Street Festival on New Year’s Eve to Help Charities

Organizers hope a large turnout at their “Center of the Universe on Hollywood Boulevard” charity street festival will put the famed thoroughfare on the map when it comes to celebrating New Year’s Eve.

But not everyone in Tinseltown is happy about the event.

A seven-block section of the boulevard in central Hollywood will be closed to auto traffic, beginning at 7 p.m. Monday, for the celebration. From three stages, disc jockeys Paul Oakenfold, Deep Dish and BT will be among those spinning tunes until the event ends at 4 a.m. Tuesday. Actress Carmen Electra will host the celebration.

“What could be better?” asked Gene LaPietra, the event’s creator and producer. “You’re having fun on the most famous street in the most famous city in the world.”

Last year, an estimated 10,000 people attended the event on a 3 1/2-block stretch of the boulevard, netting about $100,000 for local charities. With a bigger portion of the street, LaPietra and others say, they’re aiming to double attendance and raise $300,000.

Some nearby nightclub owners and restaurant operators object because they fear the event will cut into their trade on what they say is the year’s busiest night. The street festival will offer its own food and liquor.

“I pay rent 365 days a year,” said Victor Tradulsi, owner of the Powerhouse bar on Highland Avenue. “So why rob us on the biggest night of the year?”

Kay Neil, owner of the Palace club on Vine Street, added that the event will put an extra burden on the area’s parking lots, which are usually full on weekend nights and at other times when special events take place in Hollywood.

Neil said she and others with similar views aren’t against events to benefit charitable groups, just the timing.

“Why not put on the event on Halloween or the Fourth of July?” she asked.

LaPietra dismissed the complaints, saying the event is another sign that Hollywood’s revitalization, fueled in part by the $615-million Hollywood & Highland development, is succeeding. “They should be ashamed of themselves,” he said of the complainers.

Tickets for Monday night’s celebration, available through TicketMaster, are $80 for general admission and $175 for VIP treatment, which includes food, beverages and other extras. Organizers say tickets will not be sold at the event.

The boulevard will be closed from Vine Street to Whitley Avenue. The event’s only entrance will be at Hollywood Boulevard and Ivar Avenue.

Among the groups receiving money from the event will be the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood, the Braille Institute of Hollywood, the Police Activities League of Hollywood, the Gay and Lesbian Center of Hollywood, the Hollywood Education and Literary Project, Project Angel Food, the Los Angeles Center for Educational Research and the Hollywood Youth Council.