Lifestyle
Famed Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster is shut down after mid-ride malfunction
NEW YORK (AP) — The famous Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster in New York City was shut down indefinitely after coming to a stop mid-ride this week.
The 97-year-old wooden roller coaster at Luna Park was on its ascent on Thursday when ride operators took it out of service due to a damaged chain sprocket in the motor room. The operator stopped the ride and several people were removed from the roller coaster without injury, according to New York City’s Department of Buildings.
Video posted on social media shows a person being carefully escorted down the tracks.
Inspectors with the buildings department were at the scene Friday and issued the owners of Luna Park violations for the damaged equipment and for failure to immediately notify the department about the incident.
A posting on Luna Park’s website Sunday said the Cyclone will reopen when the repair is complete and the ride passes inspection.
“At Luna Park in Coney Island, safety is our number one priority and ride maintenance, and thorough testing happens daily before Luna Park opens and throughout the day as necessary,” the statement read. “The Coney Island Cyclone is a 97-year-old roller coaster that is meticulously maintained and tested daily.”
Lifestyle
After the Eaton fire, ‘In the Gardens of Eaton’ finds unexpected beauty in loss
Night is falling in Altadena as bats circle, peacocks wail and photographer Kevin Cooley tries to capture what’s left of a tree.
Using strobes and a long exposure time to allow the maximum amount of available light to hit his lens, Cooley snags about 50 shots of the 20-foot-tall tree, which stands vigil over a street where nearly all the homes burned. The tree’s limbs were lopped off in the wake of January 2025’s Eaton fire, which ravaged Altadena and part of Pasadena, but all these months after the fire, there’s new growth on the tree.
Photographer Kevin Cooley sets up a camera to take photos for his series.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Little tufts of green leaves have emerged from the raw cuts where the burned branches once were, proving the tree to be more resilient than its otherwise relatively stark exterior might suggest.
A fine art and news photographer for decades, Cooley, 51, is using pictures like the one he snapped of the tree as part of his new project, “In the Gardens of Eaton.” A collection of 6,000 photos and counting that Cooley has taken around Altadena on wild lots where homes once stood, “In the Gardens of Eaton” aims to capture bits of natural beauty that have endured despite the ravages of the fire and its aftermath.
Cooley has lived in Altadena since 2000 and he knew his neighbors well. He started working on the photo project several months after losing his home in the fire. He’d enlisted a group called Samaritan’s Purse to come up to his lot, where he’d found a metal flat file he’d used to store his photographic prints. Cooley was hopeful some had survived, but when the group popped it open, he says it quickly became clear that the burning metal had acted somewhat like an oven, burning almost everything inside to a charred crisp.
A ponytail palm on Athens Street photographed for Kevin Cooley’s “In the Gardens of Eaton.”
(Kevin Cooley)
One piece Cooley could identify, though, was a 2020 copy of Wired magazine for which he’d shot the cover. It featured a swirling plume of smoke, accompanying the story “The West’s Infernos Are Melting Our Sense of How Fire Works,” and the irony wasn’t lost on him.
“You could still kind of make out the word Wired across the top of the masthead and something about that just blew me away,” Cooley says. “It’s as if the whole thing had come full circle. I immediately wanted to photograph it in the same way I had originally photographed the smoke, which was in a studio with lighting, and I guess that made something click for me. I started feeling like there was a way to make something positive after the fire, and that’s when I started spending more time back in Altadena.”
Driving around town, looking at the lots and the wreckage, Cooley says he started to notice the bits of nature that were trying to persevere. He spotted a begonia poking through a burned fence on his neighbor’s property and snapped a photo, and soon he was accumulating more and more similar images. Cooley says if you’d told him before the fire he’d be taking so many pictures of flowers, he’d have scoffed, but now images like one he captured recently of a group of blooming roses in front of a cluster of dead vines remind him that perseverance is possible no matter the odds.
Cooley stands in front of some of his photos on display in a gallery in Culver City.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s inspiring what nature is doing up there,” Cooley says. “We live in this environment where fire is very much part of the ecology, but people’s gardens are also pushing through. Nonnative species and native species are both there. And people are planting more wildflowers, and it feels cathartic. It’s making me excited to rebuild too, because I really can’t wait to get back.”
