Update 11/14/23: We’re encouraged by the announcement from City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto of a crackdown on the illicit market for copper infrastructure wire, which we hope will also help curb the trade in stolen decorative and memorial metal pieces, like those describe in this newsletter.
Gentle reader,
For too long, significant and beautiful and useful pieces of our city’s heritage have been spirited away by metal thieves who sell them to unscrupulous dealers for scrap value. And nothing is ever done to stop this vile trade. Isn’t it time it was?
This week, as community members visited the sacred circle at Cinco Puntos on the Boyle Heights / East Los Angeles border to prepare it for the Veterans Day ceremonies, they found that the central obelisk in the Mexican-American All Wars Memorial, and the plinth honoring Eddie Morin across the road, had both been butchered, with most of the bronze ripped away.
In 2021, when we worked with concerned citizens in Atwater Village to try to halt the nightly theft of historic streetlamps from the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge, the city chose to put all the remaining poles in storage. Nobody was ever arrested, and we heard nothing about an investigation into who was buying the obviously stolen scrap from the thieves.
After reading about the latest desecration in the Eastsider LA, we went over to see for ourselves and to make this video about what we saw, and what concerned citizens can do about it.
If you agree with us that the City and County need to get serious about shutting down the criminal enterprises that buy and melt down stolen streetlights and manhole covers, fire hydrants and grave markers, war memorials and statues, please call or email the decision makers (contact info below) and tell them: “I want you to do something to stop metal theft, like the Mexican-American All Wars Memorial at Cinco Puntos that was vandalized before Veteran’s Day.”
• Hilda Solis: (213) 613-1739, firstdistrict@bos.lacounty.gov
• Kevin de Léon: (213) 473-7014, councilmember.kevindeleon@lacity.org
To a shady scrap dealer, these objects are only worth the daily spot price of bronze or iron, less a bit because the seller is obviously a crook. But to Angelenos, they are a part of our shared experience, familiar and meaningful and useful, and deserving of special care because they belong to everyone and to no one.
It’s easy to get beaten down by all the ugliness and decay infesting Los Angeles. But just because those in power let it stay this way doesn’t mean we ought to stand for it. Speak up and demand more and better—you’re worth it, and so is this wonderful place.
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. And did you know we offer private versions of our walking and bus tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING BUS & WALKING TOURS
• Special Event: Leo Politi Loves Los Angeles Bus Tour (11/18) • Alvarado Terrace & South Bonnie Brae Walking Tour (Sat. 11/25) • Know Your Downtown L.A.: Tunnels To Towers To The Dutch Chocolate Shop Walking Tour (Sat. 12/2) • Highland Park Arroyo Walking Tour (Sat. 12/9) • Miracle Mile Marvels & Madness Walking Tour (Sun. 12/17) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher Walking Tour (Tues. 12/26)
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