The Brief

Art. Science. History. Culture.

If you’re having a conversation with someone who knows a lot about neon signs, it won’t be hard to touch on all of those topics, and maybe even a few more.

And now, you can have a similar experience even when you’re on your own, thanks to a new “digital guide” put together by the Museum of Neon Art (or MONA) in Glendale.

‘Community Beacons’ in L.A.

The guide is called “Community Beacons,” and it’s accessible through the Bloomberg Connects app, which is used by lots of different museums around the world.

For each of the five neon signs included in the guide, there are historical photographs you can scroll through. There are also short audio clips from interviews with preservationists, business owners and historians who explain their cultural and historical significance.

It’s designed to catch people where they often are — on their phones.

A QR code for the Sarno's Bakery neon sign in Los Feliz.

(

Courtesy of MONA

)

“We thought it would be a really great thing to find ways of making the beautiful signs that are in Los Angeles accessible to people that might not normally make it into a museum, but might use their smartphone to click on a QR code,” MONA Executive Director Corrie Siegel explains.

“The intent is to show that there is history everywhere.”

Which neon signs are included in the guide?

There are five neon signs currently featured in the guide:

The Adohr Milk Farm sign in Pasadena.

(

Courtesy of MONA

)

• Jensen's Recreation Center sign in Echo Park
• Gift Fair Chinaware sign in Chinatown
• Sarno's Bakery sign in Los Feliz
• The Broadway Hollywood sign in Hollywood
• Adohr Milk Farm sign in Pasadena 

MONA researcher Maya Abee, who managed the “Community Beacons” project, drew from her experience developing some neon sign walking guides for museum members and neon enthusiasts during the pandemic, when MONA’s doors were closed.

For the new digital guide, she enlisted the help of community volunteers to help select the signs to include and do research on their histories.

The Jensen's Recreation Center sign in Echo Park.

(

Courtesy of MONA

)

Some interesting facts about the signs included in the guide:

• The Jensen’s Recreation Center sign stands out, Abee says, because it’s animated (with a bowler knocking down pins) and because it predates neon. It uses opal glass lettering and incandescent bulbs and is the last of its kind in the U.S.
  
• The Gift Fair Chinaware sign is located on the Hong building, named for its owner, Y.C. Hong, who was one of the first Chinese Americans admitted to the California State Bar and the first to own a legal practice in L.A. The guide includes an interview with Celeste Hong, Y.C. Hong’s granddaughter, and a MONA event on April 12 will give participants access to his 1930s-era office.
  
• The Adohr Milk Farm sign in Pasadena was covered up during the 1970s and was only recently uncovered when it was converted into Howlin’ Ray’s restaurant in 2022. Chef and owner Johnny Ray Zone decided to preserve the sign, highlighting the “HR” in red (for “Howlin’ Ray’s), with the other lights in the sign flashing blue.

Why neon matters, especially in L.A.

Still wondering what the big deal is about neon signs?

Part of it is about memory and history.

As Siegel describes it, each neon sign is an object that both “hides in the landscape but is also so visible.” And because of that, they become “important marker[s] for a lot of people's childhoods and a lot of community identity.”

The Gift Fair Chinaware sign in Chinatown.

(

Courtesy of MONA

)

And while they can kind of fade into the background, or might just seem like tools to sell you something, Siegel says the signs are also “little miracles” too, when you really think about it.

“All neon signs are the same state of matter as the sun — they’re plasma. They're the same state of matter as our stars, as the aurora borealis,” Siegel says. “It's this really powerful medium that is responsible for life on this planet.”

They’re also all handmade by highly skilled artists. And preserving them, according to Abee, “is no small feat at all” because of the delicate, often old equipment involved and the technical expertise needed to maintain it.

The Broadway Hollywood neon sign is visible in a vintage postcard.

(

Courtesy of MONA

)

There were also efforts to actively phase out the use of neon in the past.

Neon made its way from Europe to the U.S. in the 1920s and was widely adopted by all kinds of businesses to grab the attention of passersby, but by the 1980s the appeal for some city leaders had worn off.

The flashy signs came to be associated with gambling and drinking and were even outlawed in certain places, including, for a time, Glendale. Abee says that was actually what led to the creation of MONA — by artists looking to preserve neon signs both as an art form and as markers of community history.

