There have been mayors who have said dumb things long before Ray Nagin. Never, however, has there been a mayor who said dumb things at a time when his constituency so desperately needed inspiration and encouragement rather than to be embarrassed and insulted. Nagin’s speech in Washington before a black press organization slandered the city […]
Lordy, if it wasn’t for the music we’d be such a poorer city. With it we are rich in ways that few cities are. Each April we present a class of Jazz All-Stars, two hypothetical bands, one contemporary, the other traditional. To be eligible, not only do the performers have to excel at what they […]
• Culicchia Neurological Clinic introduces a new medical procedure that treats back pain due to herniated discs without surgery in less than an hour. During “percutaneous” or needle discectomy, the doctor extracts the swollen disc material through a needle. • The only hospital in the state participating, Ochsner Health System announced a new study involving […]
Tums used to serve as a food group for local attorney and filmmaker Stephen Rue.“I kept a big bottle of fruit-flavored Tums and ate handfuls of them like candy. Six or so at a time at least twice a day and just before I went to bed. I kept a bottle in my car. Maalox […]
On a scale from zero to 30,000 feet, business at New Orleans’ airport is nearing an altitude of about four miles, (or 21,120 feet,) local officials say. It’s not what you’d call “flying high,” but activity is in a strong climb. Indicators of the airport’s improving status include the startup of an airline that will […]
When the subject is WYES-TV/Channel 12, our full disclosure statement is quite lengthy. We are linked to the station personally and professionally, including the Dial 12 program guide which has so long been an important part of this magazine. Even Julia Street, our lovable question and answer priestess shows up weekly on WYES. Our greatest […]
The St. Roch Market, a St. Claude Avenue relative of the better-known French Market, long served as a gateway for a neighborhood that includes such distinctive New Orleans elements as an oak-shaded neutral ground, a historic cemetery and a diverse mix of shotgun houses, Creole cottages and small businesses. The market is closed and the […]
CD: Hurricane On The Bayou Soundtrack features treasured local sounds of Fats Domino, Dr. John, The Neville Brothers and Allen Toussaint, to name a few. The collection, available now, offers celebration of New Orleans’ uniquely thriving natural beauty expressed in the powerful documentary. Proceeds from the CD benefit Audubon Nature Institute’s wetlands restoration programs. BOOKS:Fiction […]
A headliner at this year’s Jazz and Heritage Festival, Harry Connick Jr. has a new CD, Oh My Nola, which roams across the New Orleans canon. For a pianist and singer with his own purchase on big band swing, this album reaches back to early inspirations. Connick has a grand voice – mellow, urbane (with hints […]
Rebekah and Glen Markham of Covington sent greeting cards announcing their baby’s birth to some people they barely know but who had already played an extraordinary part in the baby’s life. That’s because the Markhams’ mailing list included members of the team of volunteers who rescued more than 1,400 frozen embryos from the flooded Lakeland […]
The Oak Street corridor between S. Carrollton Avenue and River Road has been undergoing a quiet renaissance lately. Anchored at its midpoint by food and entertainment favorites Jacques-Imo’s Café and the Maple Leaf Bar, a wide range of new eateries have recently percolated up around this funky nexus. Most of them are inexpensive, contribute to […]
The start of baseball season this month for the New Orleans Zephyrs opens a new chapter in the history of the Triple-A, minor league team. During the off-season, the team became the affiliate of the New York Mets – a major league team that Zephyrs officials say is bringing major league resources and clout to […]
When you sit down and talk with musician Theresa Andersson, you notice – in a good way – that she uses the word “inspired” a lot, whether it’s in reference to other musicians, her students, music that has influenced her or what’s around her. To me it seems apropos, because Andersson, herself, is inspiring – to […]
Dear Julia and Poydras,While walking through Cypress Grove Cemetery, I noticed a large truncated column honoring Irad Ferry. I know he was a fireman, but can you tell me anything else about him?Jeff CallerminCovington Irad Ferry was the first New Orleans firemen to be killed in the line of duty. Born in Wilton, Conn., Ferry […]
Play Ball!The New Orleans Zephyrs will take a swing at the new season on Friday, April 13. In a town of superstition, the date of the Zephyrs’ first home game seems like an appropriate night to show the Nashville Sounds who’s got the most magic in their bat. There’s going to be a fireworks show, […]
FIRE is a restaurant in the lower warehouse district once occupied by the firemen of Engine Number One. While the building imparts a strong, safe and traditional feel to our guests, our food breaks from the traditional experience of New Orleans dining by offering none regional flavor. FIRE offers food that is anything but a New […]
Their names will forever be lost in the secret annals of the New Orleans Carnival but their deed should be remembered. Saturday a week ago, Feb. 24, 2007, five masked people, reportedly of mixed gender, gathered at the corner of Magazine and Julia Streets to celebrate a significant anniversary in the evolution of our Mardi […]
There have been mayors who have said dumb things long before Ray Nagin. Never, however, has there been a mayor who said dumb things at a time when his constituency so desperately needed inspiration and encouragement rather than to be embarrassed and insulted.
