Score one for the mariachis

The mariachis of Boyle Heights have reason to thank and sing praises to their beloved Santa Cecilia: the Boyle Hotel on First Street, the unofficial Ellis Island for mariachis all over the U.S., will be saved and restored, the L.A. Times reports. In November 2004 I wrote, "In Protest, Mariachis Sing for Their Survival," describing the clash of cultures between the mariachis -- who get picked up for gigs across the street at Mariachi Plaza -- and the new owners of the 1889 building. They spoke of harrassment and awful conditions as the landlords sought to remodel the Boyle Hotel, presumably for the purposes of the neighborhood's slow-moving gentrification. East L.A. Community Corporation has bought the hotel and plans a fund-drive to help keep it affordable for the gentlemanly balladeers who are indispensible to countless weddings, birthdays, proposals, showers, funerals, and political rallies across L.A. Here's hoping the integrity of their spot of Earth can survive the Gold Line.