Letizia Ragusa, an Altadena resident who lost her home, says Cooley shot her flower-filled lot without her even knowing it. Before the fire, her yard was a wonderland of 16 fruit trees, a koi pond and both a vegetable and an herb garden. All of that was lost in the blaze. As a method of coping and of shoring up the land, Ragusa enlisted a Sierra Madre company called Hardy Californians to plant a remediation seed mix across her lot.
El Molino geraniums captured for Cooley’s “In the Gardens of Eaton.”
(Kevin Cooley)
Seeing the native plants and flowers begin to pop up on her lot was important, Ragusa says. She’s been living in a rental with her family since the fire, and there’s no yard or room for a garden.
“It’s just really comforting to me to have some sense of control when everything else feels so out of control right now,” Ragusa says. “At least I have this little piece of land that I can plant things on and I know it’s what’s going to happen. It’s very predictable, and I also think it makes other people happy. I see people driving and walking by that stop to look at it. And our neighbors have all commented on it too, so that’s nice.”
The pictures Cooley took on Ragusa’s property were of rows of pink and purple native flowers and sunflowers set amid city lights and a dreamy sunset. Ragusa says they’re surreal and beautiful.
“It’s outdoor photography, but with a studio element,” she says, noting that she’s especially open to Cooley’s process because she’s an artist herself, previously producing ceramics and sculpture from a home studio that she also lost.
Cooley works sets up lights for a recent photo shoot.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
While the initial photos Cooley took of her yard were from the street and her driveway, she’s since given him permission to go deeper into her lot. It’s something Cooley says is important to him because he knows firsthand that a lot of people’s lots are what he calls “hallowed ground.”
Most of the pictures Cooley has taken so far have been from a distance, though he has set up his equipment near the end of people’s driveways to get a good photo. As word of Cooley’s project has gotten around Altadena — with one resident posting a photo of him on their lot captured via trail cam to a local Facebook group, looking for more information — more and more people have expressed an openness to having him come shoot their gardens.
Honeysuckle on Via Maderas captured for “In the Gardens of Eaton.”
(Kevin Cooley)
Cooley has created a Google Form for interested residents to use and he keeps a spreadsheet of the responses in a clipboard on his car’s dashboard. When he’s at a loss for what to shoot next, he’ll glance at it, mentally mapping out addresses in his mind and looking at resident-submitted descriptions of their lots, which include phrases like “We don’t have much left, but we saved our banana plant” and “[Our house] made me into the gardener I am and I adorned her in plants.”
Cooley says he intends to shoot photos for all the owners who have responded to his Google Form, hoping to gift them prints when the project is complete. Starting in July, he’s headed to Portugal for a six-month art fellowship, but says he plans to continue the photo project later. Cooley would also like to produce an art book of his favorite photos from the project.
He’s also aware that, in some respects, he’s up against a time limit in terms of what he can shoot. He says he spent the beginning part of the project “rushing against the Army Corps” as they were clearing lots, and now he’s trying to photograph rough-and-tumble lots full of nature before their owners level them and start to rebuild.
Calaveras roses photographed for “In the Gardens of Eaton.”
(Kevin Cooley)
Sometimes, Cooley says, he had to shoot on lots where he hadn’t known the owner. When he started the project, he made an effort to track down who lived on the property before he set up his camera, but the process was surprisingly arduous and he’d often lose his intended shot as flowers or plants died or changed shape.
“It wasn’t practical,” Cooley says. “It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I just couldn’t figure it out. I will eventually, though, and then I’ll be able to present people with a photograph when they’re back in their new homes.
“I just think Altadena is a special place,” he says on a spring day. “Six months ago, it was so depressing to come up here, but now it’s not. It’s still emotional, of course, but seeing all the rebuilding, it’s clear that people see value in being here, even now. When all this is done, if Altadena is even 50% or 75% as special as it was before, it’ll still be great.”
Lifestyle
Working hard as ever, Wendell Pierce aims for an annual trifecta: TV, film and theater
Wendell Pierce stars in Othello at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.
Teresa Castracane
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Teresa Castracane
Wendell Pierce says there’s a joke actors have about the five stages of their careers:
“There’s ‘Who is Wendell Pierce?’ ‘Get me Wendell Pierce.’ ‘Get me someone like Wendell Pierce.’ ‘Get me a younger Wendell Pierce.’ And then the last and final and fifth stage is: ‘Who is Wendell Pierce?’” he says.
