City To Clean And Secure The Graffiti Skyscraper

The Los Angeles City Council passed a motion to have the infamously spray-painted skyscraper cleaned and secured. The owners of the half-built Oceanwide Plaza in downtown L.A. were given until last weekend to take action on their own, but with no response, the city began a $3.8 million process that involves the hiring of private security and installation of 10-foot metal walls in the building’s perimeter. Plans to reinforce the building were first presented by Councilman Kevin de Leon, suggesting the city fund the cleanup and fencing around the building project and then forward the costs to Oceanwide Holdings, the Chinese business that owned and abandoned the building project. “In the event that they don’t do it, we’ll do it for them and we’ll stick them with the bill,” de Leon said. For weeks, graffiti artists have made it their mission to climb the set of buildings and tag their aliases and or crew names. Various local taggers have livestreamed their efforts, finding ways to evade security and police. LAPD has allocated an around-the-clock presence near the structures, watching for taggers who gather and attempt to make their way inside to continue the vandalism. In early February, the LAPD began...