Port Town Security
I still am at a total loss to explain the purpose or presence of the trio of security vehicles parked around the 8th Street Lofts and Caffe Port Town, but here they are.
above - the two Port Town Security "police cars".
above - the weird gray rv that's marked security. It's apparently permanently parked on 8th Street, and it gets power from an extension cord run from the second floor window. It also apparently has a parking ticket.
My only crazy theory is that someone's getting ready to market this service to the Downtown BID, as soon as it becomes a property BID and the money starts rolling in. The largest item on the proposed BID budget is security, and I can imagine that might justify the expense of acquiring two new-ish police cars. It's hard to imagine that someone had these idling around, or that their sole purpose is to create some kind of "private police state" image for the 8th Street Lofts, or for the Caffe.
above - the two Port Town Security "police cars".
above - the weird gray rv that's marked security. It's apparently permanently parked on 8th Street, and it gets power from an extension cord run from the second floor window. It also apparently has a parking ticket.
My only crazy theory is that someone's getting ready to market this service to the Downtown BID, as soon as it becomes a property BID and the money starts rolling in. The largest item on the proposed BID budget is security, and I can imagine that might justify the expense of acquiring two new-ish police cars. It's hard to imagine that someone had these idling around, or that their sole purpose is to create some kind of "private police state" image for the 8th Street Lofts, or for the Caffe.
Labels: 8th Street Lofts, Caffe Port Town, Homeland Security, Port Town
20 Comments:
my guess is they're being used as props in one of baric's lame films.
I would love to see somebody from a future BID try to justify the expense of buying/leasing and maintaining two or more sedans when the District is no more than five blocks wide at any point. That would be even funnier than the cars themselves, which is really saying something.
Well, like I said, it's a crazy theory. I didn't think about the prop aspect, though. That's probably way more plausible.
Justifying the expense doesn't seem hard. I've seen the proposed P-BID budget - it's massive compared to the tiny budget that the current BID has to work with.
Man...I don't see how they could do it. Five blocks? I don't care how big your budget is or how lazy your "security guards" are, or even how environmentally wasteful you want to be. It's five friggin' blocks! I will mock them mercilessly if they do this.
You'd be surprised how fast you start spending money when man-hours comes into the equation. Also, the BID area is expected to increase, so it's a bigger area than five blocks.
Maybe they are getting prepared for full time enforcement of the posted rules at the new cafe. Can you imagine the trouble they will have with spotting the flip flop offenders alone.
Hmmmm....maybe a long shot here--Not a possible film shoot?
That BID would have to get pretty damned big to justify even one car. But hey, it's not my money they're throwing away.
Anyway, I just love how the boys of Port Town have got this mobile home with a straight ghetto-ass extension cord power hookup, while at the same time acting as though they're too upscale and "classy" for three quarters of the community. It's like, I may wear baseball hats and use foul language but at least I don't be runnin' no damned power lines into the street like Sanford and Son, or some shit. You big dummy!
First, should we ask ourselves whether the added security may be used to intice potential buyers of condos in the area? How are sales really doing?
Do the folks considering buying a unit in the area favor a show of force to keep the baseball cap-wearing, ever swearing, real San Pedrans away from their new fortress in the new "inner city" of San Pedro.
The two cars and the Winnebago are more signs that myself and others like me, are not welcome in the new "Port Town" because of our age, our status that also makes us unwelcome in West L.A./Santa Monica, and the fact that we are not "metrosexuals" by any means at all.
MW
Even though the Anti-Flip-Flops Manifesto is just well.... completely retarded (Sorry, developmentally disabled), I can't help but wonder if he has had issues with taggers, break-ins, theft of construction materials, etc.
In the last year, I've seen scavengers (nicest word I can come up with) pulling wire off of houses and city junction boxes in broad daylight three times. I had to move out of my rental house by the recycling center at 1st + Bandini because of people constantly "recycling" stuff off of my home and vehicle.
Add in the ATM robberies, and I kinda feel for the guy. Obviously no one forced him to build there, but I think he's just guilty of severe over-kill, which is alienating us regular folk (who he needs if wants to have some actual foot traffic to his cafe)
Personally, if I were one of those West LA/SaMo Metros looking to buy and saw all that "security" I would probably completely freak and be back on the 405 before I finished my latte.
Just my 2 cents. Thanks for listening.
You're welcome, but I seriously doubt that these risible "House Rules" (which, let us not forget, regulate what paying customers inside the shop may wear and say) have anything to do with what tweakers may be doing outside. (The phalanx of security vehicles may be a different story, but really, "overkill" is putting it mildly.)
Nobody is forcing Dave Lynch to operate Sacred Grounds two blocks away, either, but somehow he manages to stay in business without losing his copper wiring or his customer base.
Now I'm going to have the Sanford And Son theme going through my head every time I pass by 8th/Pacific and see that extension cord.
Those guys at Port Town are screwing themselves the same way the Nizetichs did when they tried to open a nightclub back in the '80s. They had strict dress codes (colared shirts and that kind of crap) and they kicked people out for being "alittle drunk". Damn...this is Pedro. These guys need to understand the crowd that they are catering to. Oh well, I predict either Port Town will trash their stupid rules or will slowly lose business as the novelty wears off.
See, I think that there is just some guy living illegally in a street parked RV and he put up the "security" paint job as a ruse.
damn! i always wondered what happened to the nizetichs restaurant down at ports o call. i went there once a long, long time ago, and remember the food was pretty good.
are they still living around pedro?
The Nizetich owned night club I was talking about was across the street from Big C on Gaffey. It sat for the longest time as a vacant mexican restaurant (now I think a firehouse is being built??). Anyhow, I believe the son, Tom, was the one who made a go at it, but the Nizetich family was more about higher class interior design and food than what a Pedro bar/nightclub called for. The restaurant at ports o call was a different story...more their style and it worked. They were a very nice family...good people, but missed the mark on the SP bar scene. We all saw the end coming soon after they opened and were ridiculously stupid about the "rules". This had to be about 1987ish timeframe.
PS - Yes, I believe there are still a few from the family in Pedro. Every now and again I see one of the sisters.
Has anyone thought to ask the owners of the coffee shop what their plans are?
Most of the comments I'm reading are from pessimistic "that's the way it's always been" locals who are resistant to the changes that will come one way or another. Either we attract good businesses to come and settle, or we just wait for the increasing population of illegals to dictate the type of businesses located there.
What's San Pedro's choice?
Ah, the good old fallacy of the false dilemma. It's like an old friend (a tiresome old friend who never goes away).
But since you posed the question, I'm going to go with the "increasing population of illegals" on this one. Botanicas and late night Mexican food for the win!
I'm a little late on this topic I think, but I can tell you for sure that the mystery behind the "security" is (I'm not kidding) to "scare away the rif-raff" and let people know that Port-Town means business when it comes to safety.
This incomplete thought process (applied to everything else that place tries to accomplish) is exactly what's causing most of the locals to avoid going there anymore. It had so much potential, too. It's like the owners just don't "get" San Pedro.
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