New Genesis Breaks ground on March 30th - New Hotel to begin new mixed use evolution in Project Based Section 8 Housing

The New Genesis Hotel will break ground on March 30th. Those in Attendance will be Jan Perry , the Federation of Labor Representative , and Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council President Russell Brown.

According to Skid Row Housing Trust there will be ground floor retail and new jobs will be created. The first turn of the soil marks the birth of the next evolution in the Trust's solution to homelessness. The New Genesis Apartments will combine permanent supportive housing for homeless and disabled men and women with commercial space for community retail. The New Genesis Hotel is located on 5th Street and Main Street.

One of the attributes of Skid Row Housing Trust is their focus on creating huge spaces in their buildings to accommodate the social services. Skid Row Housing trust has made it clear that they intend to be good neighbors in the Historic Core as well as make sure that the ground spaces accommodate retail space.

Winter Shelters Closing , Union Rescue Mission Barbecues Steaks for their last Meal at Shelters

On March 2nd, homeless folks at  one of the armories that was a part of the Winter Shelter Program in Los Angeles County saw their last meal in the form of a Steak Dinner because that winter shelter was closing. Today , Andy Bales, and his URM Crew barbecued steaks on the roof of Union Rescue Mission for those at other Winter shelters that will see their doors close.

Below is an excerpt from Andy's Blog detailing what is happening with the Winter Shelters and a video  I took today of Andy Bales and his crew barbecuing on the roof of the Union Rescue Mission... What people fail to realize is that between the 15th and the 7th of the next month , middle of the month and the first week of the month, 0ver 1500 souls in skid row from the various social service housing providers utilize the free breakfast , lunch , and dinners , as well as those 1500 who find themselves in the various missions , provided by the various Missions in skid row, and those others who do sleep on the streets. What is desperately needed at this time , besides donations of money, are vegetables and fruits. These Missions do not just provide food for the skid row residents , but do reach out to the  whole Los Angeles community  Let's end homelessness by providing healthy food options for all Angelinos and those that may find themselves  utilizing these shelters and Missions in these tough economic times.

From Andy's Blog, CEO of Union Rescue Mission:

Why in the world would we close down this vital safety net? How can we send folks out to the streets who want to stay in a place that provides a roof over their heads and a connection with case management and vital services?  The Governor of California, during these extraordinary times, could declare a state of emergency, keep the armories open, and our city and county could team up with us and the other agencies running shelters to make sure that these 1600 beds stay open, and that our friends experiencing homelessness could be provided with a shelter long enough to get back on their feet.  It could cost as little as $1,000,000 per shelter to operate them at capacity(150-200 persons each night) for 1 year.   

For the sake of these precious souls, would you consider contacting the :

Governor: Click here for email form.

LAHSA: Click here for email form.

County officials: Click here for contact list.

City officals: Click here for email form.

Thank you!

 Andy B.

Angel's Flight to resume climbing Bunker HIll on Monday

 Don Garza Downtown Los Angeles

According to an article at LAIST . Angels Flight Funicular in Downtown Los Angeles will reopen on Monday. Word comes through the Angel's Flight website. The March 15th Opening Date looks to be a lot sooner than was expected!
This past Thursday word was sent forth that Angel's Flight had passed the necessary safety  inspection to be able to resume service.. The Downtown Angel's Flight is known as the world;s shortest railway.

Enjoy Luciano Pavarotti singing about another Funicular.....Mt Vesuvius Funicular

John Perez ,First openly Gay California State Assembly Speaker, sworn in locally

 Speaker of the State Assembly of California and first openly gay person to serve in the post

Don Garza  Downtown Los Angeles

With the sun shining bright and under the auspices of wonderful spring weather, John Perez , who made history by becoming the first openly gay person to serve as the Speaker of the California State Assembly, was sworn in by an enthusiastic crowd that gathered in Little Tokyo this morning.  Pérez who  is the 68th Speaker of the California State Assembly was formally sworn-in just over a week ago in Sacramento.

John A Perez is the cousin of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa . The swearing in ceremony took place on the steps of the Japanese American Museum. The swearing in was conducted by  Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar, Pérez addressed the crowd about the need to support education at all levels, create jobs and cut the Assembly’s budget by 15 percent.  Many around downtown asked me if I attended the swearing in and they expressed their disappointment and heart brokenness at not being able to attend . Many Downtown Residents are also business owners , property owners and were actively involved in the Art Walk the Night before. Many said that they were so overwhelmed with art walk activities  that the swearing in ceremony had slipped their mind. Many who reside in downtown Los Angeles know the new State Assembly Speaker intimately and as a result many felt that they were not able to support their neighbor and friend the way they  always do.

Many in the Los Angeles community  are very proud of John Perez .

