Sands Hotel

The mythical “Rat Pack” haven known for four decades as the “Place in the Sun,” with its marquee hailing the hippest of the hipsters known to fuel up on Jack Daniels, powered by Lucky regulars, customized by Sy Devore and Countess Mara, taking turns at doing the best of the American repertoire at the smoky Copa Room, has now blasted off. It will now be known as a “Place in Heaven,” featuring performances by St. Dino and St. Sammy, the only heavenly swingers with a cloud of smoke, high-heeled angels and the Ken Lane orchestra.

ALAIN BISMUT

Los Angeles

* The Sands has been imploded “to make way for $1.8-billion, 6,000-room resort with a Venetian theme.” I imagine that a building built in the 1940s or ‘50s is considered old in the entertainment/ gambling business. There are schools in Los Angeles that were built in the 1920s and ‘30s. They need to be imploded to make way for a space for children to learn in a clean, warm environment. What does this say about us as a society?

SYLVIA J. CONNOLLY