Sotel 13, West LA, Stoner Park

[alexalonso]

I am surprised that Sotel, the oldest West LA Varrio does not have a discussion. Here is a pic i shot.

[Cold Bear]

Heard they painted over the mural at Stoner

Here's a pic of S13 in front of the mural from a blog that has a lot of cool old school flicks from different varrios:



Name of the blog is Ambition Deficit Disorder

[alexalonso]

what year was that? Is that Stoner Park?

[lachica69]

Is this the Stoner park with a pool and a tall slide that drops into the pool?

[advocate]

Yes it is....they also put a skate park over there too a few years ago.

[Sinner18]

Nice flic's that's what's up.

[Cold Bear]

Here is a little history from the link:
Sotel 13 gang members stand in front of a mural they helped artist Judith Hernandez paint at Stoner Park in West LA in 1976. The mural was then painted to help unite a community that was once much more heavily plagued with gang violence. The area has since been gentrified, with small Spanish style homes being replaced by luxury apartments and condos. The mural was removed in 2002 when the park was being renovated, and never returned despite promises of city officials. Most of the new, predominantly white residents don’t know, or care much about the area’s Chicano history. Some long time residents who viewed Sotel as nothing but a menace to their community feel the same way. Sotel 13 is a shell of its former self today with very few active members, and though they still meet at the park daily, now amidst mostly yuppies, they are clearly the outsiders now. I’m not here to defend gangs, but I will say that at very least, this area once had some sort of identity, or character. It’s pretty much ghost world now.

[alexalonso]

Here is a little history from the link:
Sotel 13 gang members stand in front of a mural they helped artist Judith Hernandez paint at Stoner Park in West LA in 1976. The mural was then painted to help unite a community that was once much more heavily plagued with gang violence. The area has since been gentrified, with small Spanish style homes being replaced by luxury apartments and condos. The mural was removed in 2002 when the park was being renovated, and never returned despite promises of city officials. Most of the new, predominantly white residents don’t know, or care much about the area’s Chicano history. Some long time residents who viewed Sotel as nothing but a menace to their community feel the same way. Sotel 13 is a shell of its former self today with very few active members, and though they still meet at the park daily, now amidst mostly yuppies, they are clearly the outsiders now. I’m not here to defend gangs, but I will say that at very least, this area once had some sort of identity, or character. It’s pretty much ghost world now.

was the building that the mural painted on destroyed during the renovation?

[Silencioso]

/\/\/\/\/\/\
The wall was torn down. There was talk of reassembling the Sotel mural, brick by brick, but it never happened. I'm sure the LA Dept. of Parks and Rec want to downplay any gang connections to Stoner Park. The old placas carved into the cement, benches and trees are still there...

[TheAngels]

How deep is Sotel today as far as active members in the original hood?

I heard only 20-25 max. Compared to the 80s and 90s where they probably had a couple hundred members.

The place doesn't even feel like a gang neighborhood, especially with all the new condos and shit. It's a yuppie area.

[TheAngels]

I read there's a couple OG Sotel members living in the Valley who head up to Uni High to try to recruit new gangbangers just to try to keep Sotel alive. Don't know if that's still going on.

Most kids these days ain't trying to be about that gangbanging shit so it will probably be hard to convince kids to join Sotel.

[advocate]

I dont think theyre too deep like you were saying Angels.....but theyre still around. They stay active on the walls. Couple of their members were busted for shooting that guy in Santa Monica earlier this year.

But your right....that area is fairly yuppie with a small amount of "hood" left. You'll see nice condos on one side of the street and more rundown looking apartments right across the street. About a week ago 18st hit up a wall on Barrington near Pico & it got wacked out quickly by Sotel. Saw the same thing last year when WS Locos & Drifters came hitting up around Barrington & Stoner Park....Sotel had it crossed out within the same day. Obviously it doesnt mean they deep though.

[TheAngels]

I dont think theyre too deep like you were saying Angels.....but theyre still around. They stay active on the walls. Couple of their members were busted for shooting that guy in Santa Monica earlier this year.

But your right....that area is fairly yuppie with a small amount of "hood" left. You'll see nice condos on one side of the street and more rundown looking apartments right across the street. About a week ago 18st hit up a wall on Barrington near Pico & it got wacked out quickly by Sotel. Saw the same thing last year when WS Locos & Drifters came hitting up around Barrington & Stoner Park....Sotel had it crossed out within the same day. Obviously it doesnt mean they deep though.

Yeah that's what I was thinking -- they hit the walls hard to make it seem like they're still running shit. Make it seem like they're deeper than they actually are. Sotel is almost like a tagging crew these days. And Sotel hates taggers & graffiti writers. They cross out any tagger getting up in their area.

