Give a man secure possession of a bleak rock, and he will turn it into a garden; give him nine years’ lease of a garden, and he will convert it into a desert. ~Arthur Young, Travels in France, 1792

This quote should be broken up a bit here.

This house was a “bleak rock” after a gunman took the life of the son of the owner..she turned that bleak rock into a garden

davids house

It seems the City has claimed that “9 year lease of a garden” and is determined to turn it into a desert.

City Hall

Down the street from me we have houses who have not been touched since the storm, people who have never cut the grass..people who care not one whit for the City and those of us who live here and Robert Mendoza chooses this woman”s house as an offense..

So perhaps we should all just buy cans of paint and start to embroider the City with sidewalk art..it’s a thought.

Karen Gadbois co-founded The Lens. She now covers New Orleans government issues and writes about land use. With television reporter Lee Zurik she exposed widespread misuse of city recovery funds and led...