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Parade of Polluters |
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Feedback - Talk to Toronto
Send us your photos, thoughts, ideas, complaints: CAUSS.Canada@gmail.com
In most cases, submissions are reviewed and posted the same day.
CAUSS-CANADA.org reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity and to better conform with community privacy and language standards. Readers are encouraged to join this community dialog and to advise as to documentable errors using the "Contact Us" page. |
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Augusy 8, 2011 -
It's really all about URBAN BLIGHT, isn't it.
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July 15, 2011-
cowards
info@doctorfoggywindow.ca
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July 5, 2011 -
Stephen Guptill stephenleviguptill@hotmail.com
Are your lives that devoid of anything you need to march around your city pulling other people's work down?
If you don't like street postering, I suggest you move the f_ _k outta the city.
It is protected by our Freedom of Speech and anyone attempting to stifle that right is a goddamn Nazi Bastard.
Just because of your dirty little group of haters; I have become doubly determined to plaster as many cities in my travels with my messages as possible.
You are dumb shits.
Have a nice day, you uncreative f__king finks.
~Stephen Levi Guptill |
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July 5, 2011 -
Hello,
Came across your website recently, and I just wanted to congratuate you on your efforts.
Walking along Yonge near Eglinton last night, the latest junk by low-life spammers were placed by a company called thinkinginjapanese.com. The business phone number is 416-887-4312 and they are located at 2421 Dundas Street West, and is run by one Keiko Ojima. For the second time in a month this company has "spammed" Yonge Street south of Eglinton with scores and scores of ads.
I am just sick and tired of companies advertising in this fashion. I know that it is illegal under the postering by-law that was adopted in 2010, and I have asked the city to launch a formal investigation against this company, as people like them are a menace to this city, blight its appearance with ads, and do nothing but create waste for landfills with all of their paper.
Needless to say, don't support businesses that poster! Take pride in your city!
Thank you.
PN |
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June 24, 2011 -
Dear CAUSS-CANADA:
I just wanted to share with your readers the good news that the city may finally get serious about large-scale, "spam" postering in this city.
As part of the new graffiti eradication strategy, the postering by-law (amended in 2010) is now to be enforced in a large-scale, coordinated manner. The details are in this report, starting on page 16:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/ls/bgrd/backgroundfile-39134.pdf
Now, this is great news, but to everyone who reads this site: please, be pro-active and report (and if possible, document through photos) *any* companies you see engaging in this practice to Municipal Licensing and Standards. Only by generating enough complaints will this issue become as a high a priority to the city as graffiti removal is (finally, some action on this front as well!). All the companies listed on this site, needless to say, should be reported, especially the junk haulers, the "boot camps", the nightclubs, bars, contractors, and other low-lifes who have made our city a laughing-stock.
Spread the word folks! This by-law will inevitably be challenged by the usual "public space" types and the people who own these companies who feel they have the right to bombard our city with ads. They must be fought, and now they can with this by-law and a Mayor who seems to take these issues seriously.
Those emails should be addressed to Councillor Cesar Palacio, Chair of MLS: councillor_palacio@toronto.ca as well as the 311 service and the Mayor's office.
So send those complaints in and let's nail these jerks!
Best,
M |
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June 18, 2011 -
Dear Mr. Whitla (Rainbow Songs) michael@rainbowsongs.com,
Rainbow Songs Inc.
277 Roncesvalles Ave.
Toronto ON M6R 2M3
Canada
Phone: 416 535 5247
Fax: 416 535 9132
I noticed a mention of your company on that anti-street spam site, and I have to say, good for them, and shame on you.
I'm glad people are starting to fight back against you, and remove the garbage you insist upon placing everywhere, ruining neighbourhoods and creating untold waste. I can assure you I will do the same if I see your ads in my area (and to tell people not to use your business), and I will report to the city any of your ads I see elsewhere in town. I encourage other citizens to do the same, and to lobby the city to crack down on this activity, a blight on Toronto that no other city I have ever visited seems to be afflicted with.
I am sick and tired of people like you, who have no pride in the city's appearance and think you have the "right" to place this junk everywhere. What about other people's rights to not have their neighbourhoods covered in spam? But of course you didn't think of that, that's what people like you are, you only care about yourselves and the money you can make off of this aesthetic vandalism. You're a disgrace to this city, you know that?
So if you want to waste time placing these ads up, be my guest. But if you come to my area attempting to blight it, I can assure you myself and my neighbours will rip your ads down as fast as you can put them up.
