UptownMessenger.com

Owen Courreges: Bicyclists versus drivers in ‘Occupy the lane’

 Posted by at 11:21 am  city government, opinion, public safety, transportation
Apr 152013
 

(Cartoon by Owen Courreges for UptownMessenger.com)

Owen Courreges

“Occupy the lane,” they say.  By “they” I mean an increasing number of bicycling enthusiasts who don’t want to be relegated to keeping to the far right of the street to allow motorists to sneak by, thus allowing themselves to be frequently “buzzed” by motorists.

This is a genuine concern, and it’s a good argument for educating motorists, but it’s just not the law.  New Orleans Municipal Code Section 154-1415 provides that “[e]very person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right-hand side of the roadway as practicable[.]” Continue reading »

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Mitch vs. Marlin not good for citizens of New Orleans

 Posted by at 10:51 am  city government, crime, elections, opinion, politics, public safety
Apr 132013
 

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus

We’ve known Marlin Gusman for a long time and we have a high regard for him. Marlin is a smart guy who graduated from Jesuit High School and the Wharton School of Business. He was an excellent Chief Administrative Officer in the Marc Morial administration and a pretty good City Councilman.

But our friend Marlin Gusman has had nothing but trouble at the Orleans Parish Prison. His allegation in a recent interview in the New Orleans Tribune that people are being critical of him because he’s African-American is strongly agreed with in many quarters of the black community. Our African-American friends – including several elected officials – say that Gusman has acknowledged the problems at the prison by accepting the terms of the Consent Decree and that Mayor Landrieu should focus his attention on Police Chief Ronal Serpas and our city’s ongoing crime problems so that fewer cab drivers, grandmothers, or young children become victims. Continue reading »

Craig Giesecke: The Central City culinary corridor

 Posted by at 9:41 am  business, food and drink, opinion
Apr 122013
 

Craig Giesecke

I’ve got to give a tip of the hat to my fellow columnist Jean-Paul Villere for his recent piece about real estate and which neighborhoods around the city are next in line for gentrification.

Restaurants and other food operations usually follow but can sometimes lead the redevelopment of neighborhoods. Indeed, New Orleans East and some other areas are still sadly lacking in full-service grocery operations. But this summer’s planned reopening of the Circle Food Store will be a beacon in Treme, and the original Juan’s Flying Burrito on Magazine was one of the landmarks in the comeback of the Lower Garden District. Continue reading »

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Jean-Paul Villere: Where hipsters dwell

 Posted by at 11:10 am  opinion
Apr 102013
 

Jean-Paul Villere

Chances are if you rent affordably in New Orleans, your days may be numbered.  And when you seek your next lease, the hood you now call home may have effectively priced you out.  Such is the path of desirability and real estate.  Supply and demand will either keep you cozy in your digs or scrapping for the leftovers, and even the latter have been known to gouge too.  The Crescent City on the whole races on in an uber competitive rental market, but some areas – for example, Bywater – possess a hyper-draw that even the trust-funded are now finding uncool.  What gives?  You know the answer.  The tried and true recipe of gentrification requires a heaping two cups of unwashed hipster before a neighborhood can be cooked for mass consumption, and ladies and gentlemen, you may now safely stick a fork in Bywater.  She’s done. Continue reading »

jewel bush: I Am Looking At Music

 Posted by at 11:36 am  arts, books and music, opinion
Apr 092013
 

jewel bush

I’ve always been in awe and a bit intimidated by poetry. Bards have the gift for defining the abstract and manipulating the literal into newfangled perspectives. They illuminate the political with their verses and stanzas and wordplay. Poetry can be lyrical, yet still. Profound and pretty. Poetry can expose the ugly while dazzling. Poetry is symmetrical and incongruous at the same time. Poetry is the definitive expression of an era. Continue reading »

Owen Courreges: I’m not down with O.P.P.

 Posted by at 10:11 am  city government, court, crime, opinion, politics, public safety
Apr 082013
 

(cartoon by Owen Courreges)

Owen Courreges

The ongoing clash over the cost of the consent decree governing Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) continues to bubble over.  This week we were greeted by the latest bombardment against Sheriff Marlin Gusman in the form of the release of a 2009 video featuring inmates openly mainlining heroin, smoking crack, popping pills, gambling, flashing cash, and even displaying loaded guns.  It looks like footage of a party at Marion Berry’s house.

