Downtown Problem

I have been a business owner in downtown Los Angeles for more than 18 years. After five-plus years of business being destroyed by RTD Metro construction on Hill Street and many other areas, the sidewalks are finished and the streets are paved. Now business is supposed to be fine and pick up.

I am very positive about growth and modern technology. I, among other nearby tenants, have been very patient through the tough times construction brought. But now that most the visible work is over, if you walk from Broadway down 5th to Hill Street, you are harassed and insulted by the people who are lying in the doorways or cubbyholes of the vacant buildings.

Why won’t the city force building owners to gate off these areas and keep them clean? Most of the tenants on my street need the walk-by traffic. But it is not safe for our customers to walk down our street. Law enforcement can only do so much. The building owners should be cited if they do nothing to deter this problem.

JOSEPH J. ROCCOFORTE

Los Angeles