Community Corner

Silver Lake NC Supports Removing 'No Cruising' Signs

The council unanimously voted to support an effort to remove the signs posted just off Sunset Boulevard near Sunset Junction, Silver Lake's historic center of the gay community.

"The signs have been up since the height of the AIDS crisis, 1995, 1996," said Silver Lake Neighborhood Council member-at-large Charles Herman-Wurmfeld.

He's talking about the signs on Griffith Park Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue near Sunset that warn against "cruising" in the area, historically a center for gay nightlife.

"The signs have ey've simply outgrown their time and have become oppressive to the gay community," said Herman-Wurmfeld.

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That's why Herman-Wurmfeld introduced a motion at Wednesday's meeting meeting to support their removal.

It passed unanimously, after many community members turned out to show their support.

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According to Herman-Wurmfeld, the next steps will include meeting with Sgt. Lisa Phillips, a vice officer at LAPD's Northeast Division, to get police support behind the removal.

Herman-Wurmfeld, who is also co-chair of the Neighborhood Council's Public Safety Committee, says Phillips has shown support for removing the signs--though it's not clear where the LAPD stands overall.

Herman-Wurmfeld and others have also been collecting signatures on a petition of support that police requested.

Ultimately, the city's Department of Transportation must remove the signs.


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