We're looking back on all the Los Angeles history, preservation and offbeat lore we blogged in 2021. It's been a wild ride, and we couldn't have done it without you! What does 2022 hold? Count on us to get the scoop and fight for places that matter!
When City Hall decided to screw the Los Angeles Conservancy and shut off all public comment on the Chili Bowl landmark hearing (they sued!), we helped fans of the offbeat 1930s diner petition Mike Bonin to help history and not just rich developers. esotouric.com/chilibowl/
After a band of brazen thieves stole priceless bronze streetlamps from the Glendale Hyperion Bridge, we got the skinny from witnesses while managing NOT to get electrocuted. esotouric.com/hyperion/
Hollywood treasure Pig 'n Whistle was illegally gutted by Mr. Tempo's evil elves, and we spent hours explaining to reporters why preservation law protects contributing structures as well as designated landmarks, & published the city's inspection photos. esotouric.com/pignwhistle/
McMansion developers Thomas James Homes are targeting Los Feliz' prettiest blocks, demolishing Japanese-American landmarks and diverting natural water sources in their relentless quest to "disrupt" the U.S. housing market. esotouric.com/creek/
We've been helping friends of the elderly Dominican nuns at Monastery of the Angels to advocate for their historic home, designed by Wallace Neff, and preservation of this old Hollywood cultural community. Canon law is fascinating and weird. esotouric.com/monastery
Weddington Golf & Tennis should have been purchased by Rec and Parks decades ago, but instead councilman Paul Krekorian colluded with elite private school Harvard Westlake on a redevelopment scheme. Our sick City Hall at "work." esotouric.com/weddington/
The 1896 Barclay has 158 low-income #DTLA rooms, yet it was held empty pending boutique hotel conversion--until AIDS Healthcare Foundation bought it to again be a home for those in need. esotouric.com/hotelbarclay
It has many fascinating secrets to tell. esotouric.com/lafeshoerepair/
When Ricky Jay's books and ephemera went to auction instead of being accessioned to a research library, we got a case of the rotten dice blues. esotouric.substack.com/p/rickyjay
Another empty Skid Row hotel purchased by AIDS Healthcare Foundation to again be low-income housing is John Parkinson's 1906 King Edward. They also invested in restoration of the unique stained glass awning sign. esotouric.substack.com/p/kingedward
It's really too bad about Felix the Cat, one of the greatest neon signs in Los Angeles, sneakily switched to LED by the politically connected property owner--no doubt so he could later demo with impunity. esotouric.substack.com/p/felix
A lot of Los Angeles legacy businesses have been lost during this damn pandemic, but none hit us as hard as the Greenblatt's Deli. Here are twelve reasons why... esotouric.substack.com/p/greenblatts
Maybe it's the pain of losing Greenblatt's that makes us fight so hard for Taix, sold in an off-market deal to an out-of-state Trump donor, then faux "landmarked" by developer's pal Mitch O'Farrell in a ruinous precedent for L.A.'s preservation laws. esotouric.substack.com/p/letstalktaix
Old Los Angeles true crime photos often circulate online as "art" or noirish wallpaper, but we can't look at these images without seeing human beings whose names and stories deserve to be known. We did our best for poor Mr. Kirkpatrick here. esotouric.substack.com/p/kirkpatrick
The last thing we did before the world shut down in 2020 was appear as true crime historians in Netflix' Elisa Lam / Hotel Cecil doc, Crime Scene. We agreed in order to advocate for empty Skid Row hotels becoming low-income housing again. And they are! esotouric.substack.com/p/cecil
Jose Huizar's scam Pershing Square "design competition" is the grift that keeps on giving--even though he's been indicted and there's no money to build the unbuildable "winning" version. Somebody's got to say it: Restore! esotouric.substack.com/p/pushing-back…
We have a free newsletter packed with L.A. historic preservation news, and a subscriber edition featuring rare research and road trips. Our weirdest 2021 post was about getting groped by a ghost, and the next weirdest was about body fluids in the archives. esotouric.substack.com/p/the-dead-kno…
Our pal Big John left us this year, and the week doesn't go by that we wish we could call and pick that great big beautiful brain of his. Big John Maljevic, 1927-2021: esotouric.com/bigjohn/
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