May Day Marches

March Traffic Disruptions Too Much for USPS

By Eric Richardson — May 01, 2008 — 1 Comment

Eric Richardson

Today's marches and the associated street closures were apparently too much for USPS, which decided to take a holiday from mail collection in at least one Historic Core building. This sign posted on the mail drop in the lobby of Premiere Towers says that there's no collection for May 1st, though the lack of accompanying signs on upper floors might make the warning less than effective.

Given the small turnout and lighter than expected traffic impacts, the collection holiday might not have even been all that necessary.

Small in Numbers, Large in Color

By Eric Richardson — May 01, 2008 — 4 Comments

Eric Richardson

All blogdowntown coverage of today's marches is available in this May 1 topic.

The May Day marches converged Downtown a little after 3pm, with crowds far smaller than many were predicting. The Times is giving an LAPD number of 3,500. That number will get revised higher (early LAPD numbers always do), but turnout is not particularly high.

The Legalize LA march, originating from American Apparel, made up in color what the overall march lacked in size. Marchers carried a sea of fluorescent green signs and took a few minutes to stop for a photo op at 5th and Main before meeting up with the rest of the marches at Broadway.

Update (4:45pm): The Legalize LA march is headed back to the factory down Alameda. Traffic on that corridor may be slow for the next while. — Continued Inside...

Early May 1 Notes: State Building Returns to Its Bunker

By Eric Richardson — May 01, 2008

Eric Richardson

All blogdowntown coverage of today's marches is available in this May 1 topic.

For the second year running, the Ronald Reagan State Building is likely to win the crown of "Most Intent to Protect Itself from Marchers." The Caltrans devices pictured are from 2007, but those up around the State Building today look just the same.

Elsewhere, Ed Fuentes reports that the march on Broadway got a little over-anxious, and is now being held up at 9th. Given that the MacArthur Park march isn't slated to leave for a few more minutes, convergence might require a bit of a wait.

Ed also notes that a small scuffle unrelated to the march resulted in a lightning-fast LAPD response. The two males involved were likely unprepared for the cops to come down so quickly on a little street fight.

May Day Marches Join Forces

By Ed Fuentes — April 30, 2008 — 9 Comments

Ed Fuentes

May 1st is March Day for Downtown L.A., as four marches set out from three start points, dividing Downtown into four pieces and making sure tomorrow will be an interesting evening commute for those stuck in their cars.

The four come from the west, the south and the east before converging at 5th and Broadway and then proceeding to a rally location on Broadway between 1st and Temple. — Continued Inside...