And to CAUSS, keep up the good work!
BF
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June 14, 2011-
You and your band of merry men clearly have too much time on your hands.
Bob Malas
Dr. Foggy Window
1655 Dupont St. Unit 4
Toronto, ON. M6P 3T1
Cell 647-966-1486
Office 647-955-9996
info@doctorfoggywindow.ca
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Toronto Homeowners,
Mr. Malas believes we are a "band of merry men" and would like to continue his Street Spam sign litter.
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June 14, 2011 -
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to inform you about the actions of a company called "Rainbow Songs". It is run by Michael Whitla and his wife Lisa Haberman, and is based at their home at 182 Wright Avenue in Toronto (near Roncesvalles Avenue), at 416-588-8605. They are without question one of the worst "street spammers" in the city. Over the past few days, my neighbours and I in the Mount Pleasant and Davisville area have been removing scores of their posters, in the process accumulating enough paper and tape to fill a black garbage bag. It is a testament to how wasteful this practice is, beyond the aesthetic blight caused these ads produce. We will remain vigilant, and remove any future posters in our area, and report any other of his posters seen elsewhere in the city immediately to 311 for prompt removal.
And yet despite this, year after year, this man keeps inflicting this rubbish on my neighbourhood, and that of many others. He is responsible for the placing of perhaps hundreds if not thousands of posters in neighbourhoods across the city, and places the majority of his ads in residential neighbourhoods without any respect for their appearance or the wishes of the residents there to not be subjected to this crude advertising.
I am writing this note to expose this person, and request that all responsible citizens of the city who read this website to remove their ads, and boycott this business, as it is through actions such as these that greedy, selfish people such as Michael Whitla and Lisa Haberman will be deterred from inflicting this vandalism upon the city.
I am also asking, through the Mayor's office, to see why companies such as these are not being investigated and fined with violating city by-laws regarding commercial postering. Under Chapter 693, Article IV, section 29, subsection A(16) of the Toronto Municipal Code, it is an offence to place posters on utility poles, which is exactly what Rainbow Songs and other companies in my area have been doing. And as a company that charges for its services, it does not fall under the community service exemption, so it is incumbent upon on the city to enforce this by-law.
The actions of companies like Rainbow Songs have gone on for far too long. They are responsible for the ugly appearance of the city in many areas, to say nothing of the environmental consequences of so much of their paper going straight to landfills. They are motivated solely by greed and avarice, take no pride in the city, and their actions should be investigated and their business shunned in favour of others who are more responisble and respectful of the wishes of people in this city to be free of advertising in their neighbourhoods.
S.B.
Davisville |
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June 1, 2011 -
Hello,
Just noticed your website. I'm impressed that someone has gone to so much trouble to set it up and maintain it, as well as to actually do something about the problem.
It strikes me that the most effective solution would be to (somehow--good luck) convince your city council(s) to enact new legislation with:
Severe (like, really big) financial penalties for vertical litter signs;
A very easy mechanism for reporting, such as anyone could call or e-mail 311 with just basic relevant info, such as: a) the phone number on the spam, and b) the location, and
A streamlined process specifically tailored to make enforcement/prosecution/fine collection easy for officials.
It seems to me that without the three elements above, it's a constant cat and mouse game weighted in favour of the vertical litterers. If, on the other hand, it became really easy to report the spam, with the onus on the city to speedily hand out big fines to the perpetrators, and with little room allowed in the legislation for weak legal defence 'excuses', it would make it financially non-viable to bother littering the streets in the first place.
In order to achieve the above, it would be helpful to get the media interested in the cause, making sure to ask them to 'fuzz out' the phone numbers on the spam before airing any TV spots, of course. It seems that in this media age, few societal changes happen without enlisting various media to whip up public sentiment for or against something.
We have the same problem here in Winnipeg, but it seems it's not as bad as in your city. Our two biggest problems are wanton, general littering with absolutely no motivation by officials to do anything about it other than encourage the rest of us (who don't litter in the first place) to organize clean-up drives, and homes and businesses taking absolutely no care of their lawns and landscaping. Along our main thoroughfares it's an overgrown, weedy mess here generally. Utterly disgusting.
The last time I visited Toronto about five years ago I was impressed by its cleanliness, great roads (compared to ours) and liberal landscaping by both private homes and businesses.
Good luck with your work.
R.M.
