MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park)[2] is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and later designated City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument #100.[3]
The lake in MacArthur Park is fed by natural springs (although an artificial bottom to the lake was laid during the construction of the Red Line, opened in 1993). In the past, a fountain with a reflecting pool on the northern end was also fed by the springs. The Westlake/MacArthur Park B and D Line station is across the street.[4]
Description
The park is divided in two by Wilshire Boulevard. The southern portion primarily consists of a lake, while the northern half includes an amphitheatre, bandshell, soccer fields, and children's playground, along with a recreation center operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. The bandshell was once home to many organizations and events, such as Jugaremos en Familia (a live event hosted by Memo Flores for the Hispanic community).
Postcard view from the 1900sPostcard, circa 1930 to 1945
The park, originally named Westlake Park, was built in the 1880s, along with a similar Eastlake Park, whose lake is artificial, in Los Angeles. Westlake Park was renamed May 7, 1942; Eastlake Park was renamed Lincoln Park. Both Westlake and Eastlake (as well as Echo Park) were built as drinking water reservoirs connected to the city's system, Zanja Madre. When the city abandoned the non-pressurized zanja system for a pressurized pipe system, these smaller, shallow reservoirs located at low points no longer provided much benefit and were converted into parks.[11]
The park was named for Henricus Wallace Westlake, a Canadian physician who had moved to Los Angeles around 1888, settled in the area and donated a portion of his property to the city for a park.[12][13]
In the mid-19th century the area was a swampland; by the 1890s, it was a vacation destination, surrounded by luxury hotels. In the early part of the 20th century, the Westlake neighborhood became known as the Champs-Élysées of Los Angeles.
North half of park in 2015
Wilshire Boulevard formerly ended at the lake, but in 1934 a berm was built for it to cross and link up with the existing Orange Street (which ran from Alvarado to Figueroa Streets) into downtown Los Angeles. Orange Street was renamed Wilshire and extended east of Figueroa Street to Grand Avenue.[14] This divided the lake into two halves; the northern one was subsequently drained. From the 1940s, the lake featured the rental of electric boats, with the names of comic book animal characters.
According to a Los Angeles Times news story from 1956, two swans, named Rudie and Susie, hatched their five new cygnets on the island in MacArthur Park Lake, and according to the park superintendent, these were the first swans born in the park in over a decade.[15]
For many years, Filipino World War II veterans protested in the park named after their former commander regarding promises made when they enlisted that the United States had reneged on.[16] In 2009 as part of the stimulus package, Congress awarded lump-sum payments of $15,000 to Filipino veterans who are American citizens and $9,000 to those who are noncitizens.[17]
MacArthur Park became known for violence after 1985 when prostitution, drug dealing, shoot-outs, and the occasional rumored drowning became commonplace, with as many as 30 murders in 1990.[18] When the lake was drained in 1973 and 1978, hundreds of handguns and other firearms were found disposed of in the lake.[19]
May Day Mêlée with the Los Angeles Police Department
Two May Day rallies calling for US citizenship for undocumented immigrants were held at MacArthur Park on May 1, 2007.[20][21] When the protest overflowed onto city streets, police drove motorcycles through the crowd, then ordered the crowd to disperse. Some people began throwing plastic bottles and rocks at officers. Members of the Los Angeles Police Department then used batons and rubber bullets in a manner later found by the LAPD's own investigation, as well as by the courts, to be excessive. After community mobilization, pressure from the Mayor, and an extensive internal review, LAPD Chief William Bratton apologized, the commanding officer was demoted, seventeen other officers faced penalties, and the LAPD paid more than $13 million in damages.[22]
Redevelopment
Levitt Pavilion bandshell
Beginning in 2002, the Los Angeles Police Department and business and community leaders led a redevelopment effort that has led to the installation of surveillance cameras, the opening of a recreation center, increased business, early-morning drink vendors, a new Metro station, the return of the paddle boats and the fountain, and large community festivals attracting thousands. Along with determined campaigns to improve community relations between the neighborhood and the police, crime rates went down through the mid-2000s.[23]
In 2007, Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles opened, offering 50 free concerts each summer and attracting a wide range of audiences from around the country and globally. Currently programmed & produced (as of 2017) by local resident Matthew Himes, notable acts that have performed include Celso Pina, Fishbone, Bomba Estereo, La Sonora Dinamita, Jimmy Webb, Kinky, La Resistencia, Nortec Collective and many more. In the same year, the paddle boats returned.[24] They were available for rent on the weekends in 2009.[25][26] By early 2010, the boathouse was closed. Eventually, the paddle boats were removed. The boathouse was demolished in 2014.