After starring roles on The Wire and Treme, and a 2023 Tony Award nomination as the first Black actor to play Willy Loman in the Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, Pierce is working as hard as ever. He says he’s motivated by the “ticking clock of mortality” — but also by the desire to challenge himself as an actor.
Though many entertainers shy away from the label “journeyman actor,” Pierce proudly embraces the term: “It’s not just to go from job to job, but [to] be intentional about the jobs I take,” he says. “I try to do the trifecta, as I call it — television and film and theater — every year.”

Pierce currently plays a captain on CBS’ Elsbeth and a CIA officer in the film Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War. He’s also starring in the Shakespeare Theatre Company production of Othello in Washington, D.C.
Pierce likens tackling Shakespeare to detective work. First, he says, there’s the “mining the text for all of its understanding and everything that Shakespeare is telling you not only about the characters, but how to portray them and what’s happening.”
More than that, though, there’s also the emotional aspect of connecting with the character — and the physical and vocal strength required of a three-hour production. “The challenge is physical, it’s intellectual, and it’s emotional, and that’s the great thing about doing Shakespeare, and even specifically doing Othello,” Pierce says. “I always think of these … iconic roles and large roles like the beginning of a hike up Mount Everest.”
Interview highlights
On how many years ago, jazz helped him crack the code on Shakespeare

I went to the club to hear Arthur Blythe, a great alto saxophonist. And he’s pretty avant-garde, but he had this really hip, swinging tune. I was humming along with it. And then he went into his solo, which was free and wild and all over the place. And I was just looking around the club, still humming the song in my head. And when he finished his solo, we were right exactly on the same note in the melody of the song.
And that’s when I had this epiphany that while he was free and wild and doing his solo, he was aware of the structure of the song, and knew exactly where he was at all times, and came back to it. So he was free within the form, and then I understood that’s what Shakespeare is like: To have freedom within the form, don’t allow the verse to constrict you, but let it be the guard rails of where you’re supposed to be. But you have the opportunity to take it wherever you would like to take it. That’s really what all great art is about, a merger of technical proficiency and expression, and unlimited expression, but being able to be technically proficient and exact. And that opened up Shakespeare to me, that night, in September, 1981, in New York, listening to jazz at the Village Vanguard.
On why he almost quit The Wire
During the course of The Wire, people would challenge us all the time — “You are only demonstrating the thuggery and the crime and you’re perpetuating this idea that, the stereotype that Black folks are criminally inclined and violent and all.”

I remember a woman on the train challenging me, African American woman who worked on Wall Street. And I said, “I accept your criticism. … I welcome the challenge and the criticism so I can make sure that we don’t fall victim to that criticism. … But we have judges, the mayor, the president of the city council, the city council members, police officers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, who are all African American. But you’re only seeing the criminals. Imagine how tough it is for a little kid in those neighborhoods. They don’t see the lawyers or the doctors. If you don’t see them as an educated woman, a professional, and you can only see the thuggery, imagine how susceptible those young kids are to it. And that’s what we’re trying to tell and the story we’re trying to tell.”
Now, in the fourth season, I almost quit because at our wrap party a young lady comes up to me. She says, “Mr. Pierce, I was on the show this year. I really wanted to work with you. We didn’t have anything together. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your work and all.” And I said, “Who did you play?” And she says, “I look younger than I am, so I was one of the kids in the middle school.” … She played this out of control young woman who slashes another girl’s face. … She was like, “I’m going to Brown University on full scholarship.”

And I thought to myself, why are we not telling your story? … And I thought about the criticism and I said, that woman was right. And I said, I should leave the show because we’re perpetuating a stereotype. And then the episode came on for the fourth season and it was so impactful. And we see exactly where we lose our kids. And we see that inflection point where we can save them and put them on the right track. And where we make them the young woman who goes to Brown on a full scholarship, and where we lose them and send them into that pipeline, into the penal system, and calling our dysfunction out in our society that creates the criminality, that doesn’t celebrate the education of this young woman going to school and all. So it wasn’t arbitrary, and then that’s the only thing that made me come back.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, left, and Wendell Pierce participate in a panel discussion during a Federal Interagency Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Task Force event at the Justice Department May 31, 2011 in Washington, D.C. The event was organized to announce a public awareness campaign, addressing the challenges faced by children and families affected by drug abuse.
