What should we do with the Maine?

[General Gonad]

Did anyone catch Pulse's Tara Schwartz tonight @ 6:30 discussing the Main. The corner of St-Laurent and St-Catherine has a rich history. It was transformed in 1890 when Jewish immigrants settled there and started the great night life with their clubs. Because they were Jews, nobody bothered them.

Now the Main has become a place full of crack dealers. Two Montreal businessmen were discussing their opposing views on what to do with the corner. One wants to tear down the buildings and rebuild. The other, the owner of Cafe Cleopatra, wants to keep his business and keep the corner as is.

One social worker said it doesn't make sense to clean it up and 'sanitize' for the yuppies. Finally, a reporter of the Montreal Mirror also stated his belief that we should keep things the way they are. I kind of agree with both of them.

BTW, Tara interviewed a streetwalker named Bunny who said that in the glory years, she would make up to $1,000 or more a night and now she is lucky if she makes $200 a day and often makes nothing.

What do you think we should do with the Main?

GG

 

[eastender]

The Main

Did anyone catch Pulse's Tara Schwartz tonight @ 6:30 discussing the Maine. The corner of St-Laurent and St-Catherine has a rich history. It was transformed in 1890 when Jewish immigrants settled there and started the great night life with their clubs. Because they were Jews, nobody bothered them.

Now the Maine has become a place full of crack dealers. Two Montreal businessmen were discussing their opposing views on what to do with the corner. One wants to tear down the buildings and rebuild. The other, the owner of Cafe Cleopatra, wants to keep his business and keep the corner as is.

One social worker said it doesn't make sense to clean it up and 'sanitize' for the yuppies. Finally, a reporter of the Montreal Mirror also stated his belief that we should keep things the way they are. I kind of agree with both of them.

BTW, Tara interviewed a streetwalker named Bunny who said that in the glory years, she would make up to $1,000-$2,000/night and now she is lucky if she makes $200 a day and often makes nothing.

What do you think we should do with the Maine?

GG

To get funding for a developement you would have to have at least 80% of the project pre-sold or pre-leased.Given that the stretch of Ste.Catherine east of the old Forum has not been developed by an owner with much deeper pockets then the intersection of St.Laurent and Ste.Catherine will stay more or less as is for the foreseeable future.

The Bell Centre project was downsized significantly from the original - there is very little need for office or commercial space in Montreal and there is nothing on the horizon that will change the situation.

 

[MakeIt]

This is funny - I thought the thread was what to do about the state of Maine. I have lots of opinions on that, but that's another thread.

 

[General Gonad]

The Main...

My apologies, I reedited the thread to read the "Main." here is the link to the show and what was discussed:

http://montreal.ctv.ca/cfcf/news/on_assignment&id=1033#1033

 

[General Gonad]

Just look at the turn around in Providence, RI over the last decade. That city was in far worse shape, and today the downtown is bustling. All you have to do is elect a mayor with mob ties.
Feel free to flame away.

Interesting, it has been a while since I visited Brown University but the city's downtown core was run down. The same goes with Yale University. Both Ivy league schools but their cities were awful.

As for electing a mayor with mob ties, our public works in Montreal are full of mob ties. They basically extort taxpayers and do nothing to fix the city's decaying infrastructure. It kind of works like this:"You betta buy the cement from Gino's shop or else I'll bury you in it!"

 

[joelcairo]

No comment on the Main, but let's see more of Tara Schwartz and a LOT less of Debra Arbec!

 

[MakeIt]

I thought the same thing. Wasn't Maine originally a province in present day France around the time of William the Conqueror? Or am I way off?

Anyway, this is just my American 'yuppie' prejudice showing, but the city would be far better off to clean up this neighborhood. Of course, I'm not a resident, and I don't know Montreal like some of you do. I was surprised by the state of the local economy, though.
There's so much wasted potential there. Just look at the turn around in Providence, RI over the last decade. That city was in far worse shape, and today the downtown is bustling. All you have to do is elect a mayor with mob ties.
Feel free to flame away.

Bytger,

You're so right - Montreal has so much wasted potential, its criminal the way our mayors have wasted it over the years.
I had to laugh on the mob comment - that would probably be a major improvement over all the wimpy, pantywaste, snotnose, sorry excuse of human beings we've had as mayors for the past 20 years. I wish we would elect a woman only because she would look better in a dress than the guys we put in office and she would more couilles (balls).

The last time any real progress was made in Montreal was back in the 60s and 70s when the Mayor was Jean Drapeau. He was actually elected back in the 50s after a successful career as a lawyer and was mayor until the 80s. Initially, he used his legal background to clean up corruption in City Hall. He was responsible for building of the Montreal Metro system and our famed underground, bringing Expo 67 world fair, the 1976 Olympics, the Expos , Place des Arts and many other major projects for the city. He left in somewhat disgrace because of major cost overruns in building the Olympic facilities - by todays standards though, he actually almost on budget with only a 100% overrun. In spite of this, Montreal had a lot to be proud while he was Mayor.

I have travelled all over the US and Canada and only a couple of cities come close to Montreal in diversity and culture. Unfortunately, all of the gutless wonders running Montreal for the past 20 years have reduced this once beautiful and vibrant city to a rumpled, tattered shell. Were so pathetic now that in addition to losing the Expos, we could n't even hold on to the gay olympics. Oh sure we got the world acquatic championships - God, I'd rather watch curling.

