What it’s like to live next to empty lot filled with homeless tents in Koreatown – NBC Los Angeles

After some people who live in Koreatown raised their concerns about a growing homeless encampment on an empty lot, a property manager next door said Tuesday that safety concerns go beyond possible criminal activity tied to their unhoused neighbors.

The property manager of an apartment building on Manhattan Place between 7th and 8th streets said people living in the homeless encampment are tapping into the building’s electricity, using two of its outside plugs. 

“Every day, I’m literally unplugging it and throwing the cable over the fence,” said Eddy Santana, adding that he believes people from the encampment are running the extension cord from the lot.

Having an empty lot full of homeless tents – as well as mattresses, household items and trash –  is turning away potential renters as well, according to Santana.

“Every time I do a tour, the question is always about the lot,” the property manager said. “That is discouraging a lot of renters that want to come to rent.”

Other neighbors said criminal activity in the area may be tied to the homeless encampment.

“It’s been a growing concern,” said Lewis Pak, who lives near the lot. “We have been hearing of a lot of break-ins, wandering people. We definitely see people coming in and out.”

Community leaders also agreed that the encampment threatens the safety of people who cannot afford to live elsewhere.

“You’ve got major safety, health and environmental dangers and hazards with this,” said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable. “You’ve got every kind of containment in here because you’ve got people.”

A man living in the encampment said staying in the encampment on the fenced-in lot is safer for him and others.

“The alternative in this type of lifestyle (is) you end up dead in the streets or go to jail,” said Miguel Delgado, one of the people living on the Manhattan Place lot.

NBC Los Angeles did not hear back from the owner of the empty lot despite repeated attempts. 

LA City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s office said the city’s Department of Building and Safety is in touch with the property owner, and it is working on clearing the lot.

The office of LA Mayor Karen Bass did not say when the clean-up process will begin after it said the city would hold the property owner “accountable” while outreach workers would be sent to the site.