MacArthur Park has erupted into LA\u2019s fentanyl ground zero \u2014 a collapsing, chaos-soaked war zone where overdoses hit by the hour, people die daily, crime crews corner the market \u2014 and what used to be a neighborhood park now teeters on the brink of total collapse.<\/p>\n
The park, the largest green space in the district, now hosts an unknown number of unhoused people, though on most days it\u2019s fair to estimate the population in the hundreds. <\/p>\n
MacArthur\u2019s unofficial \u201cresidents\u201d are made comfortable by groups handing out food and even free crack pipes as part of \u201csafe smoking\u201d kits \u2014 with tens of millions of dollars coming from the city to support the park\u2019s inhabitants.<\/p>\n
Two homeless individuals huddle on the sidewalk, smoking from a glass pipe nearly identical to those distributed in the city\u2019s \u201csafe-smoking kits\u201d. Ringo Chiu for NY Post<\/p>\n
People gather in front of MacArthur Park, some using drugs, in Los Angeles\u2019s Westlake District . Barbara Davidson for NY Post<\/p>\n
Along a narrow chute residents call \u201cFentanyl Alley,\u201d dead rats lie underfoot and people are passed out in the open, fentanyl-fueled and dangerous, a notorious stretch locals say is among the park\u2019s most perilous.<\/p>\n
The area surrounding MacArthur Park is a dense, working-class neighborhood where most residents are low-income Spanish-speaking tenants. <\/p>\n
Few people have watched the collapse of the area more closely than John Alle, who owns the entire block adjacent to the park and multiple buildings stretching through Koreatown, Pico-Union and Westlake.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the last 10 years this area declined, but in the last three years it dropped off a cliff,\u201d Alle told The Post. \u201cThis has become a drug den and the city\u2019s de facto shelter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homeless residents cluster in MacArthur Park for the community they\u2019ve built \u2014 and the nonstop pipeline of services that keeps the encampment entrenched. Ringo Chiu for NY Post<\/p>\n
A homeless man bends forward in the telltale \u201cfentanyl fold,\u201d as the drug\u2019s grip turns a Mac Arthur Park into another grim snapshot of L.A.\u2019s street crisis. Ringo Chiu for NY Post<\/p>\n
Across the street from his buildings, Alle pointed to warehouses and storefronts used to stash and sell stolen goods from big-box retailers. <\/p>\n
On his own rooftop, he showed newly installed barbed wire to stop \u201croof jumping,\u201d just one of several safety upgrades costing him tens of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to put up serpentine wire. That\u2019s like the stuff they can\u2019t break.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alle points to a city-funded nonprofit <\/a> that hands out syringes and \u201csafer smoking kits,\u201d including foil and crack or meth pipes. He says the operation has turned the park into a magnet.<\/p>\n A woman pushes her stalled car through MacArthur Park \u2014 a neighborhood of 40,000 where most residents walk, dodging open drug use and daily chaos just to get through. Ringo Chiu for NY Post<\/p>\n A homeless woman is passed out next to drug paraphernalia \u2013 a common sight in Mac Arthur. Ringo Chiu for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you hand out free meth pipes and needles, no questions asked, they will come,\u201d Alle said.<\/p>\n Several people waiting in line for services told The Post they live with relatives elsewhere but show up at MacArthur Park daily for the free gear.<\/p>\n Now, as the park lands under growing scrutiny, Raul Claros \u2014 the 45-year-old community organizer running to unseat Democratic Socialist Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the district \u2014 says he\u2019ll do what he argues City Hall hasn\u2019t: clean it up.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you just sustain and enable, and make everybody comfortable, you get the reverse effect,\u201d said Claros. \u201cThese [homeless] folks have come from all across the world, all across the country, from Skid Row, because they have a better place here.\u201d<\/p>\n His plan is blunt: if elected, he\u2019ll live in a trailer inside the park, sleep there every night, hold meetings there every day, and refuse to return home until the neighborhood is \u201ccleared out and cleaned up.