Photo Essay: Riding the D (Or, Bringing the D to Beverly Hills)

When you move from New York City to Los Angeles, everybody outside of LA says, "Oh, but you have to drive." 

That's not a bad thing to me. I often wished I had a car when I lived in three of the five boroughs. And by the time I moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan in 2003, I'd been avoiding the subway ride home late at night for years already. At one point when I was making enough money, I took cabs to work every day. 

But living in Beverly Hills since 2011, I have felt the pinch of not even having the option to ride the subway. If I wanted to, say, ride the Expo line to an event at the Coliseum (so as to avoid traffic and high parking fees), I'd still have to drive five miles (or 20 minutes) and park my car in the Metro lot. 

Thank goodness for the bus lines, which have gotten me where I've needed to go many times when my car has been in the shop and I couldn't afford rideshare.

So even though public transit has not been part of my daily routine, I was still excited that the LA subway was finally coming to Beverly Hills, thanks to the Purple Line Extension—or what's now known as "the D." 

Photo Essay: Silver City, A Ghost Town Made of Pieces of Other Ghost Towns

When I first moved to California, some places just seemed so far away. It was impossible for me to wrap my head around making a day trip to Joshua Tree or Palm Springs—a three-hour drive each way. But over the past 14 years, my home state has continued to feel smaller and smaller, easier and easier to tackle. 

In April 2014, I made a detour from the Eastern Sierra to try to see Silver City Ghost Town in Bodfish, California, located in the Kern River Valley of the Southern Sierra. I'd gotten there too late in the day to catch it before it closed or to even photograph it in daylight. And it just seemed so out-of-the-way that it took me 11 years to try again. 

 

This time, I planned my trip a little better and got an earlier start, as I headed home from the early-morning Burro Run I'd attended in Indian Wells Canyon. 

Photo Essay: Barris Kustoms Prepares to Depart Its Home of 60+ Years (And Take the Batmobile With It)

By the time I first got to visiting Barris Kustoms in North Hollywood, California, its founder and namesake George Barris had already passed nearly three years before.

 

I think I had a sense back then that his car customizing shop—long known as "Barris Kustom City," long before Pimp My Ride—might not be long for this world once he was gone.

Will Shamrocks and Horseshoes Bring Enough Luck to Keep Tom Bergin's Open For Good? (Updated for 2026)

[Last updated 3/17/26 2:37 PM PT—I'm happy to report that Tom Bergin's is still going strong and hosting its annual St. Patrick's Day parking lot bash! Bartenders are still slinging Irish coffees—now in hot and cold/iced varieties—and the food is stupendous.] 

Located on the cusp of Miracle Mile, a stone's throw from the Metro Purple Line Extension that'll revitalize the neighborhood when it opens, Tom Bergin's is one of the longest‐running bars in Los Angeles—with what's widely agreed to be the second‐oldest liquor license in the city.

But in 2018, preservationists found themselves scrambling for designation as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument to save it from a developer's wrecking ball.

Its owner at the time—former bar regular Derek Schreck, who'd bought the establishment in 2013—was essentially marketing it as a tear-down, despite having promised patrons that he'd only sell to a buyer who'd keep it as a restaurant.

After Schreck took over in early 2014—later adding the attic speakeasy, The Vestry, in 2017—he was heralded for having saved the historic establishment. Everybody thought he would carry the torch from the three prior sets of owners—none of whom had changed it all that much.

Warner Ebbink and executive chef Brandon Boudet of Little Dom's and 101 Coffee Shop operated it from 2012-3. Closing night was July 7, 2013—and the occasion of my first visit ever.

It was like the last night on earth. They'd pretty much stopped charging the crowd and was just giving everything away. Actor Luke Perry (RIP) was bartending for part of that night.

Things were different, though, when Schreck shuttered the space in Summer 2018. There was no grand celebration. The lights went out with a whimper, as the staff eked out the last droplets of Tullamore Dew and gave branded glassware away to the few patrons who knew it was still open—at least kinda open, though the food had run out and the spirit had faded.

