claims he’s made peace with their decision. “It would be inappropriate for me to force it on them…. If you love somebody, you have to respect their choice.”
After working at Boustan for most of his adult life, eldest son Fadi, 33, decamped to Edmonton three years ago to start his own business, Dahlia’s Mediterranean Bistro. His younger brother Jamal is set to join him shortly—both have decided 70–80-hour weeks at Boustan are too draining. “When you own Boustan, you work, work, work, work, then you go home, get up the next day, and do it again,” says Jamal, 21.
It’s always been a family business. Fadi began working at Boustan—Arabic for “orchard”—when he was eight. “At 6 a.m., we’d be at the Bonaventure train station, passing out flyers, then my dad would drop me at school, and then he’d pick me up from school to go back to the restaurant and peel potatoes,” he recalls.
PISSTANKS AND PRIME MINISTERS, ALL ARE WELCOME: Imad Smaidi
Photo by SHARON DAVIES
From humble beginnings as a young immigrant who arrived here from Lebanon in 1972, Smaidi Sr. fell into the restaurant business by chance. He joined Boustan as a silent partner, but the partnership turned sour. Then an engineer, Smaidi wound up ditching his profession to run Boustan full-time.
The restaurant quickly grew, moving several times until it settled at its current location,2020A Crescent, eight years ago. It serves clients non-stop from 11 a.m. until 4 a.m. Patrons run from the homeless to celebrities.
No matter who you are, you’ll get the same service. “Everyone who walks into my place is respected,” says Smaidi. “No matter what class you are, what ethnicity you are, what level of education, we will respect you.”
Photos displayed by the cash register show famous faces like the cast of Trailer Park Boys, or Alouettes players celebrating a Grey Cup win. The celebs Smaidi has posed with even include the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
“On a cold day, I saw an old man walk into my place,” Smaidi recalls. Once he realized who was in front of him, Smaidi had to take a deep breath. “I said, I have to compose myself in order to manage this properly!” he laughs. Trudeau went on to become a regular customer, often inviting university students to join him while he ate.
The last time Trudeau visited, he looked very pale. “I thought, ‘We might not see him again,’” Smaidi says. So he took the photo that is now on display at the restaurant.
Smaidi admits closing the door on Boustan won’t be easy. “The restaurant is like one of my children,” he explains. He hopes whoever buys Boustan will keep the restaurant going, and says he’s proud of the legacy he’s built.
“You can be the best, or you can be second—and I don’t like to be second!” he laughs. ■
Short URL: http://www.montrealmirror.com/wp/?p=19480
Synagogue showdown
Hutchison’s goyim and Hassidim, and Plateau politicians, argue over Gate David’s expansion plans
by ELISABETH FAURE
February 17, 2011
VOTE GETTER? Gate David of Bobov
Photo by WILL LEW
Oy vey! Expansion plans at a Hassidic Plateau synagogue are driving some locals meshugga.
The saga revolving around Congregation Gate David of Bobov (5363 Hutchison) is a long one. The dilapidated synagogue has been trying to renovate its premises since 2004, but residential opposi tion and an ongoing legal battle continue to cause delays.
A Jan. 31 borough council meeting saw Plateau councillors (all from Projet Montréal, which controls the borough) approve a proposed 10-foot expansion to the rear of the building. The vote was close—three councillors in favour, three against. Plateau mayor Luc Ferrandez cast the deciding vote. “It’s a balanced decision that I hope will set the stage for more harmonious relations in the community,” says Mile End city councillor Alex Norris, who voted in favour of the project.
Good luck. Hutchison residents opposed to the expansion are planning to force a referendum on the issue, for the second time.
So, how did matters get so heated?
Gate David is one of four synagogues located on a small stretch of Hutchison between Fairmount and St-Viateur. Opponents say the synagogues are violating numerous zoning laws and bring heavy traffic to the street.
Complicating matters is the fact that Hutchison divides the Plateau borough from the city of Outremont. So residents living directly across from Gate David didn’t have the chance to vote in a 2008 referendum on the subject. A Superior Court ruling invalidated those referendum results, leaving the door open for a second one—including both sides of the street.
“There are problems with traffic and doing work without permits, all sorts of stuff,” says Pierre Lacerte, who lives on the Outremont side of Hutchison. He accuses Projet leader Richard Bergeron (who supports the expansion) of pandering to the Hassidic vote.
Lacerte is arguably the most vocal opponent of Gate David. He has taken his rage online, creating a blog primarily devoted to exposing the wrongdoings of local synagogues, with the occasional for ay into other matters of reasonable accommodation (he’s no fan of kirpans either).
The website has led to a lawsuit from Hassidic community leader Michael Rosenberg. Rosenberg is suing Lacerte for harassment. “He is stalking us,” Rosenberg argues, citing photos Lacerte has posted on his site.
Lacerte says Rosenberg is unfairly branding him as an anti-Semite. “That’s the easiest thing to say.”
