Famous L.A. deli may close due to safety, homeless concerns

The famed Langer’s Deli in downtown Los Angeles could close, its owner tells the Los Angeles Times.

Norm Langer, 79, has spent almost his entire life growing up around and running the 77-year-old delicatessen.

But with the persistent public safety and homelessness issues plaguing nearby MacArthur Park and the surrounding area, Langer is “considering closing,” he told Times columnist Steve Lopez, who called the possibility a “hole-in-your-soul development.”

Santiago Garcia, right, and Jaime Castaneda make sandwiches at Langer’s Deli, also known as Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant, in in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, opposite MacArthur Park, on August 21, 2024. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Langer added that he hopes city officials provide “improved lighting, increased police patrols, social services outreach and targeted clean-up efforts,” and Lopez noted that “the more I talked to Langer, the more I got the sense that he’d rather keep his business running than walk away.”

So what would Langer tell city leaders?

“Let them get their act together, and I won’t go anywhere,” he said. “How does that sound?”