BLOCK PARTY CELEBRATES RECOVERY; NORTH HOLLYWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD OVERCOMES TERROR OF ROBBERY.

Byline: Dennis Love Daily News Staff Writer

LAPD Sgt. Dean Haynes, a bullet permanently lodged in his left shoulder from that day, stood on a cordoned-off residential street in North Hollywood watching a crowd mill about the carnival booths set up Saturday in the shadow of the world's most notorious Bank of America.

``I think it changed things,'' said Haynes, one of 11 officers wounded in February when police confronted two heavily armed bank robbers in a wild shootout televised live around the world. The running gunbattle spilled out into the surrounding neighborhood before one robber shot himself in the head and officers managed to fatally wound the other.

``People react differently to us now,'' Haynes said. ``I think they saw the LAPD really wasn't a bunch of evidence-planting racists or death-squad members.''

Indeed, the block party Saturday along Gentry Avenue was a celebration of the difference a few months can make. It also served as an acknowledgment of a return to normalcy in a neighborhood traumatized by scenes of blood and guns usually confined to big-budget summer action films.

In retrospect, many agreed Saturday, the North Hollywood shootout served to revive the flagging image of the Los Angeles Police Department, and resulted in a close-knit neighborhood growing even closer.

``It was a terrifying experience for everyone,'' said Mariela Castro, a Gentry Avenue resident. ``This has always been a very quiet neighborhood, with no trouble. So when this happened, it was a shock. But things are fine now . . . this could have happened anywhere, in any neighborhood, not just ours.''

``On this day, things have come full circle,'' said Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon. ``The people have prevailed. These men tried to rob their bank and take their money with no regard for human life. But the police and the community would not allow that to happen.''

The scene along Gentry Avenue took on the air of a holiday festival. Military vehicles and a small-scale Navy battleship were on display. There were a few brief speeches. People gathered around a dunking booth, cheering when the ball hit the target and the victim plunged into the water.

Yet people seemed mindful of the events that prompted this gathering on this overcast afternoon. Alarcon lauded a countersuit filed by the city against the family of one of the robbers. Several uniformed policemen like Haynes circulated, chatting with appreciative residents.

And there was a tangible sense of relief that time and distance had been placed between the shootout and the present. ``When something like that happens, it affects your sense of home and security,'' said Eric Manuel, an area resident. ``But like they say, the passage of time takes care of a lot of worries.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1) LAPD Officer Clark Baker lets Rudy Montes, 8, hop on his patrol motorcycle at a block party Saturday for the North Hollywood neighborhood terrorized by bank robbers in February.

(2-3) Councilman Richard Alarcon, above, holds up a countersuit against the family of one of the North Hollywood bank robbers. At left, Nader Sarem and his son, Dylan, 2, record events at a block party Saturday to mark the neighborhood's recovery from the violence.

Gus Ruelas/Daily News