Winnipeg
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May 26, 2010 -
dateTue, May 24, 2011 at 8:23 PM
subjectRe-lock
Why isn't re-lock interlocking listed? Those guys are the worst (in
Markham), signs practically everywhere.
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CAUSS-Canada only publishes documented Street Spam sign litter instances where exact location and photo are provided.
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May 10, 2011 -
Hello there Stroll In the Park.com:
Any of your ads that are placed along Davisville, Yonge Street, Balliol, Merton, Mount Pleasant, or Eglinton will be removed as soon as possible either by myself, members of my residents association, or the city. I am *sick and tired* of greedy, selfish companies like yours cluttering the city up with ugly advertising everywhere. People like you are a disgrace. You waste mounds of paper, cost the city untold money in removing ads like yours, and cheapen and degrade the appearance of the city. You have a website, use it. Make use of Craiglist, or Kijiji, why "spam" parts of the city with advertising like this?
So if you wish to continue to waste paper, time, tape, staples, etc, that is your choice, but be aware that your ads won't stay up for very long. You seem to have survived through the winter without placing ads everywhere, so I see no reason why you should do so now. Greed seems to be the only answer, and that won't be tolerated in this community.
NT |
April 16, 2011 -
Another neighbourhood postering blitz hits the Bloor Ossington neighbourhood but this time with a slight twist. Plastered on pole after pole after pole (only way it seems to be done) this is worthy of a Postering 101 Anthropology course - a real paradigm shift for the survival of the fittest (posters in this case). Has it come to this? We love our pets and lost ones are the most dear. I left up the first of these posters that I saw but it was GONE on my way home when I realized I'd been had and very badly. Would love feedback on your blog for this one.
GW |
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April 13, 2011 -
Dear CAUSS,
I'm a roofer. What's the longest you think our bag signs stay up on the streets? I can't get a straight answer from the advertising agency that does them.
A. Roofer and Sons, Scarborough
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Dear A. Roofer:
The most recent study available to us suggests bag signs are on the streets an average of two (2) days before a resident picks them up or paints them over.
Thanks for asking.
CAUSS-Canada |
Handyman Loves Litter?
Subject: Re: Illegal signage in my neighbourhood
This is not illegal! You should call the police if you feel it is. I provide a good service and have many happy leaside clients. Until you do that I will advertise in the neighbourhood I grew up and live in. Shame on you. Go watch the hockey game.
Cheers,
Matt (quickcheques@gmail.com)_
N.B. Handyman contact to complain: 1-800-361-5675, Fax: 1-800-361-5675, matt@handymanLeaside.com, Info@HandymanLeaside.com, 211 Randolph Rd,Toronto, ON M4G 3S7 |
March 19, 2011 -
Dear CAUSS-Canada,
Just touching base to let you know that the problem of illegal postering continue unabated here in Scarborough! I have just discovered a different twist to this insidious act ,..seems each student of a driving school is give a supply of these flyers to put up anywhere they travel in the city, not to mention their large extended family members The persistence of these driving schools know no bounds. What do you think , will there be an end to the outrage. All I ever get from our politicians is platitudes .I can't get over the fact that David Miller and the old city council was prepared to rule over a city that was(is) deteriorating so rapidly, don't these people drive on College St and see what these miscreants have done to our once clean livable city as an example!! It sure is a 'head scratcher' for me !! What else can you and I do in a practical sense to show our city fathers how disgusted people like us are about this never ending problem. Am I missing something, is it written in the constitution that the city has to provide free advertising to these businesses ? My guess is it isn't.
Best regards, Charles |
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March 19, 2011 -
Alert residents remove more than 100 street spam junk signs from his neighbourhood. |
March 17, 2011 -
Spring is here and I am waiting ( almost in trepidation) for the onslaught of posters that will inevitably hit my street. (Hey I am fortified and ready. Know exactly where my exacto knife is - for poster removal only! ).
Wondering if the general public is allowed to 'attend' the March 30 Licensing and Standards meeting. Should I ask a councillor?
