It’s been a staple of Los Angeles since 1947. Attracting both locals and tourists for 76 years.
Now it’s considering shutting its doors for good.
Not because of bad business.
The world famous Langer’s Deli in downtown Los Angeles is considering closing its doors due to rising crime and homelessness in the area continues to plague local residents and businessowners, according to local affiliate FOX 11.
“It’s not safe,” Norm Langer, who owns the famed establishment, told FOX 11. “It’s too many needles. Too much fentanyl. Too much drugs.”
According to FOX 11, nearby MacArthur Park, which sits just outside the restaurant, is reportedly riddled with trash, drug use, and homelessness.
Police reportedly investigated a homicide earlier this year outside the deli after a dead body was believed to be thrown in the lake by a homeless man, according to the FOX 11 report.
Langer said his customers regularly see “people walking around here taking their clothes off, walking around naked. It’s nuts,” he said.
“I don’t want to spoil anybody’s appetite, but you’ve got a problem with defecation on sidewalks, for somebody was strung out on drugs. They’re trying to make a score on fentanyl. They’re passed out on the sidewalk, and the city is lame and not doing something about it.”
Langer also said in an interview with the LA Times that while he dreads the prospect of leaving his 40 employees without work, he will be forced to shutter unless City Hall takes immediate action to clean up the streets and restore public safety in the area.
His requests include better evening lighting, heightened police patrols and regular trash collecting efforts to restore the neighborhood for its local residents and merchants, the LA Times reported.
“Let them get their act together,” he told the outlet, “and I won’t go anywhere. How does that sound?”
He gives the city “about a week” to take action, he told FOX 11.
Langers has been a mainstay of the downtown Los Angeles community since it opened in 1947. It was founded by Norm’s father, Al Langer and quickly earned the reputation of offering “the world’s best Pastrami sandwich.”