DOWNTOWN WEEKLY THE SPIRIT OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
WWW.DTLAWEEKLY.COM VOL 15. NO. 7 APRIL 8 - APRIL 14
DTLA ARTISTs In residence
ISAAC PELAYO DTLA PIZZA WEEK
Extended let's be blunt DTLA through an ELEVATED LENSE
2 THE INSPIRATION OF DOWNTOWN WEEKLY
VOL 15 NO 7 - APRIL 8TH - APRIL 14TH / DTLAWEEKLY.COM
ON THE COVER
ARTIST VISIONARY Isaac Pelayo PHOTOGRAPHY: Pietro Arredondo
DTLA SQUARE ONE: OUR WARMEST WELCOME....3 DTLA PiZZA WEEK - EXTENDED .....5 DTLA Artists & Residence: Isaac Pelayo ...6 MONUMENTS IN TIME- FELIX CHEVROLET...........8 LEt’s Be Blunt ....10 gary leonard take my picture.....11 ADVERTISE - 888-732-DTLA (3852) OR EDITOR@DTLA-WEEKLY.COM
EDITOR@DTLAWEEKLY.COM
<<
THE MUSES
DTLA WEEKLY Special thanks to...
editor and chief KERI FREEMAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
AMANDA NICHOLSON matthew ryan dylan lamb jackson black
photography
GARY LEONARD MICHAEL ARNOLD
Pietro Arredondo
VIDEO Production
@kerieatsdtla design and layout @kerieatsdtla
social media
@kerieatsdtla
THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES & THE CITY OF LA ARTS DISTRICT CHINATOWN CIVIC DISTRICT BUNKER HILL EXPO/USC HISTORIC CORE LITTLE TOKYO FASHION DISTRICT FINANCIAL DISTRICT SKID ROW SOUTH PARK WAREHOUSE DISTRICT THEGRAWN ARTWALK NEWS HWH LUXURY LIVING SANDAST ART STUDIO FHEDESH pattern bar hill street bar pace isaac & Anthony pelayo Robeks dtla JOhn reed fitness & Loftway
All rights reserved. Downtown Weekly is a news, event, LIFESTYLE & Hospitality FREE community resource. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher. DTLA WEEKLY, in support of local residents, businesses, workers and visitors of Downtown Los Angeles, publishes DTLA WEEKLY. Readers are recommended to make appropriate inquiries before wagering any sum in relation to any ad, article or feature published herein. DTLA WEEKLY will not be liable to any person for loss or damage incurred or suffered as a result of his/her accepting, offering to accept or following any invitation or advice contained in any ad, article or feature published herein.
DTLA WEEKLY
DOWNTOWN WEEKLY LA
DTLA NEWS l EVENTS l LIFESTYLE I HOSPITALITY P.O. BOX 86601 - DTLA CA 90086 - WWW.DTLAWEEKLY.COM 888-732-DTLA (3852) @DTLAWEEKLY
SQUARE ONE: OUR WARMEST WELCOME
DTLA
SQUARE ONE: OUR WARMEST WELCOME
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sunright island tea studio patty hut little tokyo
fashion district
17 shakes to happiness in dtla 134 S. Central Ave, LA, CA 90012
island to table to brick & mortar 724 S. Spring street, la,ca 90014
historic core
VISTA
bunker hill
eko kitchen
spring arcade’s new berry fairy 541 S. spring street, la , CA 90013
DTLA’s cloud 9 of patio dining 633 w. 5th STreet, LA CA 90071
sign here for special delivery from nigeria - DELIVERY PLATFORMS
L
ove yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball
natural well
little tokyo
DTLA APPETITE: DTLA PIZZA WEEK EXTENED by Jackson Roberts
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DTLA PIZZA WEEK
Extended
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(PIX 4 - 7) AMANTE RESTAURANT
PIZZA WEEK IS A HIT!
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Word of the pizza paradigm spread quickly on social media reaching over 10k locals.
A
pril Fool’s Day brought a slice of fun to DTLA, as the first ever DTLA Pizza Week promised to fire up a buzz around DTLA pizza joints for weeks to come. Top This!!! Hey DTLA!!! Through thick and thin, DTLA Weekly was hungry to showcase YOUR favorite pies – crust by crust! But, we needed your help to find them! Say, Cheese! To participate in this pizza lover’s scavenger hunt/pizza-eating photo contest, all you had to do was ORDER A PIZZA with your favorite toppings from your favorite DTLA pizza place, snap a photo* and post it on Instagram. *Photos showed some type of human element with city backgrounds and more.
