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Year: Opened June 11, 1929; as the Royal York proper.
Location: 100 Front Street West, Toronto.
Status: The hotel is located in the bustling core of downtown Toronto
and actively used by businessmen, women and industrialists alike.
Accessibility: The main floor is easily accessible via The PATH or
the
front doors. If you are dressed relativity well and look busy enough you
don't often get a second look. Wandering the halls is normally a breeze as
well -- provided that someone isn't watching you run back and forth ducking
into
stair wells looking for roof access and the like. The access to the roof(s)
is simple on the lower floors, but the upper floors (being anything above
nineteen) are attended or have security cameras. I have not been up there
too often, so there may very well be some conspicuous entrance I am
missing.
Hazards: There are few hazards I can think of while musing about the
Royal York. One such danger would include areas of the basements, and even
at that there isn't anything that would
kill you -- given that you are using common sense while exploring.
Interesting features: Masonry, fine furniture, basements upon
basements
and an entrance somewhere to a powerhouse are but a few of the interesting
things you would want to take a peek at while pottering around the
hotel.
Recommendation: If you are planning on visiting the Royal York you
might want to do one step up from street clothes, not that it is really
necessary. However, if there happens to be some kind of event going on your
quasi-dress clothes may help you avoid those disdainful glances from
others. It is definately worth a look and will not take too much of your
time, or too much effort. So get moving.
January 10th, 2003
On a cold Friday night WiZDoM, Static and I ventured to Toronto in search of a radio scanner. We didn't get there until nine o'clock or so, at which point the stores had closed up so we decided to go in search of adventures. Flame0ut had told us earlier that day to find him and explore with him if we did in fact find our way to Toronto. Unfortunately he had made other plans and was unavailable to infiltrate the night away with us so we then went in search of Union Station. The station was closing by the time we got there. All the office doors were locked as were the steam tunnels. With great disappointment we made our way from Union, via the PATH, to the Royal York Hotel.
Once we arrived at the hotel itself we made a bee-line for the elevators and headed up stairs. We first checked out some convention rooms and their ilk and then found that there was a Jazz festival of some sort being held there. After watching one of the shows for a few moments we ran off to find hidden corridors, passageways, and restricted areas of all varieties. These lower floors were of little interest at the time we were there as they all seemed to be locked, most likely because it was well after one AM. Other than the rooms that were holding the jazz festival wossnames -- I believe that they were held in the dining areas described on infiltration. Seeing as the place was packed with many people wearing nice little tags the stage areas and all that neat stuff eluded us on this journey. Once we had ran around and got the impression that we were not standing out too badly we decided to go in search of an entrance, which may or may not exist, to the powerhouse.
Eventually we made our way into a staff area that was not filled with, well, staff. At this point we found a freight elevator that would take us to the basements. The first stop was the sub-basement, I think, though my memory of the events is a little sketchy. We wandered through the hallways searching for access to the powerhouse or anything else that might strike our fancy, but nearly every door was locked and the ones that were not led to laundry, garbage or any number of equally unpleasant rooms. However, I must give the laundry room credit, not only was it very large and marked as employee only in the employee only area, but it had large industrial like machines that were very shiny and loud. Which is cool, right?
As we wandered around some more we found a great deal of old furniture and
equipment lying
around the halls. And then there was the office. While wandering around I
noticed a little office that, upon closer inspection, was furnished with old
hotel furniture and giant pipes -- pipes larger than my body. It was very
cool and unexplainable, if anyone has a clue why it was there or what it is
used for, please do tell me. When finished with the sub-basement, meaning we got one too many funny looks from staff after walking around in circles a few times -- and finding nearly every door locked -- we departed to the upper levels. Stopping on each floor to peek out and duck back in when there were people around, we made our way up to one floor that had a giant kitchen. I honestly cannot remember which floor it was. At any rate, there was not a person to be seen. We looked around and took a few photos when we were startled by a loud beeping. At the time we thought it was an alarm and made our way with haste out of there. Thinking back it may have been a timer but at that point in time the chance didn't seem worth sticking around.
