Gentle reader,
Two months ago, after Judge Lawrence Cho issued his bench trial ruling against Jorge the Burro and his human keeper, we shared the crushingly sad update on the City’s efforts to evict the Hernandez family’s generational Olvera Street photo op stall, La Carreta.
With no humane, human jury to see through this dry contract law case, the burro didn’t stand a chance.
And yet here we are, two months later, and Jorge the burro is still there, with his collection of colorful sombreros to shade smiling visitors as they pose for a photo celebrating their time on Olvera Street.
But barring a miracle, and it breaks our hearts to even type it out: Wednesday, May 20 might be Jorge’s eviction day.
We visited our burro pal on Tuesday afternoon and caught him just as he was being wheeled down Main Street to his evening quarters. Even though Olvera Street was not busy, there was a palpable buzz in the air.
Later, we realized this was because Mayoral candidate and councilmember Nithya Raman had come over from City Hall to talk with some of the generational merchants about their frustrations with management.
If we had seen the councilmember, we would have asked her if she remembered when she had joined her colleagues in voting unanimously to give Richard Hernandez Chase a new lease to operate the photo concession on the Plaza? That was June 2024.
We’d ask why nothing was done after that motion passed, leaving this sweet, hard-working guy to take his case to court, where he lost at great financial and emotion cost, and is now facing eviction.
But we didn’t see the councilmember, which was maybe her good luck, because this is a maddening, unjust case of the city behaving like a bully that should have been resolved, in the burro’s favor, years ago.
Also, we’re still really mad at her for starting the process that evicted the Griffith Park Pony Rides, and for refusing to save the Boney Island Treehouse by initiating landmark designation.
The councilmember came, and went. The motion to issue a new lease remains stalled, with no explanation. And barring a miracle, tomorrow will likely be eviction day for Jorge the burro, after which, for the first time since 1968, members of the Hernandez family will not be making new friends and memories at El Pueblo.
But we believe in miracles, and in always demanding that our elected and appointed officials do the right thing and honor the will of the people.
If you love Jorge and don’t want him to be evicted, there are some decision makers that Richard Hernandez Chase hopes you will contact.
Call Mayor Karen Bass at (213) 978-0600. Call Councilmember Ysabel Jurado at (213) 473-7014. Call the El Pueblo Office at (213) 485-6855, Email the El Pueblo Commissioners at eptours@lacity.org. Email the L.A. City Attorney at cityatty.help@lacity.org.
Please call and/or email with a brief message along these lines: “Hi, I’m a concerned citizen and I’m urging you to intervene immediately and stop the eviction of the La Carreta stand and Jorge the Donkey on Olvera Street. Jorge is a historic and cultural landmark for generations of Angelenos, and the Hernandez family deserves to stay. The city needs to protect our living history, not evict it.”
Thanks to preservation pal Adrian E. Alvarez for crafting this message, which he posted with his AI song for Jorge and Olvera Street on YouTube.
And if you’re around tomorrow, Wednesday, May 20, stop by at the southernmost end of Olvera Street where Jorge is stationed to show your support and get a photo taken. We don’t know how long the burro and his person will be able to stay at their post, but it’s worth a try to see them if you can.
This is a frustrating newsletter to write. The government of Los Angeles has broken down, yet continues to run on fumes and smash the dreams of Angelenos. Our so-called leaders refuse to lead, and refuse to get out of the way. Good people do all the right things, and it’s not enough.
But giving up and staying down is not the answer. Let’s keep kicking, like a burro, until we get the city we all deserve.
Saturday’s tour is The Run, a ramble around Downtown Los Angeles to discover sites of gay history and lore, from neon-drenched tiki palaces to subterranean cruising zones to places where creative protest changed minds and laws. Come explore with us and see a different side of cultural history, in good company.
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
Are you on social media? We’re on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, Substack Notes, TikTok, Nextdoor and Reddit sharing preservation news as it happens. New: some of these newsletters are on Medium, too.
Our work—leading tours and historic preservation and cultural landmark advocacy—is about building a bridge between Los Angeles’ past and its future, and not allowing the corrupt, greedy, inept and misguided players who hold present power to destroy the city’s soul and body. If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar, 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 tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING WALKING TOURS
• The Run: Gay Downtown History (5/23) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (5/30) • The Real Black Dahlia (6/6) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (6/13) • Know Your Downtown LA: Bradbury Building, Basements of Yore and the Dutch Chocolate Shop (6/20) • Miracle Mile Marvels & Madness (Sunday, 6/21) • Westlake Park (6/27) • Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice (7/11) • Hollywood Noir (7/18) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (7/25) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown L.A. (8/1) • Film Noir / Real Noir (8/8) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (8/29)
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS
On the hunt for cool stuff in Gardena, we stumbled upon what might be the most beautiful no-tell motel in Southern California. Dare-U Inn offers clean rooms by the hour in a charming roadside Spanish Colonial Revival court setting. If you go, pet Blackie for us!
