BY Catherine G. Wagley On the afternoon of Saturday, April 28, sunny T-shirt weather in Los Angeles, a couple dozen people assembled outside the industrial building that housed the art exhibition and performance space 356 Mission to celebrate the space’s closure. Balloons hung from a stop sign and a piñata in the form of Donald Trump […]

by:Patricia Leigh Brown LOS ANGELES — The temporary transformation of Fickett Street in Boyle Heights began with yellow shades resembling huge kites suspended over the sun-scorched asphalt. Soon, a thoroughfare known for its speeding vehicles and gang activity became something else entirely — a “play street” in which women gathered for Lotería, or Mexican bingo, […]

By Scott Scheffer Residents of the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights are savoring a rent-strike victory organized by a group of tenants. The Mariachi rent strike forced a rich real estate developer to sign the first-ever collective bargaining agreement between tenants and a landlord in Los Angeles. About half the tenants in the 24-unit […]

The deal could be a model for other LA renters to follow By Elijah Chiland  After a months-long struggle, renters living in a Boyle Heights apartment complex close to Mariachi Plaza have reached an agreement with the building’s owner and property management company allowing them to remain in their residences. On Thursday, a coalition of community groups that […]

The tenants and their supporters at 1815 E 2nd St. by Jacob Woocher After over a year of collective struggle, the tenants of 1815 E 2nd St. in Boyle Heights have finalized their negotiations with property owner BJ Turner and will remain in their homes! 13 of the 25 tenants in the building have signed a collective bargaining […]

by: NATHAN SOLIS   LOS ANGELES (CN) – Tenants of a Los Angeles apartment complex who refused to pay huge rent spikes last year and were then served eviction notices scored a victory Thursday when they reached a settlement agreement with their landlord to stay in their homes. Last June, seven tenants at the Boyle Height’s […]

If you are moved by these tenants’ struggle, please consider donating to support their rent strike and help cover legal fees: https://www.gofundme.com/mariachisupport By: Jacob Woocher The following is inspired by a comment I received in response to this recent piece about gentrification in L.A. Mary C., who identifies herself as someone working in real estate with “over 30+ […]

A 1939 red-lined map of L.A. from the HOLC, a government agency created after the Great Depression. Maps like these were used to deny home financing to non-whites. By: Jacob Woocher L.A.’s Black population has declined by 100,000 since the 1980s, falling from 13% of the County population to 8% in just a few decades. Hollywood alone […]