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Pizza fans posted shoutouts to Braazo Pizzeria, Purgatory Pizza of Boyle Heights, South Park's Pizza Socale and the ever fashionable, Fashion District's Amante Restaurant. Special thanks to Downtown Center BID for getting behind the idea and helping to share our community's finest moments of delicious cheesiness. HWH Luxury Apartments gladly ordered the Arts District's Pizzanista in bulk for their tenants in conjuction with the week's event; while regular people played 'Foodie for a Day" tagging @DTLAWEEKLY with their best pizza poses. The event proved to be a modest inaugral DTLA Pizza Week. Pizza joints were'nt overwhelmed or forced to stock up on extra ingrediants in anticipation of a mass orders, but the community proved they valued the idea enough and managed to bake up a few extra pies. More than anything, DTLA Pizza Week stood as more of a reminder of just how many pizza options there are in the DT.
PIZZA WEEK EXTENDED
Although, Pizza Week has officially ended with promises to return in the
FALL of 2021, we still have loads of photos and pizza specials to share.
COMING FRIDAY
Make Reservations this Friday, April 8th, to “DTLA Pizza Week Winner’s Extravaganza”. The event will feature wine sampling and a pizza eating contest. Amante Restaurant will be offering 15% OFF any Extra Large Pizza – TakeOut & Delivery. The event is open to the public (with reservation) and being held at Amante Restaurant on 9th and Main, located in the highly fashionable Fashion District, from 6 -8pm. Space is limited. All Covid guidelines will be strictly enforced. #DTLAPIZZAWEEK
DTLA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE: ISAAC PELAYO by Keri Freeman
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DTLA ARTISTS IN RESIDENCe
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cquiring over 100k followers on social media in the last two years, Isaac Pelayo is a rising star illuminating his own path as a fine artist, creative musician, fashion visionary and well sought after tattoo artist.
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saac Pelayo’s story is of one coming of age and taking his falling in line with his artistic destiny.
If Pelayo’s young life were a painting, it would begin with the marker his father gave him at just the age of two. His awkward movements due to developing muscles would soon be replaced by his skilled pencil’s varying pressures, winning him prestige since the tender age of 11. As an adolescent, Pelayo’s ‘life painting’ would be covered with heavy strokes of slow drying oils, only later to be pierced with the sharpest tattoo’s ink. As a young man in his early 20s, his painting would take on a new entrepreneurial spirit, selling originals and prints to famous collectors, producing earnings, and allowing him to buy his first home at age 24.
photos by Piertro Arrendondo
Yet, despite the two losing a steady income, when Disney closed its doors due to Covid, Isaac was able to turn his art, entrepreneurial spirit and internet savvy into a six-figure salary.
Pelayo has been in the limelight as of late due to his circumstances following a furlough at Disney, where he matured as a commercial artist/ apprentice to his father It was this fantastic journey that Anthony Pelayo, a prominent Los Angeles attracted the attention of Forbes artist and show producer in his own right. and Business Insider Magazine.
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t age 24, Isaac Pelayo has already exhibited in several well-known galleries and museums, including MOLAA, The Trotsky Museum, and famed pop ar t surrealism giant, La Luz De Jesus Gallery.
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coming of age
artist & Visionary
isaac pelayo
Pelayo’s work is hard to miss Art
This mastery behind Pelayo’s figurative faces and deliberate obstruction of people transcends time, beginning with his devotions to artists of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque Era with inspirations Leonardo Di Vinci and the playful Rembrandt of Dutchland. Pelayo’s influences continue to traverse eras. Noted is the defiance of Salvador Dali and the resilience of Frida Khalo of the 1930s. These styles, including lessons learned from his father and Disney now resting upon the shoulders of a freestyle movement that began with America’s 80s and 90s urban street art. Recently, his work has been
commissioned and used for several album covers by Buffalo, NY, Rapper Westside Gunn.
His collectors include Shepard Fairey, Benny The Butcher, Jeff Hamilton, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Hopsin, and J.J. Soria. His “Saint Kobe” is on display at ESPN – Sports Center, with other works featured in the LA Times and many tribute videos by fans worldwide.
Music
Growing up listening to “90’s hip-hop, indie, jazz and classic rock”, Isaac’s music comes with a unique mix of old and new school beats. His most recently release single, titled “Complicated,” was produced by award-winning platinum producer Met James.
Tattoo
Isaac found Insta-fame after social influencers began crowning him as the go-to guy for inking IG and TIK TOK Famers, the likes of Jaden Hossler, Chase “Lil Huddy” Hudson, Tayler Holder, and Charly Jordan.
