Welcome to our new weekly segment What’s New Wednesday’s! Every week we will briefly cover the newest establishments and happenings in our ever-growing metropolis. This week in downtown, Governor Jerry Brown signs the High Speed Rail Bill connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco at Union Station. We also welcome a new Ben and Jerry’s, extensions on weekend Metro Lines, performance art at MOCA and new installations on Chinatown’s Chung King Road.
Photo by Saul Gonzalez.
High Speed Rail Bill Signed at Union Station
Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill this afternoon that will enable the state to start with the much anticipated high speed rail line that will connect the Southland to San Francisco. This is the first of many steps on METRO’s plan to make Union Station a hub for high speed rail.
You can see the planned route at the California High Speed Rail website for more details.
Photo by Rachel Garcia
Commuters are buzzing over Ben and Jerry’s Union Station, the scoop shop that took nearly two years to complete. In addition to the companies staple flavors like Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey this Ben and Jerry’s is one of a few in the nation to serve Greek Yogurt. Compared to regular ice cream, Greek yogurt has fewer calories and more protein, according to David Bernstein, owner of the new Ben and Jerry’s at Union Station.
Ben and Jerry’s Union Station is open daily from 11am-8pm.
LA Metro
In other train news, LA Metro announced an extension on all lines to run until 2am on the weekends starting later this month! See full details and map below:
• Trains will run every 20 minutes between midnight and 2 a.m.
• The Orange Line will run until 2:40 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights in order to meet the last trains at the North Hollywood Red Line station. The Orange Line will also run every 20 minutes between midnight and 2:40 a.m.
• The plan at this moment is to begin late-night service on the weekend of July 27-28 but Metro is also working to determine if late night service is needed on the Silver Line, as well as working with Metrolink on the possibility of extending their service to connect with Metro’s.
Metro will provide more details on scheduling later in the month and there will be a considerable p.r. push to let everyone know about the new service.
MOCA
Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied and company will be dancing among the paintings of Mark Bradford at MOCA this week. Check out this first performance in his three-part “Framework” series. This may be a warm up for the disco show MOCA is planning, since museum director Jeffrey Deitch hopes that show will make visitors dance in the galleries.
250 S. Grand Ave., Thurs., July 19, 7 p.m.; free. (213) 626-6222, moca.org.
Chung King Road
Ongoing through July 28 Jancar Gallery will feature The Very Eye of Night, an exhibition featuring the work of six female artists inspired by the film “The Very Eye of night” by Maya Deren including Tricia Lawless Murray, whose three Solar Annulus boxes have peepholes you can peer through to watch a mini-lightshow take place.
961 Chung King Road, Chinatown; through July 28. (213) 259-3770
Perform Chinatown will bring dozens of performance artists from around the world for this semi-annual raw and unpredictable festival. Perfromance artists include Karen Finley (who will perform in L.A. for the first time in more than a decade) Aaron Wrinkle and Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle.
933-977 Chung King Road and other locations; Sat., July 21, 4 p.m.-midnight; free.
