On a recent morning, Terry Bates approached a chain-link fence across from MacArthur Park as the Los Angeles neighborhood slowly came to life. His crew, Team 21, was responsible for cleaning the sidewalk and curb line along Alvarado Street, between Wilshire Boulevard and 6th Street.
Bates unlocked a padlock that tied two fences together, erected in January to keep out illegal vendors. Several workers, all employed by Chrysalis, a nonprofit under contract with the city, followed him inside.
They scooped up trash, scraped up debris and swept up patches of vomit. Everything went into bags. Fifteen minutes later, the stretch of muck had given way to a clean sidewalk. Team 21 moved on…