The Metro meeting exploded when the news was announced: the D line extension will open on May 8, with a brand-new subway below Wilshire serving La Brea, Fairfax, and La Cienega. It's a milestone that's incredibly important for Metro's megaevent readiness — this gets us that much closer to a pre-Olympics debut for the entire D line route from UCLA to downtown, tentatively scheduled for a nail-biting late-2027 opening. But any stories about the three new stations were quickly overshadowed by stories that Metro was selling accompanying 'Ride the D' shirts — available as both a unisex t-shirt and crop top. And like all great stories, this one originated on Reddit.
In a post titled "Metro, Sell This T Shirt" on r/LAMetro on February 4, Reddit user DJVeaux mocked up a 'Ride the D' design and predicted the future: "It will literally be your best selling t-shirt, it will get you so much PR, and if anyone interprets this inappropriately that’s a them problem." Metro, which is an active and engaged user on Reddit, ran with the idea, crediting DJVeaux for their vision when the shirts dropped. But "so much PR" was an understatement, as the shirt ricocheted across the internet. Judging by my own DMs when I shared the design, I think I personally sold about 50. Although I'm not sure what DJVeaux meant by interpreting the shirt "inappropriately"? Metro has mocked up the exact same shirts for every letter line, and 'Ride the D' is obviously just very popular at the moment due to all the enthusiasm around climbing aboard such a long subway extension that goes deep into new neighborhoods, which gets everyone in LA very excited.
It was almost too good to be true. By the next morning, both links were dead, and Metro returned to Reddit to inform everyone the shirts had sold out. But these shirts were marketed as print-on-demand, so that explanation felt flimsy. Speculation ran rampant. But the reality of the situation is that Metro's store — of which I am enthusiastic shopper — is a passion project run by a few members of the social media team. And while there are certainly popular items — toy buses and trains are the top sellers; I can confirm the Poppy Bus Plushes are totes adorbs in real life — the system is not set up for going viral. Last year the shop brought in about $100,000 in sales for an entire year. The 'Ride the D' shirts alone brought in an entire year of sales in a SINGLE DAY. The shop was overwhelmed. But within a few hours, the shirts were back up, orders kept streaming in, and sales are now on track to exceed $200,000.
End of day update from Metro:
4459 unisex tees
1632 crop tops
Now they're promoting the shirts as "limited time only."
Keep those orders coming, D riders!
Not everyone at Metro was necessarily pleased with the way this rolled out. Fun fact: Metro originally skipped 'F' in its naming convention due to unnamed perceived associations with that letter, somehow neglecting the fact that any letter can make you giggle like a 12-year-old if you try hard enough. But most people I spoke with were able to appreciate the spectacle as a pro-transit win. As Metro's chief customer experience officer Jennifer Vides described the situation: "¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #GoMetro." The official statement from the agency seemed to reflect the general internal vibes: "Yes, we’ve seen the internet chatter. We design for transit riders, but we can appreciate that the internet will always do what the internet does. At the end of the day, it’s about showing some pride in your favorite line. Whether you ride the A, the K, or any letter in between, we’re just happy people are excited about public transit."
And don't worry — orders placed today should arrive well in advance of May 8, which also gives us just enough time to coordinate one heck of a group photo on opening day. 🔥
Need a megaevent news fix right now? That's what Hot Links is all about. Paid subscribers can come to Torched anytime during the week where you'll have access to the latest headlines, commentary, and analysis — updated daily! At the end of the week, I send it out to everyone as my standard roundup newsletter. It's like a live blog. For Bluesky users, 🦋 will always take you to a thread I reported that you can share there. At your service to make your Torched experience even better!
Light it up
California Dreamin'... that the lights of the Sixth Street Bridge will be on
On such a winter's day, LA28's first official promo debuted during the closing ceremonies and on The TODAY Show (did you know it was officially styled in ALL CAPS like that?) thanks to NBC's IOC sponsorship deal. The ad features Kate Hudson, a dozen Olympians and Paralympians, and... a dramatically lit Sixth Street Bridge that hasn't looked that way for years. An astute observation from @militantangeleno noted that the bridge shots are likely older stock footage "because it doesn't have that ugly-ass Alloy building ruining the view of the #DTLA skyline," referring to the newer Arts District tower. (Which I actually kind of like?) There's a new plan to relight the bridge by 2028 — but like all our megaevent timelines, this timeline is very tight.
The unrest in World Cup host city Guadalajara after cartel leader "El Mencho" was killed comes less than four months before the first match at Estadio Akron, which U.S. headlines were oh-so-quick to connect. "Now, the city’s response to Sunday’s killing of one of Mexico’s most wanted criminals will be the focus of football fans and officials from around the world," reports The Athletic. LA Taco's Javier Cabral happened to be there and has the best local context. Some analysis seems to suggest these actions were taken proactively by the Mexican government to ensure the tournament's safety, but "in general the cartels have an economic interest in making sure the World Cup is peaceful," criminal law professor Javier Eskauriatza tells BBC. Gianni Infantino said Thursday FIFA has "complete confidence" in Mexico hosting. Okay, but how about the other host country that's out there starting new wars?
There actually is a boycott happening right now. Officials from growing coalition of EU countries and the EU sports commissioner are boycotting the Paralympics, which begin March 6, due to the IPC's decision to allow Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flags. This is what's called an "institutional boycott," meaning representatives of the government will not be there, but the athletes still will. The IPC is a completely different board than the IOC, which had required athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete as neutral participants. It's particularly insulting as skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was banned by the IOC for his helmet depicting Ukrainians killed in the war with Russia.
