2005: Katrina/Federal Levee breaks
2010: BP oil spill
2012: Isaac/destruction of levees and chemical spills in Plaquemines Parish.
See other indignities suffered by our little watershed:
Neither too early nor too late
(Anyone still wonder why we drink every day?)
Jackson Square meeting
Scott Hutcheson, Asante Salaam, and city attorney had a second meeting with folks interested in maintaining Jackson Square as a dynamic public space.
Artist, musician and psychic spokespeople were in attendance and spoke convincingly about their wish for a viable community space in Jackson Square. Here are my notes from the meeting: in the notes below, the statements were made by the artists, musicians and readers that attended the meeting. SH is Scott Hutcheson, Mayor’s Advisor on Cultural Economy and is the city staff person who responded during meeting, and his responses are in italics. Overall, it was a very amiable meeting.
SH has talked to Farmers Market Corporation (FMC)
FMC security may start patrolling the Square
City can do in-depth training with FMC security personnel
FMC has 11 security personnel, 3 full-time, the rest part-time
Psychic org: fine with that, but no one will still have permit oversight.
Recently, readers leaving set-ups 24 hours a day.
Vendors illegally chalking their spaces to hold, including artists.
Out of control artists ignoring rules and entreaties from peers to follow rules; video on YouTube of artist on Square passed out with needle in arm.
Can licenses be in jeopardy when they ticket?
NOPD has said in past that they will not enforce the rules, they have just woken people up and told them to stay awake.
SH said they ticketed Thursday before FQF
Ticket should go to revenue dept, rather than municipal court to relate the infractions back to license.
All artists should have to show licenses. Some scofflaws leave a homeless person with their stuff so it is “attended”.
Guidelines before Katrina were clear and enforceable, need to go back to that.
Pre-Katrina: Set up more than an hour was unattended, the setup would be moved by NOPD or other readers or artists.
SH: not sure it’s legal to do that, have to be clear about codified law versus standards of conduct
Illegal activity is widespread and unenforced.
Calling emergency services is almost impossible as they want street addresses.
Extra space when big events for artists? State museum says yes, but FQF says no.
Want to talk to French Market about using more space.
Dutch Alley, used to be an open spot, street entertainers still get run off.
SH: FMC asks street performers only to “register”, although it says “permit” on it.
SH: No such thing as a street performer permit in the city.
dba licenses, can anything be done? (No says city attorney)
Enforce before 6 pm on St. Peter and St. Ann that readers cannot hold spaces.
FMC security already has oversight over Jackson Square: can manage city owned property.
FMC demanded FMC permit for Decatur reader
Illegal vending happens on Jackson Square and artists/readers are powerless to stop.
Vieux Carre church sets up table and does ceremonies illegally.
Segways in the square are problem.
Stanchions-have a hard time getting them unlocked in emergencies and locked to stop cars and trucks.
Slope of the entryways is problematic for older people, needs to be textured.
Loading zone tickets are given to musicians and artists even though they have been told they can use them to unload and load.
NOPD says artists and musicians can unload in the “curve” but only informally.
Barkers are working illegally, overwhelming honest vendors.
Street performers with amplifiers are a problem.
Television from museum plays constantly and loudly.
Illegal truck i the Quarter
I’d like to call attention to this thorough piece by one of my absolute favorite thinkers in New Orleans: Rich Campanella, geographical historian and bike riding New Orleanian.
Gentrification is the opposite of community; it is the warning bugle call from those who used to wear armor and thunder into your town on horses, trampling the less fortunate and sticking their flag on your home. It’s war and those of us who want a city and not fake facades aren’t going quietly.
As you can see, my definition of gentrification is entirely negative and has to do with the imposition of new values and traditions on top of existing ones. It also is entirely tied to the commodity of place, and the dollar value rather than any other.
Love Rich’s analysis of N.O. gentrification in this piece (which sparked a very lively discussion for months around town) even though I don’t necessarily agree with his timeline. Gutter punks as the start of gentrification? I don’t think that group has anything to do with this topic) and then hipsters second? I’d say hipsters come much later in the game, maybe right after the gentry actually. The use of bourgeois bohemians is spot on (as is their attendance at the farmers market on Saturdays!), but where are the up and coming artists (who sometimes become the gentry by the next generation) or the gay urbanists or even the temporary natives who land in gentrifying spaces when they first come?
Gentrification and its Discontents: Notes from New Orleans | Newgeography.com.
There is often a bittersweet air to these posts that I find reporting the loss of one of the bygone characters of the Quarter and the Marigny. When you read the details, you can almost hear and see the late nights and shared experiences in these groups of friends having fun while also struggling to find their own way. In this blog piece are the names of some of our literary folks who, back in the day, were working toward something, something that they achieved in this case.
It’s the same as when I read about the group that started the Arts And Crafts Club back in the 1920s, or the friends who began Southern Decadence or Barkus or Tiptina’s; I can hear the laughter and fun that they had while doing it.
I’m glad that camaraderie is alive and well with new groups of friends and colleagues in the Quarter working on their own future.
Cosimo’s on Burgundy has long hosted a popular neighborhood crawfish boil which has now encountered some opposition from neighbors. Crawfish boils are a part of our culture, rich or poor, and without some serious reasons which I can’t even imagine, this one needs to continue. That part of the Quarter has long had some crime issues and anytime we can put some “eyes on the street”, frivolity and food together, we should. Stop in at Governor Nicholls and Burgundy (and get a nice happy hour drink which is one of the best in the Quarter) and sign their petition.
2009 Times-Picayune story about Cosimo’s crawfish boil
French Quarter block by block 
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