Police Called as Immigrants Seeking Aid Jam Centers

An apparent belief that subsidized housing assistance would be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis prompted hundreds of anxious Soviet Armenian immigrants to push into two Glendale recreation centers Monday morning, bringing out the police and paramedics.

Two people fainted, but no serious injuries were reported despite the crush.

City officials said 25 members of the Glendale Police Department’s Tactical Operations Support Squad restored order at the Adult Recreation Center and Maple Park about 30 minutes after the shoving began.

Besieged by Applicants

“It was a mess,” said Sonia Zinzalian, a social worker who also works with the Armenian Relief Society.

“It could be because in their country you have to be in line and they think that if they are at the end of the line someone will tell them there is none left.”

Officials estimated that each recreation center was besieged by about 400 applicants for federally subsidized housing. The worst crowding occurred at Maple Park, where two people were treated after they fainted.

Both parks are in areas of Glendale with a large and rapidly growing Armenian population. A volunteer interpreter estimated that the crowd was 99% Armenian. Few spoke much English.

“When you have a crowd that size,” said police spokesman Christopher Loop, “there are so many communications problems it can be a real problem.”

“We could have used one or two more people,” conceded Stella Astoosadoorian, 25, an Armenian Relief Society member who volunteered to translate and assist in the housing registration.

Astoosadoorian said rumors had circulated in the Armenian community that only 100 spots were open in the housing program and that the sooner people signed up, the better their chances were.

3,000 Applicants

But she pointed out that subsidized housing determinations are not based on the order of registration.

Madalyn Blake, Glendale director of community development and housing, said that more than 3,000 people eventually applied on Monday and that further registration will be held today.

She said the city accepts applications sporadically and has about 2,000 names on waiting lists for available housing.

More than 900 families currently receive rent subsidies, she said. Fewer than 125 housing units are expected to become available during the next year.

Arrived at 5 a.m.

With some people arriving as early as 5 a.m. and reports of one woman coming as early as Sunday midnight, the line at the base of the Maple Park recreation building, where the registration was scheduled, spanned the length of the park by 8:30 a.m.

When the pushing and shoving began, police were called in.

City housing officials abandoned plans to have people complete applications on the second floor of the recreation center and instead handed out forms to be filled in later.

The officials said they had not anticipated the large turnout.

Attempt at Accessibility

“We did not expect people to show up in the middle of the night,” Blake said.

Last year, registration was held at City Hall and the Adult Recreation Center, where 2,500 applications were taken.

Holding the registration at two parks was an attempt to make it more accessible.

Glendale officials estimate there are at least 35,000 Armenians in the city.

Since October, 1987, when the Soviet government relaxed its emigration policies, an average of 2,000 Soviet Armenians have settled in Southern California each month--most of them in Glendale and Hollywood.

Times staff writer Esther Schrader contributed to this article.