Los Angeles authorities on Thursday began fencing off a Little Tokyo plaza where a growing homeless encampment proliferated during the pandemic.
“It’s been happening all around Little Tokyo,” said Mario Correa of J-Town Action and Solidarity. “Kevin de León has been aggressive about sweeps.”
L.A. City Councilman Kevin de León’s office said that Toriumi Plaza, at the corner of 1st and Judge John Aiso streets, is being closed for maintenance.
The action has sparked protest from advocates, who are fighting to keep the area open and demanding that the homeless people at the plaza be connected to permanent supportive housing.
Pete Brown, a spokesman for de León, said the city is providing housing opportunities for the residents of the encampment.
“The most inhumane thing we can do is to leave people on the streets to live and die and to live in squalor,” Brown said. “What the city is doing is providing housing opportunities for people to treat with the modicum of dignity they deserve.”
The L.A. Homeless Services Authority says they’ve helped 55 people at the plaza find shelter, and connected 185 people to substance abuse, mental health, housing and COVID-19-related services.
But Correa said people often still end up back on the streets.
“We’ve been serving this encampment for over a year now,” Correa said. “We’ve seen people go into shelters, Project Room Key, Bridge Home. We’ve seen them come back out — you can get kicked out really easily.”