blogdowntown: Life in Downtown Los Angeles (Stories+Headlines)

Headline: Roosevelt Goes Rental

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:20:07 -0700

Curbed LA -- After filing for Chapter 11 last year, the Roosevelt has postponed its auction and is now pushing to rent instead.

Art Walk Preview: September, 2010

Ed Fuentes — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:49:09 -0700

Artist Daniel Aksten in his studio finalizing work for his solo show "Material" now on exhibition at CB1 Gallery. Photo by Courtesy CB1 Gallery.

This month’s Art Walk has two of the newer Gallery Row venues featuring artists who began careers in European countries during strict political regimes.

It is official. Art Walk is a Bloc Party.

That, the usual street theater and participation by the Downtown Film Festival will be components of what is either the final Art Walk of the summer or the first of the fall.

Here are some shows that caught our eye:

Memories From My Youth in Communist Romania: Claudia Cotrutza French’s gallery, next to The Regent, is perfect for works that talk about her previous world. Sometimes painting in reds, blues, and yellows (colors that happen to be the same as the Romanian flag) her personal experience is the subject as she looks back at living and working under the rule of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. She has extended her show to Oct 7. Cotrutza Fine Art/ 446 S. Main

Eastern Block Party: Gloria Delson Contemporary Art will often have the incomparable Gloria Delson herself holding court. This month, she features abstract artists Luka Krstch and Sergei Tivetsky. Gloria Delson Contemporary Art / 215 W. 6th #115 / Entrance on Spring

Urban Impressionism: A Miguel Paredes Retrospective: Miami-based multi-media artist and sculptor Miguel Paredes is the subject of “Urban Impressionism: A Miguel Paredes Retrospective.” Born in New York and of Latin American descent, Paredes’ graffiti has “the skill and perceptiveness of a true exceptional artist.” Paredes is also influenced by pop artists like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. The retrospective at Crewest Gallery exhibits select pieces and sculptures from Paredes. Crewest / 110 Winston

Material: This solo show featuring the work of Los Angeles artist Daniel Aksten is part of an “ongoing series of highly finished grid paintings while adding an additional body of work focusing on vertical stripes.” With mathematical structure, chance, and craft, CB1 suggests the paintings will “challenge the viewer to re-examine how much one thinks they can actually see” and work as a reminder that “everything we see is surrounded by the expanding and shrinking flesh visage of our own countenance.” CB1 Gallery / 207 W. 5th

2010 Digital Art L.A.: Los Angeles Digital Art has a juried exhibition during this month’s Art Walk. The works are gathered from an international pool of artists working in digital media, and were selected by critic and curator Peter Frank of the Riverside Art Museum. Los Angeles Center for Digital Art / 107 W. 5th

Guillermo Kahlo Photography Exhibition: Not in Gallery Row, and not on the map, but worth noting is the City Hall Bridge Gallery's new exhibition. In 1910, Guillermo Kahlo was invited by then President Porfirio Díaz to be the official photographer during Mexico’s centennial celebrations. That made Kahlo, the father of the beloved Frida Kahlo, the first official photographer of Mexico’s cultural heritage. Kahlo’s photos first appeared in a series of publications produced by Díaz and since then the detailed collection of Mexican architecture has become a national treasure. The exhibition of Guillermo Kahlo’s legacy, presented by Mexico D.F. Sister Cities Committee, UNAM, and The City of Los Angeles, coincides with Mexico’s 2010 Bicentennial Celebrations. The gallery is located inside the pedestrian bridge connecting City Hall and City Hall East. Free. City Hall Bridge Gallery / Mon-Fri 10am to 5pm / Runs until Oct 08 / 201 N. Main, Third Floor

ALIVE: Angel Acordagoitia has quietly showcased other Latino artists in his small gallery off Spring. He takes over the room for a solo show he calls ALIVE that has him working with light and darkness. The work, he says, is inspired by the 19th century Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada and by French electronic musical group Daft Punk. _ Immortal Gallery / 215 W. 6th #116 / Entrance on Spring_

river, rock, bones This is a solo show for Paul Chatem, an artist who grew up in nearby La Crescenta. It is a city that, as he states, pushed aside nature, its own history and the impoverished for “golf courses and mini-malls.” Chatem dug into those memories to create “surreal, often nightmarish, narrative paintings.” Dialect / 215 W. 6th, Suite 111

The Vault at Art Walk Lounge: LATC’s Theater 4 offers “The Vault” in Theater 4 at 8pm. Later in the evening, the official Art Walk after party is held one block south at Exchange L.A. (618 S. Spring) at 9:30pm. _ Art Walk Lounge at Los Angeles Theatre Center / 514 S. Spring_

By Ed Fuentes.

