Storefront Report: Will visions of Melrose fill these Silver Lake shops?

The stretch of Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake near Benton Way looks like nothing like the retail hot spot that is Melrose Avenue. The most notable landmark is the happy foot/sad foot sign that rotates at the corner. But leasing agent Todd Nathanson has high hopes for the Sunset Boulevard as it courses through Silver Lake. "I think it's on track to be the next Melrose," said Nathanson. Of course, Nathanson is a bit biased since he's trying to lease space in a 1924 building that has been remodeled into six store fronts of glass, chrome and white stucco. The spaces went up for lease about two months ago after a long-delayed renovation of the Sunset Boulevard building next to the longtime Mae Ploy Thai restaurant. Each 900-square-foot space (plus additional storage) is being rented out for $2,650 a month, with the first tenant, a hydroponic store, expected to open up within a month. Who else is looking at the remaining five spaces? Nathanson said the prospective tenants have included people in the frozen yogurt, eyewear, apparel and shoe business. "The demand has been pretty high."

Author makes his book publishing debut with Echo Park as his inspiration

Brando Skyhorse has not visited Echo Park in a dozen years. The former Echo Park resident, who grew up on Portia Street and attended Logan Elementary school, is now a New York book editor. But his memories of the neighborhood and its Mexican American and immigrant residents serve as back drop for his first novel - The Madonnas of Echo Park - that will be published this June by Simon & Schuster. The 36-year-old editor and writer has also signed another deal for the publication of his memoir. The publication of a book by a major publishing house is a coup for any writer but even more so when you take into account that Skyhorse has never even been published in a literary magazine, according to a story in the New York Observer. Skyhorse, in an email, said The Madonnas of Echo Park is his effort to "reconcile my history of Echo Park with my understanding of where the neighborhood is now and may be headed next."

Click on the link below for Skyhorse's Echo Park memories.

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News & Notes from Boyle Heights, Cypress Park, East LA, Echo Park, & Silver Lake

10,000 job hunters show up for Dodger Stadium job fair. OC Register

Chinese burial ground memorial dedicated at Evergreen Cemetery. LA Times

Man shot at East LA party near Fourth & Arizona. KPCC Wire

Sleep in a Silver Lake Schindler for $2,000 a month. Curbed LA

Where is your council representative? Probably in the backroom. LA Times

How to support Echo Park libraries without getting out of your car. Echo Park Neighborhood Council

A native plant tour of Rio de Los Angeles State Park. LA Creek Freak

Update on Highland Park & Eagle Rock burglaries

The LAPD arrested two suspects over the weekend believed responsible for a string of residential burglaries across Eagle Rock and Highland Park, said Northeast Division Capt. William Murphy in an email alert this afternoon. "On Saturday we arrested the second suspect and recovered property taken from some of the burglaries," Murphy said. "We are also working the fence that was responsible for selling the stolen property." In a previous email newsletter, Murphy said the burglars - some of whom may have traveled on bikes- were suspected of at least 10 break-ins during the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, in Echo Park on Sunday afternoon, police detained some males near the intersection of Echo Park Avenue and Duane Street as part of an investigation into a potential burglary. But Murphy said the "investigation determined no burglary and they were released."

Image from Lapdonline.org

Save the Date for Lost Eagle Rock

Former Eagle Rock resident Paul Ohannesian grew up in the bungalow pictured above (his mom and dad are working on the lawn) in the 5100 block of El Verano Avenue. The family home, however, is long gone and so is the 5100 block of El Verano, which now lies underneath the Eagle Rock Plaza, probably below the Chuck E Cheese's and the parking garage. The entire neighborhood Ohannesian knew during the 1950s and 1960s was scraped away to make room for the mall and nearby 2 Freeway. On Tuesday night, Ohannesian, who now lives in Vancouver, returns to Eagle Rock to tell the story and show photos of his former neighborhood in a Lost Eagle Rock presentation organized by the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society. "Though he moved to Canada in 1970," said the historical society in a statement, "in some ways Paul's heart will always be in Eagle Rock, of which he has many fond memories." More upcoming events in Save the Date.

Photo courtesy Paul Ohannesian/Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society.