\u201d<\/p>\n A woman smoking from a pipe nearly identical to those handed out by the city in its \u201csafe-smoking\u201d kits \u2014 a stark snapshot of a neighborhood drowning in fentanyl and failed policy. Ringo Chiu for NY Post<\/p>\n A homeless man lies on the sidewalk, drug paraphernalia at his side \u2014 another raw scene in a park overwhelmed by addiction and neglect. Ringo Chiu for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cElect me and I\u2019ll live right here,\u201d Claros said pointing to the Park\u2019s ground zero. \u201cFog lights, my dog Sheba, LAPD protecting the perimeter. No more excuses.\u201d<\/p>\n In late October, Hernandez pushed a motion to funnel another $160,000 to the group to expand \u201cstreet-based harm reduction\u201d and \u201coverdose prevention\u201d around the park.<\/p>\n A contract<\/a> reviewed by The Post shows the nonprofit distributed 25,000 safer-smoking kits, 125,000 syringes, 10,000 fentanyl test strips and other supplies over a single year \u2014 while collecting only 50,000 of the 125,000 syringes handed out. The group also dispensed 35,000 doses of Narcan during that period.<\/p>\n The price tag isn\u2019t astronomical on paper \u2014 but it\u2019s piling up fast. Along with the latest spending, city officials have already funneled $27 million<\/a> into efforts to stabilize MacArthur Park.<\/p>\n Raul Claros stands in Fentanyl Alley and says if elected, he will clean up the park and the surrounding areas. Barbara Davidson for NY Post<\/p>\n Two men who told The Post they have homes wait in line for services at MacArthur Park \u2014 drawn, they say, by the steady stream of free handouts that keeps the crowds coming. Barbara Davidson for NY Post<\/p>\n And it\u2019s still not enough. Also in October, the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners, citing \u201cpublic safety\u201d and \u201cquality-of-life challenges,\u201d unanimously approved a $2.3 million fence to ring the park<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Post reached out to Hernandez multiple times for comment but did not hear back. In earlier statements to the Los Angeles Times<\/a>, her office said it is \u201cfocused on delivering results, not exploiting low-income neighborhoods for publicity stunts,\u201d citing cleaning crews, intervention workers, and the $27 million investment in the area.<\/p>\n Claros isn\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city spent nearly $30 million and this is what we have \u2014 fires, overdoses, organized crime, and TikTokers filming fentanyl videos? If it takes a publicity stunt to get results, then fine. This is a disaster zone.\u201d<\/p>\n John Alle, owner of the building housing Langer\u2019s restaurant, stands across the street from MacArthur Park. Barbara Davidson for NY Post<\/p>\n Police officers standing on a sidewalk near a woman and two young girls, with a police vehicle behind them.<\/p>\n As for Alle, he says the fallout is crushing families along with businesses, and continues to create a dangerous environment.<\/p>\n \u201c40,000 renters live in the immediate area, many packed into cramped one- and two-bedroom apartments. Without cars, they must walk through drug use and street fires just to reach the soccer field.\u201d<\/p>\n Retailers are also paying the price.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cThe surrounding retail community consisting of retail stores, dress shops and convenience stores are becoming Meth and Fentanyl vendors for the transients in the Park.\u201d <\/p>\n A church Alle rents one of his buildings for outreach gets broken into on a regular basis. And one key tenant \u2014 L.A.\u2019s iconic Langer\u2019s Deli <\/a>\u2014 has threatened to leave over safety fears and sinking business.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re losing renters,\u201d Alle said. \u201cPeople are terrified. If this [Langer\u2019s] closes, all of L.A. suffers.\u201d<\/p>\n A yellow food truck, \u201cFeed My Poor,\u201d serves people, including a man in a wheelchair, in Los Angeles. Barbara Davidson for NY Post<\/p>\n Immigration and Customs Enforcement stormed the 35-acre park last July <\/a>in a high-octane raid that pushed the area into the national spotlight as conditions deteriorated in plain view.<\/p>\n At the time ICE and Border Patrol sources told The Post that they were there to try and help clean up the park, which has long been plagued by gang activity, homelessness and drug addicts overdosing on fentanyl and animal tranquilizers.<\/p>\n