As Far As I Am Concern It Is Much Ado About Nothing

But then of course my family and I don't live in the area so why should I care....

West Queen West not all it's cracked up to be Graffiti, drugs and now murder, but little action from BIA or City Hall

By SUE-ANN LEVY, TORONTO SUN

Queen St. W. sex shop owner Katie Matthews has watched the crime in her area escalate following the recent fatal stabbing of a St. Catharines man by a pack of panhandlers working the strip.

The elegant owner of MissBehav'N would have expected a stepped-up police presence in response to the Aug. 9 attack on 32-year-old Ross Hammond. Instead, she's noticed the drug deals and panhandling now occur any time of the day or night on Queen west of Bathurst -- and the police are nowhere to be seen.

"It's because of an attitude of tolerance," she said. "Not even a death seemed to get the attention of the city, the police and the West Queen West Business Improvement Area."

On a rainy afternoon this past week I visited the area. It's a part of the city that's much talked about by the out-of-touch socialist do-nothings at City Hall. Not due to the recent stabbing, though, but because it has been touted as a safe, inviting area ripe for development and already flourishing with an edgy mix of shops, restaurants and art galleries.

If the strip west of Bathurst is inviting and safe, I certainly missed it. During a leisurely 5 p.m. stroll, I saw crack dealers selling their wares in the graffiti-infested doorways of the alley behind Queen St. W.