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“Taza” cafe to squeeze in Sunset Boulevard storefront

Today is National Coffee Day, so we’re happy to report we’ve got a new little cafe being added to our Echo Park places to grab your cup of jo.

According to a single, small sign posted, “Taza Café de Echo Park” is coming soon to a small 200 square foot storefront located at 1825 West Sunset Boulevard – across the street from The Echo near the Sunset Blvd/Glendale Bridge. The last shop to open up at his location was the Blood is the New Black popup shop, which temporarily opened last year. No dates are posted about when things are expected to get going, but we’ll keep an eye out for what the new shop will have to offer.

Taza joins the ranks of quite a few coffee shops and cafés nearby, including Stories, Downbeat Café, Masa, Pazzo Gelato, amongst others. But we always look forward to seeing what and if this new place has something different to offer!

Notice anything new to the ‘hood? Let us know!

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Echo Park bird (well, screeching) sounds at night

Photo by Mario Salazar

Last month, The Eastsider LA posted an article about an owl spotted right on our street of Scott Avenue here in Echo Park. Well, it’s been a couple of months since our neighbor Cecilia’s fiance took the included photo of the Barn Owl, and we’re happy to report it’s definitely still around!

How do we know exactly? Each night after sunset, it makes its presence known by majestically swooping down Scott Avenue followed by a terrifying screeching sound. At first it was alarming, but now it’s routine – we’re used to the beautiful owl and it’s alien-like noises it makes…. Thankfully the screeching is normal, and they eat those teeny and pesky little rodents.

One commenter on The Eastsider LA article notes, “This guy lives in a palm tree on Laveta Terrace. He’s been living here for a couple months now and has a mate with two little ones up in a nest. They may be somewhat noisy neighbors, but they’re beautiful and we’re happy to have them here.”

We’re thinking of nicknaming him, but need some help as we’re not feeling so clever tonight. Suggestions welcome!

Thanks to our neighbors for the photos!

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Echo Country Outpost saying goodbye to the Avenue

The Echo Park Avenue storefront that housed Echo Country Outpost for two years donned newly hung For Rent signs earlier this month when the folksy store slash gathering space decided to move up to Glendale Boulevard. Owners Erica Forneret and Chris Hajek (newly married!) along with Brendan Missett are very excited to expand their shenanigans to the former and HUGE 2HeadedHorse productions at 1770 Glendale Boulevard, although sad to leave their little corner at Echo Park Avenue.

So in celebration of the move, and a goodbye to their former diggs, the Outpost is having a little shindig. “Love, warmth, beauty, playfulness, bright colors, wooden smells, whiskey drinks and downhome art & music will all be magnified at the new Outpost…,” said the event invite. “Starting at 9pm on the 29th y’all should come over, listen to some good music, spend some time with this version of the Outpost and set a good course for what’s to come.”

See ya there, and good luck to the Outpost on the move!

Echo Country Outpost moving party
Thursday, September 29 at 9:00 pm
1930 Echo Park Ave

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International Day of Peace picnic in Elysian Park this weekend

In celebration of the annual International Day of Peace, Echo Parenting and Education (formerly the Center for Nonviolent Education) is hosting a free and very family-friendly Peace Day Picnic. Connect with other Echo Parenting and local families and celebrate a world-wide event in Elysian Park!

They will bring water, and noncompetitive games, you bring your picnic food. Art activities will be provided by the Art Zone.

The International Day of Peace provides an opportunity for  individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly.

Visit the Echo Center website for more info, or email info@echoparenting.org

Peace Day Picnic
Sunday, September 25, 2011
11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Elysian Park near Grace E. Simon Lodge, 1025 Elysian Park Avenue

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“Perfect Echo” photo exhibit presented by resident Martin Cox

Echo Park resident and photographer Martin Cox has taken some pretty stellar images of our neighborhood lake over the years, and now he’s sharing it with us all! Through November 2, you can check out his gallery of images in a show titled “Perfect Echo” at a Silver Lake gallery. According to The Eastsider LA, along with other Los Angeles neighborhood images, the exhibit will display the beautiful Echo Park Lake juxtaposed with sullen images like sunken shopping carts. While the show opened in early September, you still have time to check it out!

The Gallery is located at 3517 West Sunset at the Silver Lake/Echo Park border (enter through Dustmuffin)

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Businesses collaborate to celebrate shopping locally in Echo Park

Saturday is a day to celebrate Echo Park businesses by shopping locally for the fourth (at least the fourth since its inception n 2009) Echo Park Art Walk and Shop Hop: A Celebration of Community At and Culture. Coordinated by 826lLA, Stories Books & Cafe, and Origami Vinyl, the event promises a ton of local discounts on your meals, wine, and other purchases. But if you or your wallet aren’t in the mood to buy, there are plenty of free art and music-related events along Sunset Boulevard (between Mohawk and Laguna) and even up Echo Park Avenue.