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On taking care of his late father in his last 10 years

He was two months away from his 99th birthday. He passed in my hands, we were holding hands. I was there with him. I had my father for a long time. I got closer to my father in the last 10 years of his life than I ever had before. My mother passed, and one of her dying wishes was, “Wendell, take care of your father.” She knew. While I was working in Budapest, if I got four days off, I would go home to New Orleans, and spend time with him. It was a blessing. I was traveling the world and being an actor and at the same time my home base is New Orleans, and here I would have my father with me for all those years and he was fuel to my fire. He was reminding me of everything that he taught me and as I attack these challenges of these great roles and the different roles that I play, he is very much in my process.
This is a man who fought in [the Battle of] Saipan in World War II, fought for the country that he loved when this country wasn’t loving him back and came back and his voting rights weren’t even protected and here he was risking his life in The Double V campaign in the Black community — victory abroad and victory at home. So he very much believed in that.
On the erasure of Black history

The idea of trying to eliminate any sort of contributions that the African-American community has made to this country in the year that we try to celebrate 250 — it is so insulting. … It feels like a visceral attack.
My brother was purged out of his job here in Washington, D.C. I know so many people and so many Black women in particular, this attack on minorities and women in a world where people are trying to erase them, we realize that that is our call to duty of our generation. We know now that we have to mark our passing on the tree and declare who we are, who we were, what our accomplishments are and have been and what we have created. And exercise our right of self-determination and declaration of accomplishment. We owe that to our ancestors, we owe that to the generations yet to come because there are those who do not have our best interest at heart.
Ann Marie Baldonado and Nico Gonzalez Wisler produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.
Lifestyle
‘Worth every penny’: This is how much fans spent to attend the World Cup in L.A.
“Do you have an extra ticket?” a man shouted outside SoFi Stadium last Thursday.
The World Cup has been drawing fans from around the globe. But for many, getting a seat in the stadium has come at a steep price.
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Some were lucky enough to nab $400 to $500 tickets through official World Cup lotteries, others paid thousands of dollars to catch the action IRL. Tickets for the upcoming USA versus Turkey match were selling for more than $1,400 on resale sites.
The demand has been so high that authorities have been warning fans about how to avoid ticket scams.
As crowds flocked into the stadium, we asked attendees about how much they paid to get into the most-watched sporting event in the world. Here’s what they shared.
Their responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Luis Moreno, Luis Moreno Jr., Angelica Castellano, Diana Moreno and Ramon Aguilera of Orange County
Luis Moreno, Luis Moreno Jr., Angelica Castellanos, Diana Moreno and Ramon Aguilera sport Mexico gear.
How much did you pay for your tickets?
Diana: We don’t want to say because I don’t want our parents to know.
*Whispers* We paid retail. It was like $500 per ticket. For Father’s Day, we wanted to make sure he got to enjoy it.
Why did you want to attend the World Cup?
Castellano: We went in ‘86 in Mexico, ‘94 in Pasadena and now here. We’re excited because I want to enjoy it with my kids. If we didn’t come, I would’ve been sad because they need to see how it is.
Diana: Now, it’s our turn. Even though [today’s match] is not our country, we still had to come and experience it. We’ll watch our team play later on the big screen.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
Diana: Work, but that doesn’t matter. This is more important. Time with family.
Luis Jr.: Sleep. [Laughs]
Diana: It’s Thursday. We’re out here watching the game, we’re drinking, so there’s no complaints.
Was it worth it?
Diana: Absolutely. No matter what happens today. The fact that we’re here, it’s already a success.
Tell me about your outfit. You’re rocking Paisaboys, an L.A. brand.
Diana: I got the Paisaboys shirt on, repping. I know they have a collaboration with Nike. I got my Nike shoes on and I’m just ready to have a good time. My mom sewed her top last night. She wanted to add a little touch to it.
Angelica: Yes! This is an old, old, old jacket.
Diana: My dad’s outfit is sponsored by me. All Adidas, Father’s Day gift.
Luis Sr.: I got lucky this year.
Adam Chapman and Sarah Harrell of Washington, D.C.
Adam Chapman and Sarah Harrell.
How much did you pay for tickets?
Harrell: We went to two games: USA versus Paraguay [in Los Angeles] and Senegal versus France in New Jersey/New York.
Chapman: The L.A. tickets were way more expensive. We bought them presale for like $1,940, but the [seats] were still very high in the arena and the resale prices are actually cheaper than the ones we bought on presale. It’s horrible. [Laughs]
Why did you want to come to the World Cup?