Looking Out for Downtown’s DJs

blogdowntown Staff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:54:20 -0700

Amanda Leon Photo by Ed Fuentes.

Amanda Leon is a nighthawk for nightlife and has become a local online celebrity as her followers tag along with her journey through Downtown, exploring clubs to gather intelligence for her website DTLA Tonight. Yet, it’s not all about the cocktail, says Leon: “Downtown nightlife isn’t only about drinking and dining, there are plenty of places to catch DJs playing great music as well.”

“Far from simply bars looking to set a mood, there are many events in Downtown that are primarily about listening to great music, and dancing.” Leon adds. Of course, as a recent grad from CSULA with a degree in sociology, this is all extra research in case she decides to attend grad school.

So where are some of her top Downtown picks for an evening beyond a happy hour? She shares a few:

Jazz Tonic at Broadway Bar

Every Wednesday / 9pm / FREE / 830 S. Broadway

Newly formed, this “all things jazz” night features a rotating line up of guest DJs playing jazzy hip hop, jazzy house, jazzy soul and sometimes just plain old jazz. The occasional spoken word poet and live musician playing along with the music only adds to the atmosphere, which includes vibrant visuals projected on the walls.

Culture Clash at Mountain Bar

Every Friday, 9pm - 2am / FREE / 473 Gin Ling Way

Always packed with people dancing, Culture Clash is first and foremost a reggae nightclub featuring plenty of roots, dub, dancehall and rock classic hits.

The action takes place downstairs, with an added mix of classic hip hop and breaks in the newly remodeled upstairs.

Ghettoblaster at Bar 107

Every Thursday (except the night of Art Walk) / 10pm - 2am / FREE / 107 W. 4th

Ghettoblaster can only be described as an eclectic mix of rock, punk, ska, soul, indie, funk, and old school all played by DJs using strictly vinyl. On this night local-favorite Bar 107 is one of the best places to hear great music in a more casual environment.

Punky Reggae Party at La Cita

Every Friday / 9pm - 2am / FREE before 10:30 / $5 after 10:30 / 336 S. Hill

Going strong for nearly four years, Punky Reggae Party features an all-vinyl night of punk, post–punk, reggae and dancehall with DJs from The Echo’s Dub Club and Part Time Punks.

Soul Sessions at Grand Star Jazz Club

2nd and 4th Fridays / 9pm to 2am / $5 before 10:30pm; $10 after / 943 N. Broadway

Soul Sessions serves up a vibrant mix of hip hop, funky soul, Latin beats and turntablists that keeps people dancing all night long. Break dancing circles are a frequent sighting upstairs, while downstairs stays busy with a live band and lounge.

By blogdowntown Staff.

Metro's First Offering Isn't Great, but There are Transit Apps for L.A.

Eric Richardson — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:46:44 -0700

Metro's new LAMetro app Photo by Screenshot.

Metro last week released a free application designed to guide iPhone users toward easier transit use, offering access to nearby bus and rail stops, trip planning and basic rider information.

The program, freely available via the App Store, channels functionality available on Metro's website into a more mobile package.

That's both a blessing and a curse.

The LAMetro app, programmed for Metro by developer Usablenet, suffers under the general lack of smarts shown by the transit agency's Trip Planner functionality, which hasn't seen any significant updates since its unveiling in early 2005.

At the time, the agency touted the new system as a step forward from the third-party software that it had previously licensed. Fast forward to 2010, though, and its interface and functionality feels positively archaic.

Try to use the planner to get around Downtown, and you're likely to get buried in a sea of similar options that lack sorting or differentiation. A search for directions to City Hall from blogdowntown's current quarters at Pico and Hill produces 31 options, all shown quite optimistically as taking less than 15 minutes.