I wonder if the cops really tried, if they could completely get rid of the last remnants of Sotel. Or will they always have a presence...

If I'm not mistaken their border is roughly...

East - 405 Freeway
West - Santa Monica border
South - 10 Freeway
North - Wilshire Blvd

Most of the Sotels I hear stay around the east side of their hood between Stoner Park and the 405.... Somebody told me he sees em hanging out there in the apartments near the courthouse. Back in the day they probably controlled more of that hood.

[advocate]

Yeah those borders seem accurate....wilshire is really nice but I know Uni High is between SM Blvd & Wilshire Blvd & Sotel hits up through all of there too.

I forget what street the courthosue is on but they do kick it east of Barrington....I think theres some that may live near that Vons too...I heard they caught those dudes who shot the SM guy on Armacost which is a couple blocks west of Barrington. Sawtelle & Pico area had a presence as well. They seem really spread out through all of that area....they kinda have a big turf but theres alot of nice homes/condos there now.

[TheAngels]

It does make sense that they claim a lot of gang turf, and I think that's because there ain't no other gangs nearby to move on them. West LA has the least amount of gangs than any other part of the city.

Compton for example; the hood turfs are small because there's so many gangs in such a small area. West LA is big and there's what, 5 or 6 gangs in that whole area if you count Santa Monica & Culver City? And a lot of those West LA gangs are small in numbers these days. I don't even know if VSLC stays in their original hood anymore.

Sotel was still grimy though... Remember in the early 2000s they shot those three 18th Street members on Wilshire & Bundy... That's right near Brentwood and it woke a lot of rich white people up -- they had no idea there were gangs in that area.

[advocate]

Yea I remember that shooting....I was just talking to my friend about it the other day.

Shorelines still be around and V13. They'll be in Oakwood area but I see Shorelines posted up more than V13. I see VSLC posted up at different spots quite often. They used to post up deep at oakwood park on 7th ave right outside the gym & across the street. I see them throughout those streets in Oakwood...not so much in front of the gym anymore.

[bgcasper]

talkin about vslc the shoreline is a place were u can find any gang from everywere who remembera doc about that area talkin about furious bloods or a strange name that came down the shoeline like its their moma yard also if you walk south bound you ll see a gang of flamed up vatos when i was walkin i notice heavy ccb presence toward the south end were you run into marina area

[bgcasper]

when i was young i alway though sotel was a mixed race gang...anyway dont know a lot about that part of town

[Silencioso]

Sotel was never a mixed gang. You can count the non-Mexicans from that varrio on one hand. Up until the 90's they didn't even like to let in Mojados/Paisas. It was Puro Chicano. Nowadays the gang is mixed old school West Los Chicanos and Oaxacans, maybe a few down whiteboys.

West LA isn't the least gang part of LA, the South Bay has the smallest gang presence of any major area of LA. The gang situation in the SB is similar to West LA - one or two gangs for every major area or city - but the SB gangs are smaller and weaker than the WLA gangs. The baddest SB varrio is probably Lawndale 13 or Barrio East Side Torrance. Neither gang is on the level of V13, CXC or VSLC. NS Redondo isn't at the level of Sotel or SM 17th Street. Harbor City Crips aren't at the level of PBG's or Shorelines. West LA has a lot of newer crew-turned-gangs like CFL and DIM, and the So Bay doesn't seem to have much of that.

[TheAngels]

I didn't consider the South Bay because that's not really the city of LA, but a bunch of different suburb cities.

Yeah I mentioned Santa Monica & Culver City which aren't part of LA either, but they're just two small suburbs with borders surrounded on all sides West LA.

Some people may not know this but Culver City 13's main hood (Mar Vista Gardens) isn't even in Culver City, but rather LA... Basically CxC 13 is a spillover gang operating in both Culver City and the Mar Vista/West Los area...

If you subtract Santa Monica, then there's only 4 main gangs with hoods in West LA -- Sotel 13, V13, VSLC, and Culver City 13...

PBGC is kind of on the border where West LA and Central LA ends and begins. I never considered them truly "West LA", but some people do, so it's however you look at it. I think people consider La Cienega the eastern border of West LA. PBGC is right on La Cienega.

[xxx]

The Original West L.A is all that Land West of Downtown L.A.....

During the War Years, all the gangs that got booked by the Wilshire Division, West LA Division and Pacific Division....

West of Crenshaw

West of LA Brea

West of LA Cienga

The White Angelenos will say West of the 405 to the Beach...

They move the Goal Post as the minorities become the majority in Old West L.A Neighborhoods....

West Adams and the Area around USC was a upscale West LA neighborhood in the 1920-1950s, with Mansions, still around til this day........then it turned Black and the Freeway was built, and got labeled a South L.A Neighborhood, South of the Freeway...