Fashion
During the pandemic, Pelayo launched a “Street Baroque”, and this winter, there will be a clothing collaboration with Pelayo and Rich Hilfigers clothing company, called Tango Hotel. As far as his clothing line goes, Isaac has a partnership with The Silk Cloud owned by Isaac Ruiz, son of Bobby Ruiz, owner of Tribal Street Wear out of San Diego. Apart from that, he is also creating a partnership in his father’s production talented 24 year old forging his own path. @isaacpelayo
8 DTLA MONUMENTS IN TIME: FELIX CHEVROLET by Keri Freeman
DTLA MONUMENTS IN TIME
S
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LANDMARK CAR DEALERSHIP FELIX CHEVROLET CELEBRATES 100 YEARS
ince the time before seat belts, airbags, toll lanes, and SUVs, most of Los Angeles can remember driving on the Harbor freeway and passing the giant, threesided sign featuring the iconic cartoon character, Felix the Cat and his great big smile of accomplishments.
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lthough, we may have been too young to understand the word ‘Chevrolet’ just below him, as children, we just figured Felix Chevrolet was the home of the mischievous black cat with the high pitched voice. So, whenever our parents drove by, it was time for everyone in the car to start singing. “Felix the cat the wonderful wonderful cat… whenever he gets in a fix, he reaches into his bag of tricks.” Little did we know we were celebrating one of the most quintessential signs in all of Los Angeles. Felix the “invincible” cat? Erected in 1958, the vintage neon sign stood unbothered for decades, until facing the possibility of being demolished just fourteen years ago. What decades of earthquakes, fires, and riots had failed to do, a developing South Park and concerns the sign would hinder any future rebranding attempts by
Chevrolet, were reasons enough to allow the destruction of the iconic Spanish Colonial/Streamlined Moderne style building and its magically-fixed ‘Felix the Cat’ sign. It took local advocates to petition the Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC), a five-member, mayoral-appointed commission that considers and reviews projects that affect more than 1,100 existing historic monuments, to get Felix the Cat out of that fix.
to cross-market their brands having the dealership promote the Cat and the cartoon character promote the Felix Chevrolet dealership location. Winslow, a Mexican immigrant, died at just 46, succumbing to injuries he suffered after being trampled by a horse in 1936. Winslow B. Felix was believed to be the 1st Mexican American to own a dealership in the LA area.
For the record, the location itself will always be historical by every sense of the word. Long before the cat’s neon sign, Winslow B. Felix had established Felix Chevrolet in 1921.
Decades passed, as Felix the Cat went on to become a legend, changing in appearance just as much as the iconic downtown Los Angeles Felix Chevrolet location.
Around the same time, Winslow had met Pat Sullivan one of the creators behind “Felix the Cat”, a cartoon character developed nine years before Mickey Mouse.
Nickolas Shammas purchased Felix Chevrolet in 1957, around the same time the new freeway system was being built.
Pat and Winslow became close friends, and since Winslow and the Cat had the same name, they decided
He knew that visibility from the 110 Freeway was important so he commissioned a giant, three-sided neon sign to be erected at Felix Chevrolet.
Continued on page 11.
CANNACIRCLE: LET’S BE BLUNT with Amanda Nicholson
LET'S BE BLUNT
H
ow do states right their wrongs for the 'War on Drugs’ disproportionate impact on BIPOC once they legalize weed? According to the ACLU 4/20 report published last year, marijuana use is relatively similar across races and ethnic groups. Yet, Black and Latino communities in LA are still being hit harder by cannabis-related arrests, despite its legalization in 2016. With the country continuing to reckon with these statistics, more legislation and solutions have been popping up around the country. San Diego recently reduced and dismissed marijuana-related convictions for over 22,000 people. LA is also part of a multi-county Social Equity Program providing priority application processing and business support to people based on factors like cannabis convictions and living in heavily policed zip codes before November 8, 2016, when California voted to legalize weed recreationally. Their mission seeks to increase the quality of life for marginalized communities by creating new ownership and employment opportunities in the cannabis industry. Eligibility is divided into three tiers based on factors, including ownership percentages for qualified people. The 90013, 90014, and 90021 downtown areas are amongst the qualified zip codes. But is it enough? Black and Latino communities in LA are still being hit harder by cannabis-related arrests, despite its legalization in 2016. As of mid-October 2020, over 75 percent of LAPD arrests for cannabis-related offenses were Black or Latino.
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Why? Legalization doesn’t extend to unlawful possession, consumption, and activities. Possession of distribution materials or more than the legal limit of THC-active goods can result in arrests and fines. Unlicensed dispensaries violate a city ordinance that makes it “unlawful for a person to establish, operate, or participate as an employee, contractor, agent or volunteer, in any unlicensed Commercial Cannabis Activity in the City”. But that does not prevent these spots from operating all over the county. Even without lab testing and fancy packaging, clientele in black market dispensaries still spend top dollar to get high-quality goods. Many clients pay $40+ per 1/8 ounce and have an eye (and nose) for the best buds out there. Higher quality isn’t driving customers to legal dispensaries but will law enforcement? The threat of punishment alone has not been successful in swaying people so far.
