Toronto's first-ever men's fashion week, TOM*FW, got underway last night at the Fairmont Royal York, featuring collections from local menswear luminaries like Benji WZW and Christopher Bates. One up-and-coming designer who won't be showing: Mic Carter, whose L'Uomo Strano line was set to kick off the second night of shows.

According to Carter, who's previously shown his line at FAT and other Toronto events, his line was pulled at the eleventh hour by TOM staff due to concerns that L'Uomo Strano's signature androgynous aesthetic would not be masculine enough to be a fit for the event.

"I've been removed from the Toronto Men's Fashion Week schedule due to their concern that the line is too femme/androgynous," he wrote on the line's Facebook page, adding he was "pretty disappointed". Writer Kevin Naulls originally reported that TOM staff feared that media would ask if designers were "presenting womenswear" at Toronto's men's fashion week, then began suggesting changes to existing looks, like adding army boots.

At the event's opening night Tuesday, executive director Jeff Rustia confirmed Carter's collection would no longer be appearing, but said the decision had to do with the workmanship and quality of the line. He added the event, which was set to be attended by members of the international fashion media, was about putting the city's best foot forward.

Rustia also said he personally identifies as a member of the LGBT community, and that androgyny doesn't run counter to the spirit of the event, pointing to finalists in the fashion week's EMDA competition as examples.

One thing's certain: Carter won't be showing his collection as planned at TOM, and though the fashion week doesn't charge its designers runway fees - a reality at many other fashion events - the fledgling designer is still out approximately $10,000 in production costs for his as-yet-unseen line.

Move over, New York Fries. Prince Edward's Fries is a brand-new food truck dedicated to elevating already-mouthwatering fries with clever house-made spice mixes like butter salt, sour cream and onion, and cheddar jalapeno. They've already found a loyal following of fry lovers, but there's even more coming to the menu, including a unique Filipino spin on poutine.

Read about Prince Edward's Fries on Toronto Food Trucks.

The all you can eat poutine place we wrote about last month is now open for business. Serving a wide variety of extravagant poutines, this Montreal import offers AYCE every Tuesday and also a DIY option where you can design you own poutine from a huge range of ingredients.

Read my profile of Poutineville in the restaurants section.

Toronto the Good never really quite goes away, as exemplified by the the public health office's recent call for a ban on the sale of energy drinks and alcohol. The proposed ban would extend to events that take place on city property and/or which require a city permit for the sale of booze. The argument is pretty straightforward. The Board of Health cites the dangers of combining caffeine and booze, which one official notes causes people to feel "wide-awake drunk."

Um, that sounds pretty fun to me. I'm often so sleepy when I drink. All kidding aside, there probably is an argument against the combination of energy drinks and alcohol when it comes to impaired judgment, but is it really the city's place to make the call on something like this? It strikes me as overly paternalistic, particularly given that neither energy drinks or alcohol are illicit items.

Have your say in the comments section.

It's safe to say that Toronto has a 1970s fetish. I've speculated as to why this is in past posts about the decade, but I think, suffice it to say, we're fascinated by the degree to which the city looks both familiar (the CN Tower and many of the major towers of the Financial District can be traced back to this point or just before) and yet profoundly different (parking lots galore). It's a compelling tension, and one that's only increased by the curious sepia tone that seems to define images derived from this period. People really seemed to like brown 40+ years ago.

If there's an ideal set of images that shows off the historical allure of the decade, it might very well be postcards. I've posted a number of night shots from the 1970s before, but the slightly faded day images really show off the sparsity and grit of the city back then, even as they are intended to sell the city to tourists. The 1970s were a decade in which Toronto grew up (both in terms of its built landscape and a population boom), which is why it's so intriguing to see how undeveloped everything looks.

Here's a collection of some of my favourite Toronto postcards from the 1970s.

The foot of Roncesvalles

St. James ParkSparse, yellow-toned skylineYonge St.Looking down from the CN TowerYorkvilleEglinton and the DVPFreighter in the harbourNo condos hereCity HallGlory days at the CNESkyline at duskYonge north of GouldYonge looking south from GerrardNighttime on the GardinerOntario PlaceYorkdale in its infancy

Thanks to Chuckman's Blog, which is an excellent resource for Toronto postcards across the decades.