Sidenote:

We here at Central City East Blogger support all of the efforts of those making a difference in the Los Angeles Community regardless of race , religion ,  sex ,  color , creed , disability , or sexual orientation and will always publish those things that are of historical significance and highlight how these events represent historical value.

LAPD blocks 4th street between main and Spring Street during art walk

LAPD on the Corner of 4th street and Main keeping vehicle traffic of of 4th street between Main and Spring during March Downtown Art Walk

Don Garza Downtown Los Angeles


According to sources from LAPD , the LAPD had to block 4th street between Main Street and Spring street from vehicle traffic during the March Downtown Art Walk, as a response to the many art walk visitors in the street  and crossing the street and impeding traffic ; traffic slowed to a crawl. LAPD , with good cause, responded to the high possibility of a pedestrian vs. auto incident.  Kudos go to the Central Division for their quick thinking , which may have saved lives.

According to other sources, the ART Walk organization may have to pay a fine for this intervention , since it can be considered a blocking of the streets for  a special event. It is not certain at this early time if The Downtown Art Walk will be able to get a fee waiver  considering the changes involving special permits and fee waivers and the current financial crisis facing the  City of Los Angeles which has made it difficult for any entity to receive a fee waiver.

Rapid Bus Stop in skid row

 Don Garza - Downtown Los Angeles

After over 8 years of being denied because MTA had decided it was too dangerous to have stop in skid row , the residents , social service provider employees , and Garment workers  in skid row have cause to celebrate. The MTA has placed a rapid 720 bus stop on the corner of 5th Street and San Pedro. Word came down today through a message from General Jeff about the new stop. With the impending loss of the Central City East  DASH service , this new  RAPID 720 stop will help the people of skid row to leave the area quickly on a major line as well as bring them to the services.  It took the efforts of an unfunded group of grassroots organizers and advocates, who live in skid row, to accomplish something the million dollar funded social service organizations could not... Kudos to MTA and kudos to General Jeff and OG MAN and Life is Crushow..

The E-mail sent by General Jeff can be seen below:

March 10, 2010

To Skid Row,

Effective immediately, Metro has added a new bus stop for the westbound 720 Rapid bus line on 5th street at San Pedro.

Prior to now, the next closest stops were 6th and Central to the east and 5th and Main to the west.

Today, myself along with "OG" and Songhai Miguda-Armstead from the City Attorney's office observed the new stop in action as many community members were already benefiting from this important addition to our local transportation needs.

On behalf of the Skid Row community, I would like to publicly thank Paul Taylor, Deputy CEO from Metro (MTA) for personally taking the lead and seeing this request to completion in an expedited manner.

This is another accomplishment for our "Operation: Facelift/ Skid Row" community improvement project, which is an ongoing continuous community-led effort to improve the Skid Row community. Included in this effort are ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS, OG's-N-Service Association, the Skid Row Brigade and "Life is... Crushow".

Please pass this information along so that others may also benefit from this new convenience.

Thank you,

General Jeff

community activist-

ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS

Resident Director- Central City East/ Skid Row

Board of Directors    

Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council

Skid Row is visited by new US Attorney before being sworn in Today

  New US Attorney Andre Birotte Jr speaking before the walk , with Estela Lopez and Carmen Turtanich look on.

 Don Garza Downtown Los Angeles

Estela Lopez and Carmen Trutanich were consistent in highlighting the efforts to keep skid row  crime under control while  the new US Attorney Andre Birotte Jr , being sworn in today ,from Southern California looked on. The  Los Angeles City Attorneys office was also there in full force giving support to their efforts at the initiatives that have made an impact in reducing crime in the area. On hand was Senior Lead Officer Deon Joseph who was very articulate in detailing the effects of the initiatives such as Safer Cities Initiative  and the Streets or Services Program  that have led to people being able to walk day and night more safely in the area. Carmen Trutanich also made it clear that he would fight to keep both programs intact.
Deon Joseph continued to explain how the skid row community, after 10 years of hard work, is now able to communicate with the LAPD , whereas in the past no one spoke to each other on the issues that plagued the community.Songhai Miguda -Armstead was also very imformative , where many in local city government can't tell you where anything in skid row is , Songhai has developed the street cred with the community to have also been able to speak on the issues succinctly that have plagued the area as well as how the initiatives of the City Attorneys office have helped in the making of skid row a safer place while being mindful of the special issues and needs of the skid row community.

 Songhai Miguda-Armstead and Senior Lead officer Deon Joseph explain the issues which plague skid row while the new US Attorney looks on and listens in

Estela Lopez  of the CCEA, the LAPD , and the Midnight Mission have been consistent in the mission of the monthly skid row walk. While there is still more work to be done, Carmen Trutanich emphasized before the walk that he is committed to making it even more safe at night to walk the streets of skid row. He says he will fight to keep the 50 officers of SCI and City Attorney initiatives in skid row intact.