Gentle reader,
About twenty years ago, the novelist John Rechy gave an interview for the book Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, And Lipstick Lesbians, and he decided to have a little fun.
He’d written in City of Night (1963) about the stark anxiety of LAPD harassment at “Hooper’s” all-nite coffee and donut shop, “where periodically the cops come in, walk up and down the counter sullenly, picking you out at random — and youre suddenly intensely studying the cup of coffee before you.”
It gnawed at him then, and after.
So when Stuart Timmons set his tape recorder down 40+ years later, Rechy told a different, more heroic story, one shaped by the subsequent LGBTQ+ uprisings at the Black Cat Tavern (1967) and Stonewall (1969) and San Francisco Examiner (1969). He rewrote his own history to make it better, the truth be damned.
And because he’s a gifted storyteller who taps into powerful longings, Rechy’s unlikely tale of a Cooper’s Donut Riot with the oppressed denizens of Main Street rising up to drive off the cops with the only weapons at hand (donuts and coffee cups) radiated out from the first page of Gay L.A. and onto the internet, where it grew bigger and more elaborate with each retelling.
And so on Thursday, the city unveiled a sign designating 2nd and Main Streets as Cooper Do-nuts / Nancy Valverde SQUARE.
But something remarkable has come out of all this bad history. When it became clear that the city was going ahead with the square dedication, we asked our friend Rev. Dylan Littlefield to reach out to the office of the Chief of Police. Could this ceremony be an opportunity to make amends for the decades of hostile policing of gay, trans and non-binary Angelenos? Yes it could!
We’re pleased to share this video of Commander Ruby Flores’ apology on behalf of the LAPD, and to have played a role in making it happen.
Update: After the dedication of her square, Rev. Dylan Littlefield became Nancy Valverde’s friend and confessor, speaking with her daily. She died on March 25, 2024, and on April 20, Rev. Dylan gave her eulogy at Trinity Lutheran Church, Pasadena.
John Rechy knows the power of words, though in those early internet days of 2005 he couldn’t have dreamed how far his clearly fantastic Cooper’s Donut Riot tale would travel. The story’s end came last week on a sleepy corner in Downtown Los Angeles, as Commander Flores said, “I deeply apologize on behalf of the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department. This mistreatment and harassment of our citizens was wrong. It should have never happened.”
As her words echoed against LAPD headquarters and the old Cathedral, we looked down Main Street, a few blocks south to the actual gay cruising district known as The Run, and hoped the spirits that suffered through this abuse could hear her. Words matter, and so does the truth.
We don’t typically elevate internet trolling or ignorance, but for the record, let it be stated that the person who championed civic designation of this fake history is named Tony Hoover. In November 2018 on Facebook, Hoover bizarrely accused us of being liars with a political agenda when, in the aftermath of our councilman’s arrest on public corruption charges, we published a newsletter titled Taking stock of the many LA landmarks lost to one-man wrecking ball Jose Huizar's political ambitions, from the Ambassador Hotel to 6th Street Bridge.
Hoover’s bias apparently extends to our colleague Nathan Marsak, since with all the internet “research” Hoover did to nominate Cooper Donuts for a civic square designation, he conveniently missed Nathan’s now five-part series, the most complete and accurate reporting ever done on the topic.
And it’s Hoover’s loss—just as it was his loss that he chose to chat with a politician as Commander Flores was making her historic apology. We think it’s worth listening to, and a terrific coda to the Cooper’s Donut Riot tale… which continues to spew fresh mythic fragments in its wake, like the claim that ailing police harassment victim and LGBTQ+ activist Nancy Valverde was present at Thursday’s ceremony. (No, but her younger sister Lupe was, and embraced Commander Flores after her remarks.)
If you sign up for The Run on July 8, we’ll stop at the Square during our walk, as we fill you in on the factual and fascinating history of gay life in Downtown Los Angeles—join us, do!
yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
Psst… If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar and a subscriber edition of this newsletter, vintage Los Angeles webinars available to stream, in-person tours and a souvenir shop you can browse in. We’ve also got recommended reading bookshelves on Amazon and the Bookshop indie bookstore site. Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING BUS & WALKING TOURS
Echo Park Book of the Dead Bus Tour (Sat. 7/1) • New! The Run: Gay Downtown History Walk (Sat. 7/8) •Westlake Park Walk (Sat. 7/15) • Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles Bus Tour (Sat. 7/22) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue Walk (Sat. 8/5) • Charles Bukowski’s Los Angeles Bus Tour (Sat. 8/12)
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS
An UPDATE on the real estate lobbyists NOMINATED to the Los Angeles City Planning Commission and how YOU can help: Illisa Gold’s nomination passed 4-0 at PLUM despite 100(!) written public comments opposing in the case file. If you agree that her Abundant Housing L.A. leadership role is DISQUALIFYING—read on for why we think so—there is still a chance to stop this appointment. Please call or email and ask your councilmember to oppose the nomination when it reaches full City Council at 10am on Wednesday, June 28, 2023 (agenda link and public comment instructions here). You can also express opposition to the nominations of Ilissa Gold’s Abundant Housing L.A. colleagues Jaime Del Rio (North Valley Area Planning Commission) and Haley Feng (West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission). This can be done through emails and calls, as well as written or (most effective) in person or telephonic public comment at the June 28 final hearing. (Direct link to the council files: Illisa Gold, Jaime Del Rio, Haley Feng.)
