Photo from LeBarcito Facebook page
One of the last of Silver Lake’s gay bars, Le Barcito, is scheduled to close its doors tonight with a Halloween bash, according to its Facebook page. The Sunset Junction bar has long been a magnet for gay Latinos with Spanish-language drag shows and other events. Le Barcito is located in the Sunset Boulevard building once occupied by a previous gay bar called the Black Cat, where the LAPD arrested several men for kissing, triggering one of the nation’s first gay-right protests in 1967. In 2009, the L.A. Weekly named Le Barcito as Best Club the Black Cat Dragged In:
Decked out in glitter-flecked gowns and flashing beauty-pageant grins, the performers engage the crowd in a drag revue set completely to Spanish pop songs. If you’re itching to see drag queens lip-synch to songs that don’t involve Beyoncé, this is the place to go.
What will replace the Le Barcito and its purple facade? Eater L.A. says that the Melrose Avenue restaurant Village Idiot has been rumored to have leased the space in the building, which is a city historic cultural monument.
Silver Lake
A new store for the Silver Lake male; new eat & drink options for November.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Photo courtesy Eric Brightwell
There are plenty of Silver Lake boutiques and shops catering primarily to women. But Eric Brightwell had the urban male in mind when last month he opened Brightwell, a store for featuring “luxury and craft objects for the discerning cosmopolitan gentleman” at the corner of Rowena Avenue and West Silver Lake Drive. What exactly are “luxury and craft objects”? “I sell men’s scents, soaps, shaving creams, socks, jewelry and that sort of thing, with the addition of art, incense and other unisex stuff appropriate for guys,” said Brightwell, who also blogs and has attracted a following for his handrawn neighborhood maps. Brightwell is open 11 am – 6:00 pm on Wednesday through Friday and 11 am – 7 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
In other Shopper & Diner news:
- Atwater Village Farm has set Nov. 15 as a tentative opening date for the market selling “locally grown produce and artisan foods,” according to Eater L.A.
- The owners of El Gallo Bakery in East Los Angeles are planning a November opening for the El Gallo Grill restaurant across from the bakery on Cesar Chavez Avenue.
- Another November opening: Golden Road Brewing plans to open its 3,500-square-foot brew pub and tasting room at the Atwater Village brewery complex, said Eater L.A. The brewpub will have 40 brews on tap and also sell food and merchandise.
- Nicky D’s Wood Fired Pizza of Silver Lake has opened a second outlet in Santa Barbara and added lunchtime specials to the menu.
One of the important rules to fixing and flipping houses is to get a property back on the market as soon as possible. That seems to be a guiding principal behind a new listing for a 1921 bungalow at 6202 St. Albans Street in Highland Park (ignore that “Eagle Rock” label above the photo). The almost 1,000-square-foot home sold for $150,000 on Sept. 22 and was back on market on Oct. 29 at $349,000, according to Redfin. The investors seeking to resell this house for nearly twice what they paid last month also followed the flipper decorating guide, repainting the exterior gray, the front door chartreuse and installing horizontal siding to finish things up.
Courtesy Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park
A New York Times story last week chronicled the life of former Echo Park resident Larry Haun, described as the “carpenter’s carpenter” who earned a nationwide reputation for constructing and writing about handcrafted homes. In Echo Park, however, Haun was not only known as a skilled craftsman but a passionate supporter of Elysian Park. His love for the city’s second-largest park and its wildlife prompted him to write the book “Birds and Flowers of Elysian Park.” His introduction to the 73-page, illustrated book begins:
I remember the first time I entered Elysian Park in 1969. After finishing graduate school at Cal State L.A., we moved to Echo Park. I went for a walk up Cerro Gordo, carrying our newborn, Eric, and literally stumbled into the park. After living near a freeway for two years, I felt like we were in heaven. Now, every time I walk through Elysian Park, I am thankful for this green, sacred space in the heart of the city.
Last week, Haun died at age 80 in Oregon, where he lived after leaving Echo Park during the 1990s.
