Eastside Living

The switch in question is the one that sends those classic cars jumping and jerking off the ground to impress fellow lowrider fans. But there is supposed to be no bouncing cars and no booming stereos (at least before 10 am) this Sunday during the year’s first major car club picnic in Elysian Park. After Echo Park residents and park users complained about the traffic, noise and trash generated by last year’s events, Councilman Ed Reyes’ office stepped in and organized a trio of meetings with car club leaders and city departments to review the rules and avoid problems. The organizer’s of this weekend’s car club picni, The Council C.C., aware that the city and residents will be watching, warned its members to follow the rules: “This is a family event,” read a show flyer, “So leave the drama at home!!!”

A posting on the Lay It Low message board reminded Council C.C. members to be on their best behavior when they show up at Elysian Park’s Avenue of the Palms on Stadium Way near Scott Avenue “Ed Reyes and his office are going to use the outcome of this event to determine whether or not we will be able to use the Palms for future picnics.”

Council district spokeswoman Monica Garcia said that park rangers and the city’s General Services police will also be patrolling a stretch of Stadium Way that is lined with century-old palms. Reyes at one point had mentioned holding the picnics and shows at a parking lot or more remote location but the picturesque setting remains a favored spots for car club members to gather.

Garcia said that a car club picnic held last August generated no complaints after the meetings informed the organizers of park regulations. “These include regulations such as No smoking. No barbecues except in designated barbecue pits. No parking on tow zones or fire lanes. No parking on red. No blasting music or bouncing cars.”

The council office plans to hold another meeting with car clubs in February to review the rules and make sure no one hit the switch.

Photo from YouTube

{ 0 comments }

Many library patrons who entered the Edendale branch in Echo Park had become accustomed to holding their breath as they walked in off Sunset Boulevard. That’s because a long ramp for the disabled that ran up from the sidewalk had become a place for people to urinate and relieve themselves after the library had closed. In addition, the ramp, which is sheltered from the street by a large planter box, had also become an overnight home for the homeless, who would leave behind sheets of cardboard that limited access for the disabled. “It was always terribly smelly,” said branch librarian Judy Donovan. But, after years of complaints by patrons and staff, two new gates to the side of the main entrance were installed in early September to seal off the ramp. The gates are unlocked when the library is open and closed at night.

So far, said Donovan, the gates have helped keep the ramp clean, leaving patrons and staff to breathe a little easier.

{ 0 comments }

Echo Park is perhaps the noisiest neighborhood in town, with the roar of the Dash bus competing with the the whup-whup-whup of helicopters and the grunts and groans of trash trucks. This year, there is a new source of sound, at least on our block, that’s hard to ignore: a Northern Mockingbird.

Here’s a snippet of an Echo Park Mockingbird that I recorded on a recent walk near our home. It sounds similar to the same high-pitched chirp that has awakened us and some of our neighbors well before dawn. Some residents are charmed by this evening, as well as daytime, serenade. But, believe me, it sounds like a car alarm at about 5 a.m.

Discussions with neighbors made me wonder if there had been a baby bird boom that had left Echo Park’s trees and telephone wires crowded with new and noisy wildlife. The neighborhood has always been a bit bird crazed, with residents showering the ducks at Echo Park Lake with bread crumbs and naming intersections and even stores after our feathered neighbors.

“There does seem to be more this year than in years previous,” said Mary Ann, an Echo Park resident who lives on Morton Avenue, in an email. “I measure [the bird population] by how often I need to resort to earplugs. I knew that bird was a Mockingbird. It’s way louder than the regular bird call. [It] mimics all the calls it hears during the day, then plays them for us around 3-5AM. Maddening!”

Jeff Chapman, director of the Audubon Center at Debs Park, said he had not heard of any increase in the Eastside bird population. But, he was able to identify our noisy avian neighbors as Northern Mockingbirds (not a Nightingale as I once assumed). Chapman, citing the Birders Handbook, said that “unmated” males sing at night.

The Northern Mockingbird is one of several noisy bird species to fly around the area, which is also home to flocks of squawking parrots and parakeets. “In the hills, there are also common ravens and American crows, which could be considered loud,” Chapman said in an email. “Down near Everett Park (Victor Heights) there are peacocks that are pretty loud too.”

So, how do we get some sleep, short of finding our Mockingbird a date? Chapman said it is illegal to physically move most native bird species or their nests. “I have heard that hanging pie tins in trees and having them move is one deterrent,” he said. “There are also some web sites that market things to keep birds away. Don’t know if any of these work.”

“I would consider us lucky to live in places where nature still exists,” he said. “They have survived in spite of the changes we have made to the city.”

It looks like we will be in for a long and sleepless summer because Chapman said that Mockingbirds will hang out in the same the same territory. Anyone have some extra pie tins they can spare?

{ 0 comments }