Los Angeles, CA – Pico Boulevard that has become this city’s central Jewish shopping district, is under the threat of a new city-mandated traffic plan looming over the area, and now many fear that what has long been a bustling epicenter of Jewish life will whither away.
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In the face of the sweeping traffic changes, Jewish business owners are sounding the alarm that the plan’s parking restrictions during peak shopping hours would make it all but impossible for their patrons to shop in the area.
It’s not just residents of Los Angeles who frequent the several-mile stretch of Pico Boulevard for kosher groceries and all things Judaica. According to shop owners, visitors routinely travel from as far away as San Diego and Las Vegas to sample the rugelach or buy a new mezuza. But they say that their livelihood may be jeopardized if the plan, which was proposed by the mayor’s office and is supported by a city council member with close ties to the Orthodox community, is implemented as scheduled on May 1.
“For all the Jewish businesses, it’s going to be terrible,” said Solange Bohbot, an owner of Delice Bakery and a new restaurant, Delice Bistro, which opened last month. “We spent almost $1 million to build the bistro, and now the mayor comes from downtown with this stupid plan. How are we going to survive?”
Many in the Orthodox community are conflicted about how best to respond to the proposed plan, observers say, because one of the plan’s chief backers, city council member Jack Weiss, has been a stalwart friend to the Orthodox Jewish community.[forward]