David Johnson’s reaction to a helicopter landing in his neighborhood was a mixture of profanity and incredulity. “My first reaction was, get the h…, get outta here! … Unbelievable!” A Gert Town resident his whole life, Johnson dwells next door to an increasingly vacant lot that takes up the 4200 block of Clio Street almost […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Join us in examining sheriff's budget
Sheriff Marlin Gusman has provided the most detailed disclosure yet about the department’s revenues and expenditures.
Posted inLand Use
Rock 'n' Bowl demolitions are put on hold
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | City officials this week delayed for a month a decision on whether Rock ‘n’ Bowl’s owner can demolish two nearby homes he recently bought. The Neighborhood Conservation District Committee told owner John Blancher to spend the time talking to the area’s neighborhood organization. Jenel Hazlett, president of […]
Posted inOpinion
Don't bulldoze blight. Use it as bait to lure newcomers
By Brad Vogel, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Even if New Orleans wanted to destroy so rich an architectural heritage, it could not bulldoze all the blighted buildings within city limits. We simply don’t have the money, as Allison Plyer of the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center made clear at a recent BlightStat […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Climate change makes local flood defense a real crap shoot
True odds are often misstated. Proctologists understand this fact well, since so many of their patients, at least on Seinfeld, explain their unfortunate predicaments in the same way: “It was a million to one shot, Doc. Million to one.” So, if a “million to one” means little in a proctologist’s examination room, would it be […]
Posted inEnvironment, Government & Politics, Land Use
Rock 'n Bowl seeks tear-down permits
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | To paraphrase the golden oldie: “Rock ‘n Bowl is Here to Stay” – the trendy bowling alley and live music venue, that is. Not only has Rock ‘n Bowl survived its 2009 move to the corner of Carrollton and Earhart, it seems to be taking over the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics, Investigations
Sheriff's eyes bigger than inmates' bellies
With a pricetag now in excess of $80 million, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman has gone 50 percent over budget to build a kitchen, warehouse and power plant for his new jail complex.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
PAR warns against redistricting abuses
By Naomi Martin, The Lens contributing writer | Louisiana politicians could use their control over the upcoming congressional redistricting process to keep themselves—and their parties—in power for the next decade, according to a new report by the Public Affairs Research Council, an independent non-profit based in Baton Rouge. In the study, PAR repeats its 2009 […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Landrieu wants video to promote recovery
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | The New Orleans landscape is dotted with signs boasting about “our recovery in progress,” an effort by former Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration to tout his successes. His successor is taking that idea even further, seeking proposals to spend tax dollars to photograph and videotape the recovery so […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Recovery projects are progressing, but half are not yet under construction
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | In the nine months since Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration took over City Hall, long-delayed capital projects have made steady, if slow, progress. Even so, don’t expect to see too many cranes in the sky just yet. More than half of 210 planned projects remain in pre-construction phases. […]