blight and demolition

Carrollton coffeeshop rejected; alcohol sales at Walgreens on Claiborne approved by City Council

By |

The rejection of a controversial Carrollton coffeeshop, the approval of alcohol sales at a new Walgreens on Claiborne, and other land-use matters on Oak Street, in Milan and in the Garden District were given final decisions this week by the New Orleans City Council. Closing Konbini | A coffee shop/corner store on at 2101 South Carrollton that briefly opened for business without the proper license or zoning was sent back to the drawing board by a sympathetic but ultimately unyielding Councilwoman Susan Guidry during Thursday’s meeting. The building is zoned for residential use but had been an office for years, until it sat vacant long enough to lose its temporary commercial use. Its proprietors said they gathered 500 signatures from the neighborhood in support of their idea, but the more intense commercial use and spot zoning that the project represented were overwhelmingly opposed by neighborhood organizations in the area. “It’s very painful to say no to a business ready to open,” Guidry said, saying she regretted the financial impact to the owner of rejecting his application.

crime

NOPD: Officer fires at suspect who pointed gun at him

By |

A New Orleans police officer fired at a man who pulled a gun out during a traffic stop and threatened him with it Wednesday night, leading to a large search for the suspect just off South Carrollton in Gert Town, police said. About 8:30 p.m., an officer saw two men standing next to a black car parked in the handicapped parking space at the Magnolia Discount at Olive and South Carrollton and questioned them about parking there, said Sgt. Russell Philibert, a task force leader with the NOPD Second District. The man next to the passenger side of the vehicle began searching in the car, then stood up with a gun in his hand and began to run down Olive, Philibert said. The officer chased the fleeing suspect and at the end of the block, the man turned and pointed his gun toward the officer, so the officer fired at him but did not hit him, Philibert said.

blight and demolition

Despite city’s initial OK, neither Rue de la Course nor Ignatius are moving soon, owner says

By |

The owner of the popular Rue de la Course coffeehouse on Magazine Street took a step closer Tuesday to being able to convert the location into a restaurant with alcohol sales, but said no immediate plans have been made for the location. Jerry Roppolo, who owns Rue and its building, was poised earlier this year to get a liquor license for Ignatius Eatery up the street, but then withdrew after he was unable to reach an agreement with his landlord there. Based on a subsequent plan he presented this month to move Ignatius into Rue’s building, the City Planning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend Roppolo receive a conditional-use permit to sell alcohol in the building he owns, but Roppolo said any changes to either location are still a long way off. “I believe our building would be a lot more valuable as a restaurant, and by getting a conditional use I have the opportunity to open a restaurant there,” Roppolo said. “Does that mean it’s going to happen?

crime

Weekend robberies cluster in Uptown neighborhoods

By |

Robberies were reported at eight different addresses around Uptown New Orleans neighborhoods over the weekend — four in the Riverbend area, two in the Hurstville neighborhoods near Audubon Park, and one each in the Freret and Touro neighborhoods.

arts, books and music

72 hours Uptown: Easter celebrations

By |

Easter revelry comes to Uptown New Orleans this weekend in a variety of forms, including an Easter Egg hunt at the Palmer Park art market, a second line through Hollygrove, Fontainebleau, Carrollton and Pigeontown, and an Easter tribute to Louis Armstrong. For full details and links to these and other events, see our calendar listings below. Friday

Kids Club Earth Day celebration Easter egg hunt and petting zoo. 12 to 2 p.m., Whole Foods Arabella Station, 5600 Magazine. PJ’s Family Night at the Movies (weekly).

crime

NOPD: Carrollton woman fatally shoots armed home invader

By |

A 30-year-old mother of three shot and killed a man who came into her Carrollton home wielding a pistol Tuesday evening, police said. The woman and her three children were inside the home in the 1700 block of Cambronne around 7 p.m. when the man came inside with a gun in his hand, according to a NOPD news release. The woman had a gun of her own, however, and shot the man several times, and he died at the hospital, police said. Neither she nor the children were harmed, police said. Investigators have deemed the case a justifiable homicide, though the District Attorney’s Office will review the case, police said.

crime

Riverbend business-burglary spree abates, but still no arrest

By |

A rash of business burglaries in the Riverbend area that preceded the long Carnival weekend has since subsided, police said, but with the cases still unsolved, the burglar could resurface at any time. “We haven’t had any more,” said Sgt. Marc Amos of the NOPD Second District property-crimes unit. “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist anymore.” Investigators were confounded by the intense spree of business burglaries, which clustered around Maple and Oak streets in Carrollton in the days leading up to Mardi Gras.