skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, October 2, 2015. Someone is trying to scare neighbors by having a campfire in Red Car Canyon. Luckily, things have been pretty damp at night and the grass is green right now. They clearly tried to hide it by arranging the large tree stumps to block the view from the Corralitas end of the Red Car Property - the most likely direction from which the LAPD or LAFD would have entered the property.
Wednesday night, neighbors called the police when a noisy party of teenagers with expensive bicycles went on for hours near the Riverside Place entrance to Red Car Canyon. One neighbor reported that shortly after email regarding the loud party went out to the canyon neighborhood watch list, the group took off on their bikes down Riverside Place.
After yesterday's campsite on Lot C, Howard Fields, owner's rep for the Red Car Property, immediately updated the trespass order with LAPD Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis. If someone is having a campsite, blocking emergency access, partying, vandalizing property, call the non-emergency 1-877-ASK-LAPD. A copy of the trespass order is on file at the Northeast LAPD. If a serious (violent) crime is taking place or you see fire call 911. You may need to leave your phone number and give them directions to the property as sometimes they come from another division.
DO NOT CONFRONT THESE INDIVIDUALS. If you see them littering, be polite and ask them to take their trash with them. Neighbors who have encountered the partiers, day or night, say they just appear to be kids from the neighborhood, not gangbangers. So if you know them, have a chat with them, but do not get confrontational.
If you smell fire, step outside and investigate. Just because the grass is green now, does not mean the trees have recovered from the drought. Eucalyptus, pine, palm trees, arundo and bamboo are highly combustible year round. If you have these trees and plants around your rear fence, you might want to take a look at them this weekend and do some pruning. Brush clearance is a year round responsibility.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 9, 2014. The Arco Station only ever seems to paint out their graffiti once a year, maybe. According to LA Municipal Code it's supposed to be painted out by the property owner within 24 hours. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Submit graffiti removal requests to the City: MyLA311
Download the City's MyLA311 smartphone app
And the brush clearance on the Red Car Property should have been done by May 1.
*July 21, 2014 UPDATE: The graffiti was painted out by the owner at the request of LAPD Senior Lead Officer for Silver Lake, Lenny Davis. Thanks Officer Davis!
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 25, 2014. Not only are the over- 100-year old concrete landmark viaduct footings painted with brightly hued pastel colors, the vandal artist included mixed media. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 25, 2014. Considering we've had multiple rainstorms since the paper was glued to the viaduct footings, you have to wonder what kind of glue he used. It makes cleaning the footings an even more complex task. Neighbors are asking what can we do about the "art," as it is vandalism of a historic landmark. It is not temporary. The porous nature of the ancient concrete means you can't pressure wash nor sandblast the footings.
In past discussion with a representative of Central City Action Committee (a non-profit that does graffiti removal in the area), we learned this takes a specialized product for removal of paint, which can become costly. A grant would need to be applied for, as it does not fall within their normal budget. That was based on earlier discussions for graffiti on site which was nowhere near as extensive in coverage as this vandalism. And of course, everything is complicated by the location on the steep slope on private property.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 25, 2014. Those top 3 footings have been painted over several times by what appears to be the same artist. The paint seems to have been applied by airbrush or power sprayer. This was not done with a spray can. Perhaps the artist thinks he's doing a service to the community by painting over the graffiti that reappeared there, but it just adds more layers of paint for removal.
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, February 24, 2014. The same 3 footings from the previous photo are on the top left of this photo. How many layers of paint, glue & paper now have to be removed because of this artist's vision?
Perhaps the artist should think bigger - like the Hollywood Sign. That will be well received for sure.
Links:
There was an understated elegance to the viaduct footings.
Silver Lake's Stonehenge
Fletcher Viaduct 1904
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 16, 2014. The graffiti was painted out by Central City Action Committee (a City contractor) in less than 24 hours after the graffiti vandalism was reported to My311 on the City's website.
My311 is a more effective way to report than through the Board of Public Works' redundant Anti-Graffiti Request System because you can submit photos for hard to find places like this with no street address.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 15, 2014. A neighbor who diligently paints out graffiti in the neighborhood & on the Red Car Property, was pressed for time yesterday & asked me to report this to the City for removal.
City contractors never seem to be able to find the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase between Riverside Place & Lake View Ave, let alone the portion between the Red Car Property & Lake View. Technically this portion of the public staircase is at the corner of Silver Lake Ave & Silver Lake Court.
