Katrina Update #81Katrina Update #81Last week I showed you the Red Corsica that has been gracing the street near our house since the storm. In a sure sign of at least a little progress the car was taken away on Monday:
Our street is finally starting to look more normal!
But that's not all! Here is how Claiborne Avenue underneath I-10 looked as recently as 2 weeks ago:
All of those cars are finally gone as well!
Janis and I have both more and more people seem to be exhibiting symptoms of "Katrina Weariness." It isn't exactly fatigue, but more of a "fill-in-the-blank" tiredness, as in "I am so tired of seeing all the abandoned cars around town," or "I am so tired of seeing debris piles," or "I am so tired of seeing blue roofs (which were only designed to last 6 months - and it has now been almost a year). More and more people seem to just be weary of it all: of the slow pace and general ineptitude of our government at all levels to effect change; of the lack of ability of the police and national guard to curb the growing murder rate; on and on.
Harvard began studying Katria-weariness as early as January 2006. According to Anthony H. Speier, director of Disaster Mental Health Operations for the Louisiana Office of Mental Health, Katrina-weariness makes "the survivors vulnerable to depression and other problems." In January, he said psychological counselors for the state have had 425,000 requests for help. That was in January, and only represents those who requested help. Imagine how many more need the help, but aren't asking.
We don't need to imagine. We see it every day. Speier describes it this way: ''A lot of people are having trouble reconciling the extreme breadth of their loss. People's homes are gone. Their sense of tradition is gone. Their sense of community is gone. . . . A lot of people need to talk about their situations."
So this is our new mission. To listen. We were lucky. We were spared any significant damage, and Cary is getting his life back together, having moved into an apartment in the French Quarter. We don't have the money to help people and we don't have the time or skill set to go out and help with the rebuilding, but we can listen. And we already know a few people that need to be listened to – now if we can only get them to talk!
Each person has a different, unique set of circumstances that foster different, unique reactions to Nouveau New Orleans. One of the more famous people to adopt New Orleans as his home has decided to pull up stakes. Harry Anderson, star of Night Court, Cheers, and Dave's World has closed Oswald's Speakeasy in the French Quarter and moved to Ashville, NC. “But I love this place, and if your heart is here you can never really leave. I’ve been living here on and off or 30 years. I love New Orleans. It’s the most unique and enjoyable place in America,” Anderson said.
Harry Anderson has decided to leave New Orleans
Oswald's opened in June of last year during the slow tourism season and was damaged by the storm. Harry made repairs and loaned the use of his club out for town hall meetings to help the French Quarter recover and provide a forum for political issues. Eventually, he re-started his magic and comedy act, and at one point, Adam auditioned to be his piano player. Unfortunately, New Orleans' tourism industry has not recovered quickly enough for him to sustain his shows. “Then there were the exorbitant electric bills sent by the local utility for apartments in the building that had no electricity for months, water leaking into the streets from underground damage to water mains and the piles of debris that seemed to keep reappearing,” Anderson said. “After a while you have to ask yourself, ‘how am I doing? What about my peace of mind? What about quality of life?’”
Indeed.
Those of you who watched Night Court may remember a running joke on the series where Harry would always just miss meeting his idol, Mel Tormé. Mel appeared on 9 episodes of Night Court between 1986 and 1992, and one episode of Dave's World in 1994. My admiration for Harry's talent goes way back to his appearances on Saturday Night and Cheers, where he played Harry the Con Man. But in 1988 he was the star of a little-known TV show called "The Absent-Minded Professor," which was based on the Fred McMurray movie of the same name. While the show was largely panned by critics and lasted only a year, the thing I found interesting about it was that his co-star was a Macintosh computer, with whom he interacted by speaking to it (and it spoke back). Perhaps this is where my fascination with speech recognition really took hold.
Anyway, just as Harry kept missing Mel in Night Court, I have never had the pleasure of actually meeting him. I have been in Oswald's only to find out "he just left a few minutes ago." Once I was waiting in the car for someone to drop something off at Coop's Place and he walked by the car. I didn't realize it until the person waiting with me pointed it out. I have even come into Coop's Place and had the bartender say "you just missed Harry Anderson."
I always had this idea that maybe someday I would write an article for Macworld magazine called "A Tale of Three Harrys" featuring Harry Anderson, Harry Connick, Jr., and Harry Shearer, all of whom use Macs. Harry Connick, Jr. is from New Orleans, of course, and Harry Shearer is a very frequent visitor and often mentions New Orleans on his weekly radio show/podcast Le Show. I have also corresponded with Harry Shearer on occasion and spoken with him at WWOZ's annual Piano Night concert.