“I don’t know why he (Lacerte) is so against our community,” says Moshe Englander, whose grandfather co-founded Gate David 60-plus years ago. Englander is spearheading the reno vation campaign. He argues most locals support the synagogue, and a few random cranks have created media controversy.
Jean-Marc Corbeil, Lacerte’s neighbour, disputes this. “It’s a case of special interest winning over public interest,” he says of the Gate David affair. Corbeil says it and other synagogues cause massive double-parking on Hutchison. “There are private parties taking place,” he says. “They have nothing to do with the Jewish calendar, which I respect.”
Corbeil thinks Plateau and Outremont officials are willfully turning a blind eye. “For them, it’s just a pack of votes,” he says.
Whether Gate David will succeed in their long-hoped-for renovation remains to be seen. “Hopefully people will understand what we are trying to do,” says Englander. “We just want to live in peace with our neighbours.”
Corbeil concurs. “God is a good guy—I’m sure God wants peace in the neighbourhood.” ■
Short URL: http://www.montrealmirror.com/wp/?p=19038
Save Plateau pets!
Plateau pet-owners are urging the borough not to renew its contract with the Berger Blanc animal shelter when it expires this spring. At a borough council meeting on Monday, residents submitted a petition claiming Berger—which operates in 10 of the city’s 19 boroughs—is violating its contract.
Amongst its complaints, the petition argues Berger makes insufficient efforts to reunite lost pets with their owners, even if the pets have ID tags or microchips.
Anjali Choksi submitted the petition, which had collected almost 1,500 signatures online in less than a week.
Plateau borough mayor Luc Ferrandez is encouraging petitioners to keep collecting signatures. But he said unless another organization makes a bid when Berger’s contract ends, the borough won’t have much choice but to renew the deal.
Jeanne-Mance borough councillor Piper Huggins, who is reviewing the dossier, says Berger won its current two-year contract unopposed.
At the meeting, Projet Montréal leader Richard Bergeron mused that the $65,000 the borough pays Berger annually could instead be used to open a Plateau animal shelter.
“We think that would be a fantastic idea,” said Choksi. In the meantime, the petition can be signed at (petitions24.net/petition_berger_blanc).
Berger Blanc executive director Pierre Couture flatly denied the allegations when contacted by the Mirror.
—ELISABETH FAURE
Community on a budget
What can you look forward to in the next provincial budget? Not much, worries the Centre for Community Organizations (COCo). Based on our current budget and existing gov ernment announcements, COCo thinks average Quebecers are about to get hit, hard.
A February 17 meeting (1–4 p.m. at 3680 Jeanne Mance, room 460) will break down what the upcoming budget could mean to you.
It’s worth your while to pay attention—topics will include healthcare, education and Hydro. “We’re talking all kinds of user fees and tax hikes,” says COCo’s Laila Malik. “The upcoming budget could have a pretty devastating effect on everyday people.”
According to Malik, plainspoken money talk is in order, as typical fiscal parlance can be “alienating, and pretty inaccessible for a lot of folks to understand.”
A wider effort to lobby the Charest government is afoot. COCo will join 100+ community groups at a May 12 protest to oppose new taxes.
Malik hopes the grassroots movement will send a strong message, citing the public backlash that led the province to drop proposed health-care user fees from its last budget. “When people really put their foot down, it has an impact,” she says.
Visit coco-net.org for more info.
—ELISABETH FAURE
Residents lament indoor pool omission
- Published on February 16, 2011
- Elisabeth Faure
Why doesn’t Westmount’s new arena/pool project include an indoor pool? This question has been raised by several residents who point out that the new facility will offer year-round hockey — but no year-round swimming.
“A year-round pool would be wonderful for people,” says Melville Avenue resident Mavis Young.
“There was never a community poll asking, ‘What do you want?’” complains Peter Weldon of Academy Road. “Options were never put forward to the community.”
The existing pool, which will remain open for one more summer before being demolished next fall, will make way for a new, larger pool to be built as part of the City’s arena/pool project. An underground portion of the facility will boast two NHL-sized hockey rinks.
“We commissioned a number of reports, which are public, which indicate that the need for an indoor pool is not required today,” says Director General Duncan Campbell. “We may need one in the future, but currently, we don’t.”
A needs analysis study available on the City’s website (www.westmount.org) states: “Ville de Westmount is well equipped in terms of indoor aquatic activities within its territory compared with the averages observed in Québec.”
But some residents worry that public swimming is limited in Westmount because the only indoor pool in the community — at the Westmount Y Centre on Sherbrooke Street — offers less than two hours of public swim time per week. According to Y officials, the public has access to the Y pool only on Sundays from 2:45 to 4 p.m. Anyone looking to swim outside of this period must pay $17 for a day pass.
Campbell agrees there may be a need for an indoor pool down the road — but he says response to a mailer sent out by the City last April indicates that Westmounters are happy with the current proposal. “It was quite clear from the response that we got from the public ... this is what they’re willing to support,” Campbell says.
