LOS ANGELES — Yesterday, L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez introduced a motion to address gaps in the City’s emergency response for people experiencing homelessness during extreme weather such as the tropical storm that recently impacted the city. As climate change makes extreme weather events in Los Angeles more frequent and severe, Councilmember Hernandez’s legislation seeks to improve the City’s emergency communications and the mobilization of resources for unhoused residents who are especially vulnerable.
During last weekend’s tropical storm, the City activated six emergency shelters on the Saturday preceding the storm’s impact, and an additional two on Sunday afternoon. However, the cumulative number of available beds across the 8 shelter sites was less than 400 beds, while over 40,000 people are experiencing unsheltered homelessness on any given day in Los Angeles.
Meeting the needs of Angelenos during a crisis requires providing adequate and appropriate resources, especially for our most vulnerable populations. From bed space to outreach to fill those beds to services available in those shelters, it is imperative that we meaningfully consider and effectively implement a response that truly addresses the next and all future extreme weather events for all residents of our City.
The parcel of land at 401 N Avenue 19 has been vacant since 2014. Originally built as a jail in the 1930s to hold 625 people, it quickly became overcrowded, holding nearly 2,800 by mid-century. The location has a sordid history and was eventually decommissioned by the City and County of Los Angeles in 1965 due to overcrowding and maintenance costs.
“The Lincoln Heights Jail is a physical embodiment of the criminalization and discrimination that has impacted generations of residents in Northeast LA,” said Councilmember Hernandez. “This parcel of land is sitting vacant and almost entirely unused in the middle of a neighborhood with an unprecedented need for deeply affordable housing, community resources and economic development. My office will be leading the charge to finally demolish this jail and rehabilitate the land for use that will serve Lincoln Heights and the broader Northeast LA community. I look forward to working with our City partners and community members to bring this vision to life.”
Repairing a history of harm
The Lincoln Heights Jail had a long history of overcrowding, poor conditions, and mistreatment of prisoners. In 1951, seven incarcerated people were brutally beaten in the jail by over 50 officers in an event that came to be known as Bloody Christmas. During the 1950s and 60s, the City of Los Angeles and the police chief at the time began a long-running effort to target the LGBTQ+ community for arrest and criminalization, and the Lincoln Heights Jail infamously created a separate wing for queer and trans prisoners who were frequently relegated to the jail.
After being decommissioned, the space was used to house City departments and the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts until 2014. There is currently a Department of Transportation yard on the property that is expected to vacate the premises during the upcoming summer.
Hernandez’s motion noted that there is significant remediation needed for the land, which has several environmental hazards. Prior attempts by the City to identify an adaptive reuse project for the site have faltered, and there is currently no plan for redevelopment. Hernandez’s motion aims to change that by directing the City to report back within 120 days with an order of operations to assess possible uses of the site and funding needed to move forward with remediation. Her motion also asks the Economic and Workforce Development Department to develop a robust community engagement plan with an eye towards redressing the social harm the jail brought on the surrounding community.