I received a press release from LA Department of Transportation regarding Downtown Street Closures for May Day.  They are as follow.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bruce Gillman
Public Information Office Bruce.Gillman@lacity.org
LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ANTICIPATES MAY 1, 2009 INTERRUPTIONS FOR DASH DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES AND COMMUTER EXPRESS ROUTES SERVING DOWNTOWN
LOS ANGELES (April 30, 2009)—The City of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation
(LADOT) is anticipating DASH Downtown and Commuter Express bus service slowdowns, possible service disruptions and/or service cancellations on Friday May 1, 2009 due to the Labor and Immigration Marches and Rally that will occur throughout the day. Street closures and severely impacted traffic flow are expected within the area bounded by Cesar Chavez Avenue to the north, Alameda Street to the east, Pico Boulevard to the south and Hoover Street to the west.
“LADOT will endeavor to keep our DASH Downtown LA and Commuter Express buses running as efficiently as possible under the circumstances. We encourage Downtown workers, residents and visitors to use other transit alternatives such as Metro’s Red Line, Blue Line and Gold Line or Metrolink, to travel in and out of Downtown on Friday. We will be working closely with LAPD in order to keep Downtown area traffic moving, but we do expect significant impacts” said Rita L. Robinson, General Manager, LADOT.
Specific routing changes will be announced on board buses on April 30, 2009 as well as on the LADOT transit website at www.ladottransit.com.. In addition, on May 1, LADOT’s transit web site will be updated hourly to reflect current bus information.
Area commuters can visit http://trafficinfo.lacity.org/ for real-time traffic information and more detailed information on each march’s route. Real-time traffic reports are a product of LADOT, innovators of Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control System (ATSAC) technology.
For specific information about DASH Downtown or Commuter Express routes, schedules or fares, please visit our website at www.ladottransit.com or call (213, 310, 323 or 818) 808-2273.

Plan accordingly.

Yesterday LA City Council voted to spend $500,000 on a study to see if selling off parking meters to private owners as well as six parking garages in order to “fill in the gaps” in the budget would work.  Really?

Let me get this straight.  You are paying $500,000 to see if you can make some money off of selling property that already makes you money?  Really?

I mean, really?

While you’re at it, why don’t you start selling the naming rights to City Hall? Can you see it now? The Northrup Grumman City Hall and City Council meetings can be held in the Ronald D. Sugar Chambers.

The only opposition to this study was Councilman from the 12th District Grieg Smith.  Well done.

Here is a novel idea; don’t spend $500,000 on stupid studies and use that money to fill your “gaps”.  This might have worked in Chicago but do you really think it will pay off in LA?

This past weekend was full of events and things to do.  There are weekends where I struggle to find stuff to do then there are weekend where I don’t have enough time to squeeze in all I want to do.

As I mentioned in an earlier post this weekend had the East Hollywood Earth Day Festival and an Art Gallery Fundraiser in Chinatown.  What I forgot to mention was the LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA.  I somehow managed to do a little of all three.

First I attended the East Hollywood Earth Day Festival at the Vermont/Santa Monica Metro Station.  I got to see lots of friends and a few musical performances as well as one Aztec Dancing group which is always fun to watch.

At the festival the EHNC also dedicated a tree in honor of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink who was tragically assassinated in 2007.

After a little fun in the East Hollywood sun I was off to Chinatown and the Chinatown Art Walk.  This quarterly event has some fantastic galleries in Chung King Court off of Hill Street.   With over 35 art galleries in Chinatown this event is one of the better art walks in LA if not the best rivaling that of the Downtown variety.  My interest in this event was a fundraiser I helped produce at the Fifth Floor Gallery.  Over 500 people came through the gallery looking at and buying art from various artists from around the world benefiting Empowerment Works and their Global Summit as well as their Grassroots Orphan Care Program in Zimbabwe.

After a well needed few hours of sleep I went down to UCLA Sunday morning to catch the Festival of Books.  Unfortunately I did not get a chance to see any of my favorite authors and the discussion panels I was interested in were either too late or already filled.  I did manage to buy a new book by Kevin J. Anderson “The Edge of the World” and I am anxiously awaiting the release of  “The Winds of Dune” later this year.

I leave you with a few more pictures from my weekend.  Enjoy.

Shortly after 2am this morning an empty and gutted home on the 600 block of New Hampshire at Melrose in East Hollywood caught on fire engulfing it in a matter of seconds.  I was the first on the scene.  Neighbors called emergency crews but by the time they arrived their apartment building also had caught on fire.  The North end of their building and the second story was ablaze as firemen raced to control the flames before they spread to yet another building to the South.  for a moment I thought perhaps it had already happened. Residents had to jump out of the second story window to reach safety as the blaze spread quickly.  Nobody was injured.

In total I believe there are three structures there; the two that I visually saw ablaze and a secondary structure in the back of the property.   Having lived on this street for seven years I’ve become familiar with the people there this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.  As little as a month ago I turned onto my street to find one of the current tenants car on fire.  An apparent retaliation for a fight earlier that night.  Although firemen refuse to tell me if arson is the cause I think its safe to say these two events are related.

It took a good hour for firemen to control the blaze needing to climb to the roof and open up ventilation holes.  The sound of the chainsaws coming from men both on top and inside the structure made me cringe at the thought of that being at one time, somebodies bedroom.  I can’t imagine how horrific and painful it must have been for those who live there. 17 people lost their homes.

