(Editor’s note: This letter was sent from resident John Alle to his brother, who owned a condo on Albright Street and asked if the Bay Theater has been saved. Alle sent the letter to CTN with permission to publish it and print his name.)
Paliskates was the only business, situated in Caruso’s Palisades Village, that burned.
About the Bay Theater . . ..Well, our buddy Rick Caruso saved it because it was part of his Palisades Village Development. (He even stole the name Palisades Village.)
He hired hundreds of private firefighters and brought in many, many water tankers to save his own property. He had that right.
But he did not bother to even spray a hose or a sprinkle of water on the neighboring properties three inches away or the homes 40 feet away.
This property right next door to his, he tried to buy unsuccessfully when he was building Palisades Village. He tried and tried. And now this was his last revenge.
You can see this building which used to have Pali Skates as a tenant was owned by an old woman who relied on the rent for her income. Caruso let it burn.
Now he can pay as much as he wants and higher than anybody else and simply cost-average that high amount into the low amount that he paid for his property.
Very few people know that when he was excavating, he dumped the hazardous dirt from Emerson’s LaMay’s Cleaners into Potrero Canyon “as his family’s contribution toward filling the canyon” for a passive walking park from the Rec Center to the Beach.
The hazardous dirt was discovered, and Caruso has acknowledged it, but refused to remove it. I reminded him that it would be a lot easier now to remove it since he doesn’t have to access the dirt from the ocean/PCH side. Half of the homes on the south side of the Canyon are burned to the ground and all of the homes on the north side are burned to the ground.
His response? Crickets.
John Alle
As a member of the Park Advisory Board when the Palisades Village was built, not only did we know, but we encouraged Rick Caruso to dump the soil from Swarthmore into Potrero Canyon, as it would speed the development of Potrero and eliminate the cost of having dirt trucked in. The “hazardous” dirt from the dry cleaners of 30 years ago had been remediated before Caruso even bought the site. There was no risk in using this soil; as confirmed by the Bureau of Engineering that managed the project.
Seem like John Alle has an axe to grind.
Los Angeles is a mess. They burned both Palisades/Malibu and Alta Dena to the ground.
The Beaches are not useable, Santa Monica is dirty and dangerous.
Lindsey Horvath has no idea what she is doing, she is a Mike Bonin clone who will
Never open PCH nor Topanga Bivd ever again. (safety first).
We have to come together No matter how painful, we have to circle around the one person who might be able to turn this mess around.
He should have shared, he didn’t, he will answer for that with the big guy in the sky.
7th ring of Dante – the violence against neighbors,
He will have to answer for that.
Please read about pre-fabricated homes offered by Rick Caruso’s foundation: SteadfastLA.com – to assist people who lost homes & can’t afford to rebuild.