Christmas Eve in Los Angeles: 2018 Edition

Our Christmas Eve traditions are tied to the Blogger Kid's birthday — he turned 14 on Monday — in addition to the holiday, and take us through the city. There's something special about being downtown and seeing the iconic City Hall lit up, next to the holiday lights and Christmas tree of Grand Park. Here's a look at our Christmas Eve in Los Angeles:

One tradition that we have had to alter: We used to eat at the Square One location at the Echo Park Boathouse before renting one of the paddleboats. Square One is gone, and its replacement, Beacon, wasn't open on Christmas Eve. So we continued the tradition by eating at the Square One location on Hyperion in Silver Lake *after* the paddleboats.

One big change to the paddleboats: New vendor Wheel Fun switched out the old boats with these swan boats. They're easier to paddle and more fun to look at, even though the swan heads partially block the view.

Another tradition: The 4 p.m. Children's Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Downtown Los Angeles.

After that, we book it across the street to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to catch the tail end of the annual Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration. The annual free event, which celebrates its 60th anniversary next year, boasts a wide range of talent — including, as seen above, the Daniel Ho Trio, with Halau Hula Keali'i O Nalani, Makoto Taiko, and the Arcadia High School Orchestra.

The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles

Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea end the show.

One last look at Grand Park and City Hall, before we head off to see the extended family. Merry Christmas from Los Angeles.

Downtown Los Angeles, Decked Out for the Holidays

Looking for a backdrop this holiday to take photos or just feel festive? We headed down to Grand Park, in downtown Los Angeles' Civic Center, earlier this month to take our annual Christmas card photo. The options were numerous. A few more shots without our smiling mugs:

A Peek Inside the 1940s Los Angeles of TNT's "Lost Angels"

The era of Mickey Cohen, Police Chief William Parker and LA Mayor Fletcher Bowron comes alive in Frank Darabont's upcoming drama "Lost Angels." Based on the John Buntin book "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City," Jon Bernthal ("The Walking Dead") stars as the fictional character Joe Teague, a police investigator who encounters a part real/ part fictionalized version of 1940s Los Angeles.

Earlier this week at the Television Critics Association press tour, we got a chance to tour the "Lost Angels" set at Red Studios in Hollywood. The show's production designer, costume director and location manager took pride in how they re-created that era of Los Angeles history. We got a look at a remade version of City Hall, where some of the LAPD resided back then. And we also got a look at a fictional club (a composite of some real clubs of the era), where the good guys and the bad guys mingled.

The show's outfits and design were influenced by Malibu tile -- in particular the color you see at Union Station. Some of the show's outdoor scenes were shot there, along with usual suspects like the Biltmore Hotel.

I got a chance to chat with location manager Scott Poole, who also works on "Mad Men" -- a show that, as you know, we love to watch in part to see how L.A. doubles as midcentury New York. Poole lamented all of the renovation and gentrification taking place downtown. It's great for the city, but alas, not good for productions looking to re-create old L.A. He remembers visiting the Original Pantry when "Mad Men" first started, expecting to shoot there. But as he arrived, workers had just started turning part of the Pantry into Riordan's Tavern -- so alas, the Pantry is no longer a go-to place for period pieces. Now that Clifton's Cafeteria is being redone, that's "also off the books now," he says. "The surge of money being put in downtown (is a problem for us). The places we've filmed over the part 20 years that had still been intact, they're all being renovated."

Here are more scenes from the set of "Lost Angels," including that actual copy of inside City Hall:

Taking Stock of Occupy LA at City Hall

While participating in CicLAvia on Sunday, the Blogger Toddler 2.0 and I also ventured to the City Hall lawn to see how Occupy LA, now in its second week, is doing. An offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the L.A. movement seems to have picked up steam in recent days. CicLAvia conveniently helped as well and likely helped recruit a few more regulars.

Some pics:

In Honor of Tucson Victims, L.A. Flags at Half-Staff on Monday

The City of Los Angeles will join New York and other locales on Monday in lowering their flags to half-staff. Flags will be brought down as a tribute to the victims of Saturday's Tucson shooting.

City Council president Eric Garcetti confirmed earlier tonight via Twitter exchange with Sheigh Crabtree that L.A. would participate in the tribute.

The tragedy, of course, had an L.A. connection: Nine-year-old Christina Green, who died in the aftermath, was the daughter of Dodgers scout John Green.

Forty Years Later, An Empty Pit Remains Across the Street From City Hall

I was glad to see the L.A. Downtown News include that empty pit across the street from City Hall on its list of Downtown's 10 Worst Eyesores.

