Langer's Deli facing closure due to crime in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES - Say it ain't so – Los Angeles' iconic Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant is apparently facing closure.

Norm Langer, the owner, says crime and homelessness in MacArthur Park would be the reason for the restaurant possibly closing its doors for good.

"It's not safe," Langer said. "It's too many needles. Too much fentanyl. Too much drugs."

He's not wrong. Outside of the restaurant, the nearby park is packed with trash and violence. A homicide nearby was under investigation a couple of months ago where a homeless man dragged a dead body into the lake.

"People walking around here taking their clothes off, walking around naked. You know, it's nuts. I don't want to spoil anybody's appetite, but you've got a problem with defecation on sidewalks, for somebody was strung out on drugs. There's something. They're trying to make a score on fentanyl. They're passed out on the sidewalk, and the city is lame and doing something about it," Norm Langer said.

FOX 11 reached out to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, but was not available for comment before Monday's evening newscast.

Should Langer's close, it would mark the end of an era that stretched all the way back to 1947 when the restaurant was founded by Norm's father Al Langer.

Norm Langer is demanding better lighting at night, trash being picked up regularly and the vendors being pushed out of the area. The owner laments the state of his restaurant's neighborhood.

"Why am I pushing this cart uphill?" he said.