The MacArthur Park bandshell was painted by local artists and graffiti artists under the direction of Otis Parsons. Some of the artists involved were: Robert Williams, Skill, John "Zender" Estrada, Hector "Hex" Rios, Geo, Exit, Trip, Hate Prime, Relic, Galo "MAKE" Canote, RickOne and others.[27][28] Some of the artwork was featured in the book Spraycan Art by Henry Chalfant and Jim Prigoff.
The lakeside portion of the park closed for 10 weeks in October 2021.[29]
Crime
The area surrounding MacArthur Park, one of the poorest areas of Los Angeles, has widely reported crime rates. Considered to be MS-13 territory, many poorer locals of the area, especially those doing illicit business in the park, are forced to pay a "tax" to the gang in exchange for being left alone. In 2021, multiple attacks on transgender sex workers in the park had led to increased police presence and were widely reported.[30]
In popular culture
MacArthur Park has been used as a filming location numerous times. In Hard Luck (1921), Buster Keaton eludes the police by posing with a statue in the park. In A Woman of Paris (1923), Charlie Chaplin uses the north side of the park and the Ansonia in two scenes. MacArthur Park/Westlake Park and its boats figure prominently as the scene of a murder in the 1949 film noir Killer Bait (also known as Too Late for Tears) with Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea and Arthur Kennedy.
In 1973, The Phantom of Herald Square an episode of the TV horror anthology series Circle of Fear included a significant number of scenes filmed within the park, as well as "The Bank Examiner Swindle" (season 9, episode 6 of Dragnet) and The Amazing Spider-Man (1977), and "72 Hours", an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, wherein Carlton plans to conduct illegal sales of counterfeit merchandise in the park, hoping to prove his street cred to Will and his friends.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-largest municipal police department in the United States, after the New York City Police Department and the Chicago Police Department.
Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south is Westwood Village, a major regional district for shopping, dining, movie theaters, and other entertainment.
Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known for its trendy local businesses, as well as its popularity with artists, musicians and creatives. The neighborhood is centered on the eponymous Echo Park Lake.
Westlake, also known as the Westlake District, is a residential and commercial neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California, United States. It was developed in the 1920s. Many of its elegant mansions have been turned into apartments and many new multiple-occupancy buildings have been constructed.
Wilshire Boulevard (['wɪɫ.ʃɚ]) is a prominent 15.83 mi (25.48 km) boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal east–west arterial roads of Los Angeles, it is also one of the major city streets through the city of Beverly Hills. Wilshire Boulevard runs roughly parallel to Santa Monica Boulevard from Santa Monica to the west boundary of Beverly Hills. From the east boundary, it runs a block south of Sixth Street to its terminus.
Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district.
Central Los Angeles is the historical urban region of the city of Los Angeles, containing downtown Los Angeles, and several nearby regions in southwest Los Angeles County, California.
Wilshire Park is a neighborhood in the Central Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California.
The Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) serves communities to the west of Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) including Silver Lake, Echo Park, Pico-Union and Westlake, all together designated as the Rampart patrol area. Its name is derived from Rampart Boulevard, one of the principal thoroughfares in its patrol area. The original station opened in 1966, located at 2710 West Temple Street. In 2008, the staff moved southeast to a newer facility located at 1401 West 6th Street. With 164,961 residents occupying a 5.4-square-mile (14 km2) area, Rampart is one of Los Angeles's most densely populated communities.