Gang wise, I would say West L.A is West of Crenshaw, North of the Jungles/Baldwin Hills all the way to the Water....

City Stones, West Blvds, Geers, 18 Smileydrive/Rancho Park/Rimpaus, School Yards Mansfields, Carnales, etc..... These dudes at South Central/South L.A.....theyre West L.A~Westside......

[TheAngels]

Interesting history, xxx.

Perhaps the borders of where West

But if you look at a map of LA, Downtown isn't really centrally located within the city -- Downtown is really on the east side.

"Central LA" is considered the area around Mid City and the area just south of Hollywood, like the Greater Wilshire area and the surrounding areas -- north of the 10 freeway and south of Hollywood.

Yeah some people consider West LA to be from the 405 to the beach. Others say it's La Cienega to the beach (not counting Santa Monica). Some say it's everywhere west of Beverly Hills.

At one time weren't minorities were banned from moving west of Western Ave? Maybe that was the old West LA border.

[CUETLACHTLI]

i always saw it this way....the west side was rampart area and hollywood...places like echo park mcarthur park east hollywood silver lake the whole belmont area...thats the west side...just like theres boyle heights...and east LA...theres the west side...and west LA...

[AztecNinja]

In my book everything West of the 110 is the West side.

[xxx]

On the Map, Downtown L.A leans more east, that's because of growth, expansion and annexes of Cities and unincorporated Areas around L.A......L.A sprung from DT and moved North (Valley), South to the Harbor, West to the Beach....

Technically, the Streets of L.A turn East/West @ Main Street with the Harbor Freeway being the Marker/Landmark..

But D.T is the focal point.....

West of D.T = Westside
East of D.T = Eastside
South of D.T = South L.A & Harbor Area
North of D.T = Northeast L.A & the Valley

[elOriginalMartinez]

Heard they painted over the mural at Stoner

Here's a pic of S13 in front of the mural from a blog that has a lot of cool old school flicks from different varrios:



Name of the blog is Ambition Deficit Disorder

very good thread and firme ass, old school flikas

[Lonewolf]

IMO

Yeah some people consider West LA to be from the 405 to the beach. Others say it's La Cienega to the beach (not counting Santa Monica). Some say it's everywhere west of Beverly Hills.

At one time weren't minorities were banned from moving west of Western Ave? Maybe that was the old West LA border.

Exactly, very few were west of Western, until you started out again by the 405 freeway.

(oldenly) the west side was before western, and the west los was after the 405 freeway.

i always saw it this way....the west side was rampart area and hollywood...places like echo park mcarthur park east hollywood silver lake the whole belmont area...thats the west side...just like theres boyle heights...and east LA...theres the west side...and west LA...

I agree 100% with ^ ^ ., this was the original “west side” LA gang capital that stretched from East Hollywwod on the north, from Downtown and Elysian Hills on the East, from Hoover Park (Harpys) on the south, to more or less Western Avenue on the WEST. That’s where all the varrios started hitting up West Side.

And then there is the old West Los aka West LA neighborhoods like Santa Monica, Sawtelle, Mar Vista, Venice, Palms and Culver City. Even though they may claim west side now, they were known to be as West Los / West LA

Just like on the east side, there’s an east side and then there’s an east l.a.,

Same thing on the west side, there is a west side, and then there is a west l.a. area.

Even though everyone from downtown west to the beach all just claim west side now, they were two very distinct sides to claim

[TheAngels]

In my book everything West of the 110 is the West side.

In terms of South Central, I agree gangs consider the 110 the dividing line between West and East.

But in terms of where "West LA" is, I'd say that's a specific area that we associate with places like Sawtelle, Westwood, Brentwood, Venice, etc.

[TheAngels]

IMO


Same thing on the west side, there is a west side, and then there is a west l.a. area.

Yeah I think that's where the confusion occurs.. "the West Side" refers to the general western part of the city, while "West L.A./West Los" refers to the specific area encompassing Palms, Sawtelle, Mar Vista, Venice, etc.

If you go by addresses, everywhere west of Main Street is the "West Side." But I don't regular people use that. Otherwise the East Side would be way too small and the West Side is like most of LA.

[AztecNinja]

Yeah but Tepas, Lynwood, Lennox all claim West LA that confuses me.

[Lonewolf]

Yeah but Tepas, Lynwood, Lennox all claim West LA that confuses me.

Lynwood? I think you meant Inglewood, right?

[TheAngels]

Yeah but Tepas, Lynwood, Lennox all claim West LA that confuses me.

Where is Tepas? I googled that and couldn't find a place with that

Lynwood can't be West LA since it's way on the east side near Compton. Not to mention Lynwood is not part of LA...

Lennox is more like West South Central, but that's not part of LA either.