The great museum glow-up is underway

The new LACMA building opens to members this weekend, although everyone seems most curious about the green juice. I jotted off a few quick thoughts along with my photos after the press preview, but I'll have to save my full review for when the D line station opens on May 8. There's a whole story to be written about how a building that's essentially a $1 billion pedestrian overpass doesn't seem to be designed for the way people move. Still, I found myself delighted as I stood over Wilshire where I counted 720s sailing underneath my feet.

Even though the art was installed, the campus itself remains very much a work in progress — a reminder of how LACMA, like so many LA cultural institutions, is attempting a total Olympic overhaul ahead of 2028. The views out most of the windows also feature construction sites, and will for some time: work is already underway on the adjacent La Brea Tar Pits, which closes July 7 for a two-year "mammoth" makeover. (And, honestly, cutting it a little close to the July 14, 2028 deadline!) This week, the Getty also announced it will close for a full year starting in March, the latest museum to join the feverish race to re-open for the opening ceremonies. And for the Cultural Olympiad? I'm hearing that LA28 will be sharing more details about the concurrent arts festival very soon.

When I was in Paris — more dispatches coming soon! — the officials I met with talked openly about how the city's cultural tourism took a huge hit during the summer of 2024. An estimated 11 million people visited Paris during the Olympic and Paralympic Games — slightly fewer than the 15 million that were predicted — but they clearly weren't spending time in museums. The Louvre saw a 22 percent decrease in visitors during the games, with most major museums reporting similar figures. Some of that dropoff was blamed on security perimeters that made large parts of the city center inaccessible. But the fact of the matter is that the archetypal Olympic and Paralympic tourist is really just coming to see one thing. "They're not here to see the Mona Lisa," as one official told me.

But the following summer told a different story. Paris tourism numbers spiked in 2025, so much so that Paris had to adjust its short-term rental regulations (AHEM). This is also apparently a typical phenomenon in Olympic host cities: a brief dip, followed by a more sustained boom. The "Olympic hiccup," was short-lived, Claire Bernardi, director of the Musée de l’Orangerie, told The Art Newspaper. "The visitors came right back the day after the games ended."

As LA museums rally to wrap up their capital improvements in a timely manner, it will be interesting to see if those trends hold — especially as we're already experiencing our own tourism hiccup, nicknamed the "Trump slump." I feel like it will be easy for Expo Park visitors, right in the heart of the LA28 action, to pop into the California Science Center, currently wrapping up construction on a new building housing the now-vertical Endeavour. Will they make their way up Grand to the Broad, which is appending a not-honeycombed addition onto its backside, scheduled to be finished by 2028? But either way it's about playing the long game. LA museums aren't really preparing for 2028 — they're preparing for 2029 and beyond. 🔥

LA28 in the hot seat

It had been nearly three months since the last meeting of the LA City Council's ad hoc committee when councilmembers finally summoned LA28 officials to City Hall this week. The meeting was scheduled immediately after LA28's very overdue human rights strategy magically appeared in a council file last week, dated (or backdated?) to December 15, 2025. (Who took receipt of the report? Why was it not placed in the council file immediately?) Anti-trafficking advocates quickly condemned the strategy for paying "lip service" to human rights, with a statement from the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative noting that "the strategy summarizes existing federal and state protections, relies almost entirely on law enforcement, and commits zero new dollars to prevention, victim support or independent evaluation of its efforts." But although human rights advocates dominated public comment, the strategy was not discussed this month because councilmembers ran out of time. Human rights are apparently not a priority. 🦋

What did the councilmembers yell at LA28 about instead? LA28's procurement strategy! Also on Tuesday's agenda was LA28's plan to boost the LA economy by awarding contracts to small and local businesses. But the definition of "local" became a contentious, as LA28 outlined its goals to direct 75% spend to the "Greater Los Angeles region" which, by their definition, means businesses in a huge five-county area: LA, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura. (Read the whole plan here.) Councilmembers have pushed LA28 to specifically prioritize the city of LA — it makes sense, we're the host city! — which LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover tried to claim could drive up costs due to lack of competition. Discussion — which got quite heated! — was continued until the next ad hoc meeting. Whenever that is. 🦋

More city officials are going on record about the bad LA28 deal. Monica Rodriguez continued her ongoing red flag-waving with a strongly worded letter to Hoover followed by a motion "formally establishing a 'Zero-Cost Principle'" through the current charter reform process, which would create a safeguard closer to what the city had in 1984. This comes after City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto wrote her own letter warning about fiscal concerns, as I reported two weeks ago. And City Controller Kenneth Mejia is also speaking out: "The preparation and execution of these events should not come at any cost to Los Angeles taxpayers." Fun fact: LAist is reporting the state ALSO has not signed its agreement with LA28. Wheeeee! 🦋

