To the editor: Like many lifelong Angelenos, Norm Langer, who runs the legendary Langer’s Deli subsequent to MacArthur Park, has achieved his finest to offer for his household and neighborhood in ways in which typically go unnoticed. (“Langer’s Deli proprietor is ravenous for L.A. to scrub up MacArthur Park, and pondering of closing,” column, Aug. 23)
His experiences making an attempt to function a enterprise and supply for his prospects and staff whereas surrounded by depravity and uncaring metropolis politicians are heartbreaking however far too frequent in 2024. Anybody who defends this established order ought to go attempt to have a sandwich on a park bench throughout the road and report again how they really feel.
As with Norm, my expertise with the native Metropolis Council member leaves a lot to be desired. It actually looks like we’re being deserted by town and instructed to adjust to legal guidelines and rules that don’t apply to vagrants and drug addicts.
I hope that Langer’s stays open for many years to come back, however I definitely couldn’t fault Norm for closing and giving up on pushing that rock uphill.
Adam Bray-Ali, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Steve Lopez’s column introduced again some poignant childhood recollections of Langer’s which have little do with the deli’s nice meals.
Within the late Nineteen Fifties, my prolonged Salvadoran immigrant household and I lived in an condo constructing off seventh Road, simply north of MacArthur Park. On the uncommon event we had some extra cash, we’d eat out.
As a 6-year-old, I couldn’t perceive why we’d cease at a number of eating places. After my uncle would ask for a desk, we’d depart and take a look at one other place. Years later, my uncle defined that the eating places didn’t need our Salvadoran household of their institutions.
We’d proceed till going into Langer’s, the place the workers would greet us with smiles and seat us instantly.
Now, I’m a lifelong lover of Jewish meals and have launched my children and grandchildren to Langer’s. All these different eating places are gone, however Langer’s endures.
Carlos Navarrete, Lengthy Seashore
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To the editor: A number of years in the past, I took my aged stepmother out to lunch at Langer’s. I didn’t assume issues by, and shortly we have been in a protracted line exterior in noon warmth. Langer’s staff gave us all bottles of chilly water and wheeled out an enormous cooler resembling what we see on soccer sidelines.
Once we sat down, Norm Langer himself greeted us. I instructed him that we had already obtained higher service earlier than we received within the door than we get anyplace else all through the meal.
Langer’s cares about its diners. Thanks, Steve Lopez, for reminding me to pay it a go to.
Hans Ghaffari, Encino
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To the editor: A number of years in the past, Echo Park Lake was in poor form and uninviting. In 2021, town undertook a significant cleanup, placing the park behind a fence for some time. The undertaking was a hit, and the park is now loved by crowds of individuals.
Couldn’t the identical be achieved for MacArthur Park? It will be such a disgrace to not attempt.
Susan Borden, Los Angeles
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To the editor: After studying Lopez’s column on Langer’s and the present situation of MacArthur Park, I made a decision to drive down and seize a #19 (nonetheless one of the best sandwich on this planet) and see if the world has deteriorated since my final go to.
Merely put, sure, it has.
It’s a squalid dystopia the place lots of of sick or addicted fellow people have been largely left unhelped, and the largely low-income housed neighbors have neither been protected nor served. Each stage of presidency has failed this neighborhood and all of its neighbors and companies for a lot too lengthy.
It’s neglectful and disgraceful.
Miles Crakow, Los Angeles
