Despite Karen Bass’ promise, syringes still distributed in MacArthur Park

Hoards of junkies continue to line up for free needles — distributed out of a black Jeep circling MacArthur Park — less than a week after Mayor Karen Bass distanced herself from the program.

The California Post was there Tuesday and watched syringes being handed out in the middle of the neighborhood’s spiraling drug crisis. The chaos unfolding around MacArthur Park has become one of the biggest political flashpoints in Los Angeles.

Residents and business owners say the area has spiraled into an open-air drug bazaar flooded with fentanyl, crack, meth and overdose emergencies.

“It’s the third time she has lied,”  property owner John Alle told the Post. Alle, one of the loudest critics of conditions surrounding the park said he’s tired of empty promises from Bass.

“She told me at the park, with the chief standing next to me, she was against needle and drug pipe handouts. I asked her if I could quote her on that. She said, ‘I’m against it,’” Alle added.

The political contradiction exploded after the May 6 mayoral debate when candidates were asked whether they supported needle distribution programs. Progressive mayoral candidate Nithya Raman answered yes to the question. Bass and Spencer Pratt both answered no. 

But on Tuesday, The Post watched The Sidewalk Project, an organization funded by the city, hand out needles and crack pipes in MacArthur Park.

City records reviewed by The Post show the distribution is tied to a mayor-backed initiative worth more than $1 million that was approved by the City Council in November 2024 after being introduced by Bass’ office.

The contract connected to MacArthur Park called for distributing 75,000 sterile syringes, 25,000 safer smoking kits, commonly known as crack pipes, and 5,000 doses of naloxone.

In a statement to The Post, Bass’ office defended broader addiction treatment efforts but acknowledged concerns about the programs.

“Mayor Bass supports the health and safety of all Angelenos,” the statement said. “She wants to see people struggling with addictions get the help they need to gain and maintain sobriety.”

The statement added that needle exchange programs “are not designed to end people’s addictions” and said the mayor believes “we should be doing everything we can to end drug use in our parks — especially given the increased use of deadly drugs like fentanyl.”

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Bass’ office also said the mayor’s background working in the LA County General emergency room shaped her understanding of addiction and overdose crises.

“We’re actively reviewing these programs citywide and recognize that many of them are operating alongside other valuable services,” the statement continued.

For more than seven months, The Post has documented the worsening crisis engulfing MacArthur Park, repeatedly capturing scenes of overdoses, open-air drug use, violent incidents, prostitution, drug dealing and addicts passed out on sidewalks surrounding the park.

Residents and business owners have described the neighborhood as increasingly lawless, with families avoiding the area as fentanyl, meth and crack use continue unfolding in broad daylight.

“It’s worse than ever,” Alle said. “There are fewer families and more transient addicts than ever.”

He said federal law enforcement activity recently scattered drug dealers temporarily before they returned to surrounding streets and businesses.

“As soon as the feds came in with police and the FBI, the dealers moved,” Alle said. “Then they came right back to drug sales and drug distribution.”

Alle also blasted city leaders for continuing the programs while residents complain about robberies, violence and addicts suffering severe mental health crises in public.

“She doesn’t walk alone,” Alle said of Bass. “She’s not acknowledging the fact that people are high as a kite.”