No Pants? No Problem As Metro Riders Drop Trou

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/01/12/no-pants-no-problem-as-metro-riders-drop-trou/

January 12, 2014


 
 Many riders to the Metro Sunday sans pants.


LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Public transit users took to the Metro Sunday in their skivvies for the annual No Pants Subway Ride.

KNX 1070′s Claudia Peschiutta went in search for people who dropped trou.

 “Everybody’s doing it,” said a man named Mixy. “Why not? You live once in life.”

Mixy seemed a little nervous and excited when he took off his pants at the Hollywood and Highland station.

Another guy, apparently not a fan of the annual pants-free event, sprayed both of us with his water bottle.

“Some people don’t know how to have fun in life,” said Mixy.

Danielle was standing nearby with her two young children.

“It’s interesting. I was kind of hesitant to bring them but what the Hell? That’s Hollywood,” said Danielle, “They’re going to be exposed to it eventually.”

The event was started by an improv group in New York that describes itself as a “prank collective.” The No Pants Ride has now spread to cities around the world.

Pasadena police pleased with Rose Bowl week’s ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaign

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140111/pasadena-police-pleased-with-rose-bowl-weeks-see-something-say-something-campaign

By Sarah Favot, January 11, 2014


 

Protestors with the Occupy Movement fall in behind at the end of the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Jan. 1, 2014.

PASADENA>> While close to 1 million people descended on the city since Jan. 1 for Tournament of Roses festivities and the college football’s national championship game, aside from a protest a Pasadena Police Department official said the total number of arrests were down compared to last year.

“Our perspective of all three events is they went very well,” said Police Department spokeswoman Lt. Tracey Ibarra. “People enjoyed them.”

The Police Department announced in a news conference before the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game it had stepped up security measures after taking months to study recent events like the Boston Marathon bombings, where three people were killed and 260 were injured at the finish line of the internationally watched event.

More bomb-sniffing police dogs patrolled the parade route and police had teamed up with local businesses along Colorado Boulevard to ensure the police had full-time access to private security cameras if they needed it.

Ibarra said the months of preparation that went into the events paid off.

The department had launched a “See Something, Say Something” campaign throughout the week encouraging spectators to call police if they saw any suspicious activity.

Ibarra said she knows about a couple calls to police that people made who were concerned about abandoned backpacks. She could not immediately provide the total number of calls made to police.

 Police arrested 48 people across the city between 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and 11 p.m. on New Year’s Day, according to documents obtained by this newspaper.

Those arrests included 16 People for Ethical Treatment of Animals protesters, including a 12-year-old girl, who were arrested at the beginning of the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day because they attempted to stop the SeaWorld float from sailing down Colorado Boulevard.

Twenty-three people were arrested throughout the city Monday, the day of the BCS National Championship game at the Rose Bowl between Auburn University and Florida State University. Twelve of those arrests were at the Rose Bowl, mainly on charges of public intoxication.

Police had originally said 19 PETA protestors were arrested last week, but after reviewing arrest data, just 16 protestors were arrested, Ibarra confirmed.

“PETA was there, of course they have the right of freedom of speech, but they did not have the right to disrupt the parade and because our officers stepped in, they did not disrupt the parade and the parade proceeded forward,” Ibarra said.

Police had been prepared for the PETA protesters. PETA had demonstrated at a number of Tournament of Roses events throughout the fall and had planned to protest the parade.

The total number of arrests of people who were camping overnight on New Year’s Eve along the parade route was down.

Lt. Terysa Rojas said 13 people who were camping out along Colorado Boulevard between 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and 5 a.m. on New Year’s Day were arrested, including six on charges of public intoxication, two warrant arrests, one traffic violation, one resisting arrest, one battery and one felony grand theft. She said one juvenile was arrested on charges of public intoxication.

 The previous year, 23 people were arrested overnight: 22 of those arrests were on charges of public intoxication.

“We have deputies assigned to every block,” said Ibarra. “Alcohol is usually the biggest factor that we face as reflected last year ... But we had less alcohol-related arrests this year.”

Most of those arrests on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day took place along Colorado Boulevard or in Old Pasadena.

Five arrests occurred at the Rose Bowl around the time of the Rose Bowl Game, including two public intoxication arrests, one for resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer and two Pasadena Municipal Code violations.

Four people were arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

One person was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance.

No Pants Day 2014: Expect undie-clad Metro rail riders on Sunday

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-no-pants-subway-los-angeles-metro-trains-20140109,0,440111.story#axzz2qCWnoL5v

By Laura J. Nelson, January 10, 2014



 
Three participants in the 2012 "No Pants Subway Ride" walk through Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

Yes, people do ride mass transit in Los Angeles. And once a year, they do it without pants.

As part of an international improvisation event called the "No Pants Subway Ride," scores of Angelenos — fully dressed, but only from the waist up — will swarm the Red Line's Hollywood/Highland station at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Captains with nicknames like Agent Meow Meow and Agent Silky will gather groups together along the Red, Gold and Expo lines earlier on Sunday afternoon and help new riders pay fares, find their way through Union Station, and change trains. Meeting times for each group can be found in the event "dossier."

The theater group Improv Everywhere started the event 13 years ago in New York. It has since spread to more than 60 cities across the world.

Spokesman Marc Littman said the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority was aware of the bare-legged group ride, now in its sixth year in L.A. Pantless riders who are otherwise fully clothed won't be cited for indecent exposure, he said.

But, Littman said: "If you're walking around naked, that's a different story."

The local event organizers, an improvisational theater group called GuerilLA, encouraged participants to exhibit kindness toward "civilians" while underground in their underwear.

"This should also be fun for the passengers who are wearing pants since their most likely reaction to us will be curiosity and amusement," the organizers wrote. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of pantless fun when we get off the train and onto the street."

In the "unlikely event you have to re-pants," organizers wrote, participants should pack an extra pair, just in case. 

Antonovich: Recent Metro poll 'meaningless'

http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/112256/

January 11, 2014


LOS ANGELES COUNTY —  A recent poll costing over $35,000, commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, failed to accurately gauge public opinion on a proposed transportation measure, announced Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

“This poll failed to comply with the MTA Board directive to ask voters whether they would support new regional transportation projects in their neighborhoods including rail connections to the five airports that serve Los Angeles County. Instead, the poll was stuck in a time warp, asking voters whether they would support the failed Measure J proposal focused on accelerating subways.”

The poll was done without input from MTA Board Members.  This is a deliberate distortion as the questions were poorly written and flat out wrong.  Also the poll is a misuse of public funds as Metro approved the questions to further its own agenda – a ½ cent extension to grow their bureaucracy.

“With incomplete and erroneous questions, the poll that failed to ask voters directly about the importance of creating a truly regional transportation system with new local transportation solutions and rail connections to our regional airports -- instead questions focused on subways,” said Antonovich.  “A new poll should be taken with questions that will effectively and accurately gauge public opinion on projects derived from local consensus.”

“Unlike Measure J, the new proposed transit measure will be with a ground-up, local perspective on how to invest in our future,” he added.  “A new poll should reflect these priorities and not be a continuation of the failed effort to pass Measure J."

“MTA has no excuse for rushing this poll forward without first consulting with its Board of Directors.  With polls taking only a few days to complete, vetting the questions with the elected officials on the Board first to gain their input before going to the public that they serve should have been the appropriate course of action.  Failure to do so has rendered this poll meaningless,” said Antonovich.