Sahra Sulaiman

What was I writing about, a woman wanted to know.

Really? A helicopter??

"I'm here to ask that you really take into account accessibility [when implementing any new improvements]," Boyle Heights resident and advocate for those with disabilities, Hector Ochoa, said as the meeting discussing phase two of the Eastside Access Project came to a close Wednesday night.

Last month, when Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced criminal charges against BarKochba Botach, weapons dealer and owner of four properties in the heart of the Leimert Park neighborhood, I could practically hear the collective sigh the community issued from the Boyle Heights coffee shop where I was sitting.

Anniversaries can be a b*tch.

Moreno's perspective is one I've written about many times while tracking changes in this lower-income and largely Mexican-American community over the last few years, most recently with regard to developments Metro had planned for a complete overhaul of Mariachi Plaza.

As he often does, Javier "JP" Partida, president and founder of Los Ryderz bike club in Watts, took some of his club members for a bike ride on Saturday. When they returned from Torrance that afternoon, they locked up the bikes and called it a day. When he came back Sunday morning to work on the bikes and finish welding the Crank Award trophies to thank local community members for their service in and around South L.A., he found that someone had broken into their storage area and looted the place.

"What do we want? Safe streets! When do we want them? NOW!"

While counting pedestrians and cyclists in the transit-dependent and heavily-pedestrian community of Boyle Heights for the Bike and Pedestrian Count this past Saturday, I got to thinking about street trees.

While some might not relish the opportunity to stand out on a street corner and count passersby for two hours, I can honestly say I really enjoy the experience.