While I haven't given up hope, doing that piece certainly seems like it will be just a bit harder now.
New Orleans leadership has finally come up with a "unified plan" for rebuilding the area, but a spokesman said that funding the initiative is still a long way off and if local neighborhoods have identified alternative funding sources for their rebuilding effort, they should continue to pursue them. This led me to wonder why our local leadership, in light of so much that is being ignored at the state and federal levels, don't downsize.
When a city grows, it annexes neighboring communities, who then may or may not retain their individuality, but reap the benefits of municipal services such as police, fire, water, garabage pickup, etc. This all comes in return for the annexed community's residents contributing to the city's expanding tax base. New Orleans has had a long history of annexing its neighbors. Carrolton, the Fauburg Marigny, Bywater, and Gentilly were all independent communities before they became New Orleans neighborhoods.
When faced with limited options for revenue and a shrinking tax base, however, perhaps the city should think about divesting itself of some of these neigborhoods. This will never happen, mind you, but hear me out. New Orleans needs to reinvent itself.
First, let's take a look at the map of Orleans Parish:
The "sliver by the river" is now home to most of the people who have returned to New Orleans. In fact, estimates are the largest portion of this area — including Bywater, the French Quarter and Central Business District, Most of Central City, the Garden District, and portions of Uptown/Carrolton — now has about 20% more residents than it did before the storm. The same is true of the Algiers and New Aurora/English Turn areas on the West Bank, which escaped major damage.
With New Orleans' city government struggling to maintain services to a stressed, over-populated stretch near the river, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is stretching its resources too thin to deal with the rest. While it probably isn't the best idea to cut them off completely, perhaps we can benefit from creating several boroughs that together make up the city of New Orleans as well as Orleans Parish. I would propose creating the following boroughs in Orleans Parish:
Each of these areas has strengths of their own. These entities would be allowed to develop independantly of the city as a whole, while still enjoying the benefits of the municipal services New Orleans has to offer. They would still be part of the tax base, but be required to govern themselves, in much the same way the boroughs of New York City are subordinate to the larger city government.
Think about it. This would allow each section of town to build upon its strengths while the "sliver by the river" can go about its business, which is becoming more and more back to normal every day. Lakeview could build upon its strength, which would be the home of the second largest city park in the country and Delgado Community College; Gentilly has the race track (which is also the home of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival), and could encourage an "educational corridor" using Ben Franklin High School and the University of New Orleans as its foundation; East New Orleans could focus on shipping and industry. Westbank has a military installation and one of the country's finest golf courses (English Turn) as well as an area rich in old New Orleans' history (Algiers).
Ever since we were little children we have been taught not to bite off more than you can chew, and to take things in "baby steps" when the going gets rough. It is time New Orleans did that. By adopting a version of my proposal for boroughs, each section of Orleans Parish can develop at its own pace and to its own strengths without having to wait for other areas of the city. While this *might* make the job of providing assistance slightly more difficult for the federal government, it could actually make things easier, by providing a clearer definition of what kinds of help are needed in these areas. Providing assistance that is best suited for a given area is one of the keys to rebuilding quickly and providing the quality of life that is needed if we are to retain our citizens.
- It was Juli Green's birthday this past Thursday (August 3rd). Happy Birthday Juli!
- Marta has finally returned to New Orleans. The repairs to the flooded portion of their home are almost complete and all their kids will be enrolled in New Orleans schools for the fall semester.
- Former Mayoral candidate Johnny Adriani is staying active on the local scene with a letter he recently sent to the editors of the Washington Post:
The Superpower we are (not?)
Dear Washington Post Editor:
As we approach the one year mark of the pummeling of the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, it would be wise for us, as Americans, to reflect upon the region as a whole and evaluate the progress made to this date.
My first trip to New Orleans came on the 19th of September. Since that time the family home has dried, we have removed all of the waterlogged furniture and busted down the plaster walls. If that is not considered progress, then the only other progress in the neighborhood has been made by the weeds which have engulfed the landscape.
My first trip to the Biloxi / Gulfport region came in December. The storm surge pretty much wiped any cleanup work out. Since that time, some new construction dots the coast, but about the only place you can eat is at the Edgewater Mall and US 90 still dead ends at Biloxi to the east and Bay St. Louis to the west.
The recovery effort being put forth by the United States of America is what one would have expected of Cold War era Russia. The action to assist hardworking taxpaying Americans is minimal at best. The entire region continues to await promised Federal funding and continues to be subjected to the ever changing whims of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Countless are the times we, as citizens, are reminded that the United States is the sole Superpower of the world. We must speculate the validity of that statement when it takes nearly a year to arrive at a conclusion that it will take another year to repair washed out bridges on US 90 in Mississippi. We must question the validity of that statement when New Orleanians are left to ponder whether their City will ever recover.
