World Cup watch party in MacArthur Park? Clean it up first

Karen Bass wants to hold a World Cup watch party in MacArthur Park.

Yes, that MacArthur Park — the drug-riddled, gang-infested, crime-plagued haven for homeless people that has become a symbol of the city’s failure to maintain law and order.

It is madness that Bass believes that MacArthur Park is safe enough to host the public. Until recent police crackdowns, MacArthur Park was hardly safe in broad daylight on a weekday.

It is on Bass’s watch, and that of Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, that the once-storied park became a scene from a zombie apocalypse and a place of shame.

The whole idea is crazy — either the result of arrogance, or ignorance about what the park has become in recent years.

Readers of The California Post know that we have been documenting its decay — and calling for action. 

The federal authorities have led the way, working with the LAPD and LA County Sheriff’s Department in recent sweeps.

Those brought hope that the park might one day be cleaned up — but there is still so much more to do, and so little help from the city.

There is no way a World Cup watch party should happen in MacArthur Park — unless.

Unless, that is, the pressure of hosting an international event, and tens of thousands of spectators from all over the world, forces Bass to clean up the park — finally.

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Perhaps the political scrutiny of a tough re-election fight — one the mayor appears to be losing, for the moment — could also push the mayor and the local City Council member to do the jobs that they were elected to do.

Stranger things have happened.

And that is the unique opportunity that comes for California and LA with the Olympic Games in 2028.

The point of hosting such a massive event is that it’s a chance to fix what’s broken, and unite different factions of the city in a common effort.

With the eyes of the world watching, things become possible tomorrow that were unthinkable yesterday.

We can’t leave it to the last minute — the way Bass and Hernandez have done with MacArthur Park, announcing a watch party just days before the tournament begins.

MacArthur Park is a test for Bass, and Hernandez, to get it right — to get rid of the drug dealers and the criminals and the homeless encampments.

In days, not years.

We are skeptical.

We’d like to be proven wrong.