Must read from Bunker Hill historian Nathan Marsak on Karen Bass’ Sacramento funded shelter project inside the World Trade Center concourse, which is denser than any L.A. public housing project in history. Save the Tony Sheets murals and pedway access!
On our recent tour of Charles Bukowski’s Westlake, we visited LAFD Station #11, one of the busiest in America, to hear about their 24/7 service rescuing seniors when elevators fail, putting out fires in abandoned buildings, responding to ODs and generally keeping MacArthur Park folk safer.
And speaking of MacArthur Park and bring of service, Rev. Dylan Littlefield writes about his new ministry showing up in the park to build connections and help people who are ready to be helped, and his informed concerns about how political candidates talk about people in crisis on the streets.
When Relevant Group owned Downtown hotels, they planned to demolish three Linwood mansions for replacement units. Plans and ownership have changed, but the peril is back. We’re worried about the 1903 homes—prime Altadena move prospects—the remaining RSO tenants and the block.
“Fires caused by homeless squatters at abandoned or vacant properties routinely endanger nearby houses and families. So common are such fires that they are quickly forgotten, as are the stories of people who live nearby.” Sam Quinones reports on L.A.’s real housing crisis.
Mike Callahan calls out a City Council that passes motions about illegal construction and demolition by neglect, but never follows through to see them become enforceable law. If your neighborhood is a fire-prone hellscape, blame our lazy “leaders.”
A very cool opportunity on Atlantic in Lynwood: the wee La Playita mariscos joint, built in 1948 as The Iceberg ice cream parlor, is for sale with its roomy parking lot. Make all your roadside hospitality dreams come true.
Cat nip for book lovers: The Clark Library Acquisitions Salon is Thursday, May 21 at 3pm. Free event with the librarians of the greatest Oscar Wilde collection in the west. RSVP here.
ProPublica is launching a new investigative reporting hub in California, and holy cats, do we need it. (The illegal Airbnb reporting mentioned in the announcement drew on our ongoing investigations into LA’s housing use crisis).
Friends, we live in noir times—far darker than the era that inspired Raymond Chandler to create his hard-boiled detective anti-hero. Someone needs to buy the Art Deco Arcadia News-Journal Building, start a muckraking outlet and clean Los Angeles County up!
Concerned fans of the Cinerama Dome got a rare chance to be heard at a Zoning Administrator hearing. Our public comment was quoted by the L.A. Times: “[we] know that this has been hard and it has seemed like the citizens versus the ownership—that’s not what it is. People want to come together and help and bring this place back.”
On Mother’s Day, we visited Hope Street’s Speculator Row, where another huge blaze was devouring a nice old building—not one held vacant for years, but the beloved Bluebird Office Supplies. We couldn’t help think of 1/7/2025 and the Palisades Fire.
On Max Kutner’s Zephyr Letter: seeking comment from realtors and curators on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be the next steward of the Stahl House.
When the Aztec Hotel hit the market last summer at a shocking $15 Million, we stopped by with the Preservation Imp to scope out the site. As the Route 66 Centennial ticks on, the landmark remains shuttered, with no price drop. This wonderful place has been waiting a long time for an owner who cares.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said at a Budget hearing: “I have a list of dozens and dozens of RSO units in my district… that are currently Airbnb units. This is happening.” But when Empty Los Angeles asked for the list, it was ignored—also illegal!
The aspirational Leo & Helen Politi Bunker Hill Park, FKA Angels Knoll, is now on Google Maps. If you review, please give 5-stars, even if you complain about the locked gates. We believe positive energy will be rewarded!
Last fall, JPL’s publicity team denied Shelby Eidson’s independent report that firefighters were pulled away from Altadena to protect the lab. That was not truthful: the official Los Angeles County’s Eaton Fire evacuation report describes “a potential catastrophic consequence” and resources diverted. You can read the report here. And you can read Altadena citizens complaining about it here.
Casa de Adobe (1925) was gifted to Angelenos, a faux Spanish Colonial hacienda filled with antiques, paintings and a 19th century garden. Shuttered alongside the Southwest Museum, the City landmark needs to be in use. No more fires in empty buildings. Why can’t we play here?
File under: guess they screwed up. Netflix is shuttering the Egyptian Theatre next month for more work, less than two years after the $70 Million restoration was completed. This community space, gifted to a member-based nonprofit, was taken from you, Angeleno.