Why the Shop Hop? “By taking advantage of special discounts offered by Stories LA, the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, E.P.I.C., and others, you’ll support the thriving economy of a uniquely-creative Los Angeles community. And by making contributions to neighborhood non-profits who are opening their doors to participate in the Art Walk & Shop Hop on the 24th, you’ll continue their great work (which you’ll be able to see all day long).”

Make sure to visit the event website and Facebook page for a full list of discounts, events, and activities to participate in! The website will be updated live as there are new activities to share.

Echo Park Art Walk & Shop Hop
Saturday, September 24 from 12:00 noon to 10:00 pm
Between Mohawk & Elysian Park
For more information and/or questions, contact Shannon at shannon@826la.org
Website: www.echoparkartwalk.com

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A modern Echo Park Lake draining in pictures

1984 draining, via Gloria Sohaki and The Eastsider LA

Despite all the negative aspects of the Echo Park Lake rehabilitation project (the length of closure, the loss of a park, the sights and smells of the construction process), it’s fascinating to witness how thoroughly documented this entire process is. A lot of in-depth research online (we are limited… we admit) brings up little photographic evidence from past lake drainings prior to the 1980s, but we were excited to see images on a recent The Eastsider LA article displaying a very empty lake bed during the draining prior to the 1984 Olympics. Not only had the story’s contributor Rory Mitchel dug deep into the LA Times and Los Angeles City records, but Echo Park resident Gloria Sohaki had also contributed these photos from that last draining.

 

Photo by Conor Collins, uploaded today

Additionally, every day it seems there are more images of the status of the Echo Park Lake draining – this one today from a resident with a higher up view, and a whole website of daily images documented by resident Conor Collins. Add in the hundreds of tweets we’ve seen since the start of the lake rehabilitation project in August, and a webcam on EchoParkLake.com capturing hundreds of images every day, and we’ve got stellar documentation of the draining for the history books.

We’ve also been keeping a close eye on things, uploading photos to our Flickr page, and even joined up with the Odor Monitoring Committee to help with the process. In October we’ll learn about all the things they’ve find in the lake, so stay tuned!

Want to contribute? Feel free to share your photos on our Facebook page!

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Case cracked: The mysterious, hanging red-glitter shoes

Photo by Emma Cunningham

From Manny Castro's Facebook page

The Eastsider LA first brought this to our attention last week: just up the street from where we live, a mysterious pair of glittering red high-heel shoes and a trophy cutout were noticeably hanging from power lines. Then they popped up in Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood -the trophy cutout bearing the words: “This Hollywood Life.”

And before you think it, it’s not one of those signs of gangs and drug dealers marking their territory (unless they really love Hollywood glitz and glam). Nor is it the genius ad campaign for Wicked returning to Los Angeles. In fact, we think the case has been cracked.

It’s the work of artist Manny Castro, basically an ad for his upcoming show at new Echo Park Gallery iam8bit. The gallery started off with a bang last month with its show featuring 80’s video game inspired artwork, and with all the guerrilla art going on, this new show is bound to have the same effect. We’ll share more info about the show once we learn more!

Manny’s show, This Hollywood Life, starts September 29, 2011 at iam8bit, located at 2147 W. Sunset Boulevard

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Must love beer: Echo Park’s Sunset Beer Co. opens doors Saturday

Logo by Evan Spiredellis of JibJab Media

Last night we were thrilled to be a guest at the pre-opening party for Echo Park’s newest addition to the neighborhood beer craze – Sunset Beer Company. It’s been about a year of transformation and lots of anticipation in the 2,000 square foot space, a former ladies gym on the 1400 block of Sunset Boulevard.

Behind the labor of love: John Nugent and wife Jennifer Morgan of Colorado Wine Company, along with partners Jenna Miller-Von Ah and Drew Von Ah (also investors in Eagle Rock Brewery). Joining them is beer- and wine-lover Alex Macy as the manager – he’s who you’ll normally see around the shop running the day-to-days.

The shop itself, from what we can remember of last night’s festivities, is warm and minimalist. Treated concrete floors, candles, eclectic art hanging on the walls, and dark leather arm chairs give it a library meets beer meets romance atmosphere. It’s certainly not a liquor store or your average beer store, and the tasting area offers plenty of time to lounge, sip, people watch, and chat with your new friends seated nearby. Designer Rick Crane will take credit for the design of the store, as well as nearby Colorado Wine Company. In the Sunset Beer Company press release, they wanted “an environment for beer that doesn’t feel stuffy but also takes the idea of beer and beer appreciation seriously.” We think they accomplished that!

