Well, this is sad. This morning, Bruce Chan tipped me to possible vandalism or an accident at the Sunset Triangle, everyone’s favorite acid-washed polka-dot plaza. When I got there, some DOT folks were on the scene surveying the half-dozen tipped over and cracked plastic planters. Although they didn’t want to officially comment until they had more information, they believed a drunk driver hit the planters last night. Huge scrapes in the pots and lots of broken headlight/tail-light glass scattered along the side convinced me that this was probably what happened. Luckily no one got hurt.
As the vendors for the farmers market started to set up their tents at the opposite side of the plaza, I walked through the mounds of dirt surveying the damage. This will be a real setback for the plaza as it will provide ammunition for existing community safety concerns—although I’d argue that a driver could just as easily hit planters or people on a sidewalk. And I’d also argue that this stretch of road is now infinitely safer since drivers aren’t wildly careening down the now-closed street on what they perceived to be a shortcut. Still, it would be nice to see a barrier along this edge that could stop a car, if needed.
Although the plaza’s only been open for two weeks, I’ve been there a dozen times already, working on a review for the Weekly. Now I feel like I’ve got a different story on my hands. More soon.
Here are photos of the plaza from happier days. More details from the Eastsider LA: The driver apparently fled the scene.