One of his long time time Echo Park acquaintances , Michael Kogan, said that Haun, who lived on Alvarado Street, was generous with his time and talents, helping neighbors with construction projects and even their Spanish. Haun also devoted much time and love to Elysian Park:
He was always so down to earth and honest, always with a good sense of humor. He loved Elysian Park – he ran there every morning for years. His little book explains his relationship to the park. Now his son, Eric, can be seen in the park in the mornings.
River Rock Garage, Mt. Angelus-Highland Park | Photo by Martha Benedict
- 19-year-old El Sereno man dies after suspected gang shooting in Alhambra. L.A. Now & Star News
- Boyle Heights worker crushed to death by falling forklift. Daily News
- Work begins on memorial garden to honor Eagle Rock Trail volunteer. Patch
- Happening Today: Freak Machine, Atwater; Safe Haven Trick or Treating, Highland Park. Save the Date
- Note: The Eastsider would like to thank Bob Inman, Bugs Krebs, Todd Walker & Gloria Sohacki for renewing their annual subscriptions.
stantontcady/Flickr
What was all that thumping about this weekend? Residents from different corners of Echo Park and Angeleno Heights – Park Drive, Lilac Terrace, Ewing Street – reported hearing an “oontz, oontz, oontz“ – beat that left heads and walls throbbing on Friday and Saturday night. Joanna Weissen, in a Twitter post, said:
I thought I was hearing things with all that thumping. Glad I’m not going crazy.
On Friday night, one police officer at the LAPD Northeast Division station said callers could not identify where the beat was coming from. Members of the Echo Elysian Forum blamed everything from a two-night rave at the Shrine Auditorium near USC to Echo Park nightclubs on Sunset Boulevard for what ever was causing things to go bump in the night. The beat might have been annoying but it could have been worse, said one member:
Well, on the glass-half-full side of things, I guess I admit I prefer the dance thump to the sound of gunshots.
Map courtesy Louisa Van Leer
Story and photos by Nate Nickels
Mixing Halloween fun with a bit of a history lesson, the Stair Street Ghosts tour on Sunday, Oct. 30 shines a new light on the old Mt. Angelus section of Highland Park. Free, self-guided tours will showcase nine stairway streets, some of which will reopen for the event after having been closed to the public for nearly a quarter-century.
“I have always been interested in things that have been hidden in plain sight,” said Louisa Van Leer, a resident and artist who organized the tour. “The history of Mt. Angelus has been hidden from the community and I am excited to not only explore the rich history but also to share it with the local community.”
[Read More…]
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Lago Vista condos, Echo Park | Photo by Stephen Roullier/Flickr
- What’s bugging Highland Park citrus trees? Patch
- Two men convicted in the 2003 murder-for-hire killing outside a Highland Park restaurant. Patch
- Silver Lake street recovers from tagger attack. [sic]
- Lack of quorum forces City Council to cancel Friday meeting. Daily News
- City and school district officials prepare to redraw political boundaries. Daily News
- Mayor’s former chief of staff, a Glassell Park resident continued to earn $194,000 salary after he resigned and a replacement hired. L.A. Times
- Happening Today: Northeast LAPD Division Open House, Glassell Park; Ivahhoe Elementary Halloween festival, Silver Lake; films by Paul Clipson, Echo Park; Awadagin Pratt piano recital, Eagle Rock. Save the Date
Ivanhoe Elementary on Saturday, Oct. 29 will host its annual Ivanhoedown, the school’s annual Halloween festival and fundraiser. Ivanhoe parent Courtney Holtzclaw said it’s the Silver Lake school’s biggest event of the year:
The Ivanhoedown is our biggest event of the year. It is a fun day of games, crafts, prizes, food, bake sale, cake walk, the best haunted house in all of LA, dance party, pumpkin patch, costume contest, movies, doughnut eating contest…and much more. The proceeds of this event help support Ivanhoe Elementary.
The Ivanhoedown begins at 1 p.m. Admission is$2.
By Becky Koppenhaver
World-renowned piano virtuoso, Awadagin Pratt will perform a solo recital at Occidental College’s Thorne Hall on Saturday, Oct. 29. The recital – featuring works by Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann and others – will be Pratt’s only California performance on a national tour, the only chance local audiences will have to see a world-renowned prodigy whose performances have been likened to a “tsunami of sound.”
[Read More…]
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