Signal Tribune Newspaper

Submitted by Gavin McKiernan, NAG Chairman

Henderson Avenue has been well known for decades as a street where drugs were available and gangs and criminals operated with impunity. That was before the Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) made it one of its goals to clean up the area.
The two-block stretch had long been dangerous territory, ignored by the city and avoided by those in historic homes only one block away. Over the course of several years, neighborhood leaders have pushed the city into action. NAG enlisted the help of the city prosecutor’s office, code enforcement, Long Beach Police Department, Long Beach Parks & Recreation and many other resources. They have moved to get building owners to do background checks of tenants, for police to increase their presence and frequency of patrols, and cameras put up to monitor trouble spots.
In addition, the mobile recreation van made Henderson a weekly stop, often closing the street so kids could play, parking was taken away on one side of the street to limit the ability of drug dealers to duck and hide, and many neighborhood cleanups and meetings were held.
Through all of this, there had been some slow progress and some setbacks along the way. On Aug. 30, a sign of progress was made when Councilmember Dee Andrews, along with various city department representatives, met to demolish 1950 and 1960 Henderson Avenue, two “cracker-box” blighted buildings that the RDA bought to help clean up the street.
“I can’t stop smiling,” said NAG founder Annie Greenfeld-Wisner, who took part in the demolition.
Work isn’t done on Henderson, but things are looking better than ever. Greenfeld-Wisner and City Prosecutor James Young received special recognition from NAG for their role in improving Henderson, as well as the many people who have attended meetings, showed up at cleanups, made phone calls, wrote letters, harassed city officials and drew attention to the problems there until some things got fixed, our neighborhood and city are and will continue to be a better place due to these efforts.
For more information, contact Gavin McKiernan at (562) 234-6821 or e-mail wrigleyvilliage@hotmail.com
About NAG
The Neighborhood Advisory Group was founded to improve the standard of living in the South Wrigley area with a special focus on improving the business climate in Wrigley Village. Meetings are held the third Thursday of the month at the Community Center at 2023 Pacific Avenue.