Crime & Safety
Hollywood Gets Its Own Graffiti Tower, To Neighbors' Dismay: Report
Yet another under-construction building in LA has become a favorite palette of taggers, according to a report.
HOLLYWOOD, CA — An under-construction building in East Hollywood has been covered with graffiti after taggers have swarmed the structure recently, KCAL reported.
The building at Melrose and Ardmore avenues, which is set to be a five-story apartment building, is surrounded by fences and marked with signs warning trespassers that the area is under constant surveillance. But that hasn't dissuaded taggers from using the incomplete building as their canvas.
"It looks bad," neighbor Mario Velasquez told KCAL. "Not going to lie, it looks really bad."
Find out what's happening in Hollywoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
KCAL has surveillance video from early Wednesday morning showing two men spray-painting the top floor of the structure. Reporters from the station also witnessed a person wearing a backpack tagging the top of the building, according to KCAL.
Dozens of Los Angeles Police Department officers swarmed the scene after developers gave them permission to go inside, but they were unable to get above the third floor due to scaffolding blocking their path, KCAL reported.
Find out what's happening in Hollywoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The issue comes after another highly publicized case of an under-construction building being plagued by graffiti. A pair of two incomplete skyscrapers in downtown LA has prompted the City Council to pay to cleanup the buildings and seek to recoup the costs from developers.
Read more:
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.