How LAs $588 million Ribbon of Light landmark became proof that we cant have nice things

LOS ANGELES — This is why LA can’t have nice things.Last weekend, vandals in Los Angeles painted a massive “F–K TRUMP” message on the 6th Street Viaduct: a half-mile, illuminated bridge that local leaders have touted as the greatest new landmark in town.But while originally hailed for its striking look, the $588 million structure — dubbed the “Ribbon of Light” for the color-changing spotlights that set its flowing, modern-style architecture aglow — has become a darkened crime-ridden eyesore.Time and again, thieves have stolen the copper wire for the lights as drag racers turn it into a private derby track and vandals wallpaper it in graffiti.The ill-fated span replaced a Depression-era bridge that had appeared in dozens of Hollywood films — including “Grease,” “Terminator 2” and “Transformers” — before it was demolished in 2016 because of structural concerns with the concrete.When the Ribbon of Light was completed in 2022, journalists likened it to the Brooklyn and Golden Gate bridges, and the mayor called it a “love letter to the city.”But the City of Angels’ half-billion-dollar halo has lost its shine: Looters stripped a full seven miles of electrical wiring from the bridge as it also has fallen victim to street takeover mobs and influencers who scale its 60-foot arches for likes — including a teen who plunged to his death in 2023, according to the LA Times.“I feel like we can’t have anything nice,” said Alyssa Mendez, who works in a cafe near the bridge entrance.“When anything good happens in Los Angeles, people don’t know how to behave.”Mendez said the Viaduct was meant to be the crown jewel of a new arts district that grew out of the warehouses and factories east of downtown.The city even threw a “Bridgefest” event in which the structure was closed to traffic and decked out with food trucks, open-air markets, concert stages and a beer garden.The annual event lasted only two years.

Mendez believes it was...