LA28 announced the details of its Resilience Champions Fund as part of its sustainability commitments to the city of LA, which I wrote about last year. Grants will be awarded across three areas: wildfire resilience/nature restoration, ocean protection, and cooling solutions. LA28 representatives shared the plan at this week's LA County 88 for 28 convening — also, can we note again that LA County has a dedicated megaevent website up! — alongside other sustainability presentations by Metro and ShadeLA. Also check out ShadeLA's competition winners and how they identified priority communities which will be impacted by megaevents and face higher temperatures, less tree cover, and greater health and economic challenges. The conversations about extreme heat were eerily apt one day before LA shattered daily high temperature records. 🦋
And, no, he hasn't stepped down. As the spotlight remains on LA28 during the two-week period between the Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, chair Casey Wasserman is facing heightened calls to resign. "Some LA28 organizers, for instance, are concerned that sponsors might not want to be photographed with Mr. Wasserman," a New York Times story reports (with some extremely on-brand errors confusing the City of LA and Metro). And there's more trouble on the Cultural Olympiad front, as I've been reporting. "The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts was set to host a fundraising dinner honoring Wasserman later this month," according to CNN. "But in the wake of the Epstein file revelations, that dinner was suddenly postponed to late May, and a website for the event no longer mentions Wasserman." 🦋
⚽ Downey's World Cup fan zone for Stonewood Center has been approved. Interesting fine print: "the city is also eligible to apply for up to $100,000 in federal funding through a FEMA grant to offset personnel expenses for uniformed public safety officers assigned to the event"
🚨 Meanwhile, the Boston suburb of Foxboro, home of Gillette Stadium, says they don't have $7.8 million to pay for security to host the World Cup matches this summer
🇦🇺 Brisbane 2032 announced this week that Australia House will be located in Venice Beach, "on Windward Avenue, metres from the famous Venice Beach skatepark and boardwalk"
🎢 Universal Studios theme park workers held a rally demanding that Universal management agree to keep ICE out of the park. Universal Studios is a 2028 venue and, as mentioned earlier, NBCUniversal is the official IOC media sponsor
🚸 An incredible study looking at the benefits of pedestrianizing 300 streets in front of Paris schools ahead of the 2024 games, including a 9°F temperature decrease compared to nearby local streets. Here's an excellent Streetfilms on Paris's school streets
🏅 Coming up on March 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the California Assembly's megaevents committee will hold its next meeting at the LA84 Foundation here in LA. The topic is "Lessons and Legacy Impacts of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games" and the meeting will include public comment
"A New Weather Institute report estimated that the fossil fuel giant Eni, carmaker Stellantis, and ITA Airways sponsoring Milano Cortina 2026 will induce an additional 40 percent to the Games’ carbon footprint, enough to melt 3.2 square km of snow cover and 20 million tonnes of glacier ice." More calls for the IOC to ditch the sponsors literally destroying the Winter Olympics
"Was this strange, kitsch pop concert worth all the political repression, the public inconvenience, the relentless marketing, the unspecified millions of euros in cost?" The cultural elements of Milan-Cortina get panned
If you want a clear explanation about why LA's streets, sidewalks, and parks look the way they do — and how we've been forced to accept the status quo as "normal" — watch Investing in Place executive director Jessica Meaney's UCLA talk from last week
Related: thisStreetsblog LAstory on accessibility by Maylin Tu will infuriate you. "Deborah Murphy, long-time pedestrian advocate and urban planner, called the city’s management of the public-right-of-way 'disrespectful' to people with disabilities. 'The city staff just doesn't get it,' Murphy said. 'They don't understand access and what it's like to be a person with disabilities, whether they're blind or visually impaired or walking with a cane or in a wheelchair.'" And we think we're ready to host the Paralympics?
"This is what’s known as sportswashing, and it's a well-known tactic of authoritarian regimes." The essential explanation for why Trump invited the men's hockey team to the State of the Union, by Frankie de la Cretaz at must-subscribe newsletter Out of Your League (and thanks for the Torched mention!)
Tree maintenance is a routine part of keeping Los Angeles streets safe and accessible. Along Vermont Avenue near Exposition Park, tree trimming supports a safer, more accessible corridor as the city prepares for upcoming major events.
While we wait for that Games CIP to drop, it sure does look like the city is not only prioritizing infrastructure improvements around megaevent venues — but also basic services like tree trimming. Unfortunately, there isn't any kind of public strategic plan for where and when such improvements are expected to occur, which, as you might expect, makes me verrrrry nervous. If you live near a venue and are seeing this happening in your neighborhood, or perhaps you have received some kind of communication from the city that documents this phenomenon, please send it over using the Torched hotline below.
As we look ahead to this summer, my next Torched Talks will feature Jennifer Doyle: feminist writer, teacher, curator, and self-described "sports crank." Jennifer and I talked last month about the upcoming World Cup and the "contradiction of this global celebration of unity and the quiet dread that has taken over the communities here who actually play the game." With 100 days to go until we host the world's most-watched sporting event, she's been highlighting how FIFA's utopian vision clashes with our political reality — a contradiction made even more stark with the news of the last 24 hours. That's Monday, March 16 at 3 p.m. See you there.
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Alissa Walker
Alissa Walker
Alissa Walker
