Owner of Langer’s Deli demands city clean up MacArthur Park or he’ll close

Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant is a Los Angeles staple. But the owner is issuing an ultimatum - if city officials don’t clean up the area around his restaurant, he could be closing the iconic restaurant.

“One week. I either see some things happening within the week or I'll lock it up,” Norm Langer told KNX News’ Karen Adams.

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Langer, whose ultimatum was first issued to the L.A. Times , said he grew up in the area and that it was a “wonderful place to be.”

“There was never any fear of me being accosted or having any issues, but there's fear now,” he said.

He said he’s been trying to reach out to the city about cleaning up MacArthur Park and Westlake, but it’s been an uphill battle.

“It seems like you have to go through the council office. If you want to go to the bathroom, they control everything,” he said. “So the lady that controls it, Eunisses Hernandez, has never reached out to me because I guess I'm not important.”

In a statement to KNX News, Hernandez said she has been working to improve conditions around Langer's Deli and recently secured $5 million to bring resources to MacArthur Park. Mayor Karen Bass also said she has been in direct contact with Langer and that supporting local businesses is a top priority.

Langer added that if he shuts his doors, the city stands to lose big time.

“If I decide to close, which is a possibility, you're going to lose your tax base.
Sales tax, income tax, and everything else that I pay through the store,” he said. “I'm going to have 40 employees. All union. I've been a union house since 1970. I'm going to put them out on the street. It's a possibility.”

Customers at the restaurant told Karen Adams they don’t want to see the restaurant go.

“It's terrible. We love this place,” one customer said. “We come here for breakfast, lunch. We love it.”

Another customer said he doesn’t blame Langer at all.

“I would do the same thing,” he said.

Langer said he wants to see Seventh St. and MacArthur Park cleaned up so that his customers can go to and from his restaurant safely.


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