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My Life in The Promise Land
As told to Tamar Brott They told me you could make $50,000 a year here, but that’s a lie. I came from Nicaragua when I was 32, and now I’m 38. I sell tamales at MacArthur Park. On a nice day, I can...
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Ask Chris: Dancing Queen
Q: A terrazzo square in MacArthur Park has an image of a dancing couple. What is that? A: You may think it’s a misplaced homage to Dancing with the Stars, but Crazy as a Pair of Waltzing Mice is one of...
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Essential T: Tamales de Arroz in MacArthur Park
The very best Mexican foods start with the letter T—tacos, tortas, tlayudas. Here we showcase the tastiest “T” bites from the streets of L.A. When Jimmy Webb lamented that he’d “never have that recipe...
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A Glock in the Park: A Guide to the Gangs of the MacArthur Greens
MARA SALVATRUCHA Nicknames: MS-13, MaraOrigin: Pico-Union Founded: 1980s High-profile rivalry: 18th Street gang Known for: Being transnational. MS-13 was formed in Los Angeles but expanded...
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Bait And Switch: MacArthur Park Lake Holds More Than Just Fish
The fancy fishing rod was seven feet, eleven inches long. Armed with steely reserve and a fiberglass implement, Steven Banks set out to catch (well—to try to catch) one or two bass in MacArthur Park...
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Curtain Call: There’s Singing and Dancing in MacArthur and Memorial Parks
The Hollywood Bowl isn’t the only option for world class, outdoor concerts in Los Angeles. For 11 years people have been enjoying music in Pasadena’s Memorial Park while MacArthur Park has been home to...
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L.A.’s First Urban Fruit Trail Has Been Vandalized
We have an upsetting update to yesterday’s Los Angeles Times story about L.A.’s first Urban Fruit Trail, the path of 150 stone fruit and citrus trees being planted by children enrolled in the Heart of...
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Langer’s Deli Helps Save the Urban Fruit Trail
The saga of L.A.’s Urban Fruit Trail continues. As we reported yesterday, the path of stone fruit and citrus trees planted by children enrolled in the Heart of Los Angeles youth program was severely...
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Ask Chris: There is a Mural Near MacArthur Park of Three People in Lab Coats....
That painting, called Holy Trinity with the Virgin, was completed by Kent Twitchell in 1977 for his master’s thesis at Otis College of Art and Design. The college relocated to Westchester in 1997, and...
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CityDig: You Think You Know MacArthur Park, But You Have No Idea
Few spots in Los Angeles have experienced the tumultuous ups and downs of MacArthur Park, formerly West Lake Park, which once posed prettily on the outskirts of the city during the boom-times of L.A.’s...
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More Balls: Thousands of Psychedelic Beach Toys Fill MacArthur Park Lake
What’s with L.A. and lakes full of floating spheres? On Saturday, Eric Garcetti once again released a flurry of plastic balls into a body of water, only this time, they were five feet tall and painted...
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The Lake at MacArthur Park Has No Remorse
I had been living in MacArthur Park a bit more than a year when the body was pulled from the lake. It was 2012, a windless September morning, and from my apartment window I had just snapped a picture...
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3 L.A. Neighborhoods Worth a Closer Look
This piece originally appeared as part of the 20 Great Walks guide in the February 2018 issue of Los Angeles magazine. To truly know the city, you have to walk it. That’s the inspiration behind the...
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