Toronto protests impending death of Sneaky Dee's with graffiti and cartoon dongs

The revived plan to redevelop Toronto's beloved Sneaky Dee's with a condo tower has stirred up strong emotions among the dive bar's loyal patrons. And while some are pleading with City Hall and organizing grassroots campaigns to halt the planned change, others are letting their anger boil over for all to see.

An application filed earlier this spring on behalf of developer Ironwood Bay seeks changes to the site's zoning and the City of Toronto's Official Plan to permit a 16-storey mixed-use condo development spanning 419 through 431 College St., a site that includes Sneaky Dee's.

Plans to redevelop the site have sat dormant since the pandemic, with the recent application update introducing new changes, but, perplexingly, still planning condos in a market where these shoebox units just aren't selling.

Though questions remain about the viability of a 16-storey condo in the current market, the renewed proposal was met with a swift response from the bar's devoted patrons, who have started petitions and other campaigns to spare the counterculture landmark.

Walk past the beloved haunt at Bathurst and College today, and you may notice the defaced City of Toronto development notice sign fixed to the south face of the bar along Bathurst Street.

Locals have scrawled angry messages and even cartoon penises on the development sign, a visible display of the strong feelings tied to the bar.

Among the messages of protest scrawled on the sign, public vigilantes have shared notes like "destroying culture for investor $$$."

Another left a poignant note reading, "I grew up here, stop before we have nothing left."

While some took the high road, others expressed their frustrations in a less refined manner. A pair of giant cartoonish dongs punctuate the whole display.

This type of response to redevelopment notice signs is nothing new. Toronto residents have a bit of a history of responding to gentrification with crudely scrawled messages.

Perhaps the most memorable instance came in 2005, when a Queen West storefront was redeveloped into a Starbucks, which was defaced with a note reading "Drake you ho, this is all your fault."