Saturday: Echo Park Trash Abatement neighborhood cleanup

If you didn’t make it to last weekend’s Echo Park Improvement Association cleanup of Sunset Boulevard, tomorrow is your chance:  Echo Park Trash Abatement Program (TAP) is hosting a cleanup is tomorrow morning, so make sure to get up bright and early and help out!

You can also show up after the start of the cleanup and contribute for an hour, or more!

8:00 am – 12:00 noon

Meet at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Logan Street by Walgreen’s Parking lot. Dress for weather. Bring gloves if possible.

Also, save the date for:

Friends of the Los Angeles River Cleanup
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Check the Friends of the LA River website for details.

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What will an “improved” 2 Freeway Terminus look like?

Imagine what it would be like if the 2 Freeway, right where it dumps onto Glendale Boulevard, were a smooth flow of traffic each day, from the freeway itself and down Glendale Boulevard. Exiting the freeway, cars would slowly make their way (at a reasonable speed) into Echo Park.

Sound wall mockup along Allessandro Street, via the "Green Echo Park" Facebook page

As if!

When they first started building the 2 Freeway way back in 1959, it was intended to continue all the way through Echo Park to the 101 Freeway. The community said no to extending the freeway, and the flyover that was initially supposed to be a temporary flyover remains today.

Unfortunately, there is an incredible amount of unplanned-for congestion. For decades now, Metro and community members, groups and activists have been planning and re-planning what to do with the SR2 Terminus. The Echo Park Community Action Committee (EPCAC) and the Echo Park Improvement Association have long been a part of the design process for the terminus, coordinating the council office, distributing petitions, and offering community-supported recommendations for the renovations.

However, last year Metro decided to go its own route with a “hybrid” design despite community opposition. The plan would remove all parking on the west side of Glendale Boulevard south, creating a big parking and access issue for businesses along that corridor. It’s also a silly proposition – existing no-parking restrictions during high-traffic times don’t solve the congestion problem.

The hybrid plan includes removing the left turn lane from the off-ramp on the east side of Glendale Boulevard, so no more access to Glendale Boulevard south from that ramp.

In case you’re not horrified enough, they are also proposing putting up a few sound walls, including around the St. Teresa of Avila school, and along Allesandro Street (pictured) – to the dismay of neighbors.

The bottom line is the project (the “hybrid” version) is not an improvement to what we have now.

Tonight, LA Metro will be the guest speaker at the Echo Park Improvement Association town hall meeting, hopefully providing the community with some updates since we last heard from them in 2011. This is an issue that affects all of Echo Park, so be there!

Echo Park Improvement Association town hall
Thursday, April 5 at 7:00 pm
Williams hall at Barlow Hospital (2000 Stadium Way)

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Neighborhood Council defends $1000 anniversary party

Yesterday The Eastsider LA published a story about the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council’s plans to celebrate its ten year anniversary with a party – with a cost of $1,000.

This not only raised concern from community members who attended the Tuesday night meeting – but also members of the governing board itself, according to the article:

One board member suggested cutting $1,000 approved for another project to pay for the party. Another spoke about reducing the scope of the event into a smaller and cheaper affair.

Spending $1,000 would “be  inappropriate and in bad taste, especially now in these times,” said one board member. “I could not attend such a thing.”

Despite opposition, seven members voted in favor, two opposed, and two abstained.

Then the flurry of comments (which are always entertaining, depending on how civil it remains) range from “Who cares?” to more overall condemnation of the neighborhood council’s behaviors at meetings (not a new thing). One commenter suggested the neighborhood council president Jose Sigala, who is hoping to replace Eric Garcetti’s seat in Council District 13, is taking advantage of the opportunity to campaign.

Today, Lisa Baca-Sigala (CIO of GEPENC and wife of Jose Sigala) sent out a mass email to stakeholders on the issue:

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Livin’ La Pizza Loca no more

When we first moved to Echo Park, the only restaurant that would deliver to our sketchy apartment complex was La Pizza Loca. We were a little loca to eat the barely digestible pizza, but was at one point the cheapest meal in town.

