Sept. 7, 2025 7 AM PT
To the editor: It would be unfair to compare a palm tree’s shading capabilities to an Indian laurel fig or a Coast live oak (“L.A. desperately needs more shade. So why were 77 palm trees planted near LACMA?,” Sept. 4). It’s a false paradigm, like asking how many touchdown passes Clayton Kershaw has thrown or how many home runs Shaquille O’Neal has hit.
Palm trees are loved for their sculptural and evocative landscape qualities. They also provide nice habitats for some birds and mammals. Give LACMA, Metro and the city’s Bureau of Street Services credit for recognizing that the purpose of landscape isn’t just to provide shade but also to enhance the streetscape and harmonize with the architecture.
James Manifold, Claremont
This writer is a member of the California Botanic Garden’s board of trustees.
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To the editor: So, like everything in the U.S. lately, environmental concerns are taking a back seat, this time thanks to the City Council and LACMA. With rising global temperatures and reduced rainfall in California, I would think that these policymakers would take into account what is best for the majority of people and not just the privileged few who have the money and clout to call the shots.
Vicki Rupasinghe, Ojai
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To the editor: LACMA Director Michael Govan’s reasoning to plant Mexican fan palms as a remembrance to the city’s history falls flat. Before the demolishing of the previous LACMA campus, including the lamented Bing Theater, I would attend concerts and movies at the Bing in the evenings. In the late summer, the fragrance from the sycamore trees east of the LACMA buildings would waft toward the theater and campus. It was delightful and enticing. Mexican fan palms do not delight with a fragrance.
The tired cliché of palm trees doesn’t honor the history of the city, and particularly of LACMA. Instead, it’s the dignity, strength, size and beauty of the sycamore trees that do.
Matthew Hetz, Los Angeles