To the editor: I am frustrated to read about Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez’s proposal to spend precious city resources on closing Wilshire Boulevard through MacArthur Park.
This is such a distraction from the real and urgent problems in the MacArthur Park/Westlake neighborhood. The neighborhood has some of the worst poverty and violence in the city. Rather than divert limited public resources to grandiose and symbolic gestures that will have no meaningful impact on the people who live there, the councilmember should focus on providing the neighborhood with even a few of the basic services that it seems to almost entirely lack: police protection, garbage removal, public health services, clean spaces for street vendors, street sweeping and graffiti removal.
I agree that green spaces are hugely important to every community, but instead of enlarging a poorly maintained and dangerous space that we already have difficulty managing, perhaps we should focus on removing encampments, trash and graffiti, preventing open fentanyl and meth use, and providing even an occasional police patrol within the park we already have.
Marc Young, Los Angeles
..
To the editor: The proposed closure of Wilshire Boulevard in MacArthur Park is as misguided as the gondola to Dodger Stadium and the high-speed rail that no one wanted. If the intent is to “dream bigger and better” for the community, let’s think about what this closure could do: one, force traffic into smaller side streets causing gridlock for the local businesses and residents; two, increase the usable real estate for drug dealers and users; three, take away easy access to bus lines and disrupt bus routes; four, remove a wide thoroughfare for emergency vehicles.
Instead of closing Wilshire Boulevard, why not build a park above it like the High Line in New York City? That would bridge both sides of the avenue, increase the usable park space and keep vital traffic flowing underneath.
Arthur Payson, Beverly Hills
..
To the editor: The problem is not the lack of park space at MacArthur Park, but rather its utter neglect by the city. Making more park by eliminating part of Los Angeles’ main street will not dilute the palpable urban rot at MacArthur Park and its environs. Where are the police, housing inspectors, sanitation workers and code enforcement persons?
I own a building nearby on Alvarado Street and never see enough city presence. Why does Hancock Park, next door, get clean and safe streets but not here? “Bold” without substance is just more perniciousness. L.A. should follow what some major cities in Mexico do: close off main thoroughfares on Sundays for everyone of good will to use — then clean up after them immediately.
Richard Stanley, Los Feliz
..
To the editor: Reading about removing Wilshire Boulevard from the area separating sections of MacArthur Park reminded me that just after I was born in 1947, my first home was a house on Rampart Boulevard that is still standing near the park.
My mother used to walk me to MacArthur Park in my stroller twice a day to go around the lake, where we would happily feed the birds and watch small motor boats which children and their parents could rent from the old marina. At that time the area was considered to be a crown jewel of the Los Angeles park system.
In the years since, MacArthur Park has become what Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez described as the “overdose epicenter of the city of Los Angeles” and a haven for homeless encampments. The ambitious plans to expand the park by removing Wilshire Boulevard as a thoroughfare will fail to bring back young mothers, like my mom was in 1947.
Until our leaders plan to place around-the-clock police officer foot patrols inside MacArthur Park to enforce the law, all that will be accomplished by removing car traffic on nearby Wilshire Boulevard will be making more room for drug dealers, addicts and homeless tents, while bringing on more downtown traffic jams.
Douglas Weiskopf, Burbank
