Rest in Peace, Walking Man!

Silver Lake mural / Photo via Eastsider LA

We don’t normally step outside of the Echo Park area for a post, but this one’s definitely worth venturing out. Anyone who’s ever ventured out to Silver Lake has seen and known or wondered about the tanned man walking briskly, wearing nothing but shoes, short shorts, and carrying a newspaper in one hand. This morning we learned the iconic Silver Lake resident and family practitioner had passed away, found yesterday according to the LAFD in the hot tub at his home.

Called the “Walking Man,” 58-year-old Marc Abrams has taken to the streets in all kinds of weather since the 1980s. I usually saw him walking along Hyperion or Rowena, which was part of his 15-mile walking route.

He will be missed!

Here’s a great audio slideshow from the LA Times (click on the image below):

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Loney Bobblehead Night at Dodger Stadium

Things are a little hectic out there on the roads and freeways in Echo Park – tonight is James Loney Bobblehead night, and the fans go crazy for those promotional items. It’s also game two of three in the series against the Giants, which means the Scott Avenue gate will likely be open for exiting traffic.

Stay clear of Stadium Way, Sunset Blvd., and, well, all the other roads and freeways. Surprisingly, the 110 doesn’t look that bad! Go Dodgers!

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L.A. Flea Market gets a mixed review

LA Flea Market debuted on Sunday, July 18, 2010

Hey, Pasadena, we have a stadium too! And anything you can do we can do… sort of.

Sunday was the first ever Dodgers Stadium flea market, which will be held, barring a Dodgers home game, on the third Sunday of every month. However, if they hope to draw crowds of flea marketers to the parking lot, the organizers need to put a lot more effort into finding decent vendors a month from now. Or they could scrap the flea market and be a food truck party, in which case they would already be winning.

Parking was a breeze, I arrived at about 10:00 am hoping to beat the heat a little bit. The heat won regardless, but such is life when you’re hanging out in a Los Angeles parking lot in the throes of summer. There was a short walk to the ticket booth where I paid my $5 and received my ticket. You could pay with a card and there were the only two ATM machines at the ready, no sign noting these as your last chance for green as these were the last machines I spotted all day.

Not exactly on my list of quality Flea Market finds

Perhaps I have an East Coast bias when it comes to the age of vintage items, or maybe I was spoiled by the Pasadena City College flea market a few weeks ago. When I first walked into the LA Flea Market, I already felt this event was planned around food trucks, Rick Dees, and small business owners. Every fiber of my being routes for the small business to succeed, but today I also had hoped for a true flea market experience.

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Iconic Echo Park Lake statue missing fingers

Photo by The Eastsider LA

Some Echo Park residents have noticed this as recently as the Lotus Festival: It appears the Lady of the Lake statue at Echo Park Lake is missing a few digits. The fingers of both hands have fallen off the 76-year-old statue (or perhaps broken off by vandals), which has been repaired as recently as May of 2009.

It seems the Neighborhood Council took on paying for restoration in prior years, and there seems to have been some drama revolving its restoration. An August 2008 article on Chicken Corner has the back story behind it all, including the story about how the neighborhood in the late ’90s  got the graffiti-marred statue back after being stored for 13 years.

UPDATE:
GEPENC President Jose Sigala commented on The Eastsider LA article on the subject, saying:

I join with others in expressing my anger over the defamation of the artistic history and cultural icons of our neighborhood. I see no difference when a developer tears down a cultural and historical home or structure with the mindless vandalism of the Lady of the Lake. Both actions impact the reason why we live here in Echo Park.

Given the city’s budget financial crisis, I am not sure where the funding many come from to repair the lady of the Lake.

I am not sure what the cost may be to replace the statue’s hands but I would like to commit to work with other community members in identifying and raising the funds to restore her hands.

I will ask to see if any of the funding that is dedicated to the rehabilitation of the lake may be used to assist in repairing the statue.

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How was the Echo Park Share Fair?

A couple of Saturdays ago on July 10, Echo Park residents put together a “Share Fair” down on Echo Park Avenue. One of our readers wrote up a sort of review/article on the event, and shared it in the comments section of our post. We thought you’d like to read about Thea’s experience at the Share Fair here:

Echo Park Share Fair: What the Heck is a Share Fair?