The best fries in Toronto are golden. Literally. Whether paired with a steak or slumming it in a poutine, this list of fries generally starts with the same formula; freshly-cut potatoes (Russet or Yukon preferred) that are twice-fried for exquisite crispness, then showered in salt for ultimate addictiveness.

Here are the best fries in Toronto.

See also:

The Best Poutine in Toronto
The Best Burger in Toronto
The Best Sweet Potato Fries in Toronto

The CNE unveiled today its latest batch of outrageous food items it will be serving to the public this year when the annual Exhibition kicks off this Friday. Like last year's list, the foods aren't for the calorie-counting inclined and are instead binge worth variations of indulgent snacks, sweet infused meats and hybrid comfort foods.

Here are five outrageous foods to try at the CNE this summer.

Thanksgiving Waffles
Just when you thought chicken fried waffles was the ultimate waffle indulgence along comes Frans Restaurant with a hybrid of your weekend brunch and Thanksgiving dinner. A plate of these waffles comes stuffed with roast turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry stuffing and then smothered with a thick house made gravy. Hold the maple syrup.

Cocoa Infused Fried Chicken
Chocolate and chicken lover? You no longer need to satisfy your cravings with two different meals. Cocoa infused fried chicken is exactly what it sounds like - chicken coated and seasoned with cocoa and fried to a dark chocolate crisp. Find it inside the Food Building at the Coco's Fried Chicken stand.

Butter Coffee
Need a caffeine kick and want to pack on some calories at the same time? Butter coffee should do it. A product of local coffee shop Hula Girl Espresso (also inside the Food Building), a cup of this brewed coffee is packed with a dollop of butter making it oh-so-rich and a definite item to avoid if you're the type who take your Pilot beans with a dose of Almond milk.

S'More Bao
This hybrid dessert has made an appearance lately at various spots in Toronto including the newly opened Lucky Red. Now CNE goers can indulge in a version here too courtesy of Far East Taco in the Food Building. Just as you'd expect, this Asian bun is layered with marshmallows, sweet milk cream, hazelnut, chocolate and crushed graham crackers. Yum.

Elvis Grilled Cheese
What's an outrageous food list without some new wacky variation on grilled cheese? A tribute to The King himself, this fried melted sandwich comes packed with all of Elvis' favourite foods including peanut butter, banana, bacon and cheese. Thankfully, they've kept out the prescription drugs. Find it at Coffee Zone near the Midway.

And that's not all. Also look out for spicy peanut butter sriracha rolls, liquid nitrogen gelato, a crowbar (croissant baked with a chocolate bar inside), a fun-ana (hybrid between corn dog and funnel cake) and bacon wrapped corn.

Which food are you most looking forward to trying this year? Add your pick to the comments below.

Photos by Jesse Milns.

It's been an absolute mess at Union Station as the TTC works to renovate the perpetually busy transit hub, but there's some good news today for commuters who crowd into the station. As of Monday, the second subway platform that's been under construction for over a year will finally be in use. That should dramatically ease congestion during rush hour and after events at the ACC and SkyDome (oops, Rogers Centre).

Finch and Downsview-bound trains will now each have a dedicated platform, thereby doubling the passenger capacity at the station. Other improvement at Union are still a ways away, and the cosmetics of the station scream construction site, but the extra space should make things a little less insufferable down there. The TTC projected that the work would be done by the end of July, so it finishes mostly on schedule. Don't you just love good news?

Toronto Restaurant Openings highlights the latest restaurant openings and closings in Toronto and also gives a preview of what's coming soon. Find us here every Thursday morning.

OPEN NOW

• Linwood Essentials is now open at 930 Queen St. West, in the former home of A-OK.
• Wild Burger holds its grand opening on Friday, August 22, but catch them in soft opening mode a couple days earlier at 709 Mount Pleasant Rd.
• Banh Mi Bar is now open at 189 Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market, serving Vietnamese sub sandwiches, tacos, sliders.

