It’s just like a mini-mall! Oh wait, it is a mini-mall, The Lincoln Mini-Mall. The super nice Lebanese guy who ran the quality clothes (i.e. Levi’s) booth is gone. Perhaps, La Crisis took a toll on his business. I remember him wistfully telling me how Lebanon was once like Europe and how sad he was to leave his country after the war. He and his little shop will be missed.
Botanitas is an ongoing feature bringing you stories and news from various sources, upcoming events and other bits of ephemera that might be of interest to LA Eastside readers. Suggestions welcome!
Keep reading for quotes from the grumpy Lupe’s 12 Kinds of Burritos lady, Eastside oral history, mariachi Shakespeare, gangstas with GQ style and Eastside flavored holidays. Continue reading →
Last Sunday as I was heading home, I noticed the increasingly familiar sight of a helicopter swooping in circles around the heights area of Lincoln Heights. Things have been heating up around Northeast LA and by things, I mean gangs and related activities. They usually confine their exploits to the wee hours of the night so I was surprised at all the commotion on a Sunday afternoon. Continue reading →
Okay, so I know this clip has nothing to do with the Eastside…or does it? I’ll leave that decision up to you. But you know what? It’s funny, it’s Friday and I’m all about the goodtimes.
The Mysterious Ghostly Trash Receptacle of Lincoln Heights
Botanitas is an ongoing feature bringing you stories and news from various sources, upcoming events and other bits of ephemera that might be of interest to LA Eastside readers. Suggestions welcome!
So many events this week, so little time! Only boring people can be bored in a city like Los Angeles. That’s right, I said it. You got a problem with my philosophy? Leave it in the comments section. This edition of Botanitas is chockfull of Eastside concerts, art shows and places to be seen. Read ahead for the scoop. *Updated this morning*
The family of Alejandro Garcia has been keeping vigil at this memorial everyday, hydrating the flowers and answering the questions of passerbys. This past Monday would have been the sixteenth birthday of Carlos Hernandez.
Last Friday, two young boys, Alejandro Garcia, 16 and Carlos Hernandez, 15 were gunned down on their walk home from Franklin High School on the busy North Figueroa corridor. Police and eyewitness reports say the incident started initially as a brawl before it turned deadly.
I’m a bit late in mentioning this story because I was out of town when it happened but I’ve been wondering, what excuse does the Los Angeles Times have? All they’ve got on this tragic story is a small blurb on one of their blogs. That’s pathetic. People have left comments on the LA Now blog expressing similar sentiments. There have been more shootings in the area and still no coverage. Well, at least the Times wasn’t posing outrageous questions to their readers, like whether or not they felt safer with the deceased gone. Continue reading →
San Patricio Battalion Flag [repost from chimatli.org, written last year]
It can be argued that St Patrick’s Day is like a national holiday in my neighborhood, despite the fact there is no sizable Irish community in this area. Here in Lincoln Heights, it’s common to see people wearing shamrock paraphernalia all year round. As was recently pointed out to me, stores in Lincoln Heights will stock green colored clothing more frequently as it tends to sell more quickly than other colors. Shamrocks magically grace the walls after long weekend nights, spreading the luck of the Irish throughout our little hood. Continue reading →
This is one of the last apartment buildings left on the North Broadway commercial corridor. I love the front facade, it reminds me of another time and place.
Like a ghostly movie loop, there is one memory I have of this building that replays itself every time I walk by. “This is our neighborhood, these are our streets!” yells a woman to the LAPD as they attempt to push her off the stairs with threats and batons. It was during the now forgotten 1993 Lincoln Heights Riot.
It was so good, I forgot to take a picture of the full cup!
The best chocolate in Los Angeles can be found across the river at one of my favorite Oaxacan restaurants in the city, Antequera de Oaxaca.
