Graffiti on the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza towers is a physical manifestation of increasing tensions over the wealth disparities that blight downtown Los Angeles, writes Shane Reiner-Roth.

The battle of Oceanwide Plaza is a preview of the social and economic tensions that will increasingly take place across Los Angeles as it sprints towards the 2028 Summer Olympics.
This billion-dollar tomb to foreign real-estate speculation in the western corner of downtown Los Angeles (DTLA), laid hollow since 2019, was revived early this year by graffiti artists and paragliders that made it their night-time playground. The city council was quick to posture against "dangerous" trespassing, but has not yet been able to fully prevent the takeover. Chauffeurs dodge panhandlers to escort their clients directly to the front doors of exclusive restaurants
For anyone needing visual evidence of regional wealth inequality in present-day LA, a visit to its downtown should do the trick. The pristine towers of international banks and oil companies in the Financial District twinkle in short distance from the tents of the growing unhoused population spilling beyond the sidewalks of Skid Row. The streets between the two enclaves are an ongoing contest for representation, as chauffeurs dodge panhandlers and skater punks to escort their clients directly to the front doors of exclusive restaurants, and USC-frat bar crawls leapfrog small businesses shuttered by staggering rent spikes.
The arrival ...