The more posters I take down, the more I call 311 (needing the city's help), the more I walk Toronto's streets (and see the sacred poster free areas ( business=money making,an ANTI Poster advocate) the more I care. Watch out ...Mr. Ford/ bottom feeder postering companies... think the people of Toronto are ready for a change. -
GW |
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March 11, 2011-
Just got in from cleaning up some signs in a small area bounded by Jefferson Sideroad to the north, Dufferin to the West, Rutherford Road to the South and Bayview to the East (although some area's missed). Mostly odds and ends here and there but there were two companies that were the majority of the signs. LED Potlights and some "ANA" Home services company. I also want to mention that the "Cash for your Home" guy had gone back out.. however no longer puts them up where I originally found them. He put them up different intersections such as Bernard and Yonge, Weldrick and Bathurst and along rutherford road (although those ones I am reporting to the City of Vaughan By-Law tommorrow since they take signs seriously and end up warning and/or fining the companies... so generally while within Vaughan I jot down the locations and report them to By-Law!
Anyhow... that aside.. the photos attached are for the LED potlights who placed quite a number of signs throughout central York Region and ANA home services who placed them in northern Richmond Hill mainly in residential areas.... and the one photo I took with both together, one wonders if they spam together?
A.D. |
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I have sent so may emails to my member of city counselor, all to no avail .Apart from the unsightly appearance of these posters,If that don't move the city to put a stop to this insanity . Here are some other reasons they should consider: These signs placed on the tragic lights, should be illegal under the highway traffic act , as people stopped at the lights, shouldn't be distracted form paying attention to when the lights change .as for those posted on the bus shelters if allowed to spread will eventually cover these shelters posing a safety hazard to transit users , who will not be able to see their bus coming, heavens forbid someone gets mugged, because people passing couldn't see what's going on in the shelters . Another thing the more these thugs are allowed to get away with this, the more the graffiti artist think it is a free for all, I will argue, that a shelter plastered over is less attractive than one with graffiti ,as you can only see the graffiti from a certain angle on glass ! Also an out of control motor vehicle could seriously injured or killed if their vision is obscured by these posters. I have seen bus stop with handicapped symbol completely cover by these posters . In Scar this practice is endemic to the South Asian community , now this tells me they have now regard for the rest of us as once we take these posters down they replace them sometimes within minutes . For god's sake somebody do something to stop this insanity.
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Please let us know your councillor's name and we will jhelp get the message out.
CAUSS-CANADA
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February 26, 2011 -
Went out tonight for a couple hours. Mainly because on the way home I noticed some "cash for your home" guy had put signs up at a few major intersections. Same guy that put a few up last week, this week he put out a bit more though.
The cash for your home sign picture I took was at the intersection of Bathurst and Rutherford Road (that intersection is on the border of Richmond Hill and Vaughan). He placed 4 up at each major intersection (basically 1 per median) and a couple of random ones elsewhere. Here's the list:
Bathurst and Rutherford Road (4 signs)
Yonge and 16th Avenue (4 signs)
Bayview and 16th (4 signs)
Bayview and Major Mackenzie Drive (4 signs)
Yonge and Elgin Mills (4 Signs)
Bathurst and Elgin Mills (2 signs)
Bathurst and Queen Filomena (1 sign)
The 2nd picture is one from some guy that I've taken a few down here in there. The company only puts them up in residential areas, never seen one on a major street. This one was in the residential area around Yonge/Major Mackenzie Drive in Richmond Hill. Took down a few of them in that area.
Otherwise I also just took down some odds and ends throughout my travels. No pictures were taken. My trunk is now half full though. Gonna half to drop by the York Region Roads yard to drop these signs off soon (to make room for more!)
AD
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February 23, 2011 -
When I go to the Etobicoke Olympian Centre both me and my kids can see that every traffic signs - and I mean every one, along the entire length of Rathburn is covered with crummy advertising signs and stickers. It looks terrible.
I took this photo and it's the best of the traffic light poles. The others are much worse.
Andrew, Etobicoke |
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August 3, 2010 -
To whom it may concern,
A friend told me about your website, and I must say I am gratified that I'm not the only person who thinks advertising like this is a disgrace.
I live in the Yonge and Davisville area, and I spotted today (after some absence) the posters from the "Flaming fingers" transcription company. They are based at 31 Petman Avenue (which is a residential street just east of Mount Pleasant and south of Eglinton, where they are often conducting their postering). Their contact is 416-481-5602, FFWP@FLAMINGFINGERS.COM (attention Deborah Ambrose). I remove their posters whenever I see them, but they may be ratcheting up their campaign again along Mount Pleasant, Yonge, Eglinton, and many other streets in North Toronto (they also constantly spam the financial district).
I would encourage residents in the area to remove their ads, and tell them what you think about their commercial vandalism.
Best,
S.B. |
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August 3, 2010 -
I am a delivery driver with a company using brown trucks.
