* Update: The unofficial memorial site was created by a Highland Park man who had known Kelley for several years and wanted a place for Kelley’s close friends and others to express their sorrow and admiration. An hour after the title of the memorial piece was painted on the concrete wall, people began to bringing afghan blankets and other items for the shrine, said the Highland Park resident, who wanted to remain anonymous. He said:
I was aware that when a friend passes, especially someone as admired as Mike, it can really help to have a place to go to, something to do and a place to deposit the pain and to honor him. I also believe that ritual is very important, and that grieving can include a creative process.
Click on the link below for more details about the memorial.
Erika Gallo of Lincoln Heights was filling up her car Sunday night at the Arco at the corner of North Broadway and Griffin Avenue when she noticed the sidewalks were practically abandoned. No was walking their dog, running an errand to the store or out for some evening exercise. Gallo, a neighborhood activist who grew up in Lincoln Heights, said she thinks the empty street reflected the fear and uncertainty surrounding the fate of two neighborhood women: Bree’Anna Guzman and Michelle Lozano. Officials are still trying to confirm that it was Guzman’s body that was discovered last week next to the 2 freeway in Silver Lake. Lozano, a 17-year-0ld, turned up dead next to the 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights.
It’s not clear if the two incidents are connected but Gallo decided something needed to be done to restore the confidence of her Lincoln Heights neighbors. So, she is asking Lincoln Heights residents to take a walk on Wednesday night along North Broadway.
The familiar Sunset Junction sign that looms over the terra-cotta colored shops at Sunset Boulevard and Sanborn Avenue has been stripped away and a new concrete block wall now obscures one of the Silver Lake storefronts. What’s going on? First off, the much photographed Sunset Junction signs are being cleaned up before they will reappear in the same colors and style, said a painter working on the project. The concrete block wall at the corner encloses what appears to be a patio for an expansion of Cafe Stella, the French bistro located in the same complex and owned by Gareth Kantner.
While the return of the sign is sure to appear Silver Lake locals, that new concrete barrier has put off Silver Lake resident Alexis Lantz, who writes:
I fully support having another night spot in the neighborhood that’s easy to walk to, but they installed an awful wall that cuts into the very nature of that corner. It ruins the transparency of the corner, the pedestrian environment, and in my view will actually take away for what could be a great business to enliven the corner and make it even more inviting.
A pony trotting across Echo Park Avenue. Dancers gyrating in the Magic Gas parking lot. A cowboy with a lasso sitting on the fire hydrant of Chango Coffee. What to make all of this? It won’t be clear until a vitamin water commercial filmed in Echo Park today airs on TV. However, the pony – covered with green dots – will probably end up looking like an antelope or a large aardvark once special effects crews get done with it, according to crew members
When one conjures up images of winter, the scene probably does not include disco balls, feathers, sequined masks, beaded gowns and mannequins named Bianca and Steve. But these are among the elements that window dresser Salvador Cruz has pulled together for this year’s winter window display at the Out of the Closet thrift store in Echo Park. With a life-long interest in decorating, and experience setting up displays at Williams Sonoma as well as a Silver Lake gay bar, Cruz has turned the window at Sunset Boulevard and Lemoyne Street into a showcase for his imagination and ingenuity, creating eye-catching displays made primarily from donated clothes and other cast-offs. The 34-year-old is guided by themes that help him select colors as well as clothing.
“I was thinking Mardi Gras but I wanted a winter holiday theme,” said Cruz of the current display, which went up in December and comes down in early February . “I wanted silver and gold, so I started saving clothing that was a little loud.”
The result is the window display that Cruz has titled “My Winter Gala.”
