R.I.P. Le Jardin?


A for sale sign appeared outside our community garden this week. As neighborhood assoc pres. I got many phone calls and emails about it. The way it works is, the garden is on private land and can stay there as long as the the owner allows; the gardeners maintain the land and pay the water bill. Unbeknownst to the gardeners and even Parkway Partners, the land had been adjudicated by the city and sold for $20k in November 2007. The currently asking price is $89K. If anyone pays that much for the property I'm sure they are not going to leave a community garden on it but rather build a house or apartments. Many people in the neighborhood love the garden. Non-gardeners come to enjoy the green and tranquility. I suggested a few options such as, create an LLC or some other legal intity and buy the land ourselves; convince someone to buy the land and let the garden remain (hello Brad Pitt?); start looking into some of the other empty lots in the neighborhood and see if we can move the garden. I remains to be seen how it plays out. But it will be a sad day when the garden is gone.

The NY Times has a column called "Happy Days"

About Happy Days

The severe economic downturn has forced many people to reassess their values and the ways they act on them in their daily lives. For some, the pursuit of happiness, sanity, or even survival, has been transformed.

Happy Days is a discussion about the search for contentment in its many forms — economic, emotional, physical, spiritual — and the stories of those striving to come to terms with the lives they lead.

What a refreshing perspective now days when it seems all the media focuses on if the negative. I don't understand why the local news has to cover stories about murders and and what not in towns on the other side of the country. Leave that to the national news.

Today's "Happy Days" is about New Orleans. link The author, Dan Baum, seems to have really picked up on what makes people here tick - "Their preference for having more time than money was at the heart of what made that city so much fun to visit and so hard to leave."

And his closing sentence: "New Orleans can teach us that the life we build with our neighbors deserves at least as much attention as our endless thrust towards newer and bigger."

So somebody is jerking the public around. Here’s a brief time line of events surrounding the Lyon’s Pool:
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April 21, 2009, Day 0
2 Suspects were arrested for theft of copper at Lyons Center

April 30, 2009 – Day 9
2nd District Email blast from Major Little about arrests sent to Public via Google Groups

May 11, 2009 – Day 20
Irish Channel N.A. hears rumors about extent of vandalism and the possibility that the pool will not open this summer.

May 12, 2009 – Day 21
1st Email Sent to Councilman Fielkow and Councilwoman Head asking them to inquire about Lyons pool. These inquiries are forwarded to NORD and others for follow up.

May 14, 2009 – Day 23
NORD Dep. Director makes presentation to ICNA regarding NORD programs. He makes a statement regarding the Lyons Center Pool. “Mr. Barabino asked that I give a status of the Lyons Center Pool.” He further states that the pool is expected to open by “June 1”

May 22, 2009 – Day 31
NORD Director and Capital Projects Administrator address status of Lyons Center pool at a City Council subcommittee meeting. They state that they expect the pool to open by 2nd week of June. NORD was awaiting Entergy to install a pole to provide power to the pool pumps, at which time they could test the pumps. It was also reported the center had been broken into earlier that week and one person arrested. At the same public meeting a petition was presented to NORD Director and Councilman Fielkow with 196 signatures from neighbors asking that Lyons Center be opened. All signatures collected in less than 2 weeks.

May 26, 2009 – Day 35
Press Release from NORD Director and Capital Projects Administrator state “targeted a late summer date to open Lyons Center pool”.
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We just want to know the real story. Several emails were sent in response to the May 26th press release asking why Friday the 22nd it was said the pool would be open in June, and now on the 26th it won’t be open until the end of summer. What good is opening the pool at the end of summer? And what transpired between Friday May 22 and Tuesday, May 26th? There was a Saturday, and Sunday and Memorial day in between these two days.
----------------------------------------------------

Part of the press release that addressed Lyon’s Pool:

Mayor's Press Office
City of New Orleans
1300 Perdido Street, Suite 2E04
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
Official