Problems continue in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles as business leaders and community members complain about drug use, trash and homelessness – issues that are very visible in the area.
In late August, Norm Langer threatened to close Langer’s Deli across the street from the park after nearly 80 years in business.
NBC4 cameras Thursday captured several people doing illegal drugs in the middle of the afternoon as families and community members walked by.
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Derek Rice has worked nearby for 34 years.
“I can imagine how it used to be. I can imagine families walking through the park and riding them little paddle boats that they had in there,” Rice said. “And now you see the homeless, the drug addicts, 24 hours a day, just hanging out there.”
A few blocks away, Miguel was walking his 6-year-old daughter home from school. He expressed hesitation about going through the park with his child.
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“It’s kind of scary because there are lot of people who are drugged up, and so we are scared to walk through there,” he said.
Bryan Clark’s college is a quarter mile away. He also tries to avoid the park.
“I don’t really go over there. I try to stay clear of there because there’s a lot of meth, a lot of fentanyl,” Clark said. “I always hold on to my belongings when I go over there.”
The park is in Los Angeles Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez district. She released this statement to NBC4 Thursday:
"The challenges facing MacArthur Park are not new, but we are bringing in unprecedented resources to address the decades of neglect that have devastated the area. I have met personally with Mayor Bass to discuss the urgent need for an all-hands-on-deck approach, and I look forward to our continued partnership. My office has launched a Street Medicine team to serve unhoused residents in MacArthur Park and secured $3 million from the City's Opioid Settlement funds to launch a Respite Center that will provide desperately needed services, housing referrals, and care for people experiencing homelessness or impacted by substance use, and invested in a full-time Clean Team to provide litter abatement and bulky item pickup. We know there is more to be done and we are calling on our partners at every level of government to join us in meeting this urgent moment."
“It’d be nice if they cleaned it up, got the drugs out of there,” Clark said.
But as of Thursday, the park with potential was filled with problems. That’s heartbreaking for longtime Angelenos.
“Where do the kids have to go now? Where do the elderly and stuff – where do they have to go to? You can’t sit in there,” Rice said. “This city is still beautiful, but politicians got to get it together.”
In a statement to NBC4, Mayor Karen Bass' office wrote:
“The Mayor is engaged in a comprehensive and long-term response to the crisis in the MacArthur Park Community. This homelessness crisis and drug and safety issues are decades in the making and have compounded over time. LAPD is developing a strategic and coordinated plan. The Mayor, her senior staff and City Departments General Managers have met with and heard from businesses and residents. We are listening, we will act.”
