One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Bar 107 Refuses To Stop The Party (Until The Law Says So)
Not so fast! (Photo via Facebook)
Bar 107 has decided they won't go quietly into the night. In the middle of their grand closing party, they announced they'll be slinging drinks until the landlord takes them to court.Bar 107 was never happy about having to close. When rumors first circulated that the downtown dive would be closing just shy of a decade of service, we stopped by to do a little investigative drinking and see if the stories were true. Co-owner Vee Delagdillo told us the bar was being ousted by their landlord, Victor Vasquez. Vasquez, whose father owns the building Bar 107 inhabits, had plans to open his own bar, Delgadillo said. Bar 107 announced it would be closed come June 1.
For the past month, Bar 107 has been opening at 6 a.m. and partying hard. However, Delgadillo and co-owner Brian Traynam decided in the eleventh hour they wouldn't be closing after all. Near midnight on Sunday, during what could have been the bar's final hurrah, DJ Morgan Hibby Night read the revelers a defiant statement from the owners, LA Weekly reports. That statement was later posted on Facebook in full:
The owners of Bar 107 wish to thank you for showing up for the final hour of the greatest sh*thole on Earth. It's been an honor to feed your addiction and bad decisions over the past ten years. Those years have brought a lot of change to the streets of downtown Los Angeles and the Los Angeles bar scene. Like many cities before it, expensive lofts and condos have replaced affordable apartments. With it came blazers instead of T-shirts and mixologists instead of bartenders. Bars with personality and reasonable drink prices have been replaced by sterile, safe sh*tholes with ridiculous prices and even more ridiculous ice cubes. Many longtime residents have been pushed out by greedy landlords or their new douchebag neighbors. The owner of this building decided to follow suit. Open yet another shitty, expensive bar for the new yuppies that have moved into downtown L.A. We are not going to let that happen. The decision was made earlier today that we are not leaving 107 4th Street. We will remain open and continue to pay rent. If the landlord doesn't want to give us a new lease, he can take us to court. Under California law, it is illegal for him to enter this property while we are occupying it. It is illegal for him to change the locks. We'll remain open until the state marshall shows up and tells us to get the f*ck out. Let your friends know Bar 107 lives on. We're still open for business. So, see you tomorrow and every f*cking day after that. #occupybar107
You can also watch a video of the statement being read. Warning: Some profanity is used, of course.
This happened tonight!!! :D WINNING
Posted by Ruben Fregoso on Monday, June 1, 2015
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