Lafayette Recreation Center, also known as Lafayette Park, is a public park in the Westlake district of Los Angeles, California, United States.
Wilshire Center is a neighborhood in the Wilshire region of Los Angeles, California.
Westlake/MacArthur Park station is an underground rapid transit, known locally as a subway, station on the B Line and D Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The station is located near the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westlake, after which the station is named, along with MacArthur Park, which is located across the street. Unlike most of Metro's other underground stations, which are built directly under a street, the Westlake/MacArthur Park platform is located south of Wilshire Boulevard and between 7th Street. This design allowed a train storage area to be built under MacArthur Park, and necessitated draining the lake for several years to excavate and build the tracks.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was formed in 1869, and has since become the third-largest law enforcement agency in the United States. They have been involved in various events in history, such as the Black Dahlia murder, the Watts riots, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the North Hollywood shootout, the murder trial of O. J. Simpson, and the Rampart scandal.
The 2007 MacArthur Park rallies were two May Day rallies demanding amnesty for undocumented immigrants which occurred on May 1, 2007, at MacArthur Park, in Los Angeles.
Crime in Los Angeles has varied throughout time, reaching peaks between the 1970s and 1990s. Since the early 2020s, crime has increased in Los Angeles.
Metropolitan Division, commonly referred to as Metro Division or just Metro, is an elite division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) under its Special Operations Group. Metropolitan Division is responsible for managing the LAPD's specialized crime suppression, K-9, mounted, and SWAT units, named "platoons".
The Bryson Apartment Hotel is a historic 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m2), ten-story apartment building on Wilshire Boulevard in the MacArthur Park section of Los Angeles, California. Built in 1913 in the Beaux Arts style, it was one of the most luxurious residential buildings in Los Angeles for many years. The building is also closely associated with the city's film noir history, having been featured in Raymond Chandler's works and the 1990 neo-noir The Grifters. The building's stone lions and large rooftop "Bryson" sign have become Los Angeles landmarks. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and designated a Historic Cultural Monument (#653) by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 1998.
Langer's Deli, also known as Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant, is a kosher-style delicatessen located at 704 South Alvarado Street in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, opposite MacArthur Park.
A statue of Harrison Gray Otis is installed in Los Angeles' MacArthur Park, in the U.S. state of California. The bronze statue was originally part of a sculptural group that originally included a newsboy and a soldier. The artist, Paul Troubetzkoy, won a design competition in 1918 and the final product was installed in 1920. The soldier has been absent for decades, the newsboy was stolen for its scrap metal value in March 2024. The theft was discovered by Anne-Lise Desmas, an art historian and Getty Museum curator who brought a colleague from the Louvre to the park to see Troubetzkoy's work and found the newsboy absent. Investigators believe that the metal thieves posed as city maintenance workers to avoid questions about what they were doing with the cast-bronze figure.
↑ Some associated the installation of cameras with reductions in crime in the park, but others, such as reporter John Buntin, have highlighted improvements in community relations by police officers themselves: "The LAPD Remade: How William Bratton's Police Force Drove Crime Down—And Won Over Los Angeles's Minorities". City Journal. Los Angeles. December 23, 2015. The percentage of residents saying that the police in their communities treated members of all racial and ethnic groups fairly 'almost all the time' or 'most of the time' rose from 44 percent in 2005 to 51 percent in 2009. For further analysis of the effect of surveillance cameras on crime in LA overall, with many references to MacArthur Park, see Aundreia Cameron et al., Measuring the Effects of Video Surveillance on Crime in Los Angeles (Univ. of Southern CA: School of Policy, Planning, and Development, 5 May 2008)
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Westlake/MacArthur Park station 