It can be confusing to make a request for graffiti removal to the City, as there appear to be 2 different departments dealing with it. One is the City's Office of Beautification Anti-Graffiti Request System from the Board of Public Works. That website does NOT allow you to submit a photo - really important in places like this.
The best place to submit is via the City's My311 website, where you can include photos. Photos are important so the graffiti removal crew can see what color the wall is, & give important clues to its location if there is no address.
You can also download the My311 app for your phone.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, March 10, 2014. Just because the Red Car Viaduct Footings aren't pristine like the historic DWP pumphouse across Fletcher, doesn't make them less of a historic cultural landmark. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Because of the viaduct footings' historic landmark status, it now becomes an expensive project to restore the footings. Not all of the footings the artist chose to paint were tagged with graffiti.
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, 2014. Fed up with the slow or no response from the City's 311 service, when it comes to painting over graffiti on the Red Car Property, neighbors on Riverside Place & Lake View have been working together for months to keep it painted out as quickly as possible.
Graffiti vandals have been running amok throughout the area, not just the Red Car Property. Despite assurances from one of the City's contractors that tagging reported as "on the rear fence of street address, fence is on the Red Car Property" would be painted out for accessible fences, there still seems to be a problem finding the locations. Heck, they can't seem to find the Silver Lake Ave Public Staircase.
Like neighbors in Elysian Valley, Riverside Place & Lake View neighbors have been photographing the tags to send to the LAPD officer who tracks gang tags in Northeast Division, before painting it out in the event it is gang related. Most of it is not.
Don't let the graffiti vandals win by creating fear in the neighborhood. Paint it out immediately. If you are unable to do so, report it to the City's My 311 service (with photos) either by smartphone app or on the City's website. If you call 311, the operator doesn't usually record enough information on location for the contractor to find it.
LAPD strongly advises people to NOT confront graffiti vandals. If you see someone tagging & can safely take a picture, do so. If not, write down a good description of the kid(s) & call the LAPD non-emergency line, 1-877-ASK-LAPD immediately.
Kudos to the neighbors working together to make the Red Car Property a cleaner place. At least one neighbor spends a couple of hours painting out graffiti several times a month on the Red Car Property alone.
Photo: Esteban Gonzalez, November 6, 2013. Gonzalez was surprised to see the heavy duty chain & lock on the 2 Freeway fence to Corralitas Drive. Another neighbor witnessed CalTrans placing the lock on the gate yesterday, more than a month since it was first reported to CalTrans.
It also appears, they've picked up the trash too.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, October 25, 2013. The day before Rose Scharlin Nursery School's big Halloween Party, someone dumped a massive pile of broken glass right near where Rose Scharlin parents park on the Red Car Property. A couple of televisions & other garbage were already there. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
So someone drove several hundred yards south of India Street down a bumpy dirt road to dump this crap here. Why not just dump it in one of the many trashcans at India St?
Someone cleaned up the glass by the next morning. Red Car Property neighbors are fed up with this kind of behavior. They're cleaning up dumping and painting out graffiti as fast as they can.
If you see someone dumping, take note of their license plates, truck make & model, & any other details you can remember (take a photo if you safely can with your cell phone - it records date, time & location) and report it to the LAPD. Call 1-877-ASK-LAPD.
Don't dump your crap in our neighborhood (or anyone else's for that matter). Call the City's 311 service line for a bulky item pick or request it on the City's website, or use the City's my311 app.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, October 31, 2013. Workers renovating a house on Lake View Ave were tossing their debris downslope onto the Red Car Property last month. There were 2 bins there most of the month. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Last week, the bin was hauled away, but they left a whole lot of debris on the hillside. The neighbor who submitted the above photo, went by the house and found no workers there. If you're going to dump your stuff over your fence don't leave it there it only attracts more dumping.
DON'T DUMP ON THE RED CAR PROPERTY! HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS!
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 4, 2013. The first bin was overflowing as of early October & hit by graffiti vandals. The contractors apparently never seemed to notice the tagging as it was never painted over. A few weeks later a second trailer was added, & they still allowed the crap to overflow & tags to remain.
It is the homeowner's responsibility to paint over graffiti on your property within 24 hours. If you are unable to do it yourself, you can try the City's 311 service, but don't expect they'll find the Red Car Property. We've had trouble getting them out there. (Tip: it works best if you submit a photo either to 311 online or on the 311 app, do not rely on calling 311 and expecting the operator to understand the complex instructions to get to the Red Car Property.)