Saturday July 10, 2010 from 1-5pm the first Echo Park Share Fair was held at the home of Katherine Gladwin and Car Nazzal. What is a share fair? When people come together and share goods or services or good company for the price and profit of enjoyment; the event was created by Echo Park Time Bank Members (a group that is all about sharing) but open to the community.

The house was placed in one of those secret Echo Park type locations; I drove around for a bout 15 minutes, looking for this seemingly made up location. I then remembered how some houses in Echo Park are without road access. I parked my vehicle and walked up the street. I ran into my friend Monique (a fresh transplant from France who hails from the Westside) on the sidewalk. She asked if I thought this place existed, I explained that the City of LA used to have a great public transportation system, and why there wasn’t a need for driveways in yesteryear Echo Park. She replied with a French lilt “L.A. is a very funny place.” I smiled, looked down and noticed the chalk arrows on the sidewalk as promised by the information on Echo Park Now and EPShareFair facebook page.

Monique and I entered the gate, and followed the sidewalk chalk arrows. Half way up the nefarious looking staircase was a young woman and a middle-aged man, the former was drawing arrows and writing “Share Fair a little bit further” and “Share Fair Almost There.” Three-quarters of the way up the harrowing-uneven-shifting-step-size staircase was the house of share.

Upon walking into the urban garden, there was a Share Table at the front of the yard where you could place unwanted items for exchange. There were toys, children’s clothing, and adult clothing. At one point in the day a few fellows started trying on the the kid’s clothing for humor, a few girls walked away with cute clothing items in both children’s and adult size.

Entering the house Breanne Martin (of Brock Real Estate) was teaching knitting. On the patio Car Nazzal (the woman I met on the stairs) a San Francisco filmmaker transplant showed us how to make cyanotypes and provided found objects from the junk drawer and garden. I felt proud one my cyanotypes looked like a helicopter, this was a result of using a decaying leaf, a strip of super-8 film and a small branch. Others used leaves, crystal unicorns, popcorn kernels, branches, stencils, sunglasses. Each print provided a new look into old items, providing abstract images, surrealism and direct representations of objects.

In the kitchen Katherine made and shared delicious vegan berry popsicles and chocolate peanut butter popsicles. The skills I shared were Handwriting Analysis and Hypnosis. I provided handwriting analysis to all who attended, people were amazed at what traits their handwriting revealed and some were a bit taken aback by the accuracy. Neither Katherine or Car had ever been hypnotized, I had been so busy with the writing we barely had time for it. Toward the close of the Share Fair I eased them into a progressive relaxation and into a state of calm. Did I make them quack like ducks? No…Was I tempted?

In the beginning of the event people trickled in and out: by mid-event several people were present and then shifted to a different group of people. The conversations were friendly and amiable. Discussions regarding handwriting, personality traits, dating, cinematography, music, funny psychic stories, veganism, pure land Buddhism and satirical filmmaking filled the air. The plan according to Katherine is to hold a Share Fair bi-monthly. What are you going to share?

Thanks for the review!

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Spacecraft Lands in Echo Park

The other day, I noticed a facade emblazoned with the Spacecraft Group logo outside of the old abandoned theater on Sunset next to the Elf Cafe. Spacecraft Group is the construction and design firm behind a whole mess of Hollywood restaurants, bars and nightclubs. We emailed them, but at the moment, they can’t tell us what it is they’re working on. Let the speculation begin!

UPDATE: Both The Eastsider LA and NBC’s blog Feast wrote about this space a few months ago. According to them, this space will be home to a restaurant called El Camino. It should open in late 2010 or early 2011. We’re working on an extended piece about it and the community’s reaction to it, so stay tuned!

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Lento Brick Court Declared City Landmark

Courtesy of EPHS

Thanks to the efforts of the Echo Park Historical Society, the Lento Brick Courtyard (at 1288 Sunset Blvd) has been declared a Los Angeles historic-cultural monument. We wrote about this nifty little Echo Park landmark a couple of months ago when the EPHS’s application was being reviewed by the Cultural Heritage Commission. Historic monument status protects this group of apartments from interior and exterior alterations and demolition as any proposed changes must now be approved by the Cultural Heritage Commission.

