Huge piñata a highlight at Las Posadas street party in Oakland
OAKLAND -- On Saturday, an event in Oakland's Fruitvale District celebrated Las Posadas, a Christmas festival for the Latino community. Along with all the fun and festivities was hope that bringing crowds back to the area can help reduce public fears of crime.
People turned out in droves for Posada Fruitvale Quincienera (15th birthday). There were all kinds of fun: street soccer, pony rides, a snow patch and giant slide as well as music, food and dancing.
There was even a lighthearted chance to sit with "Sancho Claus," who wore a sombrero. The highlight of the event: an SUV-size piñata hanging from a fire engine boom which was reported to be the largest in Oakland's history.
Alex Cox actually founded the event as a toy-distribution party and it has grown over the years.
"I'm telling you there is a really heightened level of safety in the Fruitvale District to allow shoppers to feel safe and be able to enjoy the vibrancy of this community," Cox said.
Safety. It's a primary concern for anything happening in Oakland these days and it is affecting businesses year-round. On Saturday, Socorro Martinez was running the Torta Loca restaurant on International Blvd. and she said it was nice to see people on the sidewalks again.
"It's good. It's good always to have something because it brings people to the area," she said. "Things happen in the area. The robbery and all that. So, not too many people come or not too many people stop by."
At one point, she said, the restaurant had to board up its front to protect against roaming groups of people breaking into businesses.
"In here, they do it just for fun because there's nothing to take," said Socorro. "They go inside even if there's nothing. So, it's hard, because ... the people don't care."
But some care. Earlier in the week, the Fruitvale's Unity Council announced a plan to try to help merchants.
"We're excited to announce our holiday shopping campaign called "Find It in Fruitvale," they said at a news conference. "We have been investing heavily in public safety measures for the past, probably, couple of years."
More than 250 small businesses in the Fruitvale neighborhood have joined together for the "Find It in Fruitvale" holiday campaign, inviting residents to shop "local and Latino" this year. They know if people's fears subside they will come back and the more people in an area, the less crime tends to happen. It's a popular concept these days called "activation."
"This is space activated -- community activated -- from the ground up! Because we keep us safe!" said George Galvis.
On Saturday he was dressed in a red and white track suit calling himself "Homey Claus" but Galvis also leads a neighborhood youth non-profit called CURYJ (prounounced "courage").
"The truth of the matter is, you know, law enforcement's budget has gone up 30 percent in the last four years. Crime has gone up at the same time. So, you cannot correlate increased police budgets with increased public safety," said Galvis. "What we know is that we keep us safe."
On Saturday in the Fruitvale, there were lots of people keeping each other safe.
