With FEMA footing the bill, the city plans to demolish this house, at 1209 N. Galvez St., a blight war maneuver as likely to degrade as improve the block. Photo by Brad Vogel. By Brad Vogel, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Over the weekend, David Simon, creator of HBO’s Treme, publicly critiqued the city’s […]
Author Archives: The Editors
Posted inOpinion
Get government funding out of the arts? Get real!
By Lamar White Jr., The Lens contributing opinion writer | In a recent opinion piece for The Lens, Kevin Kane argued against government support for the arts. Louisiana’s richly indigenous culture is self-sustaining – and should be, Kane argued. His views are not surprising. A New Yorker in our midst by way of a Tulane […]
Posted inOpinion
Senator using skewed numbers on oil industry’s safety record
By Benjamin Leger, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Testifying in front of the Senate Energy Committee in May 2010 while the Deepwater Horizon was still gushing oil into the Gulf, Louisiana’s U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu voiced her opposition to the moratorium on deepwater exploratory drilling: Since 1971, not a single spill in the Gulf, […]
Posted inOpinion
Let culture buffs fund the arts – not govt. bureaucrats
By Kevin Kane, The Lens contributing opinion writer | In an opinion piece posted recently at The Lens, New Orleans’ online investigative news site, arts writer and editor Nathan C. Martin recently criticized the Louisiana legislature for cutting statewide funding for the arts. While Martin rightly celebrates Louisiana’s culture, his argument for increased government subsidies falls […]
Posted inOpinion
TIGER III funds: How NOT to spend these federal transit dollars
By Stephen Crim, The Lens contributing opinion writer | The U.S. Department of Transportation has opened the application process for $527 million in grants for transportation projects under the name TIGER III. In an earlier round of similar funding, last year the Regional Transit Authority won $45 million for the Loyola Avenue line. As a […]
Posted inOpinion
Pedicab success pivots on City Council opting for merit selection
By Alan Williams, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Finally, New Orleans has joined the ranks of cities that permit pedal-powered cabs to carry residents and visitors around town. Soon, New Orleanians and tourists alike will be able to cruise Magazine Street, roll to the Superdome for a Saints game, or get from a downtown […]
Posted inOpinion
City blight blitz is overlooking key allies: owners trying to rebuild
By Tess Monaghan, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Nearly six years after Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of residential properties in New Orleans sit vacant. Some have been blighted for decades. But many remain in disrepair simply because their owners lack the funds to repair damage from Hurricane Katrina. City Hall has set a […]
Posted inOpinion
Good, not great: City deserves better plan for Mid-City Market
By Alan Williams, The Lens contributing opinion writer | The proposed Mid-City Market is a bit like the 2006 Saints: a big improvement over prior efforts, but ultimately just not good enough. To be sure, a new grocery store on this site – in the 400 block of North Carrollton Avenue — is good. Winn-Dixie […]
Posted inOpinion
Arts funding cuts carry a hidden economic risk
By Nathan C. Martin, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Culture is to Louisianans what water is to fish. Our public spaces and private lives are utterly infused with forms of expression that make the state unique—our food, architecture, music, costumes, art, and public celebrations, to name a few. They create a cultural environment that […]
Posted inOpinion
Neighborhoods are dandy, but no reason to settle for the 'official' 73
By Keith G.C. Twitchell, The Lens contributing opinion writer | A recent Lens article by Richard Campanella argues against the current official city neighborhood map and its 73 “official” neighborhoods. Campanella further goes on to argue both for and against defining neighborhoods, but ultimately describes officially defined neighborhood boundaries as “a necessary evil, an important […]