You won’t find the Poppin Wizard on Dancing with the Stars. Instead, the Poppin Wizard, a chunky-looking guy clad in Raiders cap and shirt – stars in several YouTube videos shot in the driveways, homes and weed-filled yards on Drew Street in Glassell Park, according to the person who uploaded the videos. Drew Street is better known for gang-violence than for freestyle, robot, and popping styles of dance. But, at least in these videos, the neighborhood serves as a stage for the Poppin Wizard, who is sometimes accompanied by dogs as well sidekicks named Manny and Termi. The Poppin Wizard can also be found dancing in parking lots, cluttered kitchen and a restroom. Where will the Poppin Wizard show up next?
Photo from Northeast Division Facebook Page
A big white tent that rose behind the LAPD Northeast Division station in Glassell Park sheltered an outdoor boxing ring where the Northeast Police Athletic League operated a youth boxing program. But that big tent and other equipment were destroyed during the Dec. 1 windstorm, Capt. William Murphy reveals in an email newsletter today. Now, the program, which only got off the ground in August 2010, is on hold until the police and supporters can raise the necessary funds. Murphy provides the details:
The program is now suspended until we can raise the money to fix the tent (BLEND and Children’s Hospital will certainly help us out – the cost could be as much as $4,000 to fix everything as new). If you want to donate please send your check to BLEND @ LAPD Northeast Station, 3353 San Fernando Road, Los Angeles, CA 90063. Any donation to BLEND can be written off on your tax forms (BLEND can give you the tax ID number required for the IRS).
Photo by Diane Edwardson
Silver Lake blogger Diane Edwardson and others who were out and about early this morning caught views of dramatic clouds sweeping across pale blue skies. She aimed her camera north across the Los Angeles River to take shots of the cloud formations. ” Clouds over Glassell Park looked like an oil painting this morning.”
A man who was arrested for allegedly robbing a Glassell Park sex shop last died after he hung himself in his jail cell, police said. Kristopher Bindulski was hospitalized on Dec. 5 after employees at the Metropolitan Detention Center found he had hung himself. Bindulski, who had no brain activity and was placed on a life support, was pronounced dead two days later.
Lt. Steven Flores with the Northeast Division said Bindulski was arrested on Dec. 2 following a robbery at Romantix, a San Fernando Road sex shop, which is located on the same block at the Northeast police station. “He was arrested shortly after the crime a short distance away,” Flores said. No information was immediately available about what was taken during the robbery.
Authorities are conducting an investigation into Bindulski’s death.
Photo by Pete Curtis
The front steps outside the Glassell Park home of Pete and Lauren Curtis now display their handiwork after attending a pumpkin carving party. Got an eye-catching, ghoulish gourd you would like to show off? Send photos to hello@theEastsiderLA.com.
While many musicians toil at home in hot and stuffy garages that double as recording studios, at least one lucky musician, or group, currently practice in a sleek, industrial-style Glassell Park home-studio that is now up for sale. The residence, re-designed by Silver Lake architect Tony Unruh, at the corner of Fletcher Drive at the 2 Freeway, is hidden from the street by a band of corrugated metal painted battleship gray. But now you can take a peek inside thanks to a video created to promote the listing at 3600 Fletcher. There’s a spacious recording area, artwork, two bedrooms, stainless steel cabinets, solar panels and a Prius, of course, in the enclosed yard.
Any musician interested in this property, however, better have a record deal. The home is listed at $1.2 million.
MonoAngel/Courtesy Andrew Montealegre
The Eastsider reported last month that members of the Glassell Park Neighborhood Council had recommended that Verizon wireless take a more creative approach to a proposed 70-foot high cell phone tower instead of disguising it as a fake pine tree. How about topping the pole off with a symbolic angel or turning it into a gateway symbol for Glassell Park, some of the members suggested. But after considering the alternatives, Verizon has decided to stick with its fake pine tree, called a monopine, which would be planted next to the warehouse owned by Western Mixes Produce & Nuts near the 2 Freeway and San Fernando Road. A letter from Verizon representative Argineh Mailian to the neighborhood council explains the company’s fondness for fake trees:
The property/ site is a warehouse use that imports and exports various products and is a well-traveled warehouse with a lot of vehicular and diesel traffic. The property owner cannot provide Verizon Wireless any additional space to construct a a gateway proposal and/or artistic proposal that would impact the drive isle or turning radius for the large diesel trucks that travel through and near the proposed Verizon Wireless site location.
The lowest branches of the phony pine would be 15-feet off the floor, providing enough clearance for the nut trucks, Mailan explained. A “more artistic structure” would not provide such clearance. The proposed 70-foot high monopine – which would rank as one of the tallest structures in Glassell Park – faces further review by the neighborhood council and city agencies.
By Valentina Silva
I remember when international healthy food crusader Jamie Oliver introduced his Revolution Burger at Patra’s Charbroiled Burgers in Glassell Park earlier this year. Its grass-fed beef and wheat bun caused a bit of a brouhaha in the food world, angering some people in a “where-does-this-Brit-get-off-telling-us-Americans-how-to-eat-a-burger” kind of way.
Just check out the comments on a Serious Eats post on the subject if you don’t believe me. Faced with the prospect of Oliver’s burger makeover, one commenter remarked: “Burgers = unhealthy and American. There’s somethings [sic] sacred about that to me. If it’s not those two things, it ain’t really a burger.”
Luckily, my sense of patriotism is not so inflamed by foreigners tinkering with American dietary staples, and I’m not so set on the burger-as-belly-bomb edict. As a result, the Revolution Burger has actually become part of my repertoire, and I appreciate it as a healthier option when fast food is in order but I still want a little, you know … nutrition.
[Read More…]
Theme Hosiery factory/Photo courtesy Ribet Academy
Theme Hosiery factor today
By Becky Koppenhaver
You’ve driven past it a thousand times. It’s hard to miss the five-story, white and green concrete building near the Glendale Freeway and San Fernando Road that stands tall among the modest homes and businesses of Glassell Park.
Since 1992, the building has been home to Ribet Academy, a pre kindergarten-12th grade college prep school that grooms its students for colleges like Stanford, Duke, and Cornell and boasts a debate team that ranks 10th in the nation.
But long before the sounds of students and teachers filled the halls and classrooms of the dignified building, the thunder of large machinery and the drone of a hundred sewing machines could be heard from the street curb outside. Built in 1923, the building was originally the home of the Theme Hosiery factory that manufactured silk panty hose until after World War II, when nylon stockings became popular and put the factory out of business.
[Read More…]
Submitted by Michelle:
Bear the cat has been missing since 9/22. He’s a smoky brown color with white undercoat, has green eyes and is wearing an orange collar with black name tag. He is also microchipped. Bear is approximately 13 pounds and has a very distinctive meow. He is also missing the tip of his right ear. He’s not particularly warm to strangers, though I’m sure he would reconsider if bribed with treats.
He was last seen on Avenue 32 and Eagle Rock Blvd (2600 block of Avenue 32).
We have blanketed the area with flyers, posted on craigslist and petharbor and check the shelter websites every day. If you see Bear, please call or text 323.459.9208. Thank you!
Lost & Found is part of The Eastsider Forums, where Eastsider readers can post announcements or start a conversation on neighborhood news, issues problems & ideas. Click here to find out how to share your news & views.
L.A. Web Awards 
Best of L.A. 
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? 
