arts, books and music

Film festival selection features Central City youth football team and combating violence-based trauma

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The A.L. Davis Park Panthers, its players, and their mental health are the points of focus for the 2018 New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF) selection, The Children of Central City. The 18-minute documentary—shot and directed by Emma Scott, based on the reporting of Jonathan Bullington and Richard A. Webster—shows the impact of the youth football program based in Central City New Orleans, and the violent environment its children must go through. Purpose
The premise of the film is as follows:
For the boys on the Davis Park team, it’s not a matter of if they’ve been exposed to violence– it’s how often. In their young lives, they’ve already attended funerals for slain family and friends, and stepped off school buses to the sight of flashing blue lights and yellow crime scene tape. They can tell the difference between fireworks and gunfire, and they know what to do when they hear the latter.

city government

New Central City park to commemorate historic 1957 founding of MLK’s civil rights organization

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By Nicholas Riemann
Special to Uptown Messenger

On Feb. 14, 1957, a crucial moment of American history was made in Central City, when Martin Luther King Jr. came to the New Zion Baptist Church on Third Street to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, what would become one of the country’s foremost African-American civil-rights organizations. The only marker commending the group’s founding, though? A plaque on the edge of the church’s property. But there’s a dream to change that — one that’s now starting to become a reality.

events

Young Men Olympian Jr. second line Sunday through Central City

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The Young Men Olympian Junior Benevolent Association will hold its 128th annual second line Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. at the club’s hall on South Liberty and looping around Louisiana Avenue, South Claiborne and Martin Luther King Boulevard, touted by Gambit’s Big Red Cotton as “the biggest, most exciting second line of the season.” See her post at Gambit for turn-by-turn details.

film and television

Spike Lee holds casting call in Central City

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Prep-school students, business people, “uptowner” types, fitness instructors and female motorcyclists dressed in the styles of the early 1990s are among the parts needed for a new Spike Lee joint that will have a casting call from 2 to 7 p.m. Friday afternoon at Ashe Cultural Center, 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., according to a post at the NOLA Black Professionals blog.

crime

Two face charges after separate cutting incidents Saturday night in Central City

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Two people face charges after separate incidents Saturday evening in which they allegedly used bottles to cut people they were arguing with, police said. In the first case, 28-year-old Tito Castillo got into an argument at about 10:20 p.m. in the 2700 block of Danneel with another man in his late 20s, then cut him over the left eyebrow with a bottle, according to initial police reports. About 20 minutes later, 33-year-old Bianca Bradstreet was fighting with a 29-year-old woman in the 2300 block of Washington, the report states. After their altercation was stopped, Bradstreet allegedly threw a bottle, cutting the knee of the woman she’d been fighting with and another woman’s bicep, the report states. Castillo and Bradstreet were each charged with aggravated battery, which can be punished by up to 10 years in prison.

public safety

Vacant home on South Robertson damaged in morning fire

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An unoccupied home in Central City was damaged by a fire that broke out late Thursday morning, authorities said. The fire broke out in the 2200 block of South Robertson shortly before 10 a.m., and at least one of the walls of the home took heavy damage, New Orleans firefighters said. The fire also reached into the attic, but the extent of the damage was not immediately clear. The home sits in a row of houses that have long stood empty, and that are sometimes frequented by vagrants, neighbors said. Windows on the houses on either side of the damaged home are boarded up.

crime

Sketch released of Central City rape suspect

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Police have released a computer sketch in hopes of identifying a man accused of the rape of a 56-year-old woman in Central City late last month. The victim told police she was held down and sexually assaulted by an acquaintance she knew only as “Joe” in a home in the 2900 block of Dryades around 9:15 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, the initial police report stated. On Wednesday, police issued a description of the suspect as a stocky 5-foot-5, 130-pound black man in his mid-30s with a missing top front tooth wearing a blue-and-white jersey with blue pants. Anyone with information is asked to call special-victims Detective Damita Williams at 658-5523 or to CrimeStoppers at 822-1111 to leave an anonymous tip that could be eligible for a cash reward.

business

Mellow Mushroom on Oak Street, Mais Arepas in Central City both get enthusiastic green lights from City Council

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Two new restaurants planned for opposite ends of Uptown — the Mellow Mushroom pizzeria on Oak Street, and Mais Arepas Colombian diner on Carondelet in Central City — both passed the City Council with flying colors Thursday morning, as council members lined up to express their enthusiasm for both projects. Mellow Mushroom developer James Son told the council that his restaurant will fill a void for pizza on Oak Street, and will do so with healthier ingredients and gluten-free options that area relatively new to the area. Though the restaurant is a chain, he said, the effect of that will largely be limited to his operational plans — ingredients such as produce will be locally sourced, and even his countertops and signage are being designed by craftsmen on Oak Street. “Whatever is good for Oak street and the neighborhood of Carrollton is also good for us and our property values,” Son said. City Councilwoman Susan Guidry praised Son’s presentation and his many hours of conversations with the Carrollton-Riverbend Neighborhood Association, leading to a good-neighbor agreement with them.

business

Fresh market headed for O.C. Haley; Byblos to move down Magazine

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A fresh-food market plans to bring the produce of 200 farmers to O.C. Haley Boulevard, and the local Mediterrean chain Byblos plans to move into the space on Magazine Street recently vacated by the closure of Nacho Mama’s. Jack and Jake’s will open in the old Myrtle Banks School building in about a year and a half, reports Maria Clark of New Orleans City Business. Meanwhile, when Byblos moves into the old Nacho Mama’s, the old Byblos will become an upscale taqueria, and the owners of Byblos have also bought the Rocky’s Pizza building, reports Alexander Hancock of Eater NOLA.

crime

Man shot to death in Central City

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A 37-year-old man was gunned down in the street at Seventh and Dryades in Central City early Monday morning, police said. After a report of shots fired at the location around 1 a.m., police found the victim — later identified as Tremell Williams — lying in the middle of the street with multiple gunshot wounds, and he died on the scene, police said. No suspects or motive has been named in Williams’ death. Anyone with information is asked to call NOPD Homicide Detective Candice Preston at 658-5300 or, to leave an anonymous tip that could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000, call CrimeStoppers at 822-1111.