RECENTLY REVIEWED

• Poutineville Toronto
• Dailo
• Hong Shing Chinese Restaurant
• Colette

OPENING SOON

• A new organic green grocer and juice bar is opening in Leslieville at 1164 Queen St. East (formerly Pentimento Gallery). The store, backed by partners of Front Door Organics, is tapping the public to help name the store. Expect an opening by early November.
• 120 Diner, situated under Club 120 (120 Church St.), celebrates their grand opening on Saturday, August 23. The new late-night destination plans to serve up comfort foods like chili fries and pulled-pork sandwiches until 4am.
• Fueled, a new espresso, juice and salad bar, is opening at 739 Ossington Ave at Bloor. Expect an opening date in the next couple weeks.

CLOSING

• Pisco, the Peruvian kitchen at 3249 Yonge St., is no longer open, though owners say they're looking to relocate and keeping up with catering operations in the meantime.
• Craft Dogs' storefront at 95 King St. East has closed, as their website states, "to take some time to work on its wieners".
• My Market Bakery (172 Baldwin St.) is no more. The bakery sold its last loaves last week.

Have you seen restaurants opening or closing in your neighbourhood? Email tips to liora@blogto.com

Photo of Linwood Essentials by Jesse Milns

Road closures in Toronto for the weekend of August 16 and 17 rounds up the key transportation shut-downs affecting the city, including street and TTC closures.

KEY ROAD CLOSURES IN TORONTO

Lake Shore: Bay--York. Westbound lanes will be closed from Saturday, August 16 at 12:01 a.m. to Sunday, August 17 at 11:59 p.m. for construction of a pedestrian bridge over the road. Traffic traveling west will be diverted onto Yonge.

Danforth Ave: Warden-- Byng, Danforth Rd: Landry to Danforth Ave. The streets will be closed in both directions for Wheels on the Danforth and Fun in the Park on Saturday, August 16 from 7 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.

Bouchette and Logan: Commissioners--Lake Shore. A Midsummer Night's Run requires the closure of several roads on Saturday, August 16 from 6 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Some streets bound by Cherry, Lake Shore, Leslie, and Unwin will also be affected.

Eglinton: Dufferin--Marlee. The road will be closed in both directions from Saturday, August 16 from 3 a.m. to Monday, August 18 at 3 a.m. for the International Street Festival.

Bloor: Spadina--Parliament, Yonge: Bloor--Queen. The city's first Open Streets event will close Bloor and Yonge to through traffic from Sunday, August 17 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Vehicles will still be able to use major streets that intersect Bloor and Yonge during the event.

TTC CLOSURES

Line 1: Union--St. Andrew. There will be no subway service on Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17 between Union and St. Andrew stations on Line 1 as TTC crews make final preparations for the opening of the Union station second platform on Monday, August 18.

510 Spadina: Dundas. The continuing construction work at Spadina and Dundas means the 510 Spadina route is still being serviced by shuttle buses. The route is due to return to normal August 31. The 505 Dundas streetcar is operating through the area as normal.

504 King, 505 Dundas: Broadview. The 504 King and 505 Dundas streetcars remain unable to reach Broadview subway station due to construction on Broadview at Danforth. The 504 is turning south at Dundas and Broadview and returning to King via Queen and Parliament. The 505 is diverting via Parliament, Gerrard and Broadview. Both routes are being completed by shuttle bus.

ONGOING CLOSURES

Over and above the special closures this weekend, construction projects across Toronto result in numerous other road restrictions across the city. For a comprehensive list of such closures, you can consult the official map maintained by the City of Toronto (also available as a PDF.)

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

There's a new cafe in the Financial District just steps from the King St. subway and it has a familiar name. Assuming the space that was once a Petit Thuet, this mostly take-out operation has taken the formula it refined near its original OCAD-area location and offered it up for the Bay St. crowd.

Read my profile of Cafe Plenty in the cafes section.

Just mention the word subdivision and one tends to picture row upon row of brick houses of the most boring design. To be fair, that's pretty much what you get in most developments spread around the GTA, which is what makes this Crafthouse by Orchard Ridge Homes so darn interesting. Picked up by Curbed the other day, this development near Bayview and Finch features 20 ultra modern homes that would look very much at home in a place like Cedarvale as they do near the northern edge of the city.

While Toronto isn't home to as much subdivision construction these days (much of it having moved outside the city proper), developments of this size aren't exactly rare either. So perhaps the design work by architect Peter Vishnovsky will get developers thinking differently about how these communities are put together. They don't have to be bland and conservative by definition.