Beyond the sadness of people losing their homes and all their belongings a disgusting truth was brought to my attention and I was faced with it first hand.  People who do not live or work in this quiet residential area taking photographs of the fire.  I’ll admit I too was taking pictures after I made sure that everybody was out of the home and firemen had taken over the situation.  This being my instinct after my CERT training.  Nobody was injured so I grabbed my camera.  After shooting the blaze and the firemen who worked to put them out I decided to walk back to my home only to be approached by some men asking me who I was going to sell my photos to.  What? Really?  Do people find ways to profit on other peoples tragedy?

In times like these few people step up and assist the unfortunate souls who lost everything.  One neighbor brought out bags of clothes and blankets and another gave out bottles of water.

Let it be known: The LA Native is not for sale; he cannot be bought.

More Pictures:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Rarely do I ever get to have lunch with the numerous friends I have working Downtown but yesterday I received an email from one of said friends inviting me to lunch at Bottega Louie on Grand & 7th.  I had seen this place on my normal drive in to work and even walked passed it last week when I took the Metro into work.  It had just opened and seemed very very pricey given the amount of staff alone that it takes to run this place let alone the beautiful marble floors and super high ceilings.  Can you imagine the air conditioning costs?  Anyways…

I met up with my friend whom I had not seen in about a month despite us being regulars at IO West on Hollywood.  Immediately you could tell this was a different class of establishment with friendly hosts who make small talk while they walk you to your table.  Once there not a few seconds had passed when a friendly server came by.  He already knew our names and a couple simple facts based on the small talk we had with the host.  It made the relationship with not only the server but the entire restaurant a little warmer.  He immediately made a few recommendations which we took under advisement as he gave us a few minutes to decide while sipping on our fresh lemonade which rivaled that of Hot Dog on a Stick but not quite.

We decided on ordering a pizza with a couple of side dishes to supplement.  We had been recommended the Clam Pizza which sounded amazing but were dead set on having the Tuna Carpaccio as a side dish and thought it might be overkill so we went with the Bianco which had some yummy ricotta, garlic and arugula.  Delicious, as was the tuna carpaccio but for the the star of our lunch were the portobello fries.  Juicy, tender and they came with the most amazing dipping Definatly will have to return soon and try the clam pizza but I think those portobello fries will become a favorite of mine for a long time.

The pizza was a good size with six slices and the side dishes were small to average and overall moderately priced.  Great food with decent portions and an affordable price.  The only downside I found was that it was far too loud.  The acoustics seem perfect for a concert hall rather than a restaurant you want to sit down and have a quite conversation with a pretty lady.

I totally recomend this place if only for the portobello fries and lemonade but overall a great experience.

Busy times are here.  Two events will take place this weekend which I will be attending and recommend them both.

1st is the East Hollywood Earth Day Festival that will take place Saturday and Sunday April 25/26 at the Vermont / Santa Monica Metro Station in wonderful East Hollywood.  This event will have live music, green booths and more.  This event will also have a satellite location at the Cahuenga Branch Library located at 4591 Santa Monica Blvd just a few blocks East of the main festival where there Voices from Chernobyl will be performed at 1pm and later at 5pm on Saturday starring good friend Enci.

2nd is an event that I helped coordinate, The Empowerment Works, Humanity Uniting; Gallery Event located at Fifth Floor Gallery in Chinatown.  This event coincides with the quarterly Chinatown Art Walk and is a fundraiser for the Empowerment Works’ Orphan Care Program in Zimbabwe.

Displayed will be art by Carolina Marchiori, Michelle Carmen Gomez, Hieronymus, Rebecca Setareh, Aaron Edelson, Mike Chamness, Cathy Wysocki, Kevin Balluff, Rebecca Elswit, Bonnie Munoz, Toufic Beyhum, Nancy Mungcal, Renee Barron, Dana Arak, Sara Sikich, and more!

DJ Nero will be spinning and there will be drinks served by Transphusion.

Both events are free to the public.  Hope to see some of you there.

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Countless times I have met somebody in Los Angeles and the same question is asked of me.  “Where are you from originally?”  These people are always shocked to hear that I’m an LA native.  Not only am I an LA native but rather one who has lived his entire life in Hollywood.  So many people have moved to Los Angeles for various reasons, be it school, work, the sun or show business that these folks surround themselves with other transplants.

Today for example I had a meeting with a young college student who wanted to interview me for her college paper and the first thing she said was “Thank you for being on time.”  She being an LA native as well, was on time.  I don’t like to be late.  Neither does she.  We concluded that Los Angelenos are not the cause of that stereotype but rather the people from Florida, Missouri and New Jersey, the people from Boca Raton, Lee Summit and Newark, the people from The Windy City, Big Apple and The Big Easy who are always late and give us Angelenos a bad reputation.

This blog will focus on a great many things.  The squashing of Angeleno Stereotypes, event announcements, tales from my world, locals only secrets may be divulged, non touristy hang outs will be, local politics, travels, family and friends to name a few. I’m sure this blog will evolve and morph as time goes by as I’m sure my readership will too.

I hope you will all enjoy reading as much as I will enjoy writing.

My name is Alfredo A. Hernandez and I am an LA Native.

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