Nithya Raman faced a wave of online mockery after celebrating a freshly painted crosswalk on a badly cracked Los Feliz street.
The Los Angeles city councilwoman, 40, who represents the 4th Council District and is running for mayor, posted before-and-after photos of the intersection at Sunset Drive and Bates Street on Wednesday. The images showed new yellow crosswalk stripes painted directly over visibly broken and uneven pavement.
“The Los Feliz Neighborhood Council alerted our office in late 2025 to the need for a crosswalk at Sunset Dr. And Bates St., which has just been completed!” Raman wrote on X.
“Thank you to our incredible CD4 Field Team for continuing to problem-solve, push for solutions, and make our streets safer.”
The post quickly drew hundreds of critical responses as users pointed out the jarring contrast between the bright new paint and the crumbling asphalt beneath it.
“So they put lipstick on a pig?” one X user quipped.
Reality TV star and former LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, 41, was among the most vocal critics. He finished third in the June primary that advanced Raman and incumbent Karen Bass to a runoff.
“Holy s—t, my sides…Nithya Raman’s big accomplishment is taking 9 months to paint 7 yellow stripes over a cracked street?” Pratt wrote on X.
“How dumb do you have to be to post this? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”
Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin also weighed in, saying he initially believed Raman’s post was a parody account.
“I had to double check to make sure this is real,” Melugin wrote on X.
“Yes, the socialist candidate for LA mayor and current member of the LA city council is taking a victory lap for painting a crosswalk over a decrepit road full of cracks.”
Raman has made street safety and transportation improvements a centerpiece of her council tenure. Her district includes Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Griffith Park, and portions of the San Fernando Valley. She first won her seat in 2020 after an upset victory over a longtime incumbent, running on a progressive platform that emphasized housing, homelessness, and infrastructure.
The crosswalk project originated from a request by the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council, a volunteer advisory body that works with elected officials on local issues. Raman’s office said the paint job was completed after roughly nine months of advocacy.
Pratt’s criticism carried particular weight given his own recent mayoral bid. The former “The Hills” star mounted a celebrity-driven campaign that drew significant media attention but ultimately failed to advance him to the runoff. He has remained active in local political commentary since the primary.
Melugin, who covers Congress for Fox News, has built a large following on X for his commentary on California politics and policy. His post about Raman accumulated thousands of engagements within hours.
Raman advanced to a runoff against Bass after finishing second in the June primary. The general election will determine who leads America’s second-largest city through 2029, with challenges including a massive budget deficit, homelessness, and aging infrastructure.
In the viral moment that sparked the backlash, Raman’s before-and-after photos showed the same cracked and potholed street surface in both frames, with the only visible change being the addition of yellow crosswalk markings. Commenters widely noted that the paint did nothing to address the underlying road damage, with some questioning whether the new markings might actually create hazards for pedestrians and drivers navigating the uneven surface.
The Los Angeles mayoral runoff between Raman and Bass is scheduled for later this year.