This weekend the Glendale Boulevard pizzeria at Berkeley Avenue closed its doors for good – the sign is gone, and some window graphics remain, but a call to the old number and you’ll be redirected to another location.

It’s not the first place to close down in the strip mall – there was once a Cash Express storefront, a flower/bike/tobacco kiosk, and a Dog Grooming business. It might be a sign that the storefronts are being squeezed out as the strip mall prepares for a 7-11 to open up, which was approved last October by the neighborhood council and is undergoing review by the city for a beer and wine license.

The 7-11 plans include making improvements to the whole strip mall (cleaning up the parking lot, removing the old, ugly wall, improving signage), and thus the strip mall owner may be able to ask for higher rent. We’ll see if the Tacos Mexico and the other remaining tenants can stick it out, or if we’re looking at a high-end makeover on Glendale Boulevard and Berkeley.

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Neighborhood Crime Update: Echo Park “very clear”

Captain Bill Murphy sent out a crime update for the Northeast Division, reporting that Echo Park has been “Very clear – looks great.” Although the LA Times crime map displays some property crimes from March 14-20 (vehicle thefts, burglaries, etc.), there were no violent crimes.

Year-to-date crime numbers covering January 1 through March 17 this year show some improvement for the Northeast area overall. Read more details from Captain Murphy after the jump.

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Murals take the stage at EPIA neighborhood issues meeting

A Chango mural concept

One of the iconic symbols of Echo Park, and one that residents take a lot of pride in, are the colorful murals that decorate our streets. The Sunset Boulevard and Echo Park Avenue mural is one of the most iconic, but look around a little more and you’ll start to notice a myriad of new and old designs that give this neighborhood a colorful background.

Cock-fight mural. Flickr photo via Michael Taft

You may have noticed some changes happening at Chango, which is undergoing minor renovations under new ownership (Jenna Turner, who owns a Susina Bakery on Beverly Boulevard, and Fix Coffee owner Marc Gallucci). But the new owners weren’t prepared for the community’s reaction when they white-washed the property’s cock-fight themed mural. We’re glad they arrived at last night’s Echo Park Improvement Association’s Neighborhood Issues Committee meeting to address any concerns, and assure everyone that they didn’t mean to offend anyone by painting over the mural.

That corner has been through a couple of murals the past decade or so – first there was the more infamous painting of chickens by artist Aaron Donovan, a piece painted because of the corner’s “Chicken Corner” nickname. The original mural was removed when Chango put in windows at that wall. Then a few years ago, the cock-fighting themed mural took its place.

Jenna assured committee members last night that they did, indeed, get permission from the original muralist Richard Meinhardt via the new artist, by the name of Axis,  to remove the piece. Pictured above is a new concept (not the final, final one yet) the new owners designed for the new mural, but at the EPIA meeting said that they were open to including a chicken in there somewhere.

One mural that was saved, probably due to public outcry from coverage on news websites like The Eastsider LA, was the Logan Street mural decorating the former Pescado Mejodo restaurant. Senior Fish has been renovating the corner restaurant for quite some time now, but surprised residents when workers started sandblasting the mural.

Jesse Pimentel represented Senior Fish at the EPIA meeting, saying “We certainly didn’t intend to offend anyone.” Today they will have a retoucher, who has worked on the mural, bring back the mural to its state before the sandblasting began.

The lesson here is that Echo Park loves its murals, and there are many community resources like the EPIA if there are questions about the neighborhood murals. We have to give kudos to the recently opened Red Hill, which kept a colorful mural on the Montana side of its building even after a complete renovation.

As for Senior Fish opening, they are expecting a (hopefully successful) visit from the health department next week, and may open as early as one month from now. Chango is re-opening on Saturday, and will keep the same staff along with the menu.

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