The iPhone version doesn't do much to improve matters. It selects one trip instead of presenting a list of options, but does so in a manner that is unlikely to make sense for Downtowners. For that trip from Pico and Hill to City Hall, the LAMetro app would have us walk a half mile to Olive and Olympic to catch Foothill Transit's Silver Streak, paying $2.75 for the seven minute bus ride. A smarter rider would walk just a block to 12th and Hill, catching the DASH D for only $0.35.

The app also misses the chance to allow the user to use his or her current location for the trip's starting point, and doesn't offer any saved state information if the rider happens to exit the trip midway. The extensive use of Metro's website for data also means that a constant Internet connection is required, a downer for those who would wish to use the app in subway tunnels or on an iPod touch.

Metro and Usablenet tout the app as "Build 1.0," which does leave the door open for improvements, but Downtown transit riders might want to load up a few handy tools in the interim.

Métro, by Patrice Bernard & Frank Van Caenegem, is also available as a free App Store download. The application can be loaded up with data for hundreds of cities worldwide and offers locally-computed routing information that doesn't require the use of a network connection. The iPhone's GPS can be used to compute a starting or ending point and the Los Angeles data offers a useful database of points of interest and nearby transit stops.

While it isn't an app, the mobile version of dtdash.com offers realtime information for DASH riders on the go. The site requires a general understanding of which of the system's five Downtown lines go where, but then offers live arrival time information for each stop. Developed by Syncromatics, the company contracted to provide the GPS systems in DASH buses, the system also offers the ability to get arrival information by telephone (call 213-785-3858) or text message.

By Eric Richardson.

Getting Schooled: Downtown Lacking Education Options, But Many Parents Are Making It Work

David Markland — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:45:48 -0700

Taylor Tompkins stands in the library on her first day at Para Los Niños Charter Elementary School, located on 7th Street just east of Alameda. Photo by Eric Richardson.

Taylor Tompkins may not be old enough to know it, but she’s a pioneer. It’s her first day as a first grader at Para Los Niños Charter Elementary School, where she’s only one of two Caucasians in a school predominately full of children from working-class Latino families. What makes this six-year old’s entry unusual is that her parents moved from suburban Chicago to Downtown Los Angeles, deliberately, so their kids could be raised in an urban area not typically considered family-friendly.

The Tompkins family was drawn to urban living while spending two years in Barcelona, Spain while Brian pursued an MBA there. There was a sense of community that they never saw back home in the suburbs of Chicago. “Shop owners light up when they see you,” Brian says, counter to lifelong neighbors who’d they maybe only see over a fence or pulling into a garage. “There’s a loss of culture,” Aimee adds of the suburban lifestyle.

Another Downtown resident, Michelle Bravo, commuted from Azusa for nearly 20 years before moving here a year ago with her son Julian, 13, and daughter Mia, 6. “Downtown was not a place you’d walk around after 5pm,” she said, adding that seeing the vibrant nightlife in the past few years had turned her around.

She wanted her kids to go to school somewhere close, but wanted to avoid them having to go through Skid Row to get there, and finally placed Mia at Evelyn Thurman Gratts Elementary, three blocks west of the 110 at 3rd and Lucas, and her son at John Leighty Middle School at Wilshire and Union. She says both of her children have excelled at their new Los Angeles Unified School District-managed schools.

A recent transplant from Sherman Oaks, Lily Buckley, 5 1/2, will enter kindergarten at Solano Avenue Elementary after spending her formative years as a student of La Petite Academy adjacent to Union Station. Tired of the commute from Sherman Oaks, her parents Paul, a composer, and Leticia, a marketing director at the Music Center, decided to make the move Downtown where they already worked. The couple was determined that “there had to be good public schools” near their home at Packard Lofts. Leticia says they spent hours researching kindergarten programs, and after visiting a number first person, found that Solano, was on par, if not better, than local charter schools.

The Tompkins, Bravo, and Buckley families may be indicative of a growing trend.

Between 2006 and 2008 Downtown’s population boomed by over 10,000 new residents, a 38 percent increase largely comprised of single young adults adding to a cycle of revitalization unseen in the area’s history. As art galleries, restaurants, and nightlife have flourished, the singles have become couples, and some, inevitably, have become parents.