Over at the Metro meeting, more concerns about costs. The new federal budget didn't include $2 billion Metro needs to run buses for LA28, but don't worry, Casey Wasserman was in D.C. asking for money (although he came back for the LACMA gala). Also: LA28's Bill Panos says the security perimeters around venues are basically set — when will we learn what they are? At the Curbivore conference, officials hinted that some car-free zones might be achieved using open streets. One hint was found in Mayor Karen Bass's new climate plan that says Figueroa through downtown, near a majority of the LA city venues, will be car-free through Metro's open streets program. (NOW KEEP IT OPEN FOREVER.) The plan otherwise reads like an attempt to pretend to care about this stuff while not really committing to any ambitious targets, but there are a handful of goals in there for 2028, including (supposedly) dedicated bike lanes connecting venues. 🦋

SoFi workers are threatening to strike during the World Cup if FIFA and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment can't guarantee to keep ICE out of the stadium. FIFA seems to understand the threat of ICE disrupting matches; The Athletic reported that Gianni Infantino is trying to appeal to his bestie to declare a nationwide moratorium on ICE raids this summer. (Because we know how Trump always adheres to those megaevent truces!) Unite Here Local 11 has now filed an official labor complaint with the National Labor Relations Board accusing FIFA and Kroenke of engaging in unfair labor practices by "refusing to commit to restricting facility access by ICE officers in anticipation of FIFA World Cup events." 🦋

More essential reading (from Paris)

Beneath the pavement, the beach

Ensuring that the Seine was safe enough to host a handful of Olympic and Paralympic swimmers was only the beginning of the story

TorchedAlissa Walker

The best seat in town

It’s a public bathroom, yes, but it’s really a piece of infrastructure that unlocks access to the city

TorchedAlissa Walker

How this Paris superfan saw 24 Olympic and Paralympic events

And some tips for how LA fans can, too

TorchedAlissa Walker

Bike share

Paris has made space for cyclists in a way that I simply have not seen in any other city

TorchedAlissa Walker

What Torched subscribers are reading

• "What It Means to Care for a City," by Investing in Place's Jessica Meaney — hear from her at the next Torched Talks on Tuesday, April 21
• California budget advisor Jason Sisney has fantastic analysis of the economics of LA28 ticket prices, which could be the only way LA28 can turn a profit due to increasing financial risks. As I not-so-jokingly noted after the drop, if you want to think about it this way: every dollar raised today is another dollar that LA won't potentially be on the hook for in 2028
• The LA Times sports reporters attempted the definitive explainer for all your LA28 ticket questions and want to know how much you spent. LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover "said at a recent press event that there are $28 tickets that have not yet been released" — but we have no idea when
• And LAist's Libby Rainey is on Imperfect Paradise talking about who wins and who loses when LA28 sells pricey tickets
• "Why U.S. Hotel Prices Are Getting ‘Slashed’ for the 2026 World Cup"
• "Arriving at LACMA's park-like campus — which, sadly, is segregated from the sidewalk by an off-putting steel palisade fence — visitors are greeted by a barren concrete plaza." Olly Wainwright's LACMA review
• Carolina Miranda on rethinking not just Cesar Chavez depictions, but all "great-man" monuments
• Dori Tunstall visits Lauren Halsey's sister dreamer, made possible by a fascinating public-private permitting process by the architects at Current Interests
• And a general reminder that I've got a list of Torched-recommended books up at Bookshop (where I earn a small commission if you buy one). Just added: Jules Boykoff's new book — yes ANOTHER new book — Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine. And don't forget to grab your copy of Wilshire Subway: The Making of the D Line Subway Extension, written and edited by India Mandelkern (author of Torched favorite Electric Moons) and photographed by Ken Karagozian

Torched is turning 2!

Starting on Monday! A week-long party with five days of events celebrating two years of this newsletter. For easy reference, here's a list with direct links to everything going on. Share the details with friends and followers on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Bluesky. And just a quick note: if you want to see Monday's screening of Changing Lanes that I'm hosting in Santa Monica, be sure to get tickets now before they sell out. See you out there!

🎥 Monday 4/20: Changing Lanes screening with Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis, 7 p.m. at the Laemmle Monica Film Center

🚧 Tuesday 4/21: Torched Talks with Investing in Place's Jessica Meaney, 12 to 1 p.m. on Zoom

🍩 Wednesday 4/22: Data + Donuts with LADOT's Jillian Gallard and Nataly Rios Gutierrez, 8 to 10 a.m. at LACI

🎤 Thursday 4/23: Torched LA Live with Rick Cole, Rachel Reyes, Chris Torres, and Michelle Barton, 7 p.m. at frank.radio

🧺 Friday 4/24: 2 Torched 2 Years happy hour picnic, 3 to 6 p.m. at LA State Historic Park