New Orleans Public Housing Demolition Debate Round Up (and Knock Down)
It sure has been a busy week for those following the City’s move to demolish
four major public housing complexes in the face several housing-related
crises that you can read all about
here.
Protesters have been mobilized all week long and it looks like things will
remain tense into next week.
On Monday, there was a protest directed at a meeting of HCDRC and committee
who’s acronym stands for something along the lines of “we approve all
demolition permits pretty much.” Leigh
C. has a fantastic account of what it was like to be there. That same day,
however, a mysterious poster showed up around City Hall that seemed that
conveniently diverted attention away from the debate at hand. It made We
Could Be Famous furious.
Also see other pearls of wisdom on the itty bitty demolition committee by Karen
Gadbois and Leigh C.
By mid-week, just as wrecking crews and protesters descended upon B.W.
Cooper, We Could Be Famous reexamined the rhetoric being used by both sides of the demolition debate:
*Others have also been guilty of short-sightedness in regards to this
week’s public housing debate. I’ve sensed that people out there are
reluctant to take a stand against demolition because they have long
supported the demolition of these public housing units. There is a sense
that staving off demolition this week represents an endorsement of returning
to the pre-Katrina public housing situation, an endorsement of crime-ridden
encampments of social and economic isolation……If you listen to what these public housing advocates are saying, they’re
not actually demanding a permanent return to the isolated and neglected
public housing lifestyle of the past.
There isn’t even a whole lot of blistering rhetoric against River Garden or
the idea of mixed-income communities. The issue is that even the most rosy
projections of HANO and developers indicate that new units will not be
livable until 2010. (and of course there won’t be any delays or anything in
New Orleans)….The stop the demolition movement seems to be much more about forcing
government to somehow address the housing crisis BEFORE going ahead with
demolition plans, given that many argue these projects could be viable
short-term emergency housing options.
*Jeffrey of Library Chronicles chimed in on that as well.
Protesters blocked wrecking crews at B.W. Cooper and demolition was halted
on Wednesday only to continue on Thursday.
A protest march from City Hall to the HUD HQ on Poydras St. became extremely
tense as things seemed to be coming to a head.
By Friday, protesters were pulling out all the stops, though certain methods
may have been counterproductive, as We Could Be Famous argued.
Nonetheless, the Coalition to Stop the Demolition was able to secure a major
victory via examination of municipal code. The decision on three of the four
housing projects (St. Bernard, C.J. Peete, and Lafitte) will be made by City
Council and demolition has been staved off until then at least. The B.W.
Cooper demolition will continue, unless the protesters try to occupy the
buildings.
Visit the links above to get up to speed and stay tuned as this story is
certainly not over yet.
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Cowards! All over the country today, friends of New Orleans saw these badly trained, panicky, shamefully unprofessional bullies at work. Pathetic. Chemical happy cops cripple comeback.
As well today (12/20/07)there was a debate about the demolition of the housing projects, allowing anyone to talk, however the real problem was the fact that so many protesters were either tasered or pepper sprayed outside, as well as two men inside the actual debate. One woman actually had a seisure after being tasered in the back. And these protesters weren’t even the people of New Orleans who were living or wanted to live in the projects.
[...] I thought that this would be an appropriate time to post this video, which was posted on YouTube around the time of the anniversary of Katrina. Last week the New Orleans City Council passed a plan to demolish the four largest public housing projects in New Orleans. [...]
Oppressive police work easily leads to even more violence, instead of less of it (like it should be).
Either these police men (and women?) are amateurs or they seriously lost control of their temper.
Law-abiding citizens deserve to be respected, in every way and at all times.
Doesn’t it seem like we’ve all forgotten about this issue.
Yesterday, I was creating a database of the permits off of the city website and I saw some demolitions with N/A addresses go by. Four of them.
New Orleans Permits.
That last comment was deleted from Think New Orleans. I’m sorry for people who received it in the email notifications.
This is a link to an article that has an impressive explanation for the slow recovery in New Orleans:
http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=51&articleID=659