In one day, just cause I was curious, I counted all the signs for that asphalt driveway company that advertises on traffic signs. I counted 1,312 of them stuck to traffic signs on just one major north/south road. If you multiply that times the number of similar roads, not to mention the smaller ones, you come up with at least 1,312,000 signs for just this one company.
How do they get away with this?
Brown driver |
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July 25, 2010 -
Some Toronto residents are asking more about Street SPAM Sign Litter and what they may and may not do; what is legal and what may not be.
We are not lawyers and are unable to provide any legal advice. However, here is what we can tell you.
1. Never permit a confrontation to occur. We regard our work as educational. This is best done by defusing a confrontation immediately by simply stating "you are a local resident helping to keep your neighbourhood clean, consistent with the intent of the City Council. Councilor Howard Moscoe can provide additional information". Leave the sign and walk away.
2. The city has a patchwork of regulations in By-Laws that were lobbied into place by advertisers, contractors and others that makes determination of what is OK and what is not difficult at times.
3. TAHS takes the position that all signs posted on public property are discarded litter, and therefore may be approached. Naturally, this is not for everyone, but many volunteers do approach all signs posted
on public property in their neighbourhoods. Many of these signs are actually posted in the ground on homeowners property for which the city has a right-of-way - the area between the sidewalk and the curb.
This is a "gray" area because it is the homeowner that plants the grass, waters it, mows it, etc. It is the advertiser who has commandeered it for his own commercial use. Resident routinely remove these signs with no problem. Resident do not mind if a contractor they hired for home repair work posts a "bag sign" on their lawn while the work is underway. This is a reasonable way for contractors to
advertise their business. This procedure, over the years, has been routinely expanded by advertisers and contractors to allow them to advertise with "bag signs" along ALL such rights-of-way. That's not what was intended and not what residents want.
4. Technically, it is our understanding that these "bag signs" (plastic bag-like signs stretched over a metal frame and stuck in the ground) do belong to the owner. For this reason, while we view them as "litter on a stick" because they litter our neighbourhoods, we
suggest community-spirited residents to leave the frame in the ground, remove the bag sign and tie it neatly in a knot around the frame. This advises the owner that they sign has been noticed and not wanted. A removed sign is viewed by advertisers as an opportunity to place a new one in the ground. Some residents have told us they spray paint the phone number on the signs so as not to be readable. This seems to serve the same purpose.
5. All signs attached to traffic signs and signal lights are illegal.
6. All legal "postering", as it is often termed, must be done on water-soluble materials (paper-not plastic) and affixed with water-soluble glue or a single, home-style staple. This generally applies to "events" posters such as community plays, music, etc., not to "I Buy Houses" and roofing contractors. Signs not meeting these criteria are illegal.
7.All self-sticking signs affixed to traffic signs are illegal and difficult to remove. Many volunteer residents and city BY-Law enforcement spray pain the phone numbers out on these using an aluminum-coloured pain.
8. All signs attached to traffic signal lights, parking meters, street light poles, etc. attached with wire or plastic straps or heavy nails are illegal. City By-Law enforcement seems to use the technique of cutting these signs in half to indicate to Street SPAM advertisers the signs have been observed and are unwanted. Some volunteers simply remove them.
Volunteers in this community service generally fall into three categories: 1) activist residents who simply take all the signs down, 2) residents who take the signs down and report the owners to the city (Councilor Moscoe- ) and call or email the owners politely requesting they refrain from this neighbourhood degradation in the future, 3) residents who "knot" the bag signs as mentioned earlier and remove or spray the others.
Organizations in the U.S. such CAUSS, Citizens Against Ugly Street SPAM, are quite active in their communities using similar guidelines.
TAHS |
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July 22, 2010 -
three times a week I post self-sticking posters on traffic signs and anywhere else I can. I get paid $10 an hour and sometime more. I have to stick as many posters as a\I can in 1 day to get paid. I was rtold they don't care where i put them. I can stick 1000 a day on a good day and get $20 an hour if I do that.
anonymous
(sic) |
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July 21, 2010 -
Toronto resident N.B. snaps a shot of city worker toiling away at a traffic signal pole at Queen and Spadina, in an effort to clean many layers of Street SPAL Sign Litter placed by thoughtless businesses. |
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July 20, 2010 -
hi There,
Capital Roofing is one of the junk signs on your site. They aren't only a junk sign, ... He has a fake address and company information, asks for a large deposit ahead of time and takes off. He should be flagged on your site. (sic)
M.M.
