'Made In America' Concert Could Bring $10M Windfall To LA City Coffers
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A music festival held by Jay-Z set to take place in downtown Los Angeles this weekend could bring as much as $10 million to the city, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday.
Appearing on KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO's "Ask The Mayor" segment, Garcetti said he and other city officials worked to clear out any bureaucratic red tape to bring the Made In America festival to Grand Park.
'Ask The Mayor' With Mayor Eric Garcetti
"We thought with Live Nation, an LA-based company, they said, 'We don't do stuff here in LA 'cause there's too much red tape'," said Garcetti. "We've worked very closely with community members, we've worked very closely with the City Council to address any concerns of security, traffic, et cetera."
The two-day festival, scheduled for August 30-31 in Grand Park, raised concerns from councilman Jose Huizar, who complained earlier this month about possible 10-day street closures in his district.
But Garcetti said not only will staffing be in place to minimize traffic tie-ups and other disruptions, the concert will be "a great thing" for the local economy.
"Some people asked if we cut corners, what we did is cut red tape," he said. "We'll improve this each year, but we are a music town...and remember, ten million bucks for our economy is no small change."
Jay Z's "Made In America" festival was previously held for the past two years in Philadelphia, Penn. It will again be held this year, in conjunction with the Los Angeles concert.
The concert "will be the first American festival to run simultaneously on both coasts," officials said.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