Chapman: This is my first men’s World Cup. I went to the women’s World Cup in Australia a couple years ago. The last time the U.S. had a men’s World Cup here was like forever ago. We’re probably not going to have another in our lifetime, so I really wanted to make sure we had a chance to go to some games.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
Harrell: We’re moving the day we get back, so we were packing until the moment we got here. Some of this gear was last-minute purchasing in order to make that work. Also, we took a six-hour plane ride, middle seats. We really committed to get here. We got cat sitters, we both took days off from work, the whole thing.
Was it worth it?
Chapman: Yeah, just for the experience. It’s more money than we would’ve wanted to pay but yeah.
Harrell: We bought the tickets like a year and a half ago, so it’s been on the calendar forever. We ended up getting to bring my brother and his best friend to celebrate his 40th birthday, so it sort just worked out for all of us.
Laila Samimi and Elizabeth Cambage of Los Angeles
Laila Samimi and Elizabeth Cambage.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Cambage: Nothing. Sorry.
Samimi: We were blessed.
Why did you want to attend the World Cup?
Cambage: This is my first fútbol game ever. I wanted to come cause it’s L.A. Yay sports! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let’s get out there and get into it.
Samimi: I’m born and raised in L.A. so I’m happy to see the World Cup here.
Tell me about your outfit inspiration.
Samimi: I’m wearing Honor the Gift, Russell Westbrook’s brand, a Nike top, my shorts are from a random boutique in L.A. and Jordan shoes.
Cambage: I just went crazy at the Nike store. I’m not gonna lie. We just came from the Nike store. I’m reppin’ USA today. Yes, I am Australian, but I do live in America and USA is AUS. [Laughs]
Kenan Sahbaz of St. Louis and family
Bosnia and Herzegovina fans cheer on their team.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
I got mine directly through the FIFA website. We paid $500 a piece. I brought my son, my cousins and their kids.
Why did you want to attend the World Cup?
Sahbaz: This is our very first World Cup. It’s a historic event for our very small country, Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is a huge accomplishment in the past 12 years. This is going to be the first time we’ve made it here again. We’ve got a really good squad and I think we can do some amazing things for our country. This is a time when we really need some support and joy in the country, and no better way to do it than at the World Cup.
Who’s your favorite player?
Kids: Džeko.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
Sahbaz: A lot. Work. Time. We were initially going to go on vacation to the Bahamas, but I asked him either the Bahamas or the World Cup. So when we found out that we made it, it was the World Cup. We canceled everything else. We even went to the qualifiers in Wales and that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience as well. There was just no way we were going to miss it.
Was it worth it?
Sahbaz: 100%. Win or lose, we still win today.
Daniel Henriquez and David Njenga of Seattle
David Njenga, left, sports Kenya gear, while Daniel Henriquez cheers for El Salvador.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Henriquez: This match was $500 each. We bought it in like October of last year.
Why did you want to attend the World Cup?
Njenga: Because this is the World Cup. You have to go to a World Cup. This is my second one. I was in Qatar for the last World Cup.
Henriquez: The energy! World Cup baby!
Njenga: There’s people from all over the world. We are all assembled here to enjoy this moment.
Henriquez: This is what happens when all the world comes together. This is our utopia. We all love each other. We’re all here for one thing, to support our country.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
Njenga: My job. I have to be at work right now, but I took the day off. I don’t mind.
Henriquez: I’m a nurse for the fire department. My boss was awesome. She gave me a day off. I love my boss Nancy. Go Nancy!
Was it worth it?
Njenga: It is worth every penny. It’s not even the money. It’s the experience. After this, we head to San Francisco for another game.
Henriquez: Then we’re heading to Vancouver and then we have another game in Seattle.
Njenga: We’re going to six games [in total]. Our Houston tickets were the cheapest. They were about $400.
Cindy Vazquez of Granada Hills
Cindy Vazquez Zavala reps Mexico with her outfit.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
It was free.99. Shh!
Why did you want to come to the World Cup?
This is my first World Cup. The Jordan team invited me to attend this game, so lucky me. That’s why I’m wearing Jordans today. I’m in the industry so they invited a few employees from neighborhood stores to come.
Tell us about your outfit inspiration.
