Pico-Robertson 90035

Comments:

* To me it seems that Pico and especially Pico and Robertson by the Wallgreens is getting out of hand. Homeless people laid out on the sidewalk day and night. I saw a guy this morning who tipped over his cart of garbage and was spreading it over the entire sidewalk. When I am done typing this here I am calling 311 to see if they can clean this area with a power hose. It seems unclean, chaotic and an eyesore. Something has to change. We can’t go on living happily with this going on. The city must step in and do something to resolve this!

* I was on Pico at robertson last week, the sidewalk smelled of urine. It’s sad homeless have no where to go, sad shops don’t care to hose their sidewalks, they really don’t care. I won’t be shopping at Walgreen’s or the shops again.

* I had a shop just down the street from Walgreens on Robertson that we recently left since that part of the block is being torn down to build a hotel. Around early/mid August I began having problems with people loitering at our back entrance after hours. On one occasion I returned in the morning to find they vandalized my property and even left human feces for me to clean up as well as about 40 cigarette butts, whip cream bottles, and milk containers among other things. The neighbors confirmed it was the couple who have the really sweet dog that have been in this area for awhile now. I asked that they call the police next time they notice anyone on my property who shouldn’t be there. It’s one thing to need a place to sleep, but completely different when you vandalize and have a lack of respect for where you lay your head.

* Same problem in the alley alongside this property. Many homeless use the landscaped areas for toilets, and a couple of older men insist on defecating on the concrete wall, leaving soiled paper towels behind as well. Food containers, actual towels, whatever they dig out of my garbage and empty cans all along the alley on any given day. This occurred even when a port – a – potty was there that could have been used instead.
Being homeless should not = public health menace.

* When I went on my311 today someone had already called in the area in front of Pico and Robertson. I also put a call into the manager of Wallgreens yesterday and asked that as a business they also step beyond just their own property line but to act as neighbors in working with the city to help find some solutions (or at least not to let it get to the way it is now).

And to think we live in the “Pico/Robertson” area of Los Angeles… it is embarrassing to admit when you see the state of things.

Councilman Koretz’ Office would be a place to start. Perhaps one of his Field Deputies can be of assistance. But I also think the business and religious community on Pico also need to step up. This is happening right in front of their place of business and places of worship. Imagine sitting at a cafe and witnessing the things mentioned just in these few posts. Imagine going to worship and walking past this chaos and not having the inclination to reach out to others to get it changed for the better.

* Natalie, I clean the alley behind my condo on Corning and have done it for 20 years now. I do believe in “The Broken Glass Theory” which says that if a place looks un-cared for that it would be a welcoming place for crime and chaos. So, if you keep it orderly and clean, criminality and chaos seems to find another place to be. Somehow we have to get a constant consensus that this is serious. I think that SORO Neighborhood Council should be taking the lead on this. Robertson by Hamilton High School is seen as an area of focus with new money, but where is Pico and Robertson on the agenda, beyond Robertson Park?

* I don’t even feel safe walking with my kids alone on Saturday anymore. Our friend was recently grabbed by a man who was walking down the street. I still see him pacing back and forth all the time. There are people yelling and cursing and dirt everywhere and we see people urinating on the sidewalk. It’s awful. I hate to sound hopeless but I don’t even know who we can call or if anyone will listen to us.

* Its always been a sketchy corner… John Belushi used to buy heroin in the Miller’s Outpost parking lot in the same location.

* There is the same problem at night around the CVS on Pico at Stearns. Last night a man was demanding we get off his side walk as we were walking home. They like to set up camp on the backside of CVS on Stearns Dr. About a week ago, my neighbor found human feces in his driveway.

* What scares me is when I am parking in Walgreens parking lot, sometimes someone will bang on my window or wait outside my car and ask for money. I have started ordering online rather than go to Walgreens, amd I found a fabulous pharmacist that delivers (Pharmacy Depot). I hate to not support my local stores, but it got a bit disturbing going to this store….

* In the past the Manager of Walgreens has been willing to chase off trouble makers. I got him to kick out an religious loon who was pestering people in the lot. Staff may have changed, but in past the manager was pretty aggressive about the parking lot being private property.
Just email corporate off the web site – even a few emails get their attention. Pharmacy is a HIGHLY competitive business. – Although personally I think it would be better for our community if all took our rx biz to locally owned pharmacies like Hepps.

* Just the other day I went to Walgreens and got a really uneasy feeling about a guy who entered right after me & followed me around the store & his friend waiting for him out back at the car next to mine. (I asked the guy by the car if I could help him & he mentioned waiting for his friend). When I felt I was being followed in the store I asked another customer who was leaving if he could walk me to my car and I walked beside him as if I knew him, and then drove to the CVS further East on Pico. I’ll never go to that Walgreens again. Its filthy, there are people seemingly everywhere and I felt I was about to be mugged in broad daylight.

* My understanding is that some panhandlers like to go to this area because they know Jewish folks are more likely to give to the needy.

Post: Last September, my boyfriend and I found a middle aged mentally unstable woman sleeping on our front porch multiple times. We called the cops a dozen times in a month but they weren’t able to do anything because our building didn’t have the appropriate signage to arrest her for trespassing (even though she used our door as a restroom and would use very violent language when she was found). In speaking with neighbors on Wooster, I found out that she has been found in dozens of other buildings in the neighborhood and even attempted to assault a landlord. He got a restraining order against her and she eventually went to jail. Sadly she was released recently and her elderly mother (a resident of Wooster near Whitworth) has taken her in once again. Her name is Reyna Woodruff, she is 65 years old, 5’4″, 100 lbs, dark hair with gray streaks. She is a repeat offender with many charges, even an unrelated felony. She is not someone we want roaming around in the neighborhood. It’s clear she is most likely mentally unstable and gets confused easily but she can get aggressive and angry. I wasn’t able to get a proper picture of her while she was yelling at me this evening as we found her again in our garage, using it as a restroom. We told her this was not her property and she yelled but eventually went away. When we first encountered her last year, we tried to help her but she would yell at us. Normally I would feel badly for someone in her situation but it makes me feel unsafe to know that she is back, and the police are unable to do anything about it. If you see her, stay away and stay safe. If anyone has any advice about how to properly handle this, we would love to know.

Post: I live on Bedford Street. My apartment was broken in and I was robbed last night. If anyone who lives in the area…saw or heard anything suspicious near my building please contact me. I believe it was a 2 person job, one helped the other break into my bedroom window. In the alley way. It was a quick robbery.
I called Police.