Cost of the riots has `long tail' // Goes beyond losses to businesses
Haya El Nasser
05/04/1992
USA Today
FINAL
Page 03A
(Copyright 1992)
LOS ANGELES - Three days of destruction, and it will take years to pay the
bills.
The cost of the riots is just starting to be tabulated, but early estimates are
staggering:
- About $550 million in property damage.
- Another $500 million for jobs lost because of destroyed businesses.
- Another $1 billion in lost business from an unprecedented citywide,
dusk-to-dawn curfew from Thursday through Sunday night.
The damage so far is ``much understated,'' says Geoff Thomas, a lawyer
specializing in disaster recovery. ``Some businesses will open in a few days.
Others will never open.''
Already an unofficial survey by Radio Korea shows that Koreatown alone
sustained $350 million in damage.
Hospital officials estimate 75% of those hurt in the riots have no way to pay for
their care. Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital alone is spending about $500,000
a day on care during this crisis.
The incredible price comes when California is facing an estimated $4 billion to
$5 billion deficit. The city, which has been spending an extra $1 million a day
for police and fire protection since the riots began, was supposed to start
grappling with an estimated $190 million deficit this week.
And then there's the image problem, which no one can put a price tag on - yet.
As Thomas says: ``This loss has a long tail on it.''
So long it may carry the city well into the 21st century.
The Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau is already launching a big
campaign in damage control.
``We can't put a marketing spin on this,'' says the bureau's Michael Collins. ``The
suffering is there for everyone to see. But what we can say is this city remains
vital, remains strong.''
Conventions have not been canceled yet. But the effect on future bookings and
tourism is still unclear.
``It's also jobs. It's people working here,'' Collins says of 360,000 employed in
Los Angeles County's visitor industry.
No one knows better than Councilman Michael Woo how difficult it is to restore
luster.
Woo drove down Hollywood Boulevard on Sunday and saw the charred remains
of businesses. The riots came months after he helped launch a $1 billion, 30-
year makeover of the heart of rundown Hollywood.
``It's incredibly frustrating,'' Woo says.
But officials see glimmers of hope. Saturday, the city named former Olympics
chairman Peter Ueberroth to head a private recovery effort. Ueberroth says he'll
appeal to the private sector, including Japanese investors, to invest.
``But this is not the Olympics,'' says Jennifer Wolch, a University of Southern
California professor specializing in urban planning. ``I think that kind of effort is
not going to address ... lack of employment opportunities for young people of
color, problems in housing and shelter. He can't do it alone.''
And the damage is felt in parts of the city far from the worst devastation.
Jonathan Sidel, 30, owns two fashionable bars and restaurants. They weren't
looted or burned - but because of revenue lost during the curfew, he may not
make the rent on his businesses next month.
Restaurants and bars from chi-chi Beverly Hills to bohemian Venice Beach had
to shut down. Theater box offices were closed. Hotels lost reservations. Gas
stations turned off their pumps. Sporting and social events were canceled.
And that meant more than inconvenience for ticket-holders and diners. It meant
lost income for workers - especially hourly employees and those who rely on
tips.
``It's devastating,'' says Nancy Fretz, manager of Michael's restaurant near the
Hollywood Hills. Wedding and baby shower cancellations wiped out the
weekend banquet business.
At Jans Family Restaurant near Hollywood, waitress Patricia Santillana, 27, says:
``It's terrible. I'm broke.''
Contributing: Jonathan T. Lovitt
CUTLINE:LOST THEIR HOME: Santiago Sandoval, 30, left, and Wences Lao,
26, look through the remains of what was once their three-story apartment
building.
PHOTO;b/w,Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY