L.A. businesses want attention in mayor's race

Empty stores, crime and homelessness fuel downtown’s decline, shop owners say.

- ROGER VINCENT AND ITZEL LUNA

DOWNTOWN L.A. business owners say they need a mayor who can make the streets feel safe for clients and workers to use. Above, a shopper on Broadway.

(GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times)

Cemal Clik was rinsing some strawberries for lunch when he felt a gun on his temple.

The 61-year-old was sitting near his gift shop in downtown Los Angeles this month when two men threatened to kill him if he didn’t give up the gold chain hanging from his neck. They grabbed the chain and disappeared down South Broadway.

It took 45 minutes for the police to arrive, he said. He doubts they will ever catch the criminals or recover his chain.

“This is what downtown is now,” Clik said. “Who would want to come here?”

As the city’s mayoral elections approach, business owners are pleading with officials to address the area’s problems. They want a heightened police presence and better amenities, including easier parking options and public restrooms, to bring life back to downtown, Clik said.

He opened the garage-sized store in 2001, offering a wide variety of goods, including snacks, suitcases, sunglasses and stuffed toys to tourists, office workers and area residents. He has witnessed the once bustling corner of town turn into a shell of its former self, strained by rampant crime, rising costs and stiff competition from safer neighborhoods. He is scared every time he opens up shop, afraid that any incoming customer could rob him. He’s suffered from panic attacks since the incident.

More than six years since COVID-19 hit downtown, businesses in this part of L.A. say they need a mayor who can do what it takes to make the streets safer and cleaner and bring shoppers and workers back to the sidewalks and skyscrapers.