For years, street vendors in the MacArthur Park area turned a stretch of sidewalk alongside the Metro Red Line station into a makeshift street market.
But for the first time on Thursday, the sidewalk was cleared. There were no vendors bickering over space and no one sitting under beach umbrellas with an array of items laid out on blue tarps. Instead, there were two rows of red- and white-tented tables that vendors used to make their sales without the hassle of law enforcement.
The setup is part of a one-year pilot program launched in Westlake by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro, in conjunction with city and county officials, as well as street vendors.
“Finally a safe space for all to sell and shop,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis wrote in her Twitter account. A section of Westlake falls under her district.
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