East Hollywood NC Frees the Street!

CityWatch, Mar 12, 2010

Vol 8 Issue 20

Hollywood Neighborhood Council is taking over Santa Monica Boulevard on Sat the 13th, from 2pm to 10pm, celebrating the local art community and LA’s growing bike culture. The EHNC is one of the most densely populated communities, bordered by some of LA’s busiest streets but for one day, the street will belong to the people, not to the motor vehicle. Ride your bike to East Hollywood and join one of the many bike tours of the local galleries including the Barnsdall Gallery, which is hosting a Bike Week celebration featuring an exhibit entitled “In the Living Room of Bike Culture.” The bike tours are led by local guides and will leave Santa Monica and Madison every half hour.

Santa Monica Boulevard, right at Madison and across from the Cahuenga library, will be loaded with opportunities to make art, view art, purchase art, admire art, and maybe even become art!

Hop on a bike to take a tour of some of East Hollywood’s finest galleries, like Synchronicity, Thinkspace and Junc. Check out New Media Artists, see a show at Sacred Fools, check out or just browse among the dozens of artists and performers displaying their creations at the street scene on Santa Monica Boulevard.

There will be plenty of food and live entertainment, including the exotic salsa dancers of Salsarologo and the gypsy jazz phenomenon of KillSonic.

Bring the kids along for arts and crafts, face painting, and lots of hands-on fun. Be sure to bring an old T-shirt for a BYO silk screen.

Come join the celebration as the people of East Hollywood take back the street for a day of art, music, cycling and fun.

ArtCycle is a collaborative creation of Artist Jen Moran, Cyclist Enci Box, EHNC Board President David Bell, Downtown Art Walk Director Jay Lopez and a host of artistas, cyclistas and community members who think that the streets of Los Angeles are beautiful when they are full of people!

“See you on the Streets!”



(Stephen Box is a cyclist and a cycling advocate. He can be reached at Stephen@thirdeyecreative.net)

CityWatchLA - In LA, Santa Rides a Bicycle

CityWatch, Dec 15, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 102

Global warming, animal rights and traffic congestion have prompted Santa Claus and his helpers to give up the traditional sleigh in favor of bicycles as they get an early start spreading good cheer and delivering gifts to Los Angeles.

On the Westside, cyclists from all over the city rode to Venice Beach where they invited the homeless to join them on the "Pedal with Me" bike ride, an invitation that came complete with the gift of a bike.

For a few hours 100 cyclists rode the streets on the social ride organized by the Bikerowave, a bike co-op that simply promises to do two things, make friends and get them on bikes. Bikerowave volunteers worked for months collecting and rebuilding bikes in partnership with United Steps which contends "a bike can be the first step to mobility, perhaps key to landing a job interview, then a job, then a career, then . . . a home."

In Hollywood, theLA Greensters loaded their bikes with gifts collected from the community and rode on the "El Niño Toy Ride" which benefited the children at St. Anne's, a resident facility that addresses the needs of young women and their children.

St. Anne's has a long legacy as a social services agency and recently celebrated their 100th anniversary. Unfortunately they have also been victim of these lean times and they have lost some of their traditional sponsors.

This year the children were in danger of celebrating the holidays without gifts until Jeremy Grant heard of their plight and led the Greensters on a bike ride that is going to make a difference in the holidays for the 150 who live at St. Anne's.

On the Eastside, seven different bike rides converged on the Olvera Street Gazebo for the 4th annual Midnight Ridazz All City Toy Ride. Participants rode from Long Beach, Montebello, the Valley, the Westside, NELA, Hollywood and Central LA, all with gifts that went to the East Los Angeles Women's Center.

Each of the seven rides had a unique spoke card and cyclists rode in the rain and then celebrated with an afterparty that went on through the night. Santa would have been proud!

The next time you see a group of cyclists riding on the streets of Los Angeles, pause for a moment and be thankful, for each one of them represents a car that's not in your way. But most of all, give thanks and remember that they may be some of Santa's helpers and they may have something for you!

(Stephen Box is a cyclist advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@ThirdEyeCreative.net)

Free Parking for Traffic Fighters!

In a priceless display of irony, the 2nd Annual Traffic Fighter Awards are being dispensed at a reception held downtown at 5th and Flower, one of the most congested and car-dominated neighborhoods in LA, and as a special treat to those who book early, there will be "reserved hosted parking" at the City National Plaza.

One would think that the visionaries behind "Building LA's Future: Ending Gridlock in Los Angeles!" who seek to change the world by liberating our city from the auto-centric seige that has us on lock-down would dispense with the free parking and would instead offer mass transit instructions along with assurances that there will be ample and safe bike-parking along with wide sidewalks and a pleasant environment for those who choose to walk.

But no, the admonition to rsvp is given with the warning that parking is limited and there is no guarantee of validation for late responders!

Personally, I'd like to see preferred seating for those who take walk, ride a bike or take mass transit while those who drive are consigned to the cheap seats in addition to paying premium for daring to congest the city center by bringing an automobile downtown. After all, the event is about traffic reduction!

One of the simplest things we, as a community, can agree to do is to simply offer up ped, cycling and mass transit instructions on all invitations in lieu of the traditional automobile parking information. This simple shift in tradition sends a clear message that we are heading in a new direction. Sure there will be resistance, but this is simple, it's inexpensive and it's effective.

Let the pros talk about the multi-billion dollar infrastructure pie in the sky plans for the future, the answer for the present is to change behavior and it starts on the invitation to the next event.

"Please join us, but leave the car at home!"

CityWatchLA - Celebrating Crenshaw with a Big Hug

CityWatch, Sept 25, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 79

On Sunday, September 27th, we celebrate the history, the politics, the culture, the personality and the community of Crenshaw with a bike ride of discovery and celebration. Join us and visit beautiful neighborhoods, significant community spaces, historic sites, local favorite hot spots, institutions of knowledge, and the homes of heroes and legends. Dust off your bike, bring the family, get there at 8am for bike tune-ups, the ride starts at 9am. There will be pit stops with hosts, who will share stories of their neighborhood.

For those who want a challenge, there will be a poker ride with some miles and some hills. Both casual and competitive cyclists are invited to join in a celebration of the community.

You can RSVP on our Facebook Event page.



--Sunday, September 27, 2009
--8:00am – 1:00pm
--Leimert Park
--Meet @ Crenshaw Blvd. & Vernon Ave.

The Crenshaw Crush starts at the Leimert Park Village Drum Circle and heads off to Florence & Normandie where the most destructive American riot of the 20th century broke out ten years ago. The ride visits Exposition Park, stops at Chef Marilyn's Soul Food Express, and passes Susan Miller Dorsey High School, named for the first female superintendent of the LA public school system.

Traveling along the Exposition Light Rail Transit Line, cyclists will visit Village Green, also known as the Olympic Village, and then will ride over to the Baldwin Village, also known as "the Jungle." It's rumored that Magic Johnson will take a lap or two with the group around his Theatre before cyclists visit the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza which is the oldest regional shopping center in the country.

Father Martini of the Transfiguration Catholic Church is waiting to bless the cyclists and will then join the ride which will visit the Leimert Park Homes, designed by Olmsted & Olmsted, the architect and master planner of New York City's Central Park. Restricted to white residents until 1948, notable residents include John Singleton, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and former Mayor Tom Bradley. The ride ends at the beginning, the Leimert Park Village Drum Circle.

The Crenshaw Crush … because in some vernaculars crush means: Big Hug.

(Stephen Box is a cycling advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@thirdeyecreative.net)