While the current number of children living downtown is unknown, a 2008 study by the Downtown Center Business Improvement District showed a general population of 39,537. Of this, roughly 6.5 percent had one or more children up to the age of five, and 6 percent with children aged 5-13 (another 13 percent didn’t have kids yet, but were planning to in the next few years).

The same study shows that 73 percent of parents would like to send their kids to a school near where they live, but on first glance Downtown is limited on options.

In the past five years the area has seen four new public high schools built to meet demand and reduce overcrowding, but LAUSD’s only elementary school in Downtown proper, 9th Street Elementary, closed last June for a three-year reconstruction. Students who lived nearby have been redirected to Betty Plasencia Elementary in Silverlake.

Charter schools appear to be an all too popular option. Para Los Niños Charter Elementary has a waiting list of about 10 children per grade. Jardin de la Infancia, which only has 20 seats each for kindergarten and first grade, is also full.

When 9th Street elementary reopens in 2013, the school will pair with Para Los Niños with LAUSD operating a 450-desk elementary school and PLN operating a 405-desk middle school.

On Tuesday, Para Los Niños opened the PLN-Gratts Primary Center, with 360 spots for kindergarten and first graders at 6th and Lucas. Currently there are 20 spots still available.

Married architects Apurva Pande and Chinmaya Misra found a developmental preschool in Hope Street Friends for their daughter Anvaya, 3. Intended for children of employees of a nearby law office and investment firm, Hope Steet had several openings to outside students. As the couple look forward to the future, they plan to find an elementary school downtown for their daughter partly because, “Downtown has a sense of community lagging on the Westside,” says Chinmaya.

City West residents Colleen O’Brien and Noah Butler are keeping their options open for the future for their three-year old daughter Roz. She also attends Hope Street Friends one to two days a week where Noah, a stay-at-home dad and actor volunteers. “When Roz is ready for school, we’ll make the decision between public and private based on where she’ll get the best education,” Noah says.

The couple would like to see Roz attend a public school if possible so that she can be exposed to the various cultures and languages that make up the tapestry of downtown’s population. “I am actually hopeful that she is around a lot of kids from different cultures so she can pick up a second language organically, but I also want to make sure that she is getting the teachers’ attention that kids need in elementary school. So in two years, we’ll see if the public school budget crisis has been resolved, the competency rate of the teachers, and if the class sizes are small enough for her to get a good education,” adds Noah.

Jardin de la Infancia, a charter school founded in 2004 by Alice Callaghan, teaches kindergarten and first grade classes out of the Los Familias Del Pueblo community center on 7th and Wall Street. According to Callaghan, an outspoken critic of the LAUSD system, almost all of the students graduating second grade go on to attend Brentwood Science Magnet, which buses kids to and from the school throughout Los Angeles.

Joaquin Cornejo, a finance executive at Lionsgate, commutes with his two-and-a-half-year old to Santa Monica, where Evergreen Community School serves as an in-house daycare with priority admissions for employees of 2600 and 2700 Colorado (including MTV Networks). He’s already researching private schools for his child, and says a public school education is out of the question because he believes the quality of public school is based on funding. “The budget of the LAUSD would determine his education...”

While some parents debate the quality of elementary education available Downtown, one thing is for sure: Parents would like to see more option available in the near future.

“This is the next issue in Downtown’s evolution,” says Carol Schatz, President of the Downtown Los Angeles Business Improvement District. She says two years ago they were talking with a couple of “fairly tony” private schools about building a Downtown campus, “when the recession hit. We’re still plugging away at it.”

She adds, “We’ve attracted young families, we want to keep them here.”

By David Markland.

Paulette Opens in Little Tokyo

Pamela Rouse — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:33:41 -0700

Photo by Pamela Rouse.

It may not have been on the radar of most Downtowners, but for those who know their ‘macarons’ (not to be confused with the traditional American macaroons), the opening of Paulette in Little Tokyo is a big deal.

The Beverly Hills-based French bakery, specializing in the vibrantly colored Parisian macarons, was rumored to open Friday before trouble with the phone lines postponed the grand opening one day.

