How to save Glassell Park from gangs by destroying it one house at a time *

Local leaders, bulldozers and camera crews descended on Drew Street in Glassell Park Wednesday for the demolition of the notorious “Satellite House,” which had been home to members of the Avenues Street gang. The modest home quickly reduced to splinters met the fate of similar other houses under City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo’s Project T.O.U.G.H. (Taking Out Urban Gang Headquarters and a Citywide Nuisance Abatement Program.

The gang members are gone but so is a valuable piece of housing. Why couldn’t this home have been renovated and sold as affordable housing instead of leaving an empty lot in the middle of the block?

* Related Link: Writer Mark Haefele found the house demo practically medieval in nature. LA Observed

Photo from Assemblymember Kevin de Leon