I would be happy to see a mob-backed candidate run the city because they could get the roads fixed, get redevelopment going in the core, deal with the totally out of control blue-collar worker unions, and most importantly, put the provincial premier and all his plowboy cronies in their place. They could also make sure that Cleos get a brand new home twice as big as they have today which would make all MERB members happy (and they would get priorty access to booths of course).

 

[Carla]

No comment on the Main, but let's see more of Tara Schwartz and a LOT less of Debra Arbec!

Wny is that? I love Debra, I think she is pretty hot.. Tara Schwarz is my second favorite! And then Lori Graham..

 

[breadman]

Wasn't Maine originally a province in present day France around the time of William the Conqueror? Or am I way off?
.

a streetwalker named Bunny who said that in the glory years, she would make up to $1,000 or more a night and now she is lucky if she makes $200 a day and often makes nothing.

btyger, someone should ask Bunny...im sure she was around then also

Im sure Oliver can tell you what happens to streetwalkers over time better than me. But its my guess they dont age as well as a fine wine.

 

[General Gonad]

back to the blond prositute-marie frince--talk about a girl who could suck and fuck--she used to take me to her apartment on almherst near demaisoneuve i think it was--1st time she went down on me i thought-fuck no condom
but she had it in he mouth and put it on like this-talented girl-we used to play criubbage and i would spend hours with her--she would takje what ever i had
the most i paid was 70 and the least was 40--have not seen her in years now
oliver

Olie,

A great blow for $40-$70 - ah, the good old days!!!

 

[General Gonad]

cohabitation works well?


Here is the part of the transcript that discusses Gravenor's and other's views on why they like the status quo:

ALTHOUGH IT IS AMONG THE VANGUARDS OF THE MAIN - THE SHARP EDGE OF A SHINIER CLEANER FUTURE - THERE'S A FEELING HERE THAT COHABITATION WITH THE DOWN AND OUT WORKS PRETTY WELL.

[Andre Picard] I think being part of an urban environment and a dynamic environment - that's part of life in the city you know. We have to live with the people and evolve with them.

THIS OUTREACH WORKER COULDN'T AGREE MORE.

[Sky Bellefleur] If you go into an area and you gentrified it, you can sanitize it so it doesn't have any culture any more, doesn't have any edge. You know, it's just a place where yuppies can pay a lot of rent and come and go as they please. So it takes away from the whole spirit of the neighbourhood.

A NEIGHBORHOOD KRISTIAN GRAVENOR KNOWS QUITE A BIT ABOUT.

THIS LONG TIME MONTREAL WRITER SAYS THE LOWER MAIN IS A GEM JUST THE WAY IT IS.

[Kristian Gravenor/Columnist, Montreal Mirror] Nobody seems to be bothered with the sort of mayhem here so it's sort of like given the fact that there will always be some craziness going on in this city and it's already here why displace it why upset what's working reasonably well already.

 

[joelcairo]

Carla - I like some intelligence in a woman - Tara has it, Arbec doesn't - also, Tara is hot, but Arbec's about as sexy as a pair of old socks. My hot list in order of preference: 1/2 tie: Tara Schwartz and Annie DeMelt both very hot. A distant third Lori Graham. Right WAY down near the bottom...just above Ron Freakin REUSCH is Arbec!

 

[mack]

Oliver, is it true than that virtually without exception any girls working the main are using (dope)? What a shame.

 

[hopeless slut]

You can find the answer to your question.

Am I missing something? The dealers I've seen wouldn't scare anyone.[/QUOTE]
If you would like to get a feel for the kind of dirtbags being discussed,I suggest you go to Peter's Barsalon around 22:00,pull up a chair order a beer and watch the show.

 

[docprostate]

''La main'' i.e. Rue Principale in French

In Quebec every city and village has a main street, ''La rue principale''.
For examples: in Québec city, la rue St-Jean, in very small town like Grand'Mère, la 6ième avenue, etc.

In Montréal ''La main'' is the St-Laurent boulevard. The main dates back to 1672 when Montreal was a fortified city. It started at one of the gates, the St-Laurent gate. Named after the St-Laurent (The St-Lawrence river). The St-Laurent boulevard was the first street that runs in the south-north axis.

Aside the St-Laurent Blvd. a very active place was formed in the 1700. The ''Faubourg St-Laurent''. At the beginning of the 20th century, this was the place were immigrants of all nationalities settled.

Montreal and the Province of Quebec will join to renovate this important boulevard and thence preserve this jewel of Montreal and Canada.

Please see: http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/proj/Main/intro_e.asp

Quote for this www site: ''In the collective psyche of Montréal, Boulevard Saint-Laurent is the immigrant corridor, the Jewish and Italian tailors, Chinese and Greek restaurants and a multitude of exotic small retail businesses. It is also a place for entertainment, with everything from variety theatres to nightclubs, from burlesque and vaudeville to repertory and avant-garde theatre. There are also bars, billiard parlours, restaurants, and famous places like Schwartz's Deli, where they sell the best smoked meat in town, or the Montreal Pool Room, where they have the best hot dogs. At various times and places, Boulevard Saint-Laurent has also been the "dangerous" boulevard of secret gambling houses and erotic shows for the most diverse clientele.''

 

[Cosmo]

Guys,

By definition,I'm not sure but I think St-Laurent is not a Boulevard but a street.There's got to be a concrete separation in between both ways for it to be called Boulevard.
But then again I'm not sure 100%.Anyone can confirm?

 

[docprostate]

Boulevard

Just clic on the www site provided in my previous post and you will find:

''In June 1996, Montréal's Boulevard Saint-Laurent, more commonly known as The Main, was designated by the Government of Canada as a national historic site to commemorate this favoured immigrant gateway.''