The Superpower United States of America can rush in to Iraq at a moment's notice. We can funnel billions to Lebanon and Israel in a matter of weeks. We can evacuate people from danger half way around the world in a matter of days. And we can scoop up people within minutes and detain them indefinitely when we believe they are a National Security risk.
Notwithstanding, however, the Superpower United States could not get to the Gulf Coast at a moment's notice. After eleven months we still cannot seem to get funding for the disaster area in place. We were not able to evacuate citizens trapped in flood waters for a week. And, somehow, we can allow drug dealers and thugs to terrorize New Orleans.
We, as Americans, should be demanding that our Government pay more attention to what goes on in our own backyard. If we do not, our response to the crisis on the Gulf Coast just may prove to be indicative of where this Superpower is heading.
Johnny reports that he is looking forward to moving back to New Orleans soon. He has been living in Baton Rouge since the decision was made to demolish the family home here in New Orleans.
- I had a call from Jesse this week (and finally learned his last name is Robinson!). He has moved back to Minnesota and doing great. He is looking forward to coming back to New Orleans for Mardi Gras 2007.
- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco this week that the federal government will help help expand shelters in Louisiana for evacuees who don't have any other place to go when a hurricane threatens coastal parishes. Federal and state planning efforts have pegged the need for 150,000 shelter beds in Louisiana to deal with a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, according to a three-page letter signed by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. With the state able to support 65,000 spaces, the federal government will help in getting personnel and supplies for the remainder, he wrote.
- A grand jury is launching a criminal investigation into the blockade of the Crescent City Connection after Hurricane Katrina, when hundreds of people trying to flee New Orleans on foot were turned back by West Bank law enforcement agencies. I am on the fence about this one. I appreciate the desire of those Westbank communities to keep out "undesireables" during a crisis like that – especially in light of all the looting that was going on — but why couldn't hey have just kept them from getting off the expressway instead? Allow them passage on one of the only non-flooded routes out of the city for cryin' out loud!
- No more free ride! Starting Monday at 5AM fares on the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority busses and streetcars goes back to their pre-Katrina amounts. Public transportation had been subsidized by FEMA. Federal aid was extended through November 30, 2006, but they need to start charging in order to build up some reserves for when the subsidy is discontinued. Ridership has grown steadily since the storm to about 674,000 this past June, but that is a far cry from the 3.4 million riders the service enjoyed per month pre-Katrina. The RTA is scaling down their operations to serve a smaller population and live within its means. There is also ongoping work on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line. That line was scheduled for an overhaul anyway – which was going to occur over several years without taking the line out of service. Since Katrina made the line unusable, that overhaul is happening now. It is expected to re-open in late 2007.
- This past week the US House of Representatives voted to honor bicyclists (except for Floyd Landis, apparently), a college fraternity, and a retired baseball pitcher, but failed to go on record noting the upcoming anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It is doubtful any such resolution would be enacted, as the House will soon recess for summer vacation. A spokesman for House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said "The language is still being worked on," Madden said. "We're looking for agreement on that. There are a lot of discussions still going on."
Huh?
This is a nonbinding resolution recounting the scope of the hurricane damage and lauding Congress and the American people for their generosity. Maybe its because embattled congressman (and alleged crook - note that I said "alleged" for the record, please) William Jefferson (D-New Orleans) is the author of the resolution. Apparently, legislators balked at the language, which said things like "reaffirms" the House's "commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast region and improving the quality of life for all of its residents. Jefferson's spokesperson, Melanie Roussell said ""It is our understanding that some Republicans objected to any vague reference to committing more work to the Gulf Coast."
Hmmm... don't you just love politics?
<satire>
Oh, don't worry about us folk in New Orleans. We'll just wait until the weather cools off and then hold out our tin cups when the tourists show up again. That is if the drug dealers don't gun them down first, and providing they don't spend everything on hurricanes, gumbo, and T-shirts with "FEMA is a four letter word" on them.
</satire>
You can read more about the resolution here.
Seriously, folks. About the only thing that can save New Orleans at this point is tourist dollars. And don't take that murder stuff as a reason not to come down. As I have said before, tourists are protected under the endangered species act here in New Orleans. But apparently it is open season on drug dealers and other assorted thugs. They are like bees - don't bother them and they won't bother you. As long as you stay in the Quarter or along St. Charles (more or less) you'll be fine - not much crime to speak of at all in those areas.
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