Pain for Children of Cozy Court

Being a resident of West Los Angeles for more than 26 years now, Tracy Wilkinson’s article regarding the Cozy Court apartments at Sawtelle and Olympic Boulevards in West Los Angeles certainly caught my attention. (“Latino Immigrants Lose Refuge as Developer Demolishes Apartments,” Times, Jan. 17).

As a child, when we exited the San Diego Freeway at Olympic Boulevard, I always noticed the children playing on the unpaved driveway at Cozy Court and felt sorry for them. As I grew older and became a parent myself, so did those children, probably becoming tenants themselves in the same small apartments they were raised in as kids.

For years, I saw the men standing on Sawtelle Boulevard waiting for gainful employment for the day . . . but never realizing their pain and anguish in their efforts to support their families.

The other day, I made my usual descent off the San Diego Freeway and turned right on Sawtelle Boulevard past the Velvet Turtle Restaurant. I came to Olympic Boulevard and suddenly thought, “I took the wrong off-ramp!” No, I had gotten off at the right place, but my heart ached as I saw only a vacant lot where the Cozy Court apartments had stood for so many years. All I could think of was the children. . . . Where would they play now?

Yes, it was an eyesore, but it was their home! Their parents came to this country to give them a better opportunity because it offered a better way of life than their homeland. . . . I respected them for being hard-working and honest people, and I still do. I only hope the children will have a new and better place to live and play soon. What a price children must pay for urban progress.

PAMELA HARRIS

Los Angeles