May Skid Row Walk Takes a Later Start to See the Lights

Ed Fuentes

Central City East Association head Estela Lopez talks to LAPD Central Division Captain Jodi Wakefield on a 2007 walk.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The monthly Skid Row Neighborhood Walk continues, but gets a one-hour delay in May. The May 7th walk will begin at 7pm, giving Bureau of Street Lighting (BSL) Director Ed Ebrahimian the right atmosphere to show off new pedestrian lighting recently installed on several streets within Skid Row.

Needless to say: If you want to see lights you walk at night.

The newly installed lights emits a brighter, white light that casts no shadows, are energy-efficient, and just as importantly are protected with a tamper-proof base that protects copper wiring from theft. Many parts of Los Angeles has seen in an increase in copper wire thefts, where thieves open boxes at the base of poles and steal the wire connecting them.

A map provided by BSL shows the new pedestrian lighting on the north-south streets between San Julian and Ceres, with 5th and 7th as the northern and southern bounds.

The Skid Row Neighborhood Walk leaves from the Midnight Mission (601 S. San Pedro) on the first Wednesday of each month. Normally walks are at 6pm, but this May edition begins at 7pm.