On days like this, when there is a slight crispness in the air and your body craves a earthy, sweet beverage to make it happy, there’s nothing like this chocolate de leche to warm you up inside. Forget overpriced coffee from dull places like Intelligentsia, a cup of Oaxacan hot chocolate with it’s aroma of cinnamon and nuez is the perfect elixir for the rare chilly Southern California day.
mmm, little bits of chocolate
Antequera de Oaxaca
5200 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 466-1101
Mid-Wilshire neighborhood (Central Los Angeles)
When I walk around my neighborhood, tiny details abound – things I would never see driving in a car. Strange concrete figurines hiding in gardens, small shrines to saints, interesting vegetables growing in unlikely places, variations in litter and refuse, charms protecting doorways, tools put down and forgotten and fifty year old advertising plaques clinging to old chain link fences with names of companies long gone. Stamps in the pavement, which I’ve only recently noticed, firmly document the history of the streets.
The Wall Street Journal had an article on how paisa gardeners in Los Angeles don’t seem to be suffering as much their compatriots in construction and other blue-collar jobs. Despite La Crisis some of them seem to be doing remarkably well.
“Gardening isn’t like working at a factory, where you depend on one employer,” says Manuel Quezada, a 54-year-old veteran gardener, as he and his team put down sod in the front yard of a house here. “If I lose one house, it doesn’t hurt that much.”
For immigrants, gardening has long been a stepping stone to prosperity. Japanese immigrants with a background in agriculture pioneered residential gardening in California in the early 20th century. The physical labor didn’t require education or fluent English but it lifted them into the middle class. In the mid-1960s, Mexican peasants began flocking to the U.S. Southwest in large numbers. By the 1980s, they had come to dominate the residential gardening niche, Mr. Ramirez says, and some have thrived financially.
I can see how this industry would continue to do well. Some neighborhoods are required to have a certain amount of landscape maintenance and most of these folks that live in these areas are not going to do it themselves. However, if water rationing is implemented (California is currently in emergency drought conditions), I wonder how long it will be before gardeners start feeling the pinch.
On a related note, I’ve been hearing anecdotal tales about immigrants moving back home or at least away from Los Angeles. Anyone have friends or family affected by La Crisis that have decided to move on?
Coolio’s County Line, the anthem for GR (General Relief) recipients in the early 90s.
According to the Los Angeles Times, one in five Los Angeles residents is receiving public assistance.
One in five Los Angeles County residents — nearly 2.2 million people — are receiving public assistance payments or benefits, a level county officials say will rise significantly over the coming months as the fallout from the recession continues.
County officials warn that tens of thousands of additional frustrated job seekers — unemployment in the county currently stands at 9.5% — are expected to seek aid to weather the persistent recession once their other benefits run out.
Based on the amount of folks I know personally who have recently lost their jobs, I imagine the numbers will go up even higher. While some may think applying for public assistance is a fairly straight forward process, Coolio’s video isn’t all that much of an exaggeration. According to the article not much has changed down at the DPSS office. Yes, the process for applying can be extremely daunting and maybe for some, humiliating but look at it this way, obscene amounts of your tax dollars are going for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, might as well use some of the crumbs for yourself. During these times of La Crisis, you gotta do what you gotta do.
First, check the DPSS website to see if you qualify. While I’m not condoning it, sometimes applicants slightly adjust the true value of their assets on the application i.e. your car. Ask people who are waiting in line for tips, most will offer friendly advice. Also, if you’re worried about what people might think when you go to pay for your food at the supermarket, now you don’t even have to suffer the indignity of paying with food stamps, you’re given a debit card to use. These debit cards are also widely accepted at local farmer’s markets so you can really stretch that $176. Obama’s new stimulus plan calls for an increase in food stamps benefits, so perhaps in the future you can even go organic. (Never mind, see here) So what are you waiting for? Put down that cold cup of ramen noodles and get yourself down to the county line. You might even qualify for General Relief.
For some time, my work commute across the river took me down the stretch of Melrose Ave near Normandie/Western in Central Los Angeles. At first, I seemed to overlook the big red sign proclaiming “Santa Muerte,” I was more aware of the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries in the area. Eventually though, the Mexican Blackletter font snagged my attention and I began to realize this tiny storefront was more than just a regular neighborhood botanica.