It's one of the great mysteries of downtown that has bothered me for a long time: How has Los Angeles allowed the pit across the street from City Hall to crumble, untouched, for FORTY YEARS?!

Employees can see down to that weed-strewn, graffiti-covered chunk of land right outside their windows, for heaven's sake.

A little backstory: The site was once home to the California State Building. The 13-story building, which opened in 1933, served as the southern headquarters of the state's administrative offices. (In the photo above, it's just to the right and in front of City Hall.)

But the 1971 San Fernando earthquake left the building uninhabitable. (Much like the 1933 Long Beach quake ruined many of Los Angeles' beautiful original civic buildings, including the 1891 red sandstone County Courthouse.) The California State Building was torn down, leaving just the foundation.

And then... nothing. The foundation is still there. Which means that the empty pit has now been in existence as long as the California State Building actually existed (exactly 40 years).



The Downtown News investigated why the pit has remained empty for so long -- and the answer is disheartening. Apparently no one is quite sure who has jurisdiction of the land -- and as a result, no one is really aggressively looking to do something about it.

The paper's Evan George wrote in 2007:

In the late '80s, a tentative deal with developer Raffi Cohen portended a commercial office building with retail on the ground floor. But when the office market in Downtown soured, the Cohen deal dissolved.

Making matters murkier, the entire 4.6-acre block had been wrapped in a tri-party ownership between the state, county and city. Basically, the state owned the vacant lot, the county retained the parking lot and the city controlled a thin strip between them, which it eventually gave up. Some observers have blamed this dual partnership for decades of indecision.

Still, the land didn't sit vacant exactly: The Los Angeles Times reported that a massive homeless encampment had arisen on the property, embarrassing officials into exchanging flimsy wooden panels for the current fence...

When I finally reached the state's Department of General Services, they confirmed their stake in the property, but said no plans are in the pipeline.

"At this point we're just putting together how to best move forward," said Paula Gutierres of the DGS real estate division

That's code, I learned, for a lengthy market analysis slated for the site. Gutierres said the study will cost half a million dollars and include "45 or 50 different tasks." Ultimately, the land could become "anything from office to residential to retail." But not a park. And not anytime soon.

Sadly, a typical Los Angeles story. The 1938 Coulter's department store on the Miracle Mile was torn down in 1980 for development... but sat as any empty pit for nearly 30 years, until a new housing development was recently built there. And a parking lot still sits where

Here's how the footprint of the old building looks today, via Google maps:

Downtown, Today vs. 50 Years Ago

I've been meaning for days to mention the L.A. Times' cool photo gallery of shots taken via the top of City Hall in 1951 and now.

I'm a sucker for these kind of "then and now" photo juxtapositions -- I own several books that similarly chronicle old and new Los Angeles. But there's something even cooler in being able to quickly click back and forth to see what's new -- and what's gone.

The shots above face west from City Hall; besides the obvious rise of the skyscraper (and the tragic destruction of the art deco Richfield building), I'm struck by the shrinking Bunker Hill. It's been documented that the city flattened the hill after removing all of the old Victorians and other buildings there (another sigh), and this photo comparison shows how much was dramatically sliced off the hill.

Check out more here.

Tamales, Theremins and Tom Bradley: A Night with the L.A. Conservancy's Modcom

The Los Angeles Conservancy's Modern Committee celebrated its 25th anniversary -- and the holidays -- on Monday night at City Hall.

Modcom member, Los Angeles mag editor and Franklin Avenue friend Chris Nichols enticed us with the promise of the three T's -- tamales, a theramin and Tom Bradley. We were sold -- especially because of that last one.

Yes, the top floor of L.A.'s City Hall is now named after L.A.'s five-term, twenty-year mayor. I had never made it up to the top, so it didn't take much arm twisting (just delicate scheduling at home, in order to make it there after putting the kids to bed).

I gotta say, it lived up to expectations. The Tom Bradley Room offers amazing 360 degree views of downtown, while the room isn't huge -- but still a decent size, and perfect home to an L.A. Conservancy-related shindig.

Chris, of course, M.C.-ed the event, which also honored photogs Jack Laxer, Leland Lee, Marvin Rand (accepted by his son Peter Rand) and Julius Shulman (accepted by his daughter Judy McKee).

A few pics:


Happy 25th, Modcom!


The view from City Hall's 27th floor Tom Bradley Room


Disney Hall


The Tom Bradley Room ceiling


The room


Tom Bradley or bust!


The musical entertainment included a theremin performer.


Plaque recognizing City Hall's Lindbergh Beacon, which was shining bright atop the building on Monday night.