While there are some who say Los Angeles was the home of the first neon sign in the U.S., Siegel says that’s likely not true. But, she says L.A. is still a very “neon-centric” city and home to some of the most intact neon signs in the country.

“Los Angeles is a really special place to see neon because there is so much that's preserved and there's this kind of aura or mythos around neon in the city that tells us a lot about Los Angeles,” Siegel says. “Even though maybe it's not the first, it's still very important to the city.”

How to access the guide

Download the free Bloomberg Connects app and search for “MONA,” or scan the MONA QR codes outside all five neon sign locations.

The Los Angeles region’s troubled homeless services agency announced this month that it will no longer manage the region’s federal homelessness dollars, amid scrutiny from the Trump administration.

Now, a federal court must help determine who will manage roughly $240 million in annual federal funding after the L.A. Homeless Services Authority gives up that long-held job in the coming months.

At a hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said most of his attention is on who will administer the round of federal money that will be awarded in December and distributed next year.

The only potential near-term successor discussed in court was L.A. County, which created a new homelessness department and applied for the role. County officials have promised much stronger accountability and transparency.

But the city of L.A., where most of the region’s unhoused people live, is also interested in taking over some of LAHSA’s duties. The city could eventually try to break off and form its own regional body to receive federal funds, Carter said.

“But that’s for the future,” Carter said. “For now, we have to focus on providing for people experiencing homelessness — and also fraud and corruption.”

‘The watchdog wasn’t watching’

LAHSA has been used as a punching bag, Carter said, but he blamed recent cases of alleged theft of taxpayer funds on a broader “failure of government” by both HUD and LAHSA.

“The watchdog wasn’t watching, and the money got distributed without accountability,” Carter said.

In the meantime, Carter said, LAHSA isn’t going anywhere. He said any transition must unfold gradually to avoid displacing people from housing and services.

“We’re going to have to live with LAHSA for at least some period of time,” Carter said. “The question might be how much?”

How soon could the county take over? 

Carter said he agreed with LAHSA’s decision to entrust another administrator to manage the money.

Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) told Carter the next round of annual funding would be distributed over 2027.

Carter acknowledged HUD may be uneasy sending that money to LAHSA, the very agency it is investigating for fraud. Carter said he was struggling with the issue himself.

Carter signaled that he wants to see federal funding transferred to the county by January if it is chosen as LAHSA’s successor.

‘The devil is in the details’

At the hearing, federal prosecutor Bill Essayli said the Trump administration would rather reach an agreement than litigate. He said “the devil is in the details” when it comes to any transition away from LAHSA.

“We want assurances of anti-fraud measures,” Essayli said. “That way the money is never stolen again.”

Carter said he hoped a transition plan would keep the parties from spending millions of dollars on attorneys’ fees that could otherwise go toward housing and services.

How we got here

In June, the Trump administration suspended LAHSA from applying for federal funding, alleging years of financial mismanagement. LAHSA then sued, and Carter blocked the suspension in August. Carter’s decision has so far held up on appeal.

LAHSA’s governing commission voted this month to give up its federal roles next year, including managing federal homelessness dollars and conducting the region’s annual homeless count. Local officials have been taking applications from organizations that want to take over those duties in 2027.

Meanwhile, investigations into fraud have been widening. Prosecutors have so far charged six people connected to L.A. homeless service providers. LAHSA has said none of its staff are implicated.

When asked if LAHSA’s current or past leadership has been culpable, Essayli recently said, "It is not against federal law to be incompetent, unfortunately.”

Major shifts happening

For decades, county, city and federal dollars have been managed mainly by LAHSA. But those funding streams are now being redirected in the wake of repeated findings of mismanagement.

L.A. County pulled roughly $300 million of its annual homelessness funding in July and gave it to its new in-house Department of Homeless Services and Housing.

That leaves the city as LAHSA’s last major funder. The City Council has explored leaving, but hasn't reached a decision yet. City staff has estimated that building a city homeless services department would take up to two years.

On the campaign trail, Councilmember Nithya Raman has pledged to exit LAHSA within her first year if elected mayor, while incumbent Mayor Karen Bass has said it would take "a couple of years."

