Robbery near Langer's Deli in MacArthur Park highlights safety concerns

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- After the owner of the iconic Langer's Deli threatened to close the 77-year-old restaurant over public safety issues around MacArthur Park, another violent crime in the neighborhood is adding to growing concerns.

A woman was robbed near Langer's Deli Thursday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Her chain was snatched off her neck, and she ran into the restaurant for help.

The city has struggled for years to clean up MacArthur Park, making Norm Langer consider closing his famed restaurant.

"The city government in all aspects has ignored it for many, many years and they've allowed it to grow out of control," Langer said. "Vendors are on the street shoulder to shoulder. You cannot get through without walking to the corner, and it's growing."

Langer said he wants the surrounding streets cleaned up so his customers can feel safe.

City officials say they are listening. This week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass visited Langer's twice and Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the neighborhood, said she's focused on cleaning up the area and caring for it after it's cleaned up.

"For me, it's critically important we do what we can to protect these businesses, so we can keep growing this pot of money so we can then serve the city better," Hernandez said.

"We all want to see a clean, accessible park where the neighbors of the park are able to use the park, and where we have enough wrap-around services and a saturation of services to actually deal with the crisis at hand."

Hernandez said having thriving community spaces like Langer's creates public safety.

"For decades it hasn't received the level of care and investment to match that density," she said. "So you have a lot of trash, we're working on bringing more trash receptables, more trash pickup, we're bringing a street cleaning team."

Norm Langer Told Eyewitness News that nobody wants this area to succeed more than him, and he believes the city is listening to his concerns - which he hopes are addressed over the next few weeks.