A business owner is sounding the alarm, alleging that a growing trash pile and nearby encampment have impacted his business in downtown Los Angeles.
Robert Lipkin owns two warehouses on 14th Street and leases them out to produce distributors. But the situation with the encampments has gotten so bad, Lipkin says it’s affecting business.
“I just don’t know how this can be allowed to continue,” said Lipkin. “There’s raw sewage being dumped on the streets. They steal water from the fire hydrants, and they crawl up the poles and have wires and get electricity.
Lipkin adds that the situation is not only impacting his business but poses a security threat as well.
“One fella had a gun one day, waving at this tenant. The police arrested him, and it was back here in a couple days, the same man,” said Lipkin.
Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who represents the district, says cleaups have occurred at multiple locations, but it’s unclear if any of those operations have occurred on 14th Street.
“Sanitation crews have conducted multiple cleanups at these locations in recent months to address ongoing health and safety concerns. They are also focus areas for Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs), experienced outreach teams deployed by the City and coordinated by the County’s Housing for Health division that connect unhoused individuals with housing, healthcare, mental health treatment, and other services to meet their needs,” wrote Jurado’s office in a statement to NBC4.
Lipkin denies those claims, sharing several emails with NBC4 sent to Jurado’s office in recent weeks adding that no one has cleaned the area all year.
“I’ll come down here and wait for them on a given day, and they never show. Then, when I do get a hold of them, they say, ‘Oh, sorry, we just couldn’t make it,’” said Lipkin.
The business owner says one of his tenants is leaving and now he is worried about the building staying, which means he won’t be able to financially stay afloat.
“I tried to sell the property. I couldn’t handle it any longer. I almost went broke when this was vacant for two years. I couldn’t even find anybody that would want to even buy it,” said Lipkin. “My broker brought people over, and they would just leave, even right now. He’s bringing people to try to take this space here, and he’s had several people that are very interested, and as soon as they come around the corner, they go, no, I don’t want to do this.”
Just a few miles away, piles of rotting fruits and vegetables dumped on a downtown Los Angeles street were cleared out by crews overnight for a second time in one week in another case of illegal dumping that has plagued the area for years.
The produce and other discarded items were left alongside the wall of a graffiti-covered building Wednesday near East 10th Street and Naomi Avenue, just southwest of Olympic Boulevard. Several produce businesses are located in the area on the southern edge of downtown Los Angeles.
The city urged people to report discarded food waste, which can create unsanitary conditions, to 311. The city’s sanitation department will continue to monitor the area.
“City crews will remove this illegally dumped food waste,” Mayor Karen Bass‘ office said. “These are not victimless crimes as they create unsanitary conditions and blight. Report illegal dumping to 311.”
Source: NBC Los Angeles