Here’s a link to the video.  I’ve run it through a website that replaces the audio with “Yakety Sax” so it’s a smidge less depressing. Continue reading »

Owen Courreges: Attack of the Easter zombies

 Posted by at 12:25 pm  opinion
Apr 062013
 

Owen Courreges

Last Sunday was Easter.  It also marked the season finale of The Walking Dead on AMC, a series about a zombie apocalypse, and the premiere of the fantasy series Game of Thrones, which began with an army of zombie-like “wights” pushing towards an ancient wall, threatening the destruction of civilization.

Coincidence?  I think not. Easter and zombies: they go together like peas and carrots. Continue reading »

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Is rising star Jared Brossett next for the City Council?

 Posted by at 10:25 am  city government, elections, opinion, politics, state government
Apr 042013
 

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus

Back in olden times, Allan covered the Louisiana Legislature for The Times-Picayune and Danae lobbied the Legislature for the Dock Board. So we both have a sense of what it takes to be a good legislator and like to keep track of those who we think have bright futures in politics. Continue reading »

Jean-Paul Villere: The face of blight

 Posted by at 10:55 am  blight and demolition, city government, opinion, politics
Apr 032013
 

3527 South Liberty (photo by Jean-Paul Villere)

Jean-Paul Villere

Once upon a time the ivy-covered, faded green house with broken glass panes and missing siding at 3527 South Liberty in Uptown New Orleans probably was a family home, a quaint if not classically styled shotgun with sidehall elements, wrought iron fencing and floor to ceiling windows facing the street.  Today it sits beaten to hell but still seemingly structurally intact, an eyesore of eyesores, and consumed by litter including household discards, dozens upon dozens of old tires, and yes, even hypodermic needles.  Additionally according to nolaassessor.com/ there is a code-enforcement lien, and the city’s new Blight Status site shows a hearing next week on 11 violations found in January 2013.  

This kind of scenario represents the face of blight in the Crescent City today. Continue reading »

jewel bush: An open letter to armchair “activists”

 Posted by at 10:55 am  opinion, politics
Apr 022013
 

jewel bush

Dear armchair activist,

The root of the word activism is “act.”

If you are not doing something in a tangible, meaningful way, to impact social, political, economic or cultural change, then you are not an activist. Advocate, perhaps. Activist, you are not.

If the extent of your “activism” is regurgitating factoids, trolling online discussion forums, retweeting commentary by intellectuals on Twitter or reposting, sharing and liking stories on Facebook, then you are not an activist. Agitator, maybe. Activist, you are not.
Continue reading »

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: A new deal at UNO

 Posted by at 11:41 am  colleges, opinion, state government
Mar 282013
 

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus

One of the region’s most interesting and not-yet-fully-covered stories is the rejuvenation and re-energizing of the University of New Orleans.

UNO’s tortuous ties to LSU in Baton Rouge have been severed. A new University of New Orleans President is in place. He is Dr. Peter Fos, a 1972 graduate of UNO. The university at the lakefront is now part of the University of Louisiana system which will likely be a more agreeable relationship than the old one with Baton Rouge where the Tiger bosses tended to see UNO as a threat rather than as a promising protégé. Continue reading »

Jean-Paul Villere: The free market versus gentrification

 Posted by at 12:58 pm  blight and demolition, business, neighborhood groups, opinion
Mar 272013
 

Jean-Paul Villere

I’m no newshound, but of late I’ve noticed more than a few comments on pieces detailing the present tense of some older, and until recently, largely overlooked New Orleans neighborhoods.  Some call it a white tea pot effect, and others have expounded on this, even hyping it up with modified phrasing like re-gentrification or super-gentrification.  But the tone often leans toward a woeful finger wagging on that whispery word unto itself: gentrification.  

And all I keep coming back to is, do we not live in a free market society?  Are the choices made by the citizenry not their own?  To live somewhere or not.  To embrace risk versus reward in prospecting or strict investment, whether as an owner occupant or out and out landlord?  Yes, incentive can come in the form of local, state, and federal tax incentives, and yes, re-zoning has been known to kickstart a movement.  But these benefits are not exclusive to any one demographic, and they never will be.  Quite simply, population migrations happen. Continue reading »

jewel bush: Alone and afraid, awaiting his fate

 Posted by at 11:51 am  Congress, opinion, politics
Mar 262013
 

jewel bush

Denis Chirinos-Avila is one of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living and working in the United States, but the right word to describe him is not “alien” or “illegal” or any other common epithet used to refer to those who live and work here without paperwork.