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Some of this iinformation cannot be independently confirmed.
Capital Roofing is listed as being at 10 HOWBERT DR
North York, Ontario M9N 3L2
TAHS |
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July 5, 2010 -
I swear this is true.
A city worker did a terrific job cleaning street light poles and traffic signal poles near my house on Kipling and the very next day there was a junk sign for Driveway Asphalt Sealing glued to the poles. As soon as I find my cell phone with the camera I'll get a picture to send you.
Really Annoyed on Kipling
(Photo on left is similar to the ones Really Annoyed mentions. As soon a R.A. sends an actual photo from her street, it will be posted.) |
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July 3, 2010 -
Hi there!
I am putting myself out on a limb here to get some advice from you. I am a new small business in Toronto. We don't have an advertising budget but we have someone who has been making us these really nice posters. They are attractive and glossy and have tabs. I see a lot of crap all over the poles down here (i live at queen west and john) and i don't want to add to that... but I can't seem to think of another way for the small out-of-home businesses to get the word out. Do you have any suggestions? The thing is, I would like to be able to suggest these alternates to the other people i know that do plaster the city with flyers.
thanks for your time,
A.F.
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July 4, 2010 -
I think it's simple:
Clean and beautiful city = good
Littered city = bad
Adrian, Scarborough
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July 3, 2010 -
To A.F.
Your karma is good. There are so many questions to this postering dilemma but the answer can not be layer after layer of posters that most people either do not notice or do not like. The streets of Toronto are a disgrace. You spend good money for your spot on a pole that will be, in a moment plastered over by some club event, a roofer, a LAWYER ( good luck) , a real estate agent ( give me a beak) accountant etc,. To me outrageous advertising and a TOTAL shame to their professions. A personal option but investing in a website gives your business CREDIBILITY which posters DO NOT. Yellow pages work but word of mouth ( good value/good service ) rules. A door to door brochure can introduce you to the community and if well done is sure to pay off.
G.W.
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Thank you for your candor.
It is a problem for small and home businesses to get people to notice them and we wish there could be someone out there who could spend time and provide some expertise for small businesses. We know it's a tough marketplace.
However, violating city by-laws and generally adding to the unsightliness of our city is definitely not the way to go. Fact is, Toronto has become so overrun with Street SPAM Sign Litter that it has become largely ineffective.
One small business person told us he has given up on Street SPAM posters attached to poles and traffic signs, partly because it no longer works, and partly because his children are now on his case about littering. One of his kids asked how he can support environment issues while at the same time polluting the streets and neighbourhoods with litter signs. Kids always find a way of telling it like it is or can be.
In any event, he now has a new business card with a nice message on it and delivers it door-to-door. People, he tells us, are very appreciative and he actually gets to talk to prospective buyers of his roofing services. More people, he says, see his car now than ever saw his Litter SIgns.
Thank you for your thoughtful note and we wish you success in your work.
Robert |
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June 23, 2010 -
Went up Keele, North of Lawrence to ultimate frisbee last night. so sad to see the sorry state of that street w/regards to signage.
Anyhow, one poor pole at Maple Leaf Drive/Keele had 3 signs on it plus 1 on the ground next to it. All got taken down.
nick |
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June 21 -
I think that I shall never see a sign lovely as a tree.
It takes crappy CO2 from our cars and such
and makes into oxygen to breathe and such.
I think I shall never see a sign lovely as a tree.
Omar Kayak
Scarborough
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June 20, 2010 -
Hi There,
I live in a very quiet neighborhood but recently junk posters have been going up around the block. I want to do something about them. My name is D. T. and i live on Edengarth Crt, Toronto.
Regards,
D.T. |
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Juyne 20, 2010 -
Dear TAHS,
I got Islington/Steeles area covered.
A. K. |
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June 14, 2010 -
Hello Ville,
Great job on your website! I wanted to alert your readers about a company called Rainbow Songs. They advertise music lessons for toddlers, and they are notorious mass-spammers in North Toronto. By sheer coincidence, I was in the Avenue and Chaplin area today, and I removed their ads from Heath up to Chaplin. I actually live off of Mount Pleasant, and I have a feeling they're going to start spamming Mount Pleasant, Bayview, and Leaside soon (as they do from time to time), so I hope readers in those areas can please remove these ads when you see them!
Many thanks.
Mark |
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June 9, 2010 -
Those asphalt sealing signs plastered all of over our traffic signs and signal and lights poles are from
City Asphalt Sealing,
Richmond Hill, Ontario.