That said, one should bear in mind that these homes start at almost $1.8 million - hardly in keeping with the general positioning of a subdivision as an affordable alternative to downtown home ownership. No, this is something far more luxurious, where the architecture is actually one of the chief selling points. One wonders if a trickle down effect is at all possible, one in which less expensive developments start getting a little bit bolder with their designs.

MORE PHOTOS

Well, it looks like you missed the boat on buying one of those TTC map handbags from Jimmy Choo - sources say the limited run of 20 commemorative bags has sold out, at $1095 a pop, from the designer's new Yorkdale store. Fortunately, there's a new accessory branded with our city's iconic (sorta) subway map that will ease your non-buyer's remose (and save you about eleven hundred dollars).

A new crowdfunding project has surfaced on Tilt for a run of mini-billfold wallets printed with that TTC map we all know and re-read over and over again while sitting in the tunnels. The wallets, at just $4 each, were inspired by similar models for London's Oyster system; they're just large enough to fit a card or two. The campaign's already been funded, meaning you can pay without worrying if it will come through for you or not (unlike the TTC itself).

River City Phase 3 is one of the most interesting condo projects in Toronto from an architecture and design standpoint. Not that previous phases of the large scale development in the West Don Lands are any slouches, but the third phase is about as bold a design as Toronto gets in its residential towers - both inside and out. With a variety of modular features, Urban Capital's suite designs are both minimalist and functional, where it is the former term that one tends to see most often in isolation when it comes to condos around town.

At 29-storeys, the stacked design highlights the unique nature of each unit, while keeping things visually stimulating for those walking by. With landscape design from Claude Cormier, the outdoor spaces show play well off of the rest of the development, with a green roof and lap pool serving as particular highlights.

SPECS

Location: Lower River St. and Eastern Avenue
Storeys: 29-storeys
Number of units: 330 high-design lofts and penthouses with 9 ft high ceilings
Types of units: Studios, 1 beds, 1 beds + dens, 2 beds, 2 beds + dens, 3 beds, townhouses, penthouses
Unit sizes: from 315 to 2,056 square feet
Walkscore: 87
Price: From $199,900 to $1.4m
Architect: Saucier + Perrotte
Interior designer: Urban Capital
Exterior designer: Claude Cormier
Developer: Urban Capital

FEATURES

• 9' high ceilings
• Floor-to-ceiling windows
• Double storey family-friendly "loft-houses"
• Built-in desks with above-desk internet and electrical outlets
• 2,000 square foot gym, fitness and yoga centre
• Double height common room equipped with a show kitchen
• Eclectic reading room with bean bags
• Tool-equipped hobby and crafts room
• Children's play space
• Private theatre and guest suite

THE VERDICT

I suppose I sound rather glowing on this one, but that's because there's a lot to like. Using architects with more institutional background to design something residential has paid off here, as the building is both unique and practical. It's also got a wide range of unit types and sizes, which means that families priced out of the housing market might look here for an alternative.

The amenities are above average (the large gym is of note here) and the area is proximate to downtown and while still a work in progress, already features draws like Corktown Common, Underpass Park, and the Distillery District. Not much to dislike here at all.

Read other posts in this series via our Toronto Condos and Lofts Pinterest board.

Toronto's got a new bike repair shop, but one that lacks an actual storefront. Instead of opening a bricks and mortar space, Zach Tatem decided to operate a repair service that comes direct to customers' doors. Formerly a manager with Trek Canada's mountain bike team, the cycling enthusiast and mechanic already knows what it's like to be what he calls "a rolling bike shop," having traveled across the country with catering to the team's various technical needs.

"I had always dreamt of having my own bike shop, but Toronto already has so many, so I put two and two together and thought of having a fully mobile service, the bike shop that comes to you," Tatem tells me.

The shop is unsurprisingly repair-focused, offering a variety of maintenance scenarios. There are on-the-spot appointments, day repairs (the bike is picked up the bike in the morning and dropped it off at the end of the work day), as well as on-site repairs at a customer's place of work. According to Tatem, he does everything from changing a tube to full suspension overhauls. In other words, it's an all-service shop.