We sometimes get to visit places so drenched in exquisite detail, it feels like a dream. But unlike dreams, we can share! Ten years ago today, we explored Sister Aimee's castle retreat in Lake Elsinore. On Saturday's Echo Park Book of the Dead bus tour, we'll visit her L.A. home.
An important new blog just launched, Empty Los Angeles. Angelenos can see there's something wrong: folks keep moving away and yet there is nothing affordable for rent. Our preservation pal C.C. de Vere is tracking vacancies and blogging the housing use crisis, including 666 perpetually vacant Downtown residency hotel rooms. She’s looking for tips, too!
Holding your breath to see Jose Huizar sent to prison for his sickening betrayal of the public trust? Sorry, justice seeker. The racketeer rep's one remaining public defender is taking leave to have a baby, and Sleazy Huizy's sentencing has been delayed again, to December 15 at 8am.
Three years after preservationists flipped out when YESCO pulled down the landmark Pantages neon blade sign to construct a replica, we passed it in bright daylight and were horrified to see dark patches in most of the cans. Rust? Mold? Smog?
Courthouse News reports on the amateurish mess of Mark Adams' receivership of the Skid Row Housing Trust buildings. The longer this dishonest guy is allowed to run up bills, the harder it will be to fix the mess the city, state and county let fester.
RIP to the most beautiful house in Victor Heights, 900 N. White Knoll, cleared for a duplex that's not yet permitted. The demo notice has served its purpose, so we took it away as a bitter souvenir of demolition by neglect, then intent.
Angels Flight operator Nathan Marsak gave us the tip: a major fire broke out at the Cast Iron Commercial Building (HCM #140, 1903) at 740-48 South San Pedro. We informed Office of Historic Resources so they can advise on appropriate repairs to the landmark. LAFD says the cause was an exterior rubbish fire. Streetview shows plywood shacks off the alley. Were they ever inspected?
While Sara Clendening, president of Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council, was dedicating herself to uncovering civic neglect and corruption, including developers about to build on the toxic waste dump at Avenue 34... the LAPD was wiretapping her phones?!
The mid-century modern Robert J. Robillard residence is slated for demolition. He was manager of industrial design for Lockheed Sundberg-Ferar, and with his neighbors in 1956 fought off attempts to turn Mulholland into an eight lane highway!
TOC upzoning like this Leeward project displaces Angelenos, creates homelessness, destroys good 100 year old buildings. See the gentrification flipper pitch here.
Terrific storybook house with a Pat Nixon connection is threatened with demolition. Look at this charmer! It could be moved! Join Vintage Norwalk on Facebook to learn more and brainstorm with others who don't want to see it lost. Or heck—move it yourself!
As we continue to await release of the Monastery of the Angels RFP, Sister Maria Christine opens the cloistered walls to CBS Saturday Morning host Michelle Miller, including a rare view of the nuns' indoor swimming pool. As for the property's future, Sister says "The plan is probably still in the eyes of God." The show's hosts are skeptical that there is no plan in place, but they do enjoy the pumpkin bread.
Righteous Angeleno rage: Virginia Jauregui has watched crooked city planning decimate her Olympic Park neighborhood, called out corruption and gotten blown off by the City Attorney. Now she's got a website and is appealing Jamison's TOC project at 1041-47 S. Crenshaw.
Something's rotten in Los Angeles and lawyer Paul Paradis rolled around in the slime just long enough to wreck his life, and decide to cooperate with the Feds. His is a fascinating, awful story, and it seems like only Justin Kloczko
is watching... for now.In LA Public Press: Phoenix Tso calls out speculation spurred by Metro expansion that pushed legacy business Suehiro Cafe from Little Tokyo to Main Street. If their ex-landlord thinks he'll get a permit for a weed dispensary in that storefront now, he's nuts.
The Hibert Museum's collection is now online, including Ralph Hulett's painting of the Hayden Block, a forgotten Lincoln Heights landmark we featured in a post about Pat Adler's 1960s L.A. architecture safaris.
Pasadena is not happy with the squalid condition of St. Luke Hospital, but owner Mehdi Bolour isn’t taking their calls. He’s been hard to find since LAPD cleared out his illegal art colony in Hollywood’s Palmer Building in 2018, displacing dozens. He sold the Palmer the following year, and it’s now slated for hotel conversion. We hope St. Luke, too, can find a responsible new owner with fresh ideas… & that Pasadena will act swiftly to protect the vacant, and apparently now unguarded, landmark.
Remember when Arthur Jafa bought the Philip Ahn / Kurt Cobain Residence and objected to the L.A. Conservancy's landmark nomination because he wanted a new house by David Adjaye? 14 months on, there are no permits and SCOTT ON TAPE found the house in sad shape.
Historic-Cultural Monument nomination submitted for the Storybook-Gothic Piccadilly Apartments (Milton M. Friedman, 1928) at 682 Irolo, Koreatown. She's got great bones.
Hollywood bungalow court fan Evangeline Kelly is helping to fill in the gaps in the city's spotty Survey LA, with a lovely neighborhood of multi-family RSO garden units just below Melrose, which sadly includes this recent twin loss. The full map is here.
How the Mythical Cooper's Donuts Riot Led to a Real LAPD Apology... and one last chance to keep real estate lobbyists off the L.A. Planning Commission