Clearing a path for its elaborate envision of a light rail station, business and perhaps residential complex, City Hall is routing long-established businesses — with widely varying eviction dates.
That single point, among a dozen others, lit up Harry, the colorful, swift-talking, even swifter thinking, South African. Sometimes his voice morphs into a staccato, machine gun-style. Think of a popcorn machine at your favorite motion picture theatre.
That is how jumpy Harry feels.
His slightly trembling hands are clasped, constantly moving, like the churning oars on a suddenly threatened boat. When he welcomed a visitor to his cozy quarters, at 8843 National Blvd., at the appointed hour of 10, Cool Harry explained that because the city is giving him the bum’s rush, he really did not have time to sit and shmooze. A cordial gentleman by nature, he did, however. Two minutes, maximum, his visitor promised. Agreed.
The hour is late, Harry kept repeating. He is no more worried than a first-time father who finds himself 40 miles from the nearest human being with his wife ready to deliver momentarily.
That, says Harry, evenly but angrily, is where he is today. Worse, he could find himself plunked onto the short sidewalk in front of his doomed store between Washington and Venice boulevards before next week is over. The cost of hiring extras to close out his thousand gems of inventory is a strain on his pocketbook.
His health? You shouldn’t ask.
Clad in conservative jeans and a dark shirt this morning, the often flamboyant Cool Harry never is without his familiar silver chain around his considerably strained neck and larynx.
While workers hurriedly scooted through narrow aisles among the stacked-up, and occasionally scattered, inventory behind him, Harry effortlessly bent into a chair. Without drawing an extra breath, the volcano now known as Harry began puffing and smoking more furiously than the old Camel cigarettes smoker ever did on decades ago on Broadway when smoking still was culturally acceptable.
Like rich tobacco straight from bluegrass country, he alternately steamed and crackled. Gathering the momentum of a herd of jumbo elephants in full charge, Harry did not slow down for questions or Stop signs. At all times, his elegant speaking manner was framed with the unmistakable plaintiveness of a desperate man.
Harry’s exquisite South African accent draped every articulated word in royal robes.
10 Days
“Feb. 15,” he begins, calmly, “is my drop-dead deadline. A month ago, I asked Mr. Marc La Bonte (the city’s Long Beach-based, designated relocation expert) for an extension. I did not want to be delinquent. I wanted to follow the contract we had agreed to. He said the city could not make an exception for me. They wanted to wait until after the (Jan. 25) court hearing for Les Surfas (a nearby business owner caught in the same vise) before deciding. The court said Surfas can stay until July. Why they won’t give me the extra two weeks I asked for?
“I guess the city just wants to squeeze people, get more money out of people so they can make more money and push more people out of business.
“Nothing, I know, is going to happen anytime soon on this property.
Crime Comes to Roost
“This is a high crime block at night. People throw things at the properties along here. There is a motel close by where all kinds of illicit things are going on. The cops are often there. My place gets graffiti’d, very often on my front windows. I am worried for residents what will happen after they kick everybody out of here. They say they are going to develop it, and the (wrecking) ball is coming down, and we’ve got to be out of here.
“But you know nothing is going to happen for a long time because Surfas has at least 6 months. I also know that Marc (Chiat), one of the artists, recently has been served a 90-day notice. I know that other people are going to court.
“But it doesn’t seem likely that the wrecking ball is going to come on the 16th (of February) to my business. So what are they trying to prove by pushing innocent people out of business? They are depriving the Culver City public of having access to creative businesses like mine.
Global Stature
“I am well known all over the world. After next week, I will no longer be available in Los Angeles. I look around at these businesses, and I know this will be a great loss for Culver City.
“But what is the hurry? Nothing, nothing is going to happen right away.
“What is the urgency for using these very strong-arm tactics? To push us out so they can make more money? All I am asking for is an extension so I can adequately pack up all my things, get out of here, and leave the place in good order.
‘Don’t Talk to Us’
“I have spent a lot of money n advertising, on sales, on getting more people in here to help me pack up. I am doing everything I possibly can. I am working day and night. I’m doing the best I can to be out by the 15th.
“The city said I only must deal with Mr. Marc La Bonte, that I must not deal with anyone at City Hall, which is ridiculous. City Hall is making all the decisions.
A Lockout
“Kellee Fritzal (from the Community Development Dept.) actually came here about 6 weeks ago. I found her card on my gate, and the back gate was locked. Culver City had locked me out of business for that weekend. I couldn’t open the lock to allow people access for things for delivery. I have no idea why this happened.
“When I called Mr. Marc La Bonte, he said it was just a mistake. He said I should forget about it.
‘We Need You Out’
“I see these strong-arm tactics all the time. Mr. La Bonte said he would let me know after a certain date whether it was okay for me to get the extra time so I can move out without leaving a lot of rubbish. He emailed me last week. ‘I am very sorry to tell you but you have to stick to the 15th because that’s what we need you to do. We are not granting you any extension,’ which I think is very unfair. Do people realize, with all of the publicity Culver City is getting in The New York Times and all over, as the new hot place, that they are going to redevelop this area where we are sitting?
“Besides a small train station, this is going to be a huge project for big developers who will make a lot of money by working with these bureaucratic ladies in the (Community Development Dept.) office.
‘Does Anybody Care?’
“Who knows why and what is going on? I just know it is unfair. Don’t the people of Los Angeles and Culver City know — or care — that we are being pushed out?
“Do they know — or care — psychological tactics, and threats, are being used, to get us out sooner, to destroy our businesses, to destroy the possibility that people will have access to creative businesses like mine?
“What the city is doing is dishonest. They are not coming to break down the buildings tomorrow.
“Why can’t they allow us the dignity to move out in our own time?
Postscript
“I am working around the clock, 24 hours. Look out the window — another two or three thousand dollars in packing material. I have 6 people working diligently now to meet the deadline.
“Why can’t they give us more time when they know it’s going to be many months, maybe years, before anything happens?
“This neighborhood is just going to become more derelict with more crime, more graffiti, with more illicit actions taking place on this block at night.”
(To be continued)