Read more

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Northeast LA getting help on foreclosures

Echo Park is a great community, but we aren’t immune from real estate troubles – foreclosures happen all the time, affecting our neighbors and our neighborhood. The Eastsider LA breaks down the numbers for the area, Echo Park/Silver Lake, citing 120 foreclosed homes in August alone. Which is why the Montebello Housing Development Corporation and Assemblymember Gilbert Cedillo have coordinated to put on another foreclosure event, the Northeast LA Home Rescue Fair, to help educate those at risk of foreclosure.

The rescue fair takes place all day tomorrow (Saturday, September 17, 2011), and will help those at risk for foreclosure get FREE advice so that they can make an informed decision. In addition to bilingual services and informational workshops, the fair will offer one-on-one sessions with loan specialists, HUD-approved housing counselors, and attorneys. You MUST register for the event, so take advantage now by calling 323-722-3955.

Click here for the flyer to learn more about the fair, including a list of what documents you need to bring along with you for the best assistance (eg. loan information, tax returns, bank statements, etc.

Since the Echo Park Improvement Association is co-sponsoring the event, I’ll be volunteering my help throughout the afternoon. If you’re interested in helping out, let me know!

Northeast LA Home Rescue Fair
Saturday, September 17, 2011
10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Goodwill Industries, 342 N San Fernando Rd.

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Keep Echo Park clean: CA Coastal Cleanup Day tomorrow

Join thousands of volunteers at over 60 cleanup sites in Southern California beaches, rivers and parks for Heal the Bay’s 2011 Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday (tomorrow!).

Trash weigh-in at Echo Park Lake, photo via Heal the Bay

In past years, Echo Park Lake has been a major concentration for these cleanups – in 2009, 120 volunteers cleaned up 1,000 pounds of trash and over 6,000 cigarette butts around Echo Park Lake alone. Keeping inland cities and neighborhoods clean are important for our beautiful coastline – a lot of our trash ends up in the ocean from inland creeks and waterbeds.

Echo Park Lake is currently gated up and being cleaned/rehabilitated under the Los Angeles clean water bond, Prop O. But that doesn’t mean Echo Park streets don’t need help, so there are actually two locations in the neighborhood for you to volunteer:

Location 1: Vista Hermosa Natural Park

100 N. Toluca Street

Location 2: GEPENC Office & Community Center

1572 West Sunset Boulevard

Like past years, the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council (GEPENC) is spearheading Saturday’s cleanup effort, along with help from Office of Senator Kevin De Leon, Assembly Member Gil Cedillo, First District Supervisor Gloria Molina, Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, Council Member Ed Reyes and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Lunch will be provided to participants courtesy of the neighborhood council. There will also be bulky item pickup in the area.

Signing up is easy! Just go to the Heal the Bay website. Click here to download the Echo Park cleanup PDF flyer to pass along to your neighbors and friends!

Echo Park CA Coastal Clean Up Day Event
Saturday, September 17th
9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Don’t live in Echo Park but want to participate? Inland neighborhoods like Silver Lake and Culver City, along with a slew of beaches will be cleanup site. Click here for the full list and map from Heal the Bay.
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A red carpet unveiling in Echo Park

Photo by Susan Borden

Yesterday was kind of an exciting day on Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Blvd. Informational tables were set up, the red carpet rolled out, and press people with their fancy cameras stood by. Eric Garcetti even stopped by to celebrate. But this was no Hollywood awards ceremony – this was a red carpet unveiling of the new solar-powered trash compactor, Big Belly.

It seems odd to have such hub-bub over a trash can, but this has been years of work for Echo Park resident and Trash Abatement Program (TAP) leader Ida Talalla, who as worked tirelessly on projects and community cleanups to keep Echo Park clean. This trash compactor, which was paid for by city grants, will help relieve the busy corner from the overflowing trash cans that plague our neighborhood – it can hold four times more trash than normal bins. Especially since down the road, Echo Park Lake is getting a multi-million dollar renovation, and the hope is that less trash will make its way into the lake waters.

Ida commented on The Eastsider LA article recently, saying:

Echo Park TAP feels that this project has been sufficiently tested elsewhere as well as received strong support from within and outside the community to be effective in the effort to stop trash from entering area storm drains….

Litter is not simply only a visual blight but a polluter with far reaching consequences, often not seen in the immediate vicinity. Inland trash ends up on beaches and the ocean. BigBelly Solar is here to assist us meet the challenges. Echo Park TAP will keep the community appraised of its efforts to reduce the impact of trash in the community and the newly replanted Lotus bed.

