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  Bicycle thief Kenk's assault charges stayed (7 posts)

• Joe T. said 6 months, 3 weeks ago:

  From the National Post:
  http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=2552832

  "The final chapter in a courtroom drama surrounding bike thief Igor Kenk closed with a whimper yesterday, when a judge agreed to stay assault charges against the 50-year-old Slovenian, ultimately ending a two-year narrative behind one of the city's most compelling characters….

  Crown lawyer Robert Wright requested the charges be stayed as it was "no longer in the public's interest to proceed." He cited the plea bargain Kenk agreed to, sentencing him to 30 months in prison for 10 counts of possession of stolen bicycles and various drug charges, stating the settlement has already had "a fairly significant impact on Mr. Kenk's life."

  His lawyer, Lon Rose, countered that Kenk should be given his day in court so his name can be cleared of the assault allegations. They related to a Dec. 14, 2008, incident in which Kenk was accused of attacking with a pipe the owners of a garage he was renting."

• Joe T. said 5 months, 3 weeks ago:

  Kenk released from prison:
  http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/776159

  The city's notorious bike thief, Igor Kenk, was released from the Don Jail Friday afternoon after serving the equivalent to a two-and-half year sentence.

  He returned to his Yorkville home immediately, confirmed Richard Poplak, the author of a soon-to-be-released novel, Kenk: A Graphic Portrait. Poplak followed Kenk's court hearings closely and said he kept in contact with his lawyers and Don Jail officials.

  Poplak said Kenk's life represents a moment in Toronto’s history.

  “He was getting pushed of this neighbourhood that was rapidly gentrifying. So he exemplified the doom, the outcasted feeling. Twelve years ago, he fit right in and, suddenly, he's a misfit,” he said.

  ——-

  Interesting… I wonder, as a place like Kensington gentrifies, if the same thing may happen to some shop owners there.

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 3 weeks ago:

  Unfortunately that will be the case. I lived on Queen Street West in a loft, in 1980 + and my old loft is now an expensive condo.
  I was there for the punk scene and now i find it hard to look at Queen Street as I remember how raw and exciting it was 30 years ago

  i am not sure they will be able to do that to kensington though, 100%

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 3 weeks ago:

  One more thing I think they are overlooking when they refer to him as a misfit today, is that 12 years ago he was about 38 or so i believe. Today, hes around 50.
  His style and lifestyle many might forgive and think it romantic at 38. The bad boy that hasn't yet settled down, become married, and is still essentially living the downtown gritty Queen Street scene.
  At 50 people tend to pity someone like that. A man that hasn't married or had children, who doesn't really fit into the proper social networks of his age group which people tend to hope is a bit more sophisticated at 50 then at 38.
  Simply put I think expectations are higher at 50 and if someone hasn't "made" it by then, they never will and are cast aside and thought of as misfits.
  I myself don't view him or others like this in that manner but many do, hence, one reason why I feel they consider him a misfit today, rather than it being because of the area itself growing up.

• michael holloway said 5 months, 3 weeks ago:

  Hi everyone,

  Nice post Joe.

  I see someone IS writing a book, good for Richard Poplak. I like his takes quoted above; the story is in the right hands, in my opinion.

  I still think Michael Hollingsworth should mount a play.

  After being displaced from the neighbourhood myself a number of years ago I've come to see gentrification as a natural process. It renews neighbourhoods – change is life and i'm quite happy out here in the east end, again on the edge of another re-newing.

  In the many US cities racist and socio-economic fears have lead to an exodus of new young homeowners from the core, a self imposed apartheid, that leads to the death of neighbourhoods.

  I'm glad that doesn't happen here. Mixed income communities still characterize the vast majority of the cities neighbourhoods. The ebb and flow of new families learning to live with new neighbours is heartening to see.

  Michael Holloway

• Joe T. said 5 months, 3 weeks ago:

  Re: Play. I think it's only a matter of time before there's a DanCap musical production about Igor. haha.

  SD – Queen Street is definitely different, but changing neighbourhoods and demographics is part of what makes a city vibrant and interesting.

  I'm actually surprised the Kensington has survived as long as it has as an "independent" and bohemian area. It may be only superficial though. Anyone who has wanted to buy a house downtown can tell you that, even in Kensington, you will be paying a LOT to be able to walk to everything.

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 3 weeks ago:

  Intellectually Joe I do agree with you 100%. Emotionally though, i find it hard to walk along Queen West from John Street to Bathurst, although more so to Spadina without seeing ghosts of Queen Street past and wishing at times it had the same old grit.

  I lived in Negril Jamaica for a year in the early 80s. Back then it was a dirt road, thatched roofs, the nearest phone was 15 miles away and now I hear its 72 floor hotels, highways, 5 star resorts.
  I cant go back. I cant bear to see it that way, although of course intellectually, it couldn't have worked out better for them but I don't want to see it. Same with Queen West.

  I cant imagine how they would accomplish it in Kensington without taking down all of those stores and replacing each and everyone with newer architecture. I think they would essentially have to raze a few blocks and what a tragedy that would be!

  The more I think of Kensington the more I just cannot see such a huge change though taking place as it has on Queen Street and other areas like it.