They stick
their junk signs to everything but baby carriages. They
don't care about our city. As for the City officials, one does have to wonder. There is no license one can purchase for plastering mail boxes, traffic signs and street lights. My wife called John
Romano at the city 416-394-2536, but didn't get very much assurance anything would be done. Why is that?.
Greg on The West Mall |
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June 9, 2010 -
I just bought 100 signs from a guy and I'm gonna nail the any place I want.
i pick up junk (sic) |
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April 11, 2010-
hi Robert,
I took down a bunch tonight. Most were on Davisville. One on Merton, and a few more on Pape. YouTube Video below :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FptzRpujvew
Nick |
Click here to see the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FptzRpujvew |
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April 9, 2010 -
Hello,
i'm covering the area around Mt Pleasant/Davisville. I notice some persistent lawn ones keep appearing near Esso but i take 'em down whenever I see them.
cheers,
Nick
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April 9, 2010 -
I sure got my money's worth from this week's NOW magazine and it's 'Curtains at Cineforum?' article as it made me aware of your organization. It is nice to know my poster removing exacto knife and I am are no longer alone in the quest for clean streets. Thanks for the company. Dog waking in the Dufferin/Ossington/Bloor to College has helped to keep the 'hood' fairly clear of signs. (While stopping at a pole I might as well multitask.) I look forward to following your blog.
A well guided poster hater.
G.W.
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April 6, 2010 -
TAHS,
Is taking down street spam legal? Are we breaking any laws?
Downtowner
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Dear Downtowner,
Street spam is no different than the any other litter you see strewn along the streets. As a citizen of your community you have every right to pick up trash from the roadside, the right of way or on traffic signs or utility poles. Once the spammer nails that sign to the pole or sticks it in the ground it is classified as abandoned trash and can be removed by anyone who cares enough about the community to do so.
TAHS |
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March 29, 2010 -
Hi there,
Just wanted to pass on to you and your readers the need to report any presence of the GI Jane posters that are common along Bay, and other financial core streets. They are not only hitting those areas again, but they're spreading to North Toronto, such as along Mount Pleasant. Please ask your readers to contact 311 to remove them, the city *does* remove posters en masse if enough people complain.
Thanks for your website, keep it up!
Cheers,
P.N.
Davisville Village |
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March 21, 2010 - My wife and I and friends visiting from Guelph went to the Canada Blooms show today at the CNE and were sickened by all those crappy advertising signs all over Lake Shore Blvd. My friends joked that it made Toronto look like Mexico City. We were ashamed.
Stan and Gloria |
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March 10, 2010
REG HARTT to Toronto Advertising Hall of Shame
"Public morality, thy deadly bane,
By tens of thousands hast thou slain."
--Robert Burns.
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Dear Mr. Hartt,
Thy true feelings appear more in the arena of commerce and community litterbug, not in thy community of neighbours.
Robert
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March 10, 2010
Robert,
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld postering as freedom of speech.
I'll not see you take that freedom down.
We have a common enemy.
It would be better if we worked together to deal with it.
--Reg Hartt
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Dear Mr. Hartt,
Thank you for your contribution to the Blog.
However, you are misinformed. "Freedom of Speech" has certain limitations. For example, shouting "fire" in a movie theater endangers lives,a student shouting profanity at a teacher in school, pasting advertising signs to traffic and signs and street lamps or spray painting a building or sidewalk, for example, are some of many exceptions to to "freedom of speech" found in Toronto city by-laws.
Beyond this, there is a community standard for keeping our city clean and a pleasant place in which to live and work.
Please consider these points when you poster.
Robert
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February 28, 2010
M.S. has provided contact information for Mr. Hartt. Please call or email him about the littering of our Toronto neighbourhoods.
Reg Hartt: 416-603-6643. Email: rHartt4363@rogers.com
463 Bathhurst Street.
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February 26, 2010
I am surprised that Reg Hartt and his inane movie posters are not on your hall of shame. This man has been polluting downtown pylons and construction fences for over twenty years that I know of. He bombards the streets with as many posters as he can find space for, often pasting over other posters. Whenever I see ads for his limited repertoire of films, I rip them off but this man is like a cancer, he keeps coming back. I would love to see this stopped from defacing our streets.
M.S.
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Dear Mr./Ms. S,
Thank you for your note.
