Lowriders have been an integral part of the West Coast and Latino culture for decades. In Las Vegas, Nevada especially – and plenty of car shows take place to show off people’s builds, and for enthusiasts to enjoy. Lowrider Boulevard, a group local to Sin City, had a car show planned on January 19 – only for it to be foiled by a hotel owner in a Tesla.
“See that white Tesla up there? That’s that Karen lady,” said one of the event organizers from behind a camera. “She’s using her Tesla to block the lowriders from coming.”
Weina Zhang, one of two owners of the ENGLiSH Hotel, caught wind of the event and decided to block the caravan of lowriders before they drove past her property due to the noise. She claimed the hotel was private property, and the road in front of her hotel was hers, too.
Zhang told the group’s leaders that they needed a permit to host an event. When organizers presented their permit from the city, she refused to move her Tesla.
Zhang said the lowriders’ hard proof wasn’t enough
The group’s permit allowed them to close the street off for their cars as part of the event. Even after seeing the city-issued permit granted to the group, Zhang insisted they relocate to avoid disturbing her guests.
“That’s the reason I bought everything around this hotel, so there’s no noise,” said Zhang, despite the street being in front of her hotel being owned by the city.
The problem was that the permit only allowed the cars on that particular street. So, the organizers of the lowrider event challenged her to call the police so they could “Tell her she’s wrong.”
The police took the event coordinator’s side
After over an hour of going toe-to-toe with the “Karen lady,” the police told Zhang that the event was perfectly legal, thanks to the permit from the city of Las Vegas.
“I did get word from [the police] that we’re good to go, which doesn’t surprise me,” said an organizer through a loudspeaker to attendees. “The ENGLiSH hotel is upset about us being on the grass because that’s apparently her property, and because we don’t want to upset her more, we’ll do her the courtesy of staying off the grass, I guess. But other than that, [the police] has recognized our permit, so have fun, everyone.”
