DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The Times is running an interesting feature today during the marches. They're calling it Taking the City's Pulse from the Pavement, and it's basically just timelined vignettes. Good stuff.

Just before noon, Downtown: Carlos Duarte, a U.S. citizen originally from Mexico, called in sick from his job at a cable company. He took a break to buy a torta and a horchata drink from Comida Mexicana on Broadway.

"I'm not going to go to McDonalds or Jack In the Box," said Duarte, 28, of Monterey Park. "As long as I am contributing to small, Latino businesses, I don't feel like I'm taking away from the spirit of the boycott."

Besides, he said: "I'm hungry."

The Times says that LAPD's crowd estimate for Downtown was 300,000 as of 3pm. From my view at 7th/Flower I never saw the sidewalks get as busy as they were for the first march.