Today there’s a Mexico game, so I still gotta rep even though I’m attending this match [Switzerland versus Bosnia and Herzegovina]. The outfit is a Nike T90 jersey and my lace is from Amazon. I got the little [soccer] ball, the little World Cup and teddy bear from the gas station. I needed it.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
I actually had to request PTO to attend, but the store is still running without me. Right after this game, I actually have to jet back. I work at Feature, which is a sneaker boutique in Studio City. S/O Feature for allowing me to come here!
Fabian Almiron of Spain
Fabian Almiron, originally from Paraguay but currently living in Spain, rides Metro to the game.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
I paid $1,100 for the first game [June 12], $290 for the Turkey game [June 19] and the last game with Australia was $170 [June 25].
Why did you want to come to the World Cup?
This is my first World Cup. I live in Spain, but I’m rooting for Paraguay. I’m very excited to be seeing them participate after 16 years.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
I used like 20 to 25 days of vacation time to come see the World Cup.
Was it worth it?
Yes!
Sunny Kwong, Sam Mallari, Antonio Evangelista, Michael Evangelista of San Diego and Los Angeles
Antonio Evangelista, Sam Mallari, Michael Evangelista and Sunny Kwong are decked out in Bosnia and Herzegovina gear.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Michael: We paid $400 each. We got lucky with the last chance lottery. They released the tickets a few months ago.
Why did you want to attend the World Cup?
Michael: We’re rooting for Bosnia this time. This is our first World Cup.
Antonio: It’s a lifelong dream. I’ve loved the sport ever since I was in the Philippines.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
Michael: Most of us had the day off. I worked in the morning at like 6 a.m. and then I’m going to work afterward. I really wanted to carve out time to be there.
Mallari: I took time off because this is my first soccer game ever and I wanted to experience the World Cup with true fans.
Was it worth it?
Michael: 100%. It’s honestly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s been awesome to be here with my dad. We watched the last World Cup finals and we were literally in tears. I know he’s been playing soccer ever since he was in the Philippines military.
Antonio: 20 years.
Becky Clift of Orange County and William Wagner of San Diego
Colleagues William Wagner and Becky Clift sport traditional festival inspired outfits to cheer on Switzerland.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Clift: They were gifted to us.
Wagner: We’re a fortunate group.
Why did you want to come to the World Cup?
Clift: The World Cup in America is super fun, so we wanted to support it and be a part of it. This was the game that we got tickets for, so we decided to dress up a little bit and have some fun.
Wagner: We’re both soccer people. We both speak the world’s language, so we’re happy to be a part of it here.
Tell me about your outfit inspiration.
Wagner: I have a very close Swiss friend who was equipped for this. One quick phone call and here I am.
Clift: Then I had to get mine so I could support.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
Wagner: A full day of work. We’re both engineers. We know each other through work.
Was it worth it?
Wagner: We’ll find out.
Clift: Heck yeah!
Jorge Morales of Topanga
Jorge Morales holds out a ball he got at the World Cup opener in Mexico City.
How much did you pay for tickets?
It was between $800 to $900 for my USA versus Paraguay tickets. I bought them through Seat Geek.
Why did you want to come to the World Cup?
I wanted to experience it not just in Los Angeles, but I also wanted to experience it in Mexico. I’m going to three games in Los Angeles and four in Mexico City. Going to my first World Cup in Mexico City was a whole different ballgame. Mexico played in their home country and they won. It was like pandemonium. Even though it was raining over there at the time, it was still a lot of fun. Everyone was hugging each other. I’m looking at you, New York Knicks fans. [Laughs]
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
I’m used to traveling, so I’m like this ain’t nothing. I just wanted to experience a World Cup game and the fact that it’s in three countries, you’re not going to experience that any other time. It’s the one and only World Cup where you’re going to see three countries hosting it.
Alexi Kulik, Marcella Harkness, Luke Kulik and Ian Harkness of San Diego
Switzerland fans Alexi Kulik, Marcella Harkness, Luke Kulik and Ian Harkness.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Ian: $450 per ticket.
Alexi: We won the ticket lottery. That’s the only way ‘cause the resale is expensive.
Why did you want to attend the World Cup?
Marcella: This is our first World Cup!
Ian: I was at the Switzerland versus Qatar game. Similar outfit. We got it dialed this time. Lots of fun. Tough ending, but what are you going to do?
Luke: We wanted to support Switzerland. Everyone in the family is Swiss. It’s fun to go to a World Cup game. We were just excited to get tickets. I think it’s a great way for the family to spend time together and a good excuse to get out of work.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
Luke: Time off work. Time to come here. We drove up here. I don’t think we gave up much. We just enjoy being here.