Rates wise, the Bicycle Repair Company appears competitive. The basic tuneup is $60, which is a tad higher than most Toronto bike shops ($50 would be the average), but obviously there's an added level of convenience on offer here. It's hard to put an exact price on the kind of a premium front door service is worth, but if you're the type who's too busy to make it out to the bike store, mobile service might be very appealing.

Bad news for Toronto's party scene: that way-fun dudely party in the Honest Ed's underground parking lot has been re-located due to concerns from Ed's general manager Russell Lazar. Lazar caught wind of all the attention the party was getting and was surprised that the promoters expected up to 1,400 dancers.

While Lazer says might let Dudebox come back to Ed's someday (meaning, I'm sure, someday before condos take over), Friday's party has been moved to 99 Sudbury, and the event has been renamed "99 Problems But a Venue Ain't One." Next time they should just have a party under a bridge like the rest of us trolls.

While this seems like another occurrence of why Toronto can't have nice things (look out for our list of the top 50 reasons Toronto can't have nice things), in light of the tragedies at Downsview's VELD Fest, his concerns can be understood.

Matt Powell of Dudebox explained the unique situation: "because we usually have these events in unconventional spaces, we normally deal with people who are not used to throwing parties. Sometimes this works to our benefit, and other times it's detrimental. The only events Lazar had done were some Fringe ones, with maybe 200 people."

"An event space manager that is used to parties would have been able to adapt to the large amount of people (as we did by upping our SOP, getting more security and bar staff, getting the blessing of Mike Layton and the residents associations in the area, etc.). To be fair, even we were unaware it would get so large. But where we adapted, he was unable or unwilling to."

Many will gripe - and rightly so - about the loss of the amazing party venue on the 15th, but don't lose sight of Dudebox's whole thing, either - raising money for charity (cancer, in this case). While the new venue will incur some costs for promoters, 80% of the door is still going to Wellspring. "We're a positive bunch here at Dudebox," Powell says, "and we're just happy that we still have the chance to raise some money."

This isn't the first time 99 Sudbury has stepped in as a last minute. Earlier this year when Foundry couldn't use their dream warehouse space on Sterling due to issues with the city, the entire multi-week series was relocated with barely a day to spare.

The key to a party at 99 Sudbury is to show up early enough to avoid the line - but not too early. I'm going to make an educated guess and say showing up after 11:30 is a mistake. More importantly, can someone please tell Ellen about the venue change?

99 Problems But A Venue Ain't One is Friday August 15 at 99 Sudbury. Doors are at 10pm and cover is $10.

Photo: Dudebox

To badly paraphrase the great Stephen Malkmus, Toronto's fashion scene is crazy - brands start up each and every day. We've featured numerousnewbie fashion designers, brands and web stores, and despite the funding and promotional woes faced by many young designers, there are still a few breaking away from the pack. From jewelry and streetwear to cold-weather gear and couture menswear tailoring, here are 10 new names to know in the city's fashion and retail scene.

Just Sultan
Sultan Sandur debuted his bowtie and accessory company in a big way at TOM this week, hosting a pop-up shop in the festival's marketplace and lending a few bowties to Christopher Bates for his opening night runway show. A whimsical bonus: Many of his designs are reversible, meaning they can be worn with either pattern or with a half-and-half twist. There's also patterned pocket squares and floral lapel pins for an extra punch.

Bad Etiquette
Bad Etiquette founder Lionel Wong's path to fashion design was long and winding - he left home at 16 and battled cancer in his 20s, but persevered, rising through the ranks of the ad agency before pursuing his dream of running a fashion line. Now, Wong's debuted his first unisex streetwear collection features a range of hoodies, tees and snapbacks in a stark black and white palette.

I Love Goldie
"Ethics and aesthetics" is the credo of this fair-trade fashion brand, which turns out edgy-boho jewelry pieces featuring strands of chains and quirky charms - all of which are lead- and nickel-free and made in Canada. My personal fave: their mismatched earrings, which feature a dagger charm on one side and a bottle opener on the other.

Bacchus and Barley
This brand-new leather accessory company - the creation of two Ryerson students - aims to make Canadian-made leather goods affordable for all. All of their wallets, passport cases, odds-and-ends trays and surprisingly handsome iPad cases ring in at under $100, and are available in a variety of North American and Italian leather finishes.