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Ballard’s Artwork Framing Comes (Back) to Echo Park

Ballard’s Artwork Framing, formerly located next to The Clinic on Sunset, has found a new home in Echo Park: 1568 West Sunset Blvd. (right next to the Gold Room and Barragan’s). Aaron Ballard creates custom frames using archival-quality, sustainable materials. Check out the website here.

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Havana Travel Moves from Sunset to Alvarado

At the beginning of this month, Havana Travel relocated from the 1800 block of Sunset Blvd to 922 North Alvarado Street. The travel agency was the last remaining Cuban-run business on a strip of Sunset Blvd. that used to be dominated by them. The EastsiderLA wrote a bit about the history of Echo Park’s Cuban community which flourished during the early 1960s due to its citizens fleeing Castro’s reign. They also interviewed Jose Angel Dominguez Mondejar. He’s a 30-year resident of Echo Park who I used to see all the time wearing a linen suit and smoking cigars outside of Masa (the former site of a Cuban bakery).

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Los Angeles Libraries to close on Mondays

Flickr photo via indigo imposter

This coming Monday, July 19, will be the first Monday all 72 Los Angeles libraries will be closed as the result of city budget cuts and the reduction of library staff. Library branches, such as the Edendale and Echo Park Libraries, are now closed on Sundays, Mondays, and Holidays.

Branch hours and web-based resources are available 24 hours a day at www.lapl.org

Flickr photo via Nickels_Photography

There will be a demonstration and program to protest the closing of the libraries on Monday and those reduced hours listed above. “Unslam the Doors: Keep the Library Open” takes place on Monday, July 19 at 9:30 am at the entrance of the Central Library (630 W. 5th Street).

We have some information from the event organizers:

Please come out and show your support for Los Angeles Public Library. On July 1, the Mayor and City Council laid off 160 library workers, forcing service hours to be cut an additional day. This Monday, July 19th marks the first day the library will be closed on Mondays in LA history. If we don’t take a stand now, there are likely more layoffs and more cuts to come.

For more information, go to savethelibrary.org

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Echo Park Lake Rehab Project Meeting

A  meeting on the Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 4 at 6:30 pm at Barlow Hospital.

Pollution and much-needed updates to the filtration systems are behind the Prop O funded rehab project, which is scheduled for next year – the lake will be gated up in January 2011 in preparation for the construction, and in April construction will be at full speed ahead.  They will drain the 13 acre lake and haul out approximately 50,000 cubic feet of soil from the bottom, replace the lake liner, rebuild the wetlands, and replant other vegetation (including the lotus bed). They filtration systems will also be updated, as the lake does collect water runoff from the city, and will help reduce the amount of city water used to keep the lake levels high.

Wildlife activists and bird lovers have been concerned with the state of the migratory birds once the lake is drained. It seems a compromise has now been reached, and the engineers will include four temporary pools for migratory birds.

A draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was recently released, but is not yet available online. You can click here for the initial study on the City’s website. Hard copies of the draft EIR are currently available at the following locations:

  • Echo Park Branch Library, 410 West Temple Street (available in the reference section)
  • Edendale Branch Library, 2011 West Sunset Boulevard
  • Office of Council President Eric Garcetti, Hollywood District Office, 5500 Hollywood Boulevard
  • Office of Council President Eric Garcetti, Glassell Park District Office, 3750 Verdugo Road

We will also post a downloadable version as soon as it’s available.

The public is welcome to review the draft EIR and send comments by August 30 at 5:00 pm. Send comments to:

Via mail:
City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering, Environmental Management Group
Attn: Maria Martin
1149 S. Broadway, Suite 600, Mail Stop 939, Los Angeles, CA 90015-2213

Via fax to (213) 847-0656, Attn. Maria Martin

Via email to Maria.Martin@lacity.org

For more information about the upcoming event, feel free to contact Olga Morales at 213-485-5933, or email at Olga.Morales@lacity.org

Related articles:

  • “Cleaning up Echo Park Lake is going to be a big mess for residents,” September 14, 2009. The Eastsider LA
  • “City engineers make room for bird baths during Echo Park Lake rehab project,” July 15, 2010. The Eastsider LA
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Echo Park Time Bank Fundraiser at 1642 Bar

1642 Beer and Wine Bar is hosting an Echo Time Bank Fundraiser on Saturday, July 17 from 8:00 pm – 12:00 midnight.

Special musical guests include: Karen Ramos, Les Shelleys and Angela Correa.