Last Thursday, city crews installed four new metal barriers to prevent pedestrians from crossing Sunset Boulevard where it bends to the south at Mohawk Street in Echo Park. Signs hanging from the barricades warn against walking across what many consider a dangerous stretch of road and to use the crosswalks a block away in either direction. But it was clear that the signs did little to keep pedestrians at bay. From women in high heels to parking valets in red jackets and deliverymen carting cases of wine, pedestrians of all stripes could be seen waiting for a break in traffic before taking a chance and scurrying across the four-lane street ahead of the next wave of cars, trucks and buses. Let’s call it the The Mohawk Bend Dash. The firefighters at the Station No. 20, which overlooks the intersection, say they have seen more people dashing across Sunset since the opening of new shops, restaurants and offices have attracted more pedestrians and created more reasons to brave traffic on the curving roadway.
“They will just wait for a break in traffic and just go,” said LAFD Capt. Armando Valencia, who has worked at the Echo Park fire station for a dozen years. “There has definitely been an increase.”
70+ unit retirement apartment complex at Glendale Blvd. and Park Ave.
544-space Angelus Temple parking garage
Residents, urban planners and neighborhood leaders gathered in Echo Park last Saturday to toss around ideas and share their dreams about how to remake Glendale Boulevard, the wide, often-congested and noisy street that is lined with neighborhood landmarks – Angelus Temple and Echo Park Lake – as well as shabby warehouses, recycling centers and strip malls. Under his ideal scenario, Councilman Eric Garcetti, said he would turn Glendale Boulevard into a winding road and expose the underground streams that flow into Echo Park Lake. Others dreamed of a boulevard with petting zoos and skate parks. But no one had to attend a workshop to imagine the future of Glendale Boulevard. New and recently completed projects along Glendale show that more big buildings and traffic congestion is on the way – especially in light of existing zoning.
A 50% chance of showers are forecast in time for Saturday’s AMA Supercross at Dodger Stadium, where tractors (pictured above) are busy this week spreading and shaping truckloads of dirt into a motorcycle course. The dirt – 550 truckloads were spread across the field for last year’s event – will remain in preparation for next month’s monster truck competition.
Arty Maharajh of Glendale did a double take this morning as he was driving past Main and Johnston streets in Lincoln Heights when he came across what looked like a crime scene. Nope. Just a very realistic Hollywood scene – complete with bloody victim, yellow tape, officers and squad cars – created for a TV shoot. Workers at the nearby tortilleria said it was for the TV show “Southland.” Maharajh was not initially sure what was going on until he spotted some film crew workers nearby. “I am almost positive no one gets that shot up that early in the morning,” Maharajh said. Apparently crime in Glendale takes place later in the day.
Real estate agent David Bramante snapped the above photo as he was driving northbound on Silver Lake Boulevard where it passes under Sunset Boulevard. What is the “Age Before Beauty” banner about and why is that old woman holding up what appears to be a walker? Bramante is not sure and The Eastsider could not find any info online. Perhaps Silver Lake seniors are trying to draw attention away from young hipsters.
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Erika Gallo of Lincoln Heights was filling up her car Sunday night at the Arco at the corner of North Broadway and Griffin Avenue when she noticed the sidewalks were practically abandoned. No was walking their dog, running an errand to the store or out for some evening exercise. Gallo, a neighborhood activist who grew up in Lincoln Heights, said she thinks the empty street reflected the fear and uncertainty surrounding the fate of two neighborhood women:
A pony trotting across Echo Park Avenue. Dancers gyrating in the Magic Gas parking lot. A cowboy with a lasso sitting on the fire hydrant of Chango Coffee. What to make all of this? It won’t be clear until a vitamin water commercial filmed in Echo Park today airs on TV. However, the pony – covered with green dots – will probably end up looking like an antelope or a large aardvark once special effects crews get done with it, according to crew members
When one conjures up images of winter, the scene probably does not include disco balls, feathers, sequined masks, beaded gowns and mannequins named Bianca and Steve. But these are among the elements that window dresser Salvador Cruz has pulled together for this year’s winter window display at the 
Last Thursday, city crews installed four new metal barriers to prevent pedestrians from crossing 
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The Eastsider publishes stories and news from the northeast corner of the City of Los Angeles and neighboring East Los Angeles. Who is the Eastsider? Where does the Eastsider roam? 