Shelfies
When we last checked in with Shelfies, they were hawking Rob Ford sweaters (just like every other person with a dream and the ability to pay someone to print 'drunken stupors' on a T-shirt). But that's just the tip of the iceberg for this now-ubiquitous Toronto brand, which ships obnoxiously photo-printed sweaters around the globe. Your options, mostly snack-related, range from legitimately-beautiful oil slick and Grand Canyon prints to pizza, Kanye eating ice cream and Lana Del Rey (the Aubrey Jax special).

Love Winter
You might not want to think ahead to winter now - but this is Toronto, and in four months, you're probably going to have a terrible soaker in -15 C weather. Ward that off with Love Winter's boots, which feature a felt boot shaft (cozy!) that clips into different-coloured rubber galosh bottoms (waterproof!) for a nifty mixed-media effect. (You get to choose two different colours when you buy 'em - perfect if you get sick of looking at the same pair of Sorels all winter long.)

Royal Shirt Co.
Technically, the Royal Shirt Company started 40 years ago in the basement of owner Anita D'Abbondanza's parents' house, where they began sewing tailored men's shirts. The business grew exponentially until it was sold in 1999; now, the brand's been relaunched with a range of shirting - from casual button-downs to formalwear - made with those heritage techniques in mind.

Jesse Rowes
Designer Vanessa Rose Thomas' design career took her to bridal and eveningwear before she finally began doing feminine daywear for women with Jesse Rowes (a line named for her grandmothers). Feminine cocktail dresses abound, including a few little white numbers we could see some uber-hip bride rocking at her wedding reception - but the collection's also recently given way to some adorable crop top and skirt sets, which your favourite blogger will most likely be sporting come Fashion Week.

Atelier Guarin
At Fanshawe College's end of year fashion competition, Unbound, this spring, Sebastian Taborda Guarin took home the prize for his collection of tailored pieces embellished with clever grids and windows. The London lad is now in Toronto, interning for none other than Greta Constantine - look for his name to pop up around town.

Athletes Collective
Whether you're an iron man, a CrossFitter, or just want something basic to wear with your leather sweatpants, this new men's athletic line might have the basics you need. Launched earlier this year, Athletes Collective aims to create affordable made-in-Canada basics for athletes of all types. And they mean affordable - their first run of moisture-wicking shirts starts at just $20.

Photo via Just Sultan.

Lost a bike outside the Hudson's Bay Centre on Bloor? You might want to give the building's security team a call. It appears the building's owners, Brookfield Properties, are removing bicycles locked on the sidewalk without permission. No warning notice, no note of explanation.

The matter came to light last night when Lisa Ferguson, a public policy consultant who had locked her bike to a TTC subway sign outside the building, returned to find it missing.

"I walked up and down the sidewalk for several minutes," she wrote in a Facebook post before asking someone from the building's security team if they might have caught the incident on CCTV.

Ferguson says Hudson's Bay Centre security, which is provided through a company called RSSI Security, told her they had cut through her heavy-duty Kryptonite lock and placed her bicycle in storage.

She was told security is regularly directed by Brookfield management to remove bicycles locked to signposts or trees outside the building.

The north side of Bloor, east of Yonge, does have several places to lock a bicycle, most of them located outside the Marriott hotel. Closer to the intersection with Yonge, cyclists are often forced to use signposts, trees, or other vertical fixtures.

City by-law 743-9 prohibits people attaching or locking any object to a garbage can, signpost, or other municipal property on public sidewalks. However, in July 2012, city council tweaked the rules slightly, providing an exemption for bicycles that, in the opinion of Transportation Services are "in good operating condition and [are] not chained, locked or attached so as to damage or interfere with the use of municipal property."

The new rules were designed to help city workers better identify abandoned bicycles.

A portion of sidewalk outside 2 Bloor Street East does in fact belong to Brookfield but as this map that draws from the city's Open Data illustrates, the privately-owned space does not extend more than a metre or so beyond the building itself. A call to the city confirmed the subway sign where Ferguson's bike was locked is indeed part of the public sidewalk and therefore, it would appear, a legal place to park.

