You can always tell that a problem has gotten to new levels of dire in Toronto when even the New York Times is writing about it, whether it be the city's rampant car theft, nightmare airport delays or, now, our Ontario Place redevelopment saga.

In a piece over the weekend titled "A Public Park or Private Spa: A City Debates the Future of an Island Oasis," the Times explains the public's heated opposition to the Therme megaspa — and other aspects of the Ontario Place overhaul — to readers south of the border.

Even the New York Times heard the uproar about Ontario Place being privatized, and now the world knows the great shakedown that's happening. Unless we stop it. https://t.co/SALFYkpMDa

— Elizabeth Renzetti (@lizrenzetti) May 26, 2024

"The Province of Ontario, which owns Ontario Place, is turning West Island over to an Austrian spa developer under a 95-year lease to build what it describes as a large 'well-being oasis' with hot and cold baths as well as other 'water relaxation facilities,'" the world-renowned news outlet writes.

"The project has prompted widespread criticism from local politicians and park users in Canada's largest city, where little of the vast lake is easily accessible to the public from the heart of Toronto."

Journalist Ian Austen provides the requisite history of the attraction, which the Times itself at one point called "like a world's fair, only better" — that is, until it became "a perennial money loser" and shuttered in 2010. 

Austen notes that while virtually everyone supports the idea of giving the Cinesphere theatre and some of the land's other key infrastructure a much-needed facelift, the crown jewel of the project, the spa, is another story.

I hope everyone boycotts Therme when they open and they quickly go out of business. Zero customers, Zero reason to stay.

— Sharon Muise (@SharonMuise) January 23, 2024

It will inevitably mean the loss of nearly 1,000 trees, tons of public green space, and, most importantly, the beach as it is now — something residents cannot get on board with.

Though Therme has promised to build and maintain an even bigger version of the publicly-accessible waterfront, Austen writes that "rather than facing Lake Ontario, its plan has the new beach oriented toward the shore, creating a view dominated by a concrete breakwall and a busy, six-lane boulevard."

He also mentions the much-contested 2,100-space parking garage that will be plopped down on — or rather, under — the environmentally-sensitive site.

And, of course, Premier Doug Ford's sketchy antics, like fast-tracking development through the use of enhanced minister's zoning orders (eMZOs) and land expropriation, not conducting due environmental assessments, and failing to reveal key details of the project that constituents are demanding to know.

More shocking details emerge about Ontario Place mega garage Doug Ford hid😳 https://t.co/YsOtL2l3WY #Toronto #Ontario #DougFord

— blogTO (@blogTO) December 6, 2023

It also adds that "the backlash against the project has had some effect," noting that "Therme has reduced the spa's maximum height and will use landfill to increase West Island’s size to provide more public space."

But, as we all well know, all of the push back — including from the City of Toronto itself — somehow hasn't been enough to get what most of us really want, which is for the whole concept of a private spa on the waterfront property to be reconsidered.