People who live and work near one alleyway in Koreatown said they're concerned about a mounting public health hazard that just won't go away.
For more than a year, an alleyway at Beverly Boulevard and Juanita Avenue has become a dumping ground for clothes, piles of trash and needles.
Community members said people who are homeless can be seen leaving their trash and openly using drugs in broad daylight.
The alleyway has been cleaned up several times, but locals said the trash builds up again just days later.
"We've talked to the council. We've offered money to build an electric gate to keep this out and we've been declined every time," Thomas Gentry, a worker at a nearby auto body shop, said.
One parent who lives and works in the neighborhood said her son used to walk through the filthy alley after school, but she pulled him out of the school because of the danger.
"He was walking through the alleyway with his friends and I had to put a stop to it because there's needles. All it takes is one poke and they're gone," LaRhonda Holloway said.
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Principal William Gurr of nearby Virgil Middle School said several changes have been made to the alley.
"It's a complex problem. There's not a singular solution. So what we're doing is addressing the fact it takes all of us. It's not about passing blame here or passing blame there," Gurr said.
The LAPD said the sanitation department is planning another clean up soon. Gurr said he is bringing several agencies together to make sure the problem is resolved.
