Columbia St | AHA Media

Throwing a football on East Hastings Street in Vancouver Downtown Eastside ( DTES )

June 8, 2009 ahamedia Leave a comment

Sunday Sports included men playing catch in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside

In this video, Ken Glofcheskie of AHA MEDIA and friends throw a football around on Hastings Street in between Columbia and Carrall.

This was filmed by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a Nokia N95 mobile cameraphone. April is passionate and skilled in making Nokia films by exploring mobile media production through the camera lens of a cellphone. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith

AHA MEDIA at the scene of a “suicide” Jumper on top of new Lux Hotel on East Hastings between Columbia and Carrall St in Vancouver Downtown Eastside ( DTES )

June 1, 2009 ahamedia Leave a comment

There was high drama on the 100 block of E. Hastings St Sunday evening shortly before 8pm when a male perched himself atop the New Lux residence and threatened to jump.

A crowd had quickly gathered with several shouting at the individual to go ahead and jump.

Police responded promptly to string up yellow police line tape blocking off the whole block and moving the growing crowd of onlookers back far enough so as not to excite the individual. The man appeard to be agitated and would lean over the edge of the building every so often.

There was a tense moment as the police escorted an elderly Native gentleman who had found himself behind the police line. As he was being escorted he lost a shoe and one officer kicked it along on the ground which angered several in the crowd as they demanded that “an elder should be treated with more respect”.

Harsha Walia, a activist at the DEWC told the officer that this was not how an elder should be treated.

It was also noted by other DTES activists that there had been evictions at the New Lux and that this may be the reason for the actions of the man on the roof.

The New Lux is one of the new social housing buildings run by RainCity Housing and BC Housing that caters to the hard to house citizens of Vancouver and more specifically the Downtown Eastside (DTES).

At the time of this item going online (9:30pm) the man was still talking to police negotiaters and playing up to the large crowd of approximately 300 area residents.

How the man got onto the roof, why he took this action and what were the circumstances that led to this unfortunate incident are questions that will need to be answered in the following days.