At the time, it was easy to think, "We've been through this before." Every time the tavern closes, it seems like it's going to be forever. But Bergin's always comes back.

Then the unthinkable happened: Schreck publicly opposed landmark designation. And that created a greater sense of alarm—because why would he care, unless he was hoping to sell to someone who planned to level it?

Don't worry—this story doesn't have a tragic ending, at least not yet.

But first, let's go back to the beginning.

Miracle on Wilshire Boulevard: From Growing Beans to Counting Beans (from PBSSoCal)

I was honored when PBS SoCal asked me to opine on what makes Wilshire Boulevard—one of its "10 Streets That Changed America"—so remarkable.

I was torn between the Art Deco theatres (including the Hollywood temple that's essentially a theatre) and the Art Deco department stores, but ultimately, I chose the latter.

And that's how I learned that the first dedicated left-turn lane in the U.S. was created on Wilshire to make it easier for motorists to pull off the road and spend some money.

To find out more of what makes Wilshire Boulevard "miraculous," read the blog post here or click the screenshot below.


Highlights include:



Bullocks Wilshire (now Southwestern Law School)



The May Company (soon to be the Academy Museum)



Desmond's



Seibu/Orbach's Department Store (now the Petersen Automotive Museum)

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Mexican Wrestling In a Mayan Porno Palace [Updated for 2025—Closed]

[Last updated 9/14/25 10:42 PM PT—The Mayan Theatre closed this weekend as its longtime operator did not renew its lease. The building is still under the same ownership, which seeks a new tenant. At least for now, the Mayan will no longer host its popular salsa dancing events, Exotikon, or Lucha VaVoom.]

I've remarked before that the older I get, the more burnt I like my toast. I just prefer stronger flavors as the years wane on.

circa 2020

But it didn't occur to me until recently that the same is true when it comes to my tastes in architectural design. I'm gravitating more and more towards Frank Gehry, Art Deco ziggurats, and Brutalism than, say, the clean lines of International Style or even Arts and Crafts.

 

circa 2020

I'm even coming around to appreciating the new façade of the Petersen Museum. There's something about how horrible it is that makes me really respect it. At least it's a bold statement.

circa 2020

 

So when it comes to most of the historic movie palaces of Los Angeles, I'm in seventh heaven. Whether it's the Million Dollar or the United Artists, give me cornices and reliefs and plaster molds and mosaics and murals and chandeliers and all the other stuff—the more, the better!



That's one of the reasons why the Mayan Theatre—not on Broadway in LA's Downtown, but close enough—has been calling my name.



With an ornamental "stone" sculpture consisting of seven concrete bas-relief busts of warriors wearing Mayan headdresses by Baja-born painter and archaeologist Francisco Cornejo...



...the exterior gives visitors the feeling of entering a pre-Columbian temple...



...a theme that continues throughout the interior as well, whether in The Hall of Feathered Serpents (downstairs lobby) or The Hall of Emperors (balcony lobby).



There's no shortage of stuff to look at inside the Mayan Theatre.



And although much of it is awash in contemporary colors like pink and hot purple thanks to a modern LED lighting system...



...there's also a great amount of authenticity to the architectural designs by Morgan, Walls, and Clements (also responsible for The Deco Building, Adamson House, and the El Capitan, Leimert, and Wiltern theatres).



Building this theatre—as well as its neighbor, the Belasco, also designed by the same architecture firm—was part of an effort to establish a new theatre district west of Broadway.



That effort was spearheaded by oil magnate Edward L. Doheny, who owned both theatres.



But the new "fashionable" district never really took hold.



The Mayan originally opened in 1927 not as a movie palace but as a legit theatre—one that specialized in musical comedies (some even produced by movie palace impresario Sid Grauman).



It didn't start programming "talkies" until two years later—and even then, it continued to host I've theatrical performances through the 1940s before eventually switching to Spanish-language films and, later, adult films.



Like Downtown's other legit theatre, The Morosco (now The Globe), the way that the Mayan has managed to survive this long is by having transformed into a nightclub and concert venue.