The Toronto Advertising Hall of Shame (Canadians Against Street SPAM) relies heavily on surveillance and action by concerned Toronto residents such as yourself to report abuses of our city with photos and identification of locations.
Anything you and your neighbours can do to help identify and , more important, remove the abuses, is welcome.
Thank you for your help.
Robert |
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February 24, 2010
This might not work for everyone but I tried some WD-40 on a bunch of those junk signs stuck on the back of traffic signs on my block. If you leave it on for a few minutes, the junk signs peel off pretty easy.
Mike
Scarborough |
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January 22, 2010
me and my wife just got back from 10 days in London, England. We were really impressed with the cleanliness of the city. No junk signs for Queen Elizabeth Movers and Buckingham Palace Roofing. How come they can do and we can't?
Marty
Scarborough
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January 18, 2010
Hello Ville,
Great work on the web site.
For a few years, I've been taking down the signs in the block north and east
of Yonge Street and York Mills Road.
I've made a hook on a stick to help get the signs down, and have posted some
details both of the construction of the hook, and of using it at http://hook.NeighboursNews.ca (which includes a pointer to your web site.
Let me know if you see anything I should change.
M.S. |
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December 22, 2009
Hello there,
I was just hoping you could send the word out to ask everyone who visits your site to please report any sightings of the "Booty Camp" ads that are beginning to crop up again in North Toronto. Yesterday they hit Mount Pleasant south from Merton, and St. Clair over to Yonge. These people are worthless idiots, and everything should be done to make their lives as difficult as possible, and that includes removing their ads as soon as they get placed up.
Thanks, and keep up the good effort!
D.L. |
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December 5, 2009 -
I've seen some improvement in my neighbourhood. Are things getting better, the same or worse do you thin?
Emily, Scarborough (mother of three)
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Dear Emily,
Some things are better and some are worse and some are the same.
One thing is certain, however, more people have become aware of the need to be constantly vigilant in the battle against Street SPAM and litter. Junk advertisers never tire of pasting signs on our traffic light and street light poles and backs of traffic signs. The only deterrents are the vigilance of people like yourself and recent city efforts to levy fines.
Council Howard Moscoe has been instrumental in this work for the city and the good folks at Municipal Licensing and Standards now understand that they are on the front lines in the battle to keep our neighbourhoods clean, and they are doing an increasing better job.
Thanks, Emily.
Robert |
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November 21, 2009 -
Dear Friends,
Please excuse the delay for some of you on receiving the signs snips. The response was overwhelming, for which we are all gratified. However, our supply has been exhausted. They were donated by a friend of the Toronto Advertising Hall of Shame city cleanup campaign. We are hoping another generous donor will come forward shortly. We have a waiting list of about 50 and will send the snips about as as receive them. Meanwhile, please do what you can to help remove our city's Street SPAM junk signs and make Toronto a more pleasant place to live and work.
Thank you.
Robert
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fromMichael Begley <acezdemo@rogers.com>
toVille Propre De Toronto <torontoadvertisinghallofshame@gmail.com>
dateThu, Nov 19, 2009 at 4:06 PM
subjectRe: Demolition Man Litters Kingsway-Lambton Church Area
signed-byrogers.com
I don't know who you are but I really hope you are not spreading bad news about me or my company I Had paid a company to put up sighns for me .they put up 100 sighns through out toronto this was one time about three months ago . this is not a crime and i don't want to be harrassed by you about a couple of sighns and maybe spend your free time on something else other than me |
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November 10, 2009 -
Hello: I just used S & Sons Moving yesterday. The owner Stefan was sooooo rude to me. He has a major chip on his shoulder. I’m on the internet to see if anyone else had a bad experience and came across your site!
Wow! I guess some of these businesses are so jaded and desperate to make a buck
Teresa |
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Reader-provided composite photo |
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November 10, 2009 -
My kids and I usually take down a sign or two while waiting for their
school bus in the morning in our Neighborhood...which is at Dufferin
and Rutherford...(Dufferin Hill) - The Boulevard's have become a breeding
ground for these lazy business owners who could easily have a website
in this day and age and get found that way.
Well on the way home tonight my 7 and 5 year old and I started to grab a
few signs on the way into our street around 8:30pm. The kids got right into
it and so did dad. We picked up over 14 signs in about 20 minutes.
We're not taking it anymore and I will take them down daily for as long as
they put them up!
Jeff
Vaughan |
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November 1, 2009 -
I think you guys are awesome for providing this service.
Duke
Kelowna BC
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