With buses rerouted and volunteers on hand to hold “No Cars” posters, Last Thursday was set tonight to make a grassroots attempt at shutting down the street and making the event car free.
So far, the night’s meeting with mixed results.
“A lot of people have been saying, ‘I live here!'” laughed this guy, the first line of the anti-car poster defense which occupied the sidelines of intersections at the top and bottom of the Last Thursday stretch. Five cars rolled past him in the minute I spent talking to him. He thought the problem might be his sign, which doesn’t hold a candle to official city barricades. “It doesn’t look legitimate,” he said, “They’re probably thinking, ‘He’s going to turn it over and start asking for money or something.'”
I ran into neighborhood activist Magnus Johannesson — the man behind last month’s hour-long blockade of the street with two painted junker cars — outside the Star-E Rose Coffeeshop on 24th and Alberta, where he was watching a clown change the tire on his tall bike. Johannesson beckoned for me to join him in the back seat of a pedi-cab while he rode up Alberta to evaluate the scene. “People aren’t getting in the streets,” he groaned as we rolled past art-walkers who squeezed onto the sidewalks instead of taking over the street. Shutting down Alberta effectively hinges on the assumption that bikers and pedestrians will start walking in the street, making driving a car through the crowd an unsavory idea.
All along Alberta, only a couple cars and bikers moved down an almost-empty street while people remained packed on sidewalks. By 7:30 things were picking up, though. The street looks ready for walking, and the carfree crowd is hoping bigger crowds will push onto the pavement as the sun begins to set.
In the mean time, please enjoy this picture of an adorable tiny boy playing a man-size banjo on the corner of 30th and Alberta:
And please, no bicycles! Here’s to a pedestrian-friendly last Thursday! Park your gear and walk, for fuck’s sake.
“watching a clown change the tire on his tall bike”
Indeed.
Tall bike rider = clown
Just to finish up the story… Success! By about 8:00-8:30 the crowds totally had control of the streets. This lasted til at least 10:00 probably about 10:30.
Yeah, I walked by there, and the kid SUCKED. He could barely play the thing at all.
Things definitely picked up right after this dispatch – I got a burrito at Don Panchos, and when I stepped outside the streets were taken by the peds. It was great. Not that this was surprising or anything, but being able to walk at your leisure and take in the sights and sounds, rather than focusing most of your attention on shuffling along the sidewalks and not running into people all the while not losing your friends, makes for a much better time.
And I’m usually a pretty anti-clown kinda guy, but this time with them doing something really useful (and not only showing off their buttcracks from eight feet in the air) I enjoyed their presence. They did a good job, and some of them were funny! Also, I saw one fall – I hate to admit it but this is something I’d wanted to see for a while… the welding on the front fork broke and he fell straight forward. It was a slow, hard fall. And, damnit, I felt bad for him. But he took it in stride, and bounced around for a little bit, so I’m guessing he’s okay.
Rico:
Love the image on your posts.
Thanks for clear, crisp image. Feels like you know who’s posting.
I remain, blah, blah, blah,
Jacomus
I have another thread about last thursday, Aggro drunk jackasses…discuss.
As I was walking from my home on 23rd to the video store to return a video I noticed some guy flicking his cigarette into the street. I kindly asked him to pick it up and put it into a trash receptacle, when he said fuck off, I picked it up and gave it to him. At this point the jerkoff smacked my hand hard enough to hit me in the lip. now, I am not a violent person but I saw red. I have studied martial arts since I was a very small kid and have learned that the art of the true warrior is to avoid physical confrontation. so i put my arm around his shoulder and explained to him that it was unfair of him to disrespect this neighborhood (he then told me he lived on 28th- even more reason). Long story long, I can’t stand the attitude of alot of the people on last thursday that just come to get drunk and act the fool.
my 2 cents.