Jaime Escalante who? Garfield High seems to have forgotten a legendary teacher

News that former Garfield High math teacher Jaime Escalante, who was featured in the film Stand and Deliver, is battling cancer has renewed interest in the story of how he inspired and pushed the students at the East Los Angeles school to excel in mathematics and life. But when a Los Angeles Times reporter Esmeralda Bermudez paid a recent visit to Garfield High, it was hard to find any visible signs of Escalante's legacy:

"His name is rarely mentioned. There is no scholarship,
no plaque, no poster. And though some of his former students are now teachers there, two of them math instructors, few were eager to talk about him. What remains is his old classroom, MH-1. It is a portable room near the center of the campus, with stadium seating, ideal for his college-like classes. The building is nondescript except for a red, white and blue sign outside: "Jaime A. Escalante Math Center GANAS." MH-1 will be demolished this summer to make way for an auditorium."

A high school administrator told the Times the school plans to eventually install a small plaque honoring Escalante, who left Garfield in 1991 "amid much discord" as his fellow teachers resented the Bolivian native's "ego and the constant media attention they said pulled him from the classroom."

Photo by Current Events/Flickr

New signs of trouble

It does not take long for residents to recognize the tags and graffiti of the neighborhood gang or tagging crew. But, recently, some residents across Echo Park and Silver Lake have noticed some unfamiliar tagging. What it means is unclear but it's getting noticed:

* About two weeks ago a Silver Lake resident noticed large AZT tags (pictured above) showing up north of Temple Street. " I've also seen it on Silver Lake Blvd and Marathon, but that was covered up recently ... It seems like there's a budding struggle for territory. With the closing/moving of the Rampart station, it was bound to happen"

* Further east along Glendale Boulevard, a resident who lives near Effie Street spotted an unfamiliar tag that reads Visteros 13. "There is a daily tag cross-out war going down on the north facing walls along Glendale Blvd. Effie St and Aaron, among others. Does not bode well for the safety of late night dog walks et al."

* Up in Elysian Heights, a resident found a small Echo Park gang tag, which is nothing new. However, the resident was surprised to find that someone had walked across their property to tag (pictured below) the front porch. "What's disturbing - and confusing - is that they walked up the driveway to tag [the] front porch to write "FTR," crossing out "EXP" on the porch. Seems it was done by the same kid! (We immediately painted over the tags but took pics.)"

County supervisor Gloria Molina takes comfort in quilting

Story by Ana Facio Contreras

What does Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina do to relax? She makes quilts. A hobby she’s been enjoying for about 15 years. On Saturday, Molina combined her love of quilt making with a good cause. Molina and her quilting group, called Las Pulgas, hosted a workshop (pictured above) in East Los Angeles to make quilts for children in hospitals.“I find it a fascinating, fun thing to do. It’s just like puzzles; I’ve always enjoyed doing puzzles," Molina said. “And I’ve always liked to sew. My daughter never liked the clothes I made her so I started making other things. So this is perfect. This is therapy for me.”

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Echo Park condo for sale - brain waves not included

The bluffs west of Echo Park Lake are dominated by a sweeping chunk of 1970s architecture, the Lago Vista Apartments designed and built by architect Allyn E. Morris. The crescent-shaped building - now a condo complex - has a following among fans of mid-century architecture and was the site of an open house this weekend for a two-bedroom unit. This hilltop temple to 1970s modernism (pictured top right) was once home to a shrine of a different sort: the home, offices and lecture halls of A. Victor Segno and his Segno School for Success (pictured top left). Here, in 1904, Segno - who was, depending on who you spoke to, either a gifted "mentalist" or con artist - built a Spanish-Moorish-style compound of concrete topped by domes and a giant globe, according to the Echo Park Historical Society. While he published a great many books and pamphlets, including one titled "How to be Happy Though Married," one of Segno's most well known products was the sale of $1"brain waves" guaranteed to generate success for their buyers. Segno would send out the brain or thought waves from his compound, perched on the bluff he called Inspiration Point.

Segno lived at Inspiration point only a few years, fleeing the city and abandoning his wife following an affair with his secretary. Perhaps the seller of the Vista Lago condo can find a left over Segno brain wave and think hard of a quick sale for the $349,000 unit.

