Toronto 335 Yonge | 55.2m | 16s | Lalani | Zeidler

CanadianNational said:
By refusing to considerately renovate or properly maintain this historical property - until it partially collapsed even before the fire - the Lalani Group should, IMO, be ruled deliquent, negligent, incompetent - whatever the terms are - and have this land taken from them without recompense.

Also, in addition to having the Lalani Group pay the costs the city has had to take with the property since the collapse and later fire, they should legally be forced to pay for the reconstruction of the Empress or pay an equivalent amount toward the city's heritage fund as a penalty and fine.
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Oh, but according to kkgg7, Lalani should win a prize...
 
mckarisma said:
Not hard, he's likely renting the bsmt still at the lalani house.
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Ahh come on, the burn down could have been commited by anyone that wasn't happy with the never ending closure of Gould street, or some frustrated Ryerson student, or even by one of the many head cases that travel up and down Yonge street all day.
Really, can anyone make the assumption that Lalani was connected or is a suspect, when truthfully for the past year there has been no facts or proof from any of the authorities.
 
I met a taxi driver this summer on my way home from a bar. This guy claimed to know Noorali Lalani and said that he told him "the city wouldnt let us take the building down, so we did it ourselves" Obviously the musings of a cab driver at 2 am arent going to make anyone jump to conclusions, but he seemed to know the family fairly well and seemed quite certain it was the Lalanis that did it
 
A ryerson student? Homeless person? Someone angry with the closure of gould? Those sound like much more absurd and "crap" explanations than the owners who would profit and had been trying unsuccessfully for years to develop the site. Come on AG, we all know they did it, it is obvious. The police tape shows an older man planning the event. It wasn't a student nor did the tape show a homeless looking individual.
 
I wonder if someone paid him off to do it...

(...What?)

Then again, even if he acted alone on his own impulses, I think we can safely say that this is as good as any demolition by neglect.
 
Police have charged him:
Police said in a release that officers arrested Stewart Poirier on Friday on an unrelated matter and soon had evidence they believe connects him to the Jan. 3, 2011 fire at 335 Yonge St., and another on Thursday on Sackville Street, near Queen and Parliament.

Poirier has been charged with arson, mischief endangering life, attempted murder and failing to comply with probation.
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Citytv
 
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agoraflaneur said:
A ryerson student? Homeless person? Someone angry with the closure of gould? Those sound like much more absurd and "crap" explanations than the owners who would profit and had been trying unsuccessfully for years to develop the site. Come on AG, we all know they did it, it is obvious. The police tape shows an older man planning the event. It wasn't a student nor did the tape show a homeless looking individual.
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Like i said, just another Yonge street tramp with nothing better to do
 
From the CityTV report:

"The evidence we have before us would seem to indicate that these are deliberate acts, these are calculated and there has been some planning involved,” Insp. Gary Meissner said at a news conference Monday.
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Meissner wouldn’t comment on whether he thought Poirier had been hired to set the fire although he said “that particular aspect of the investigation is still open.”
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And from the Globe:

“He acted alone in numerous arsons, I can’t say that he acted alone in the 335 Yonge Street,” Det. Harris said, adding the investigation is ongoing.
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AoD
 
By the sound of things, his kind of "deliberate planning" needn't have involved Lalani (then again, who knows)
 
This is a case where everybody and their cousin knows the Lalani group organised and planned it, but they need to build up enough proof for it to stick.

I think a fitting punishment would be for them to have to rebuild the old building brick by brick, and maintain it for the rest of their lives out of their own pocket. Justice that benefits the city.
 
Or at least some charges from the actual collapse along the lines of willful neglect leading to the endangerment of the public. Don't anyone tell me THAT wouldn't stick.

AoD
 
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