Nagin's speech in Washington before a black press organization slandered the city he was there to represent. He implied that Charity Hospital being closed and the state's ramped up involvement in public education was anti-black. He did not mention how rickety the old hospital system was and how ineffective the Orleans School system had become. To not mention the new charter schools providing hope throughout the city or the thoughtful effort to develop a modern hospital system with an emphasis on neighborhood clinics was dishonest.
To imply a racist conspiracy linked only to a mysterious "they" was shallow. In the news business, and in the business of most professionals, we have to provide evidence of what we say. For us to report on a conspiracy we have to give names, list sources and offer the alleged conspirators a chance to speak. For a physician to give a diagnosis it is best based on statistical evidence. Mayors, however, are apparently spared such disciplines. They can pander to their audience, use code phrases, then say their remarks were misunderstood.
No American mayor has ever faced such a horrific experience as Ray Nagin in the wake of Katrina. There have been no easy answers but at least he could have been a voice of reason. When the facts are elusive, it is often more valiant just to say nothing at all.
Let us know what you think. Any comments about this article? Write to elaborde@renaissancepublishingllc.com. For the subject line use MAYORS. All responses are subject to being published, as edited, in this newsletter. Please include your name and location.
ERROL LABORDE'S BOOK, KREWE: THE EARLY NEW ORLEANS CARNIVAL- COMUS TO ZULU
Books are now available at most area book stores and can be ordered via e mail at gdkrewe@aol.com or (504- 895-2266)
In response to Errol Laborde’s web article on the counterbalancing act of the recovery.
I like to tell people that you can tell any story you want to about New Orleans depending upon where you point your camera.
Want to tell of a town that’s back and open for business and ready to roll? Anyone in town can show you that shot. Take your guest to the French Quarter. Sit them down to eat at a 5 star restaurant. Take them shopping at Saks or Rubenstein Bros. Have them stroll upper Magazine and sit for coffee at one of the many cafes. You would be hard pressed to notice anything of the storm we had here 18 months ago.
Perhaps you have a different view and want to punch up the destruction. You drive the devastated streets of the Lower Ninth. Take your guest into oil sodden, flood ravaged St. Bernard parish. Wander endlessly on deserted New Orleans East Boulevards. Take a drive into parts of the 7th Ward that looks untouched since the canal floodwall patch jobs allowed the pumps to do their work. Wax indignant over the government response and try to temper that with the realization that the process of rebuilding in New Orleans, at its heart, is the accumulation of hundreds of thousands of individual decisions and you can’t really make people do anything they don’t want to do.
The third story is more complicated than those two. It is the story of the damaged but recovering neighborhoods. Obviously flooded homes and obvious signs of life. The streets in Mid-City with storm debris on the curbs but a fresh coat of paints on half of the houses. The newly opened or reopened restaurants on Carrolton to feed those hungry for food... and hungry for some contact with their neighbors. People of places like Broadmoor who are working to ensure that their neighborhoods don’t become a forgotten history of New Orleans buried under a large tract of “green space”.
Damaged but recovering, flooded but rebuilding... it’s the more common and overlooked story of this city. And it’s the hardest story to tell when you are looking for an easy angle. When you have to frame everything in a dichotomy of good and bad, recovered or not recovering, when you don’t have much more than 60 seconds to tell a story with every gradation of gray from fog to charcoal its the easy way out to pick an extreme and go with it. But its not right.. and to those of us working so hard to put our lives and our city back together its not fair. Work a little harder. Tell the third story. It’s richer and it will give people an understanding of what is actually going on down here.
