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ChineseMetroMovies: The Mayor Rides the Subway
[youtube]Kjs0VvQtwso[/youtube]
…well at least after a press conference at Hollywood/Highland. To all the naysayers, here’s proof that the mayor has at the very least taken the Red Line once. I took this video yesterday after the Mayor held a press conference in front of the Hollywood/Highland Red Line station promoting the MTA’s free ride program on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.
I also got video of the Mayor speaking at the press conference. Metro will be offering free rides (from 9pm to 2am) on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve in an attempt to curb drunk driving fatalities on those deadly nights. Also, on New Years Eve all Metro Rail trains will run throughout the night (but after 2am you’ll have to pay).
[youtube]_coZSizin88[/youtube]
Discussion
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Damn! I wish I had been there myself on that train to personally thank the Mayor for supporting the subway. Antonio: THE SUBWAY MAYOR!
Thanks for the vid–made the Straphanger’s day!
Dude, it was awesome. It randomly happened, I was arriving to work via the subway as I always do and noticed them setting up. I asked what was going on and they said the mayor would be there around 11:30 for press conference. So I grabbed my camera and skipped out for an early lunch and filmed these videos. But let me tell you, I’m no journalist, I was nervous as hell, I kept wanting to introduce myself and maybe ask the Mayor some questions but I couldn’t get the guts. Then down in the subway station Villaraigosa actually called me out and introduced himself to me! I then told him about the website and said that we transit advocates really appreciate what he’s doing for transit in this city. He said thanks and that “things need to change”, and then went onto ask me when I graduate from college (something I did 3 years ago). Overall, a great experience.
MTA has been providing free rides on Xmas Eve and New Years Eve every year since 1994, no other major city does so. And this is the first year MADD has even bothered to take notice of it. Maybe some day it will finally catch on with the public (why should cabbies have all the fun cleaning up vomit anyway?) and LA will finally get some kind of public New Year’s Eve fun going on. Seattle, SF, Vegas, and cities around the world have fireworks and fun on New Years Eve. LA? Other than some clubs on Sunset, you can hear a pin drop (or random gun fire depending on your location) - basically, zip. Yeah, yeah, I know, we have the Rose Parade. Whoopee. So this year, take your free ride, start a new tradition, and get the party started.
Yeah I wish LA had some grand New Years celebration. LA seems pretty weak overall on grand celebrations in general. Hmm wonder why?
Hmm wonder why?
The gunfire.
Love the video! Antonio looks hot on a train –
I’ve noticed that too, Fred; it’s really sad that there aren’t more community events in LA. I’m coming back West after a few years in the Northeast, and lemme tell you that nothing beats sitting on the FDR with millions of your closest friends in NYC for July 4, fighting for a seat on the 7 after the last rounds fire, or crowding onto the Harvard Bridge for Boston’s 4th, crowds overflowing Mass Ave so much that the police finally have to shut it down all the way from Somerville to Roxbury.
In New York alone, it is absolutely awe-inspiring to know that probably 10 million people are watching the show in total… every single New Yorker who is awake is seeing it, be it from the Manhattan side of the East River, from the docklands of Queens or the bikeways in Brooklyn, from a penthouse in midtown, a rooftop garden in Park Slope, or a public park in Long Island City.
LA could do some amazing things for the 4th, send out a series of barges into Santa Monica Bay… space them right and you could see the show anywhere from Venice to Malibu. Maybe even shut down PCH to allow for spectators to not have to crowd onto the sand. If I can swing it, I’ll be seriously considering going up to SF for the 4th, I’m going to miss that sort of city-wide celebration.
And the ironic part is that LA (other than it’s “sprawl”) is ideal for such events. I’m talking specifically about the weather. I remember when I was a kid going to NYC for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and freezing my ass off. I can only imagine how cold the New Years celebration is. Here we’ve got reliable, temperate weather and yet everyone stays inside on days when we should be out celebrating. It’s just like the abusurdity that everyone here drives instead of walks, yet in New York everyone walks even though the winters are COLD and the summers are HOT.
indeed the lack of city wide celebrations to bring the city together is ridiculous. it’s the same thing many angelenos have complained about for some time, especially those that are from here or have been here a long time. that is to say, nothing really unifies the city. instead we’re all just apart of our seperate municipalities and any grand unification is lost. weho is weho, noho is noho, dtla is dtla, etc. yearly events and public transit can def change that over time. (and perhaps the cornfield, though that will probably end up being lacking at best as well).
as for the 4th i usually go the roof and listen to the sirens but even up there, you can’t make out any worthwhile shows. of course, that could be the smog. and even though la is a great deal more spread out than nyc or boston or san fran theres no reason why dodger stadium can’t get a huge firework show that can be seen all the way from hollywood and further and though i think the barge idea would have the EPA up in arms, something similar that could entertain the whole west side (santa monica and the like) would be amazing.
on a positive note though, ALL NIGHT TRAIN RIDES is a great idea, for new years especially. paying or not. lets just hope the thousands of people out drinking take notice and jump on the train or bus instead of their car. and perhaps someday soon it will be a regular occurence as we’ve hoped for.
also, these videos are great fred, nice work. and what timing! i love when villa flashes his tap card at your camera… but when the hell are those supposed to be given to the rest of us? any idea on the planned date for when tap is supposed to be implemented? i was just in chicago and they have a “tap”-esque system (along with a magnetic swipe card system in case you want to go that route) which automatically deducts from your account, which you then pay online. it’s a pretty great system. one can only hope ours works as well.
It’d work, regarding the barges - most major cities on the water use barges for fireworks, including NYC, Boston, and Cincinnati (three places I’ve lived is all). It’s much safer than on land, if a firework flames out in the water, no harm is done, you can have a large show with little to no risk to the crowd, and no need to keep crowds out of a “safe” area before the display - your local water patrol, e.g. NYPD on speedboats of, can control the area. Having said that, all three of those use rivers (East, Charles, and Ohio rivers, respectively), not the ocean, though Boston is planning on moving to the ocean along the South Boston shoreline.
sounds good to me. i know in florida they do 4th of july celebrations over the water and in louisville’s “thunder over louisville” they light up the sky from the ohio river using the downtown bridge that connects to indiana. all good things to look to.
The LA River!
The L.A. River is too dry to support any kind of watercraft.
[...] from a rider’s perspective — got started. It’s posted everything from a video of Villaraigosa taking the subway to taking the bus at 2 am. How’d these people come together, and what’s their [...]