Picture this—walls with bullet holes and broken glass along your path. You're lookig over your shoulder, checking for the police. Maybe you drive or walk up to "The Spot." Deep down, you think about the day when you find yourself face-toface with the law (again). For many, this has been a reality at some point in life. Yet, the legal cannabis industry is making billions each year. Unfortunately, when these underground spots are busted, security guards and budtenders usually face arrest before owners and landlords. The Social Equity Program can push more people towards licensing and obeying cannabis regulations by providing priority processing of applications and renewals. In theory, this should make opening dispensaries easier and faster. But for people to become willing participants, they’ll have to trust that LA county has their best interest at heart.
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10 MONEY MATTERS
DTLA
Get Up To $8,000 Back On Your Taxes & Golden State Stimulus Payment of $600 or $1,200 The eligibility and qualifying amount are based on the income, filing status, and the number of qualifying children in the tax year. People without qualifying children or dependents may also qualify.
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit for eligible workers and families with low to moderateincome. Those who qualify for EITC and/or Cal EITC and claim the credits could pay less in taxes or even get a tax refund up to $8,000. There are Federal EITC (EITC) and California EITC (Cal EITC).
The eligibility and qualifying amount are based on the income, filing status, and the number of qualifying children in the tax year. People without qualifying children or dependents may also qualify. If you qualify for Cal EITC and have a child under the age of 6 as of the end of the tax year, you may qualify for an additional $1,000 through Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC). You can still get back those tax credits going back up to 3 years if you missed them and were eligible, but you must file or amend your previous tax returns to claim them. Great News! The eligibility of Cal EITC and YCTC extend to all qualified non-residents who file 2020 taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or Social Security Number (SSN). ITIN filers don't need to provide supporting identification information to file tax returns and claim CalEITC/YCTC.
California provides the Golden State Stimulus Payment of $600 or $1,200 to all taxpayers who receive Cal EITC and/or file taxes with an ITIN on the 2020 tax return. To get free tax filing service at a location near you, use the VITA/ TCE locator at https:// rebrand.ly/dtwftbvita21. If you're 60 years old or above, you can use Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) at no cost. Get Up To $8,000 Back On Your Taxes & Golden State Stimulus Payment of $600 or $1,200 The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit for eligible workers and families with low to moderate-income. Those who qualify for EITC and/ or Cal EITC and claim the credits could pay less in taxes or even get a tax refund up to $8,000. There are Federal EITC (EITC) and California EITC (Cal EITC).
MONEY MATTERS DO YOU QUALIFY FOR CAL EITC?
If you qualify for Cal EITC and have a child under the age of 6 as of the end of the tax year, you may qualify for an additional $1,000 through Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC). You can still get back those tax credits going back up to 3 years if you missed them and were eligible, but you must file or amend your previous tax returns to claim them. Great News! The eligibility of Cal EITC and YCTC extend to all qualified nonresidents who file 2020 taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or Social Security Number (SSN). ITIN filers don't need to provide supporting identification information to file tax returns and claim CalEITC/YCTC. California provides the Golden State Stimulus Payment of $600 or $1,200 to all taxpayers who receive Cal EITC and/or file taxes with an ITIN on the 2020 tax return. To get free tax filing service at a location near you, use the VITA/TCE locator at https://rebrand.ly/dtwftbvita21. If you're 60 years old or above, you can use Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) at no cost.
ADVERTISE WITH US! CALL 888-732-DTLA (3852) editor@dtlaweekly.com
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FOLLOW. LIKE. SHARE. cOMMENT. Aided by the iconic new sign, Felix Chevrolet became the largest Chevrolet dealership west of the Mississippi. freshly unpackaged adults including those attending college just across the road at USC. With new bus and designated bike lanes, a promising sports/ event stadium, and dozens of Winslow B. Felix Patrick Sullivan Nickolas Shammas other dealerships, Felix Chevrolet has witnessed the Celebrating 100 years!!! refacing of the Figueroa Corridor. While other dealerships have come and gone, Felix Chevrolet is the oldest auto And to this day, our hearts still go dealership in Los Angeles. pitter-pat when ever we pass by or visit to our historic neighbors, here at Felix Offering a rather large selection Chevrolet. For more info visit www. of new and used Chevrolet cars, FelixChevrolet.com trucks and SUVs; The Chevy Camaro, This article is made possible in part by the Corvette, the Impala, the Malibu DTLA community members Alicia De the Silverado, all as American as Soto, Kelly Hargraves, Maria Sanchez, zoot suits and apple pie, all lined up Amanda Mazur, Patricia Leighann for us to choose from, all waiting to Nelson and Gary Leonard. be driven by the next generation of
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