Émilie Yu is busy behind her counter, answering calls and taking orders. Three days ago, the owner of the Yamato Dumpling restaurant on Sainte-Catherine Street and her husband were attacked by a man in crisis.
The attacker was only brought under control through the intervention of employees and customers of the neighboring restaurant.
Since this incident, the Yamato Dumpling Terrace has been closed. And Ms. Yu, who opened her restaurant just five months ago, no longer plans to reopen next year. Some of his employees are now afraid to work in the evenings.
Just today I had to call the police around 5 p.m. because a woman was sitting on the terrace even though it was closed and refused to leave. The restaurateur said she told me that the police had never done anything to her. And this morning another woman came in the back door, walked through the restaurant without looking at anyone as if she were in her house, and then walked out the front door.
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Émilie Yu, the owner of Yamato Dumpling.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rania Massoud
We chose to open our restaurant in this area because it is very touristy and there are not many Asian restaurants and therefore little competition. […] But there’s clearly a drug problem in the neighborhood. Whoever consumes is like on another planet, we don’t know how they will behave.
Opposite his restaurant, the terrace of the Le Cocktail bar is completely deserted. Inside, a few customers are sitting in front of the bar and enjoying their beer.
For Luc Généreux, the owner, incidents with drunk people are commonplace, it’s our daily life.
The security situation has deteriorated significantly this year, it is definitely worse than in previous years.
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Luc Généreux sits on the terrace of his bar. His customers prefer to stay inside.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rania Massoud
Given the increasing violence, Mr. Généreux said he had hired a security guard to monitor the interior of the bar, which has been open in the neighborhood since 2006. But problems often happen on the street, he says. Customers on the terrace do not feel safe.
Does he plan to close it too? This year the season is almost over, but we are thinking about next year. It wasn’t really worth opening.
The concept of neighborhood terraces is useless here. It’s really unfortunate. There was little traffic and people preferred to stay indoors because it was uncomfortable and unsafe outside.
Customers are being begged, their phones are being stolen… Yesterday a customer even had his bottle of beer stolen on the terrace. Whatever, we’ll give it another one, but there’s a feeling of insecurity.
What about the police? Mr. Généreux says he has noticed a greater law enforcement presence, but it is clearly not enough. “I don’t know what it takes,” he adds sadly.
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The terrace of the morning café La Mie, without customers.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rania Massoud
For most of the dealers interviewed on Rue Sainte-Catherine Est, between Rue De Champlain and Avenue Papineau, the problem is the drug dealers who have set up shop in the neighborhood.
François, an employee of the La mie matinale cafe, says he is both sad and angry.
Two weeks ago, one of the cafe owners was physically attacked by a drug seller in the back of his establishment as he was unloading his goods.
The guy put a knife to his throat. Can you imagine having a knife to your throat? Its scary!
According to him, the SPVM was notified but the police never came.
There are often at least ten people in the back of the cafe taking drugs, taking drugs, he adds.
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The opioid crisis has reached unprecedented levels in Montreal.
Photo: Getty Images / Spencer Platt
The terrace of La mie matinale is empty and the café closes its doors for the day. Sometimes there are customers who are attacked. Their phones and food are stolen.
Will it be open next year? “We hope something will happen by then,” he said. It is not enough to send social workers and police officers on bicycles. We want concrete measures.
Opposite, the terrace of the Rocky Bar is a contrast: it is full. Dozens of customers sit outside, sipping drinks and chatting. Paolo, the bartender, is the only one working tonight. He takes orders, serves cocktails and exchanges a few words and smiles with customers.
What is his secret? Maybe it’s because I’ve been working here for 31 years and a lot of customers come to me, he says between two shifts. They are all regulars here, he adds.
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About ten customers enjoy the patio at Rocky Bar on Sainte-Catherine Street East, despite increasing violence in the neighborhood.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rania Massoud
His neighbor, Béchir ben Khalifa, the owner of the oriental restaurant La Couscoussière, stands in front of his restaurant, which opened in the neighborhood 25 years ago. There is no cat on his terrace.
His terrace was looted two weeks ago by men fighting in the street. It happened around 2am, there are the CCTV footage which we showed to the police but no action was taken, he said.
In a message sent to the broadcast Le 15-18, the city of Montreal describes the physical attacks against village traders as unacceptable. We must redouble our efforts to ensure security in the village, they say. The city wants to reassure the neighborhood’s residents: We will never let you down.
Since the pandemic and the worsening housing crisis, the Village and its subway stations have become an all-season refuge for large numbers of vulnerable people. Some disgruntled residents are talking about an open-air institution.
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Part of the terrace of the La Couscoussière restaurant was looted.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Rania Massoud
Last January, the Archambault group announced the permanent closure of its nearly century-old store on Rue Sainte-Catherine Est, citing the increasingly deteriorating business prospects in the industry, which management says has become a laboratory for urban diversity.
Before the start of the summer season and the pedestrian zone on Rue Sainte-Catherine, restaurants and cafes in the neighborhood had threatened to go on strike and not open their terraces. In response, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante announced the launch of her collective intervention strategy for the village in June, promising additional amounts and resources to secure the neighborhood’s streets and parks.
But despite more visible police on the streets and the work of community teams, coexistence remains most problematic in neighborhoods where sidewalks and public spaces serve as a refuge for homeless people and drug addicts.
Selling drugs is illegal, but we see so many dealers in the neighborhood every day, summarizes Luc Généreux. We have the impression that a citizen who runs a red light is more likely to be punished than a drug seller on the street corner, that’s not normal.