Denis Chirinos-Avila is scared.

The 27-year-old construction worker has lived day in and day out in a paralyzing fear that his open secret would be exposed, that he would be deported away from the life he has established in New Orleans for more than seven years. Would he be questioned in the grocery store? Or on the way to work? Or accompanying his partner, Reina, to one of her prenatal checkups? Continue reading »

Owen Courreges: Annex Metairie

 Posted by at 9:28 am  city government, Featured, opinion, politics, state government
Mar 252013
 

Owen Courreges

New Orleans should annex all of unincorporated Jefferson Parish!  Metairie shall henceforth be known as New Orleans West!  “Fat City” will receive a makeover and be reinvented as “the little Bourbon!”  Prosperity shall rein!

Now that I have your attention, I will explain why this should happen, but cannot happen due to historical factors and outmoded laws. Continue reading »

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Pope Francis is off to a great start, but has a tough job

 Posted by at 11:41 am  church, opinion
Mar 212013
 

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus

While neither Danae (Greek Orthodox) or Allan (Jewish) happens to be Catholic, both of us have just been amazed and pleased by the aura of optimism and good feelings that have surrounded the rise of the new Pope, Francis I.

Our friends, regardless of their religious faith, have been almost unanimous in expressing their positive reactions to the naming of Francis I, the way that he has handled his brand-new papacy and his initial comments. Continue reading »

jewel bush: Sarah T. Reed senior scores high marks for organizing efforts to save his school

 Posted by at 10:20 am  Featured, opinion, schools
Mar 192013
 

Myron Miller (via Facebook)

jewel bush

Last summer, New Orleans teenager Myron Miller traveled to the Highlander Center in Tennessee. Derided by segregationists as the “Communist Training School,” burned down and forced to close multiple times by racists over the years, the educational facility in the shadow of the Smokey Mountains has a long tradition of training activists including such historical figures as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. There, in the Seeds of Fire youth camp, Miller learned the language and methodologies to describe years of work he had already been doing in the city – organizing his community in an emotional and controversial battle to save Sarah T. Reed High School.

“I never knew what an organizer was, but I was actually already doing it,” Miller said. “It was a life changing experience for me to attend Highlander. Dr. King and Rosa Parks studied there. When I got that knowledge from Highlander, I knew it was time to go back home and do some nonviolent direct action.” Continue reading »

jewel bush: Who was there for Terrilynn?

 Posted by at 11:08 am  opinion, public safety
Mar 122013
 

Terrilynn Monnette and her car (via the Terrilynn Monnette Facebook page)

jewel bush

Coming of age in a party town like New Orleans, there have been countless nights where I have been hanging out with buddies and drinking has been involved. Whether we drove to the party or club together, we always made sure everyone made it home safely. We never left a friend alone at the end of the night – sober or otherwise.

Our friend code wouldn’t allow it. The rules required calls or text messages letting the group know you were in. The phone call or text didn’t have to be lengthy; a simple “home” sufficed; and if that call didn’t come in a timely matter, we didn’t hesitate to reach out – again and again — until we heard back. We took care of one another using the age-old buddy system. And never, ever, under any circumstance did we allow anyone to leave – sober or otherwise – with a stranger.

So, to me, the most troubling aspect of the Terrilynn Monnette disappearance narrative is the report that her acquaintances left — left her alone to sleep in her car in a dark parking lot in the wee hours of the morning behind a bar. Continue reading »

Owen Courreges: Trooper takedown

 Posted by at 11:58 am  city government, crime, opinion, public safety
Mar 112013
 

Owen Courreges

State Senator J.P. Morrell is not letting this go – nor should he.

A month ago, a video was released showing the detention of two young black males, Sidney Newman, 17, and Ferdinand Hunt, 18, by eight plainclothes state troopers.  The video, taken on February 10, 2013 just after a parade, shows the two teens leaning against a wall in the 700 block of Conti Street.   Suddenly they are surrounded by State Troopers.

One of the youths took a few steps away and was jumped, grabbed by his shirt and flung around to the ground.  The other is pushed up against a wall.  It was a very fast and violent confrontation between the teens and the troopers. Continue reading »

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