Ian: $450.
Alexi: And we woke up at 5 a.m., so that we could come up here and spend the day together.
Was it worth it?
All: Yes!
Anja Gegic, Dino Gegic, Benjamin Mustafic, Nordin Kapic, Armin Kapic of Los Angeles
Bosnia and Herzegovina fans Anja Gegic, Dino Gegic, Benjamin Mustafic, Nordin Kapic and Armin Kapic.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Nordin: $3,000. We’re like literally on the field.
Anja: $450. In L.A., we got it like that.
Why did you want to attend the World Cup?
Anja: This is our second time ever qualifying for the World Cup. We are so proud to be here and support our country today.
Nordin: I mean, look around. Why would you not want to be here today?
Armin: We’re hoping for the win!
All: 2-0!
Bendicht Hügli and Lucia Grajales of Mexico City
Lucia Grajales and Bendicht Hugli, both currently living in Mexico City, hold a Swiss flag.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Hügli: The ticket was $650. That’s stealing. That’s robbery. When I went in ‘86, I think the tickets were 10% of the price I paid for this year.
Why did you want to attend the World Cup?
Hügli: I had some business in San Diego. I saw Switzerland is going to be here, so let’s hit it and break the bank to get tickets. I went to the World Cup in Mexico City in ’86. I saw 12 games. I’m going to one this time.
Was it worth it?
Hügli: We’ll see. If Switzerland plays lousy, then I’m going to be pissed, but I think they’ll do better than in the first game.
Flavia Sacco and Isidoro Garcia of Washington, D.C.
Flavia Sacco and Isidoro Garcia root for Paraguay.
How much did you pay for your ticket?
Isidoro: I think it was around $500 per ticket. Again, we were very lucky because Paraguay was the first game.
Flavia: It was early bird without knowing who was going to play.
Isidoro: We’re also going to the Paraguay versus Turkey game in San Francisco and the third one in Mexico City.
Why did you want to come to the World Cup?
Flavia: We’re rooting for Paraguay. I’m from Paraguay, born and raised.
Isidoro: This is my second World Cup. I went to the one in Qatar. We were very excited about it. Actually, we were very lucky too because we bought Paraguay’s tickets when they were selling them blank. So we just bought the three tickets for Paraguay before knowing the group stage and then it turned out to be in the U.S., so it was awesome.
Flavia: We were hoping it would be on the East Coast because that’s where we live and it ended up being on the other side of the country, but we already had the tickets and we really wanted to go to a game, so we flew. We’re coming straight from the airport. We have our 5-month-old baby who is at the hotel with my mom.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
Isidoro: I guess time with our daughter. Even though it’s only going to be a few hours, we miss her a lot. She’s very tiny. Every [moment] is precious with her.
Was it worth it?
Isidoro: Yes, even though it’s a few hours and hopefully Paraguay will pull it off.
Jorge Espinosa of Los Angeles
Jorge Espinosa of Los Angeles.
How much did you pay for tickets?
For the USA versus Paraguay ticket, I think I paid like $1,800, and for another match, I think I paid about $1,020, so a little less. I think that’s when the prices started to go down.
Why did you want to come to the World Cup?
I’ve always wanted to go. I missed my chance to go to Brazil in 2014. I really wanted to go, but I had just taken a huge trip to Asia, so I couldn’t really go. I didn’t have any money left and I’ve been thinking about the World Cup being here since it was awarded to the U.S. I was really bummed out when it was awarded to Qatar instead of the U.S. and also instead of Australia. I’m really excited about it. It feels unreal.
What does it mean for the World Cup to be in your hometown?
It means so much. I remember when they had it here in ‘94. I didn’t get a chance to go to any of the games, but the energy that you feel around the city is like next level. The events they’ve been hosting are so awesome. You get to meet more people from other walks of life and other countries.
Did you have to give up anything to be here?
I just pretty much had to pick up more debt, but I get points so it’ll help fly somewhere. Also, debt disappears when you die so they can try coming after me for that World Cup money, but they never will. [Laughs]
Was it worth it?
I looked at the price and was like, “It’ll never be this cheap in my life, ever.” It’s only ever going to go up, and, hey, it’s in my backyard.
Additional reporting and translation by Dante Estrada.
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