Top left photo from Echo Park Historical Society;
top right photo from TheMLS.com-CurbedLA

News & Notes from Boyle Heights, Glassell Park, Highland Park & Silver Lake

Debate mushrooms over the Glassell Park Super King. NELA List

Councilman Huizar wants to talk campaign finance reform. Daily News

Highland Park's Chicken Boy receives historic preservation award. Chicken Boy

Officials to dedicate Chinese reinternment site and memorial wall at Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights. CHSSC (h/t to LAHistory)

Mr. Abee creates a place for poets and writers at a Silver Lake school. Los Feliz Ledger

Life's last journey on a street car named Descanso

Railway fan and Angeleno Heights resident Kevin Kuzma was checking out a railroad preservation forum when he came across a photo recently posted by forum member Bob Davis of the Descanso, a 101-year-old Los Angeles street car built to transport mourners as well as the deceased to burial services. The Descanso - originally named Paraiso - and a second car served Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights as well as other burial grounds in East Los Angeles, said Ralph Melching in a story posted on the website of the Pacific Railroad Society. The Los Angeles Railway Company operated the funeral cars - which could be chartered for $25 - until about 1921, when motorized hearses became common, according to the website of the Orange Empire Railway Museum, where the Descanso now resides. The museum websites describes how the cars worked:

"The small doors below the oval window on the side of the car

permitted a casket to be loaded inside. Upon arrival at the cemetery, the casket would be transferred to a special rubber-tired carrier and wheeled to graveside. The interior is divided into a chapel area (where the casket was placed) and a passenger compartment. The passenger compartment could be divided with a curtain to separate the immediate family from the other mourners if desired."

The Descanso is perhaps the last existing funeral street car in the country.

Photo by Bob Davis/Railway Preservation

News & Notes from Boyle Heights, Echo Park & Silver Lake

Update on Silver Lake shooting. The Eastsider

Taste like bacon: insect-taco tasting comes to Echo Park. Eating LA

Remembering Uncle Ray from Boyle Heights. LA Eastside

Carpool tour of the LA River, with stops for tacos and cream puffs. LA River

Atwater school fundraiser; Santa Cecilia Orchestra Concert in Eagle Rock & more events today. Save the Date

Update: Silver Lake shooting *

Police have tracked down one of the young men who was fired upon during last week's afternoon shooting in Silver Lake, but the individual - described as a gang member - did not want to cooperate with the investigation, said Capt. Bill Murphy of the LAPD Northeast Division. Murphy, in an email newsletter distributed earlier today, provided this run down of the investigation so far into the February 22* incident at Sunset Boulevard and Lucile Street:

"The crime appears to be gang related. We had several
witnesses that observed two young male victims flee the area. We were able to identify one of these victims - he is a gang member from a small gang in Rampart area. He was not very cooperative (gang members usually are not when they are victims) he admitted he was shot at but gave us little else to work on. We do have some information on a possible suspect and are investigating this. If you know anyone who actually observed the crime, please contact us immediately - when the victims are not cooperating it's hard to make arrests and get a court filing."

In other crime news, Murphy also warned residents of Eagle Rock to watch out for bicycle riding burglars who are believed to be responsible for 10 residential break-ins. More details in his newsletter.

* Correction: A previous version of this post gave the wrong date of the shooting. It took place on February 22.

Photo by bcmasac1 via Flickr

Save the Date: Weekend Edition

Rain once again threatens some outdoor events on Saturday. But there are still plenty of indoor options, including a Saturday afternoon mini musical fundraiser - Chickens in Love - to benefit the 826LA literacy center in Echo Park. There's also a session on boosting your home's energy and water efficiency in Silver Lake and a Sunday evening "trombone extravaganza" at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts. More events in Save the Date.

Image from 826la.org

Elysian Heights Snow Day rained out - again

Perhaps the safest place for a snowman in Elysian Heights is indoors. For the second time in recent days, the threat of rain has prompted the organizers of the Snow Day fundraiser at Elysian Heights Elementary School to postpone their event featuring five tons of manufactured snow. Elysian Heights Snow Day will now be held next week, said an event organizer by email:

"Rain is again predicted at 100% for tomorrow
so we have postponed to March 13 - weather.com predicts 0% chance of rain for the 13th :) The outpouring of donations and volunteers has been really heartwarming - thanks and we'll see you on the 13th!"

Last December, in a separate event, kids and adults abandoned a Winter Wonderland (pictured above) in Elysian Park and headed indoors to escape the rain.

Photo by The Eastsider