NELA in the News
Ξ October 30th, 2008 | → | ∇ 90042, Highland Park, Press |
My digital camera is broken (again) so I’m relegated to linking to others with presumably better optical gear.
I can’t believe we missed this one but Los Angeles Magazine ran a piece on Temple Beth Israel, the second oldest Jewish temple in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that the author equates the exodus (I couldn’t help myself) of the Jewish community for the Westside and Valley to his description of Highland Park as a “decaying neighborhood”. That’s why Belinda Vazquez is our heroine of the month for writing a letter in which she describes herself as “disgusted and embarrassed to have your magazine in my possession”. I don’t think the article is that bad, but it’s nice to know we have such passionate neighbors. To read the rest of her letter, and the editor’s response, grab a copy of their November issue.
LATimes.com (what’s the over/under on when they become exclusively a website?) has a video report on the new camerasinstalled on Colorado near Eagle Rock Blvd. While I wouldn’t want those cameras to have a view of my house or yard, I support using them to prosecute street crime, reckless driving, and vandalism along the boulevard. Still, why are limited city resources being used to secure a neighborhood with relatively low crime rates? Isn’t this like a preemptive invasion of Switzerland? Ok, bad example, but I can think of a few intersections in the 90042 that I’d like the LAPD to be paying closer attention to. I just won’t be logging onto the included free wifi.
I went on a bike ride recently and marveled at the beautiful fields and pristine basketball courts at Taylor Yard along San Fernando. That weekend the Times ran another interesting piece on Raul Macias and local grassroots political organizing.
Lastly, the Los Angeles District Attorney announced they would not retry Mario Rocha, convicted of murder at a party in Highland Park in 1997, leaving Rocha a free man. A history of his odyssey can be found in the award-winning documentary, Mario’s Story.
Coming soon…YorkBlvd celebrates it’s 1st anniversary by going on our Northeast pub/taco crawl.
on October 31st, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Highland Park is also in the new November Sunset magazine as a great place for a day trip. It is a cute article. I would have added more places to go but I was glad to see it.
on November 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 pm
PLEASE let me know about the pub/taco crawl! Me and my friends are soooo down!
on November 7th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Thanks for pointing out the LA Mag article. Three issues back and I didn’t even see it until now.
I always wonder about these old churches and how they survive. Seems like today, unless your house of worship is in anything other than a storefront, its doomed.
One thing the author didn’t mention, was that even though Beth Israel didn’t have a large congregation, or studio executives as members, it did have the prominent Goldstein family. The Goldsteins opened their first Boy’s Market down the street from the temple on Monte Vista at Avenue 55. Boy’s Market was a major supermarket chain until Ralph’s bought them out in the 1990s.