Staff at the Hudson's Bay Centre refused to comment on the matter and my questions were directed to Brookfield's corporate office in New York City. So far, repeated enquiries have gone unanswered.

UPDATE: 21:57

Brookfield Office Properties says the bikes were removed as a safety measure and apologizes to cyclists who believed their property had been stolen.

"We have free exterior and interior bike racks at Hudson's Bay Centre in Toronto, as well as a secure bike storage facility within our garage. As adjacent property owner, we have the right to remove a bike or otherwise affixed object to property and the TTC pole on the sidewalk outside of our building if it poses a perceived risk to pedestrians," the company said in a statement."

"It is our first and foremost responsibility to protect the health and safety of our tenants and all those that visit the building. There have been numerous instances at this location where pedestrians have tripped over or have otherwise been injured by bicycles affixed to the pole."

"We apologize to anyone who believed their bike was stolen and in the future endeavor to provide either a verbal or written warning before removing a bike or other property from a prohibited area."

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

The CNE is back in Toronto on August 15, announcing as it does, the slow fade of another summer. While it no longer enjoys the stature it did a century ago -- when it really was the biggest event of the summer by a good margin -- the Ex still draws over a million visitors each year. Many these days will come for the food, which has become more and more popular over the last half decade, but the classic rides and midway are still major draws, if only for the familiarity and nostalgia.

Over and above the year over year fixtures at the Ex, there's a host of new (or at least more recent) entertainment and activities to get up to. Here's a look at some of the best that this year's CNE has to offer in addition to the completely wild foods on offer this year.

Top Picks

Northern Comfort Saloon
New this year is a country-themed saloon to take advantage of this city's recent obsession with all things western. There will be lots of bourbon (sorry under 19ers, you're out of luck after 3:30pm), line dancing, and what's being called "comfort foods." Ribfest is on just around the corner, so if the eats aren't what you're after, you won't go hungry.

The Zip Line returns
Probably the most fun adult ride at the Ex is the zip line, which returns for a second year. At over 1,100ft in length and 125ft in height, it's a great way to soar above the midway and take in all of the action below. Just remember, it's 12 stories high, so it's not for the feint of heart.

Food Truck Frenzy
The wacky combinations of deep fried food tend to hog the spotlight at the CNE, but there's actually lots of less outlandish but more tasty food on offer. The food truck element is huge this year with almost 20 trucks in attendance, from new mobile kitchens like CORNehCOPIA and Randy's Roti to favourites like Fidel Gastro's and Food Dudes. Look for the food truck alley on Princes' Boulevard just inside the gates.

Pan Am Games Preview
The Pan Am Games arrive in a year, but it seems like the city has yet to get too excited about this major event. Perhaps that's understandable given how much work is left to do before it appears that we're ready to host the world, but a little boost couldn't hurt. At this year's Ex, an interactive exhibit devoted to the Games will offer a sneak peak of what's in store and allow participants to burn a few calories they've consumed in the food building.

Toronto mayoral candidates like you've never seen them
It wouldn't be the Ex if there wasn't some exhibit that's completely silly but somehow compelling just for that reason. Taking the prize this year will be the "Canstruction of Mayoral Candidates," which will assemble a likeness of the leading politicians running for mayor of Toronto out of 10,000 cans. Andy Warhol would be proud. And, just in case this sounds entirely wasteful, the cans used in the installation will be donated to the Salvation Army food drive upon completion of the CNE.

5 more things to check out this year

Music - The lineup drastically under represents female artists, but there's plenty of seen-his-better-days performers for those interested in a nostalgia kick.

The Airshow - This year's show will feature six WWI fighter planes.

Celebrity Chefs - This might stretch your definition of celebrity, but a number of Food Network Canada hosts will put on cooking demonstrations.

The Amazing Kreskin - Yup, Kreskin is performing this year. Have your mind blown.

Aerial Acrobatics - If you don't make it out to Cirque du Soleil's Kurios this year, you might get your fill of acrobatics at the Ricoh Centre where there are two daily shows.

The CNE runs from August 15 to September 1, 2014. Adult admission is $18. For information about parking and other visitor tips, head over the official website.

Photo by Johnny [Shakedown] in the blogTO Flickr pool.