We poked around the hotel a bit long, mostly on the lower levels until I decided that I would go in search of the roof. The last time I was at the hotel I tried to make my way to the main and highest roof, to no avail. There was a large security camera mounted at the top of the staircase I had ran up. This time I set my sights on the 13th floor roof and with little effort found my access. We all ran around taking pictures and climbed up to the little roof above that one. I tagged UEC in the snow with three foot block letters while WiZDoM and Static took photos. Shortly thereafter they were finished with their photographing so we headed back indoors as it was too cold to stay out any longer, for me anyway. We climbed down the stairs for sometime and then darted out from the terrible, pain inducing, green stairwell to the posh hallways of the hotel.
The trip to the roof and the satisfaction of getting up and out there more or less ended our journey through the Royal York. And so I give you the photo gallery.
-Asher Archive
January 10th, 2003
On what was evidently a cold and dark Friday evening, Asher and Static woke me up to demand we go to Toronto. After hesitantly rising from my slumber, we piled into the Cubic, V6-Powered Static-Mobile - Southbound for The City.
As reality sunk in I realized we were in fact after a radio to add to Static's already overpopulated arsenal. Realizing we were not going to make it to the dealer on time, we decided the night would be spent on some solid UE action, and we would score the radio in the morning.
Once we arrived in Toronto, we decided Union station could make for some interesting adventures, and seeing as I had yet to see the infamous steam tunnels for myself I did not protest. After parking in an eerie underground parking lot we made our way to the Station only to find out that it was closing. Virtually everything was locked up so it was decided that we would head for the Royal York, via a short trip through The PATH.
Upon our arrival, and thanks in no small part to a number of unusual looks I received, I was made aware that we were all relatively underdressed. Not wanting to arise any suspicions (especially before we'd even done anything) we hastily made our way to the elevator, which took us up and away from the mob below.
It was on the next floor where we found several large convention rooms, and after reading a programme someone dropped, I noticed there was a Jazz Festival of sorts going on. This theory was solidified as soon as we entered one such convention room, where a jazz band was performing. I was mildly interested and considered sitting down to watch, but Asher and Static had already made their way back, in search of something more exciting. Consequently, I booked-it to catch up with them.
Back to the elevator, this time we decided to go to the basement. There had to be something cool waiting for us in the basement. Right?
As soon as the elevator doors to the basement opened, I was greeted with the stench of bleach. The aroma of fresh bed sheets surrounded us, and in a way made me want to go to sleep. No! Onward!
We wandered around the floor, not finding a single employee. Just piles of bed sheets and down one hall grotesque bins of garbage. We fled and returned to the elevator, taking us deeper into the bowels of this 70 year old beast. The main hall of the next floor was littered with old furniture, which I found slightly unusual, and there was in fact furniture strewn throughout the entire basement. Renovation perhaps. It was also down this corridor that we encountered an open door, and through it a small office. What made this office peculiar were several massive pipes, coming in through the wall, and twisting through the room and up towards the ceiling. Very weird. The photo hardly does it justice. There was also another office linked to this one but afraid there could be someone in it, we simply continued down the hall. In retrospect, I wish I'd gone in; undoubtedly there would be something interesting waiting for me (employee or not).
Anyway, with most of the lower level covered, we headed back up. Asher assured me we would see the roof. Taking us to the 13th floor, Asher seemed to be locked-on to her destination and in minutes I was in fact standing on the roof. Not the highest point on the building (perhaps we can check that out later) but it was very cool nonetheless. I tried to snap a few photos, however the sub-zero temperatures made this an unpleasant task and so I let static do most of the camera work. Asher was busy playing in the snow, which turned out to be a calculated effort as she tagged the building with a "UEC" composed of footprints. Static then climbed a not-so-stable ladder above the door to snap a photo.
With everyone bitterly-cold and the building tagged, we mutually agreed it would be a good time to draw our tour of the hotel to a conclusion.
I should note that on our way out (I don't recall if this was still Royal York, Union Station, or something else - my memory of the evening is a little vague) we noticed a security console equipped with CCTV monitors, telephones, the works -- in front of the entrance. Static manned it and picked up the telephone, shouting something I don't recall into the receiver. Almost immediately a speakerphone turned on and someone began to speak to us, but in the panic I could not understand what they were saying. Asher and Static had already split, and feeling the person who was speaking to me was also watching, I turned to face the CCTV. In proprietary sign language, I communicated "U-E-C-O-W-N-S-J-O-O" and fled.
As soon as we were around the corner, we slowed to a leisurely pace and I smirked as a security officer promptly whizzed by us towards the console we tinkered with.
Thus came to a conclusion our adventures at the Royal York.
-WiZDoM
.