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Discussion: Making It in the Quarter: A Conversation with New Orleans Service Workers, Wednesday 6-8 pm

Our city thrives on the French Quarter, yet the people who make it run day to day–the bartenders, hotel staff, tour guides–are often overlooked. Join us for a panel discussion on what it takes to make it in the Quarter. Moderated by Aziza Bayou, the panel will feature mule carriage driver Sandra Holliman, Michelle Mueller of Jazzed Up Tours, an assistant manager at Banana Courtyard, a lead server from Brennan’s, artist Russell Gore, who sells his jewelry in the French Market, and Robert Watters, Director of the French Quarter Business Association.

One Book One New Orleans
  • Wednesday
    at 6:00pm – 8:30pm

  • Chris Owens Club

    500 Bourbon St, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
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Glass recycling returns to French Quarter, CBD after long hiatus 

Interested residents and businesses must sign up for a free bin through the Sanitation Department or by calling 311. Second bins can also be purchased, according to the city’s announcement.

Bars, hotels, restaurants, residences with more than four units and any business that creates more than 35 gallons of garbage per pick-up are excluded from the service.

Source: Glass recycling returns to French Quarter, CBD after long hiatus | NOLA.com

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“Jambalaya. Cakes and pies. Costumes and masks. Laughter and song”… The life of Margie O’Dair

Actress, singer, local radio star and French Quarter personality Margie O’Dair has passed away and elicited a nice set of memories on nola.com from friends and family. I saw her perform at Le Petit and in films (one of the few authentic NOLa talents in movies about New Orleans!) and was myself a recipient of her infectious chatty self, either when I talked with her at events or outside her fav coffeehouse in years past; she always seemed to be happy and full of life. Let’s hope Le Petit honors her publicly for her steadfast support and for her many roles there.

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Mosquito Supper Club Fall 2015

Reserve your spot for Mosquito Supper Club every Thursday in September and October.

MOSQUITO SUPPER CLUB IS ABOUT CELEBRATING CAJUN CULTURE. WE CURATE EVENTS THAT CELEBRATE CAJUN MUSIC, FOOD AND CULTURAL TRADITIONS.

Reservations for Supper Club can be made at MosquitoSupperClub.com. The Mosquito Supper Club is located at 810 North Rampart Street.

Merci Beaucoup,

Effie & Melissa

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New Orleans’ non-recovery by the numbers

thank you to the great Bill Quigley for this data:
Three of his points:
35,451: The median income for white families in New Orleans is $60,553; that is $35,451 more than for black families whose median income was $25,102. In the last 10 years the median income for black families grew by 7 percent. At the same time, the median income for white families grew three times as fast, by 22 percent.

33: Rent in New Orleans is up 33 percent for one-bedroom apartments and 41 percent for two-bedroom apartments since Katrina hit. This is very tough because in New Orleans, 55 percent of residents rent. (The national average is 35 percent.) CNN/Money recently named New Orleans as one of the worst cities in the US for renters. Before Katrina, the average renter spent 19 percent of her income on rent. The Data Center reports 37 percent of renters in New Orleans now spend more than 50 percent of their income on rent. Rental apartments are mostly substandard and 78 percent of them, nearly 50,000 apartments, need major repairs.

99,650: There are 99,650 fewer African Americans living in New Orleans now than in 2000, compared to 11,000 fewer whites.

Read more about it

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Sunday Decadence Parade Route 2015

The parade formation time is 1:00 P.M. The parade starting time is 2:00 P.M. The parade starts near Decatur and Barracks Streets.

The parade formation time is 1:00 P.M.
The parade starting time is 2:00 P.M.
The parade starts near Decatur and Barracks Streets.

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Claiborne Expressway History and Future

As is said clearly in this video by downtown leader Vaughn Fauria, the spur of the Expressway that was slated to go through the French Quarter and was defeated was not the same project as the Claiborne Expressway. Too many people repeat the untruth that the preservationists simply pushed the hated highway over to Treme, but as described in detail in the landmark book “The Second Battle of New Orleans: A History of the Vieux Carre Riverfront Expressway Controversy”, the Riverfront spur was a separate project in the development of the I-10 system. Ironically, that spur through the French Quarter was added as a benefit to the Quarter as the planners thought that it would ensure that the Quarter wouldn’t be left out of the auto-centric future. ugh.

However, even though the Claiborne action was not the result of the FQ stoppage, there is no doubt that the placement of highways in the 1950s-1970s was based partly on appeasing existing power elites (read rich white residents or white business associations) and therefore, on the prevalence of institutional racism in municipal decisions.
The takedown of the Claiborne Expressway is far from decided but as long as the residents and businesses that surround it are the primary stakeholders consulted in the final decision, it is likely that whatever results, it will be better than what we have now.