Coming Tuesday: More dumping by neighbors.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 27, 2013. Back in September someone cut the lock on the fence to the Southbound 2 Freeway parkway on Corralitas Drive just north of the Rosebud Ave overpass. It's still open today. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
It happens so frequently, you can see someone once used barbed wire to fix the fence. Longtime neighbors will tell of gates & gaps in the fence being open for months or even years; their requests to CalTrans maintenance, ignored. It's particularly hard to understand since we're a stone's throw from the maintenance yard at the 2 & 5 Freeway.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 27, 2013. Either someone stole the standpipe just inside the fence to sell for scrap or CalTrans is doing repairs and left the fence open. Both are distinct possibilities because Caltrans routinely leaves the fences open in our neighborhood.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 27, 2013. So I took photos & sent them along with the previous description of possibilities along to Patrick Chandler, the CalTrans public relations guy for the area. He said he'd pass it along to the maintenance supervisor for the area. Usually when Chandler does so, the fence gets locked or fixed immediately.
Two weeks later the fence was still open and no repairs made, so I repeated my request. Chandler repeated his reply. It's now November 1 and the gate is still open and the standpipe is still missing.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 10, 2013. I'm not sure how long the gate was open, but I know that it was locked on September 10, as I was documenting the dead trees along the 2 Freeway parkway on Corralitas Drive. I definitely would have noticed the gate being open that day.
While writing this post, I came across the CalTrans Maintenance phone number for this region: (661)771-5465. I called, spoke to Anita. She said they'd definitely get someone out there to lock the gate within the next few days.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 13, 2013. Just because you treat Lot C of the Red Car Property like a parking lot is no reason to assume the families who live there want to look at the graffiti on your truck every day. Please clean it up. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Neighbors, if your property backs up into the Red Car Property you need to take a walk this weekend and see if your rear fence was hit by graffiti vandals. We've talked to many of the neighbors who were hit. They have either already painted it over or have promised to do so immediately.
If you know your neighbor's fence was tagged, please ask them to paint it over. They may not know. We all have to work together.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 3, 2013. Vandals also hit lots of trees and stumps in the Red Car Canyon. If you paint out graffiti on a living tree, please use water based paint sparingly.
Oddly, all the recent tagging occurred in the most highly used portion of the Red Car Property. Usually when this section gets hit, it's part of a larger action including the Menlo Property, Riverside Drive, Allesandro Corralitas & Rosebud. Not this time.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 3, 2013. Property owners (which would include the Lake View homeowner using this bin on the Red Car Property) are responsible for painting over graffiti within 24 hours of its appearance.
Graffiti is a way to create fear in the community. We have to fight back by painting it out immediately. LAPD WARNS, DO NOT CONFRONT TAGGERS. You just don't know if they have a weapon. Call the police immediately, give a detailed description of the suspects & location.
We are talking to LAPD Silver Lake Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis about the problem as well as some other "broken window" issues too.
We suspect this is not gang graffiti, but the work of a tagging crew. However, we have documented this week's batch & are submitting to LAPD Officers Molly Beale & Evan Martinez, who track gang tags in the Northeast Division for their input.
Recently, City Council District 13 Deputy Adam Bass toured the property & is working on a way to get the tree stumps & dead trees out of the canyon & Adelbert areas. Since the Red Car Property is neglected private property & considering the City's current budget crisis, it's a complex issue.
If graffiti is on either City property (like the public staircases) or abuts a City street or sidewalk (like the freeway retaining walls on Riverside Drive) report it to 311. Neighbors who use the City's My 311 app or the City's 311 website have gotten the quickest results for City services. If it's a notoriously hard to find location - be sure to include a photo. You can also dial 311, but their operators only work 9-5, M-F, & frankly, you'll be waiting on hold forever.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 16, 2011. Jesus appeared on the Menlo Property earlier this year. In the past couple of months, graffiti vandals have retaken the Menlo Property retaining walls. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 16, 2011. Earlier this week, I took some flak on The Eastsider, for saying guerrilla artists need to take some responsibility for maintaining their art and limiting the length of their installation.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 16, 2011. Apparently, Sam Menlo & Century Quality Management aren't in a hurry to build the condo development approved last year. Clean & Green and Hollywood Beautification Team (sent by City Council District 4 to paint out graffiti and pick up trash on the Menlo Property) stopped painting over the graffiti quickly, once the window closed to file lawsuits over the development approvals.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 16, 2011. Walls on adjacent properties, directly above the Menlo Property, are vandalized because Menlo fails to maintain his property.
