Toronto bakery owner slammed after complaining about bike lanes

A European bakery in Toronto's Bloor West Village has gone up in flames after its owner took to social media to hit bike lanes and get into petty name fights with other users who disagreed.

Cyclists have vowed to pass Yanchenko's Bakery at 2394 West Bloor St. after the decades-old establishment, known for its Eastern European pastries and comfort food, took to Instagram over the weekend to protest the neighborhood's bike lanes.

A post shared on Sunday (and deleted after this article was published on Monday) featured a photo of the Bloor Street West bike lane: “Every day, morning and night. Because of the bicycle, the cars were stuck in one lane. Isn't that a bicycle?

The comment was followed by anti-cyclist hashtags, including “#stopbikelanes” and “#stopthebikelanes,” as well as other hashtags used to campaign against the city's restrictions on traffic in High Park, such as “#savehighpark” and “. #let's save the village”.

Many users responded by criticizing the bakery for its stance. Some shut down the angry comments, while others took the…errr…bike lane in a big way.

One user responded: “Bike lanes don't block roads – cars do. People don't make safe decisions about driving and biking, so we build bike lanes. It's a version of urban planning. Gandhi 'be the change you want to see in the world.'

However, the bakery reacted strongly to the seemingly harmless comment, writing: “You are a joke. Do you shop a lot on your bike? Winter? Take your mom to church? Take your kids to school? Hold on. You have nothing. then (sic) your t (sic) all the little bowness (sic) lose it all once you go on a stupid bike ride.

Customers quickly called out the bakery for a response, with one user writing: “This should be a post for your personal account, not a business account.”

The user continued: “Though you think most of your customers use and rely on bike lanes. How many of these vehicles have just one passenger who can drive or take the subway without polluting their idle cars?”

“A difference of opinion doesn't warrant calling your customers a 'joke.' It's just bad business,” the commenter added.

Despite the literal “you're a joke” quote above, the bakery owner insists that he “didn't call anybody a joke,” saying, “I called the bike lanes a joke. They are like that. I get up. and working here, I don't think it's a one-time thing.

“I saw the effects from day one. It's a bad joke,” the owner continued. “They're dangerous and ruining the local economy. But don't worry, soon the small businesses will be gone and you'll have lots of shared condos and big box stores. You can shop there by bike. Even from November to March, it's going to be great!”

One user said she would stop supporting the business because of Yanchenko's comments: “Wow, I didn't know your business was so anti-bike. My son and I frequent your donuts. Unfortunately, I'll be going elsewhere. You need to keep these comments off your business site to get them. “.

The bakery also responded to the comment: “Buy a car. Oh, you can't afford it. Sorry, you're mad about it.”

Many have pushed back on these and other comments, but the bakery has doubled down at every opportunity to push back.

In one response, the bakery account wrote: “I stand by my opinion. I'm not intimidated by cyclists. I see what I see and bike lanes are a danger to everyone, including you.”

Personal injury lawyer David Shelnutt told blogTO that this is the first time a restaurant owner has had a disagreement with the cycling community.

“It's really sad to see a local business sponsored by cyclists posting content that doesn't make cycling safe,” Shelnutt tells blogTO.

“We've seen this bakery owner harass BIPOC city workers for installing bike lanes before. Just doing their job. It's clear they have an ax to grind, and that behavior is going to be blamed for any drop in sales they see.” .