Local officials get ready to cut the cake at the Friends of Hollywood Central Park annual fundraiser Jan. 7. Pictured, from left, are former Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, cake artists Duff Goldman, Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, Assemblyman Richard Bloom and Laurie Goldman of the Friends of Hollywood Central Park with Goldman’s specially created cake depicting Hollywood and Hollywood Central Park.

HOLLYWOOD — Mayor Eric Garcetti and celebrity cake artist Duff Goldman helped host Tom LaBonge honor the 2016 Real Stars of Hollywood at the Friends of Hollywood Central Park’s annual gala.

For the Love of Hollywood was held Jan. 7 at the Taglyan Cultural Center. This year’s honors went to Mike Sullivan, owner of LAcarGUY, Paul Viviano of Children’s Hospital LA, and Paul Hirsh, principal of the STEM Academy at Helen Bernstein High School, for their work to shape the park’s progress and help transform the dream into a reality.

The highlight of the evening was the nine-foot-long cake specially created for the occasion by Goldman that depicted Hollywood with Hollywood Central Park among the community’s landmarks. The event, now in its seventh year, is the principal fundraiser for the Friends of Hollywood Central Park, a group that is working to create a 38-acre street-level park over the Hollywood Freeway between Santa Monica Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Central Park is a landmark infrastructure project that will reunite communities separated for more than 60 years by the freeway, create 40,000 jobs, provide economic stimulus and long-term economic security, build healthy communities and provide children with open green space in which to grow and thrive.

The park began as an idea more than 30 years ago and has gained substantial momentum since 2009 when the Friends of Hollywood Central Park formed. In that time, the park has achieved a number of milestones, and a major achievement is expected later this year when the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks releases the draft environmental impact report on the park.

source: Los Angeles Independent