What’s next

Carter did not rule Wednesday on federal funding. He scheduled a hearing for Oct. 27 and described it as “our decision-making day on so many matters.”

Before then, local officials are expected to select a replacement to take over LAHSA’s federal administrative roles.

Los Angeles city officials are asking LA28 to hand over a list of its contracts, saying the Olympics organizing committee could be in violation of its agreement with the city.

LA28’s annual financial report released last week included a broad review of the organization’s deals with contractors hired to help put on the event, but no names or detailed breakdowns of spending.

The Games Agreement between the city and LA28 requires the committee to submit the name, type, amount, term and purpose of each contract it has entered into worth more than $1 million.

No such list was provided in LA28’s report.

“It's inadequate, what we've been provided, and that's not acceptable,” City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky said at a committee meeting on the 2028 Olympics Wednesday afternoon.

Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso said she has requested a full list from LA28 and is waiting to hear back.

Jacie Prieto Lopez, a spokesperson for LA28, said in an emailed statement to LAist that LA28 had received the request.

“We are working through those requests now and remain committed to meeting our obligations," she said.

Tso told the council committee she had seen a more detailed list of LA28’s contracts, but only when it was “flashed on the screen very quickly” at a meeting with her, Olympics organizers, the city administrative officer and the mayor’s office.

“So we don't have a list,” Tso said. “We don't have the names of the folks. We don't have the dollar amounts.”

Tso told the council that Olympics organizers were wary about making contracts public, due to concerns that public disclosure could harm negotiations over competitive event sponsor deals.

City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said that did not satisfy LA28’s obligations to the city.

“They can just be like, ‘Flash it, we're done, and we did our requirement,’” Soto-Martinez said.

The federal financial aid process opened this past week for students applying to college for next year. But for many California students, a source of state financial help remains untapped.

In 2022, the state launched the California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program, also known as CalKIDS, and began creating investment accounts for more than 6 million children in the state to use for higher education.

Babies born on or after July 1, 2022, can get up to $175 in their accounts, while low-income public school students can claim up to $1500.

In Los Angeles County, about 1.1 million public school students are eligible for the accounts, but fewer than 20% of kids have claimed them, said Cassandra DiBenedetto, executive director of California’s ScholarShare Investment Board. The claim rate is even less for babies — about 11%.

“The money itself, it has a long trajectory. So you have these newborns, and there's not a sense of urgency among some parents; they know the account's there, it’s been created. Parents are busy,” DiBenedetto said.

There is no deadline to claim the money, which is already growing in the investment accounts. (You do have to use the money by age 26). But DiBenedetto says kids are more likely to see themselves as college-bound if they have it — and will be able to watch the account grow over time.

“ You talk to second-and third graders who are like, ‘I'm gonna go to UC Santa Barbara,’ ‘I'm gonna go to Cal Berkeley,’” she said.

The state is working with the Los Angeles Unified School District and other school districts to get students signed up.

The city’s top financial adviser is recommending that the Los Angeles City Council deny a police department request to procure 300 additional vehicles for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.

The report, submitted to the council Monday by City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, found that the L.A. Police Department would have enough vehicles to temporarily expand its fleet during the Games without the additional cars.

LAPD officials had previously requested around $31 million, arguing the additional officers deployed for the Games will need additional vehicles for their police work.

But Szabo disagreed in his report, finding instead that the department would soon have a large enough fleet.

“Given the current available vehicles and new vehicle procurements which have already been funded, it is not recommended to authorize the procurement of any additional police vehicles for the 2028 Games deployment,” Szabo wrote.

An LAPD spokesperson declined to comment on the city administrative officer’s report. Previously, the department has emphasized that its request seeks only to temporarily expand its fleet, with plans to retire old vehicles after the Games.

The police department has offered different estimates of how many additional vehicles it will need to patrol the Olympics. Two months after the LAPD asked for an additional 300 vehicles, the department released another report estimating an even higher need: 576 police vehicles.

Either way, Szabo’s report found that more than 1,100 police vehicles not yet in use by the department were funded in the past three budget cycles. He said those should be sufficient for the Olympics.