It didn’t really matter. After opening at 3pm on Saturday, the shop sold out of its supply of gourmet cookies in less than four hours.

Paulette Koumetz (the “Paulette” for whom the shop is named) has developed a large following. She and award-winning Pastry Chef Christophe Michalak have created their own versions of the ganache-filled almond-based cookies.

The soft, flavorful cookies are baked fresh in the Beverly Hills kitchen daily and come in fourteen flavors, including: violet, rose, raspberry, milk chocolate hazelnuts, and Earl Grey tea.

While cookies are available for purchase individually, they are also sold in gift boxes of 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24. Paulette also has coffees, teas (served hot or cold) and various flavored boba teas and slushes.

Paulette’s Little Tokyo shop, located inside the Little Tokyo Galleria at 3rd and Alameda, is open seven days a week. That should make downtown fans very happy.

Paulette / Little Tokyo Galleria / 333 S. Alameda / 213.621.4457 / HOURS: Mon through Saturday: 10am - 7:30pm; Sunday: 1 - 6:30pm

By Pamela Rouse.

Win Tickets to See Apocalyptica and Dir En Grey at Club Nokia

Eric Richardson — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:26:58 -0700

Apocalyptica performs during a March show in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Photo by pavel ivashkov.

Finnish band Apocalyptica's mix of metal and classically-trained cello may not seem a natural pairing, but the band's sound has sold three million records worldwide over two decades of touring. They bring that sound to Club Nokia L.A. Live on Wednesday, September 8.

The band formed in 1993 as four cellists gathered to play Metallica covers at Finland's Sibelius Academy. While some members have changed, the pairing stuck. The band's seventh studio album, 7th Symphony, was released last month.

Wednesday's show will be co-headlined by Japanese metal band Dir En Grey, also veterans of seven studio releases.

Opening is rock / ambient group Evaline.

Want to see the show? We've got five pairs of tickets to give away. Just leave a comment letting us know why you should win, and be sure to log in or include a valid email address. Entries close on Tuesday at 4pm.

By Eric Richardson.

Around the Halls: September 8 - 9, 2010

Eric Richardson — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:04:37 -0700

This story is an installment of Around the Halls.

Photo by Ed Fuentes.

City Council returns from its two week vacation on Tuesday, getting back into the swing of things with DWP reform, sidewalk work on Bunker Hill, Arts District housing and loans for One Santa Fe and the Hope Street Family Center.

MONDAY: Council is off for the Labor Day holiday.

TUESDAY: Council meets, as do two commitees.

At Council, item 17 is CF 10-2280 is a motion asking Caltrans to approve freeway ramp closures for cicLAvia, a one-day event closing approximately seven miles of streets and handing them over to cyclists and pedestrians on October 10.

At Information Technology & Government Affairs, CF 10-0142 is a motion asking for a report on the costs and revenue involved in operating the Los Angeles Mall next to City Hall. The item has already been continued from meetings in April, July and August, so don't hold your breath.

Two items later, CF 10-0876 is a motion asking the status of an RFP for the 2nd floor snack shop at City Hall. This motion has also been continued twice already.

A special joint meeting of the Rules & Elections and Energy & Environment committees will discuss reform efforts for DWP.

WEDNESDAY: Council is in session, as are three committees.

At Housing, Community & Economic Development, CF 10-1273 is an $822,000 project to replace sidewalks in several parts of the Bunker Hill area, removing overgrown ficus trees and replacing them with smaller varieties. Work will take place on Figueroa around 4th, 1st west of Figueroa, Hope between 2nd and 3rd, and near the corner of 4th and Grand.

CF 10-1283 is a CDD report asking for authorization to enter into a $14-million New Market Tax Credits loan agreement with the developer of the One Santa Fe project in the Arts District.

CF 08-1678-S2 is a motion to approve an $8-million float loan to allow work to begin on the Hope Street Family Center while fundraising efforts continue.

CF 10-2298 is a motion by Councilwoman Jan Perry asking the Housing department to report back on ideas for keeping artists in their Arts District homes and to create new artist housing in the neighborhood.

Around the Halls

A look at Downtown-related items making their way through City Council.

By Eric Richardson.