The seats have been removed (though you can still sit on the floor of the risers in the balcony)...



...and twice a year, a ring is brought in for Mexican wrestling (at least, an Americanized version of lucha libre) and burlesque.



Appropriately, the event is known as "Lucha VaVoom," and it's as outrageous as the structure that surrounds it.

I mean, if you're going to try to revive an ancient style, you might as well go as far as you can with it.

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Photo Essay: Frank Lloyd Wright Ennis House, Exterior
Photo Essay: Frank Lloyd Wright Ennis House, Interior
Upon the Disappointing Lack of a Mayan Apocalypse

Photo Essay: How to Drive Through LA Like Steve McQueen

One of the first things I noticed right after moving to LA was how many people drove Porsches here. I'd never seen so many Porsches. In fact, I'm not sure I'd ever seen any Porsche at all before coming to California.



And now, the (recently renovated) Petersen Automotive Museum has launched an entire exhibit devoted to "The Porsche Effect" and how a Czech engineer began to build a career for himself with German automakers in the 1930s...



...while the United States was still in the thick of the Great Depression...



...and just a few years before the U.S, would go to war with Germany, yet again, in the sequel to what was supposed to be "The War To End All Wars."



It's amazing that Porsche—the man and the car—ever achieved any stateside success at all.



But the exhibit at the Petersen argues that the war contributed to the success of Porsche, which embraced a certain "post-war modernity" that turned out to be the right thing at the right time in the right place. And that turned out to be in 1950, amidst "car-starved" Americans.



It also helps that Hollywood welcomed Porsche with open arms (and pocketbooks) and broadly supported the cars both on screen and off. Steve McQueen famously acquired and raced a 1958 Porsche Speedster and later drove a 1970 racer for his starring role in Le Mans.



In the decades that followed, Porsche had enough creativity, power, and influence to create a prototype of a "21st Century Supercar" (at the turn of the millennium)...



...an "Image-Maker" 911 Turbo model from 1970 that could go 160 mph...



...a 1966 Grand Prix de Paris winner...



...the maker's first winning entry in The 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France, hitting speeds of as much as 220 mph...



...and a desert racer that won the Pharaoh Rally in Egypt in 1985 and the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1986.



But it's always kind of a funny thing to see cars like this trapped inside a museum and watch them spinning on a dais. Don't we want to see what these puppies can do?



That's why I found it much more enlightening and engaging to head down to Carson and spend some time at the Porsche Experience Center, one of two such facilities in the country (the other being in Atlanta).



In addition to a showroom—which acts as kind of its own Porsche Museum—there's the "53-Acre Playground" out back, otherwise known as "The Track."



Yes, you can go there and drive a Porsche.



And you don't have to be a current Porsche owner. You don't have to have ever driven a Porsche before. You can still get behind the wheel—and you'll have your own personal "drive coach" guiding you through the experience.



Isn't it nuts that this exists right across the 405 Freeway from the Goodyear Blimp Base Airport and a stone's throw from the local community Walmart, IKEA, and go-kart racing track?



When you sign up for a "Driving Experience," you get to choose which Porsche model to pilot and which course to navigate your way through...



...whether it's the "Handling Circuit" (meant to mimic a challenging country road), an off-roading course, a racing-style straightaway...



...or one of the several low-friction courses meant to induce skids, spins, and oversteering.



My budget didn't allow me to get behind the wheel when I last visited. After all, the affordable experiences range from $235 to $385, and the Steve McQueen-style experiences run upwards of $1000.



I settled for dinner at the Restaurant 917, where I enjoyed butter molded in the shape of Porsche cars...



...and snacked on dessert chocolates molded in the shape of the Porsche insignia.

I promised myself I would go back and drive one day—but not because I want to "fit in" with all those other Angelenos who are rolling up in their Porsche Carrera GTs (the car, by the way, that took actor Paul Walker's life in a fiery crash).

I quite prefer having my day-to-day set of wheels be something unimpressive and unremarkable. Nobody will want to break into it or steal it. And cops won't target me for random traffic stops.

I just want to see what those puppies can do.

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