She also mentioned there would be a “Shelter Clean volunteer” for one year who will service the units, keeping the outside of it clean and the inside replaced with biodegradable bags.

Ida Talalla herself! Photo by Susan Borden

Kudos Ida, thank you for the hard work in keeping Echo Park clean!

 

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Chinatown celebrates harvest moon with a festival this weekend

Don’t let the morning marine layer keep you from thinking it’s still summer, but we’re gearing up to saying goodbye to 100 degree weather. Chinatown is celebrating the coming of Fall (which is September 23) and the Harvest Moon with its 73rd Annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival on Saturday, September 17, 2011.

Apart from the art activities, food trucks, and a craft beer garden (yes!), the best part is the moon viewing via telescope provided by Griffith Observatory. Although the full moon was officially on Sunday, it will still be a nice night to check out the brilliant moon.

Full schedule after the jump:

Read more

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Hearing date set for Fix’s beer and wine application

Flickr photo via Stuart Fingerhut

Fix Coffee owner Marc Gallucci hopes to turn his thriving Echo Park coffee shop, Fix Coffee, into a place for a little nightlife as well – he applied this year for a Conditional Use Permit for the sale of beer and wine inside the cafe as well as outside on the 450 square foot patio. The application is up for review at City Hall early next month.

The notice provides the hours during which he will serve alcohol, which is limits sales from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm weekdays, and 10:00 am – 10:00 pm on weekends. This might be helpful for direct neighbors, who have raised concerns that the quiet streets of that residential area will be interrupted with loud bar noises. Add additional stress on already limited parking, and the elementary school directly across the street, there are reasonable concerns. But not all residents are opposed, as we mentioned in a previous article about the issue on Echo Park Now. In a previous article publish by The Eastsider LA, resident Susan Borden is quoted as saying:

This is the first step in turning our neighborhood from a residential one into a commercial one.  When he moved in three years ago Marc Galucci (FIX owner) could see that this is a residential not a commercial neighborhood.  He wants to change it.  All along Echo Park Avenue businesses will try to get alcohol licenses and bring the club-goers up from Sunset.  Some people will enjoy that—they are [usually] the ones who are not adjacent to the businesses and don’t have to deal with the noise and trash. Most of us like the non-commercial nature of our canyon.

Like it or not, the hearing is set for Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 10:30 am at City Hall. Click here for the public notice PDF. If you support or don’t support the application and would like your opinion on public record, contact Christine Saponara at Christine.Saponara@lAcity.org and reference case number ZA-2011-2029(CUB).

Additionally, the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council is also expected to take a vote on whether or not to support the application by Fix at tonight’s Planning, Public Works, Parks and Land Use Committee meeting. In addition to Fix, GEPENC is discussing and/or taking action on conditional use permit applications from other Echo Park restaurants, including Xoia, a proposed 7-11 store on Glendale Blvd, as well as the new Echo Park Blvd. restaurant Red Hill. Click here for the PDF agenda for tonight’s meeting.

If you’re intersted in attending the Neighborhood Council meeting tonight, it takes place at 6:30 pm at the St. Paul Cathedral Center, located at 840 N. Echo Park Avenue.

 

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Echo Park Lake Odor Monitoring Group meets for the first time

Volunteers of the Odor Monitoring Committee met with the Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Team (CD13, Public Affairs Office, Department of Public Works, etc.) last Wednesday, September 7 to discuss the draining of the lake what to expect in the near future.

According to the meeting minutes, the rehab project is on schedule, with the lake draining to be complete in a couple of weeks. Here’s where we are at the project:

  • 89 Red Haired Slider turtles were removed and are on their way to the California Tortoise Club and their Tortoise and Turtle Adoption Program
  • 300 fish have been captured and relocated
  • Paving on the pathways have been removed
  • New storm pipes will be installed at the east side of the lake in a couple of weeks

The first Odor Monitoring Committee reported a slight smell of fish, but no dead fish were found so far and they will continue to monitor.

As mentioned in our last Echo Park Lake article, construction workers will be keeping track of what they find in Echo Park Lake as they drain it – from shopping carts to other treasures, we’re hoping there are some interesting items and not any dead bodies or anything in the muck.

If you catch unusual odors from the lake draining, please go to www.EchoParkLake.org/odorreportingprocedure.pdf, call (213) 978-0317, or email bpw.pao@lacity.

The next Odor Monitoring Committee meeting is scheduled for October.

Click here for the meeting minutes, which includes a question and answer section from the committee members.

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