Amid rumors, protests and petitions, a Lower Garden District neighborhood group is asking city recreation officials to hold a public meeting explaining changes for a facility at Annunciation Park. Meanwhile on Monday night, the association also heard from a resident seeking to open a new coffee shop on Jackson Avenue, met one of the first [...]
Uptown residents remain concerned about looming loss of ladder truck
Despite official assurances that the removal of a ladder-equipped fire truck from the station on Arabella is part of the best possible future for the New Orleans Fire Department, Uptown residents who live nearby continue to worry that their level of fire protection is being reduced.
Woman on Magazine Street threatened in possible robbery attempt
A woman walking on Magazine Street had her life threatened by a stranger demanding her money late Monday morning, but she escaped and police are investigating to determine who the man was and what he was trying to do, authorities said.
Cowbell owner planning new restaurant in Central City
The chef who launched the popular Cowbell burger joint on Oak Street now plans a family-oriented restaurant with an emphasis on takeout meals in a former Central City seafood market, he told city officials on Tuesday afternoon.
Freret neighborhood seeks grant for network of security cameras
Amid an ongoing discussion of ways to permanently reduce crime in the Freret neighborhood, residents are hoping for a $6,000 grant to create a network of 12 ProjectNOLA surveillance cameras near hotspots for drug dealing and gunplay.
“Mr. Chill” returns home to Broadmoor with new hot dog and pastry shop
The opening of Mr. Chill’s First Class Cuts barber shop on South Carrollton Avenue following Hurricane Katrina was hailed as one of many signs of the New Orleans’ rebirth. Now, Mr. Chill is expanding back home to Broadmoor to open a hot dog and pastry shop in his old corner store in what should possibly [...]
Teens deterred from St. Charles Avenue robbery attempt when victim sprays them with mace, police say
A group of teens surrounded a man walking on St. Charles Avenue on Saturday and one of them tried to rob him, but he sprayed them with mace to escape, and police found them and arrested his assailant nearby minutes later, authorities said.
Bricolage Academy awarded $1M New Schools for New Orleans grant
Bricolage Academy, the new Orleans Parish Charter School that will open this fall on the campus of Touro Synagogue, has been awarded a $1 million New Schools for New Orleans grant from the $30 million NOLA Charter Excellence Fund, designed to create 15,000 high-quality public-school seats in the city.
Paula and the Pontiacs perform at a benefit to help reopen Jimmy’s Music Club on April 4, 2013. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Just when New Orleans officials and the owners of Jimmy’s Music Club were beginning to find some common ground, the city’s independent alcohol board on Tuesday afternoon surprised both of them by rejecting Jimmy’s appeal, essentially offering the club two routes: City Council or the courts. Continue reading »
The Rolling Through food truck festival will make a stop at the Rosa Keller library in Broadmoor starting at 5 p.m. today (Tuesday, May 21) as part of a weekly series that also includes events in Treme, Central City and the Bywater. Continue reading »
Firefighters responding to a fire on Prytania Street near Soniat. (Photo submitted by Kurt Fromherz)
Will McGrew and his mother, Janet McGrew, who said she is proud that her son is standing up for what he believes in. (submitted photo)
jewel bush
The day before his Ben Franklin High School graduation, a time when teenagers might engage in pranks or attend parties with buddies, Will McGrew helped organize a counter protest to the NOLA Needs Peace, Not More Abortion Coalition rally. The action was held on Monday afternoon near the proposed Claiborne Avenue Planned Parenthood site, a controversial new state-of-the art health facility slated to open in 2014. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for next week. Continue reading »
(From left) Christopher Davis, Joseph Davis and Sheldon Jefferson (via opcso.org)
Amid rumors, protests and petitions, a Lower Garden District neighborhood group is asking city recreation officials to hold a public meeting explaining changes for a facility at Annunciation Park.
Meanwhile on Monday night, the association also heard from a resident seeking to open a new coffee shop on Jackson Avenue, met one of the first candidates to begin campaigning openly for the at-large seat that will be open in next year’s New Orleans City Council elections and discussed the problem of loitering at a Magazine Street corner store. Continue reading »
The Broadmoor Improvement Association will present its plans for a network of surveillance cameras to aid police in making arrests and prevent crime at a meeting tonight. Continue reading »
Owen Courreges
Has the New Orleans Police Department been cooking the books on the city’s crime stats? That’s the intimation made by a recent “special report” from the Times-Picayune.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Police Superintendant Ronal Serpas often argue that while New Orleans has a sky-high murder rate, its violent crime rate actually isn’t that bad, and in fact is better than a wide range of cities from New Haven, Connecticut to Orlando, Florida. Hearing them speak, you might believe that the guy in the mouse suit at DisneyWorld is more likely to demand your wallet at gunpoint than the ribald denizens of Bourbon Street. Continue reading »
The Divine Ladies held their annual second-line parade through Central City as planned Sunday, in defiance of the violence that led to 19 people being shot on Mother’s Day — including Gambit correspondent and street-culture champion Deborah Cotton, to whom the Divine Ladies dedicated their parade, according to a report from our partners at WWL.
(map via NOPD)
(map via NOPD)
Audubon Charter School leaders heard a presentation on a $6.9 million budget for the coming school year that will include the addition of a new Chinese teacher for middle school students. Continue reading »
Purple areas show those that a ladder truck can reach within the national standard of eight minutes under a New Orleans Fire Department redeployment plan set to take place this summer. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Despite official assurances that the removal of a ladder-equipped fire truck from the station on Arabella is part of the best possible future for the New Orleans Fire Department, Uptown residents who live nearby continue to worry that their level of fire protection is being reduced. Continue reading »
The vacant fire station at 4877 Laurel Street. (photo via the Preservation Resource Center, prcno.org)
The century-old fire station on Laurel Street near Wisner Park, vacant since Hurricane Katrina, may be reborn as an apartment building after its sale for $280,000 at auction Friday morning. Continue reading »
Kendell Gibson (via opcso.org)
Craig Giesecke
As the weather gets a bit warmer and steamier this week, I’ve been turning my attention more to foods that leave us feeling a bit lighter and healthier. Fortunately, we’re headed into that perfect time of the year when the Creole tomatoes and similar fare will be very affordable and readily available. Continue reading »
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
There was a time when New Orleans was considered a great place to shop. Dozens of stores, most of them located on Canal Street or nearby, filled specific niches in the marketplace and shoppers from across the city, the region and the state came downtown, especially women in white gloves and high heels like Allan’s mother Miriam Pailet Katz, to shop, eat and enjoy the ambiance of New Orleans.
Then came the suburban flight, the rise of Lakewood Shopping Center and the development of Jefferson Parish as the retail center for the metro area, the region and the state. Most of Canal Street went into the dumps and there were only a few first-class stores in all of Downtown.
Now, eight years after Hurricane Katrina, corporate retailers, for the first time in 50 years, are looking at Downtown New Orleans as a “hot” place to invest their money. Continue reading »
A Tulane student called police early Wednesday morning and reported that she’d been shot at by a man who first made a menacing comment toward her, and investigators are trying to piece together what actually took place during the incident, authorities said. Continue reading »
(map via NOPD)
The former Louisiana Seafood at 2900 LaSalle. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Cowbell chef Brack May