They will hold a raffle at 10:00 pm with prizes from Skylight Books, Fix Coffee, Masa and more!

$5 suggested donation.

1642 is located at 1642 West Temple St.

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LA Flea Market: Grand Opening at Dodger Stadium

LA Flea Marketing Rendering

As we wrote about last May, the LA Flea Market will debut this weekend, on Sunday, July 18 in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, and will take place every third Sunday of the month when there’s not a home Dodger game.

This Sunday is the grand opening and will feature radio personality Rick Dees, who will be holding a Hollywood Yard Sale to benefit the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center. He will be auctioning off celebrity items, one auction at 10:00 am and another at 1:00 pm. Throughout the day, you can expect approximately 400 vendors including live bands, food trucks, and sellers with items like vintage goods, antiques and collectibles, sustainable goods, and other new merchandise.

The LA Times published on Tuesday an interview with organizer Phillip Dane, some notable mentions from the interview include:

  • Food and music: The goal is to have a more upscale version of the Rose Bowl Flea Market by offering some extra amenities to the mix. “Bands aren’t just meant to be background music. Our food court will be unsurpassed with 18 of the most tweeted gourmet food trucks,” he told the LA Times. Committed food truck participants include: Ahn-Joo, Cool Haus, Fishlips, Slice Truck, The Munchie Machine, Mandoline Grill, India Jones, Border Grill, Tropical Shave Ice, Del’s Lemonade, Canter’s Deli, Fresh Fries, Willoughby Road, Komodo, Dosa Truck, Crepe’n Around, Gourmet Genie. See below for the band schedule.
  • Arts and crafts will have a presence: “Quite a few vendors came to us through Etsy. They will have a team block of eight spaces with 22 members.”
  • Homeboy Industries will staff the event: “I put together an application for Homeboys on our website, and we had 50 applications in one day. All I did was ask for their name, phone number and for them to tell us about themselves. Some of the stories were so moving. People wrote, ‘I’ve been out of prison but no one will hire me because I have a record or too many tattoos.’ We went down there last Wednesday for interviews and it was fantastic. These are men and women who really want to work. We are going to hire around 40 people to start. They’ll be trained in the logistics of the event, handle parking, directions and greeting the vendors when they arrive early in the morning. I’m also donating booth space to them so they can exhibit their artworks. There will be a whole Homeboy section where they can sell their merchandise and help keep Homeboy going.”

General Information:

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AT&T Telephone Box Art

Today, at the end of my street, I noticed something I’ve never seen before: artists at work painting one of those giant telephone boxes in broad daylight. I stopped to take some pictures and talk to the artist, Carlos.

Carlos is part of a small group of people that have been hired by the city and AT&T to beautify those great gray behemoths, and to prevent them from being covered in graffiti. After the painting is done, the entire box is covered with an anti-graffiti coating. Carlos and his crew have painted boxes in several Los Angeles neighborhoods. The one pictured above is part of a series of about four or five that will feature Southern California’s wildlife.

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Saturday: Folk Musician and EP resident at the Echo Curio

On Saturday, June 17 at the Echo Curio, Echo Park resident and folk musician Claire Cronin, along with folk musician Queen Victoria, will be opening for Omaha singer/songwriter Simon Joyner.

Joyner is kicking off his “Living Rooms and Discrete Spaces” tour at the show, focusing on his record Out Into the Snow, a “collection of ramshackle folk-rockers and gorgeous narratives released in 2009 on Team Love.” Simon will be playing as a trio, with pedal steel and keyboards and will be taking requests.

Show starts at 9:00 pm. Capacity is limited at the Echo Curio and is BYOB.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance by clicking here.

The Echo Curio is located at 1519 W Sunset Blvd.

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