However, residents opposed to the arena project claim that the mailer results aren’t reliable, particularly because Selwyn House School sent out a mass email to parents and alumni asking them to respond favorably to the mailer. As recently reported by the Examiner, the City has approached Selwyn House to help fund the project.
“Once you have to have a second rink, because that way, for example, Selwyn House can have its own games, then you have to convince the community that you need a second rink,” says Andy Froncioni, author of the “Westmount Watch” blog (www.westmountwatch.com) “To do that, you have to make some consent.”
The mailer itself seems to contradict the needs analysis survey, stating that a user study showed that “we will probably need one (indoor pool) in the future, if not now.” The mailer says the cost of such a project, however, would be prohibitive.
Complicating matters is the project’s $20 million federal/provincial infrastructure grant. Secured by then-Mayor Karin Marks, the money was explicitly for a two-rink, outdoor-pool concept. “It’s been two rinks or nothing since that time,” says Weldon.
Campbell argues that changing the plan now could jeopardize the grant, although nothing in the grant agreement explicitly states this.
“When we changed from the (original) above-ground concept, we slightly modified the square footage of the concept,” says Campbell. “That little change alone ... took over six months for the government to re-approve. So I would think if you changed the whole concept around, it would take much longer.”
With the project set to go ahead over the next two years, it seems residents wanting an indoor pool may be out of luck.
“We’ll end up with two NHL-sized hockey rinks and no indoor pool,” says Young. “And we won’t have one for a long time to come, because the money will not be there.”
The Westmount arena/pool project
- Published on February 9, 2011
- Elisabeth Faure
Approaching private schools to help offset the $17 million price tag
Set to start construction later this year, the Westmount arena/pool project is, in the city's own words, "the most important project the City of Westmount has put forward in its long history." This marks the first in a series of Examiner articles that will examine the $37 million project in depth. This week's article looks at the role Selwyn House school may play in financing the arena.
The City of Westmount and Selwyn House are defending a possible fundraising arrangement for Westmount Park’s new hockey arena that has some Westmount residents concerned.
At issue? A year ago, the city approached the school regarding the project. A Selwyn House newsletter describes an “opportunity” being offered to the school by the city, whereby the school would be granted access to the arena for its hockey and skating programs - in return for funds raised by the school. Selwyn House is considering a “focused Athletics Campaign” that would raise up to $2 million for the arena.
Some residents, however, worry that this arrangement would give Selwyn House privileged status at the arena, at the expense of other schools - particularly public ones. “Selwyn House has been targeted (by Westmount),” says resident Mavis Young. Young has been following the school’s involvement with the project. She questions whether the city is counting on big bucks from the all-boys school.
“Selwyn House isn’t the only school we approached,” counters city general director (and Selwyn House alum) Duncan Campbell. He says the city also spoke to St. George’s and ECS. Campbell is clear that no deal has been reached with any of the schools regarding funding, and all talks have been held in a transparent manner. “Everything we’ve been doing has been above-board - there’s nothing hidden here.”
Although Selwyn House is not the only school Westmount approached, it is the school that stands to gain the most. The school has a big hockey program, and current rink time used by St. George’s and ECS is far less in comparison. “If you look at the arena’s schedule, almost all of the school use right now is Selwyn House,” notes Peter Weldon, who lives across the street from the arena.
Principal Hal Hannaford agrees Selwyn House is a big client. “Right now, I think we’re their (the arena’s) biggest tenant,” he laughs. The school currently uses both the Westmount arena and Verdun auditorium for its hockey programs, at an annual cost of roughly $45,000.
"The school wouldn’t use ice during prime time - weekends or evenings - because that time is "precious to the community."- Selwyn House Principal Hal Hannaford
Hannaford observes this would be an unusual project for Selwyn House. “We’d be going to our community to raise money for a facility that’s not ours,” he explains. But even though he says no deal is currently in place, he has an idea of what he'd like the city to offer in exchange for the school's hefty donation.
On Hannaford’s wish list? A ten-year agreement for guaranteed, rent-free ice time (“we’d take as much as they’d offer us”), and a permanent dressing room during hockey season. Hannaford says the school would happily pay rent for the dressing room, if a spare room is available. And he says the school wouldn’t use ice during prime time - weekends or evenings - because that time is "precious to the community."
“How will this be fair to Westmount citizens - especially kids who go to public schools?” asks Andy Froncioni, author of the “Westmount Watch” blog (www.westmountwatch.org). Froncioni lives near the arena and has criticized the project on his website.
Campbell defends approaching private schools like Selwyn House to help offset a project cost of $17 million to taxpayers ($20 million will come via grants from the federal and provincial governments). “Why not offset the cost? ... In a way, it’s a service to the citizens, because a significant number of their children go to these schools.” Campbell’s own son is a Selwyn House grad.
Hannaford adds his school would consider hosting a summer hockey program that would benefit the entire community, not only Selwyn House students.
Whether the school commits to funding the new arena remains to be seen, but both the city and school are adamant that no backroom negotiations have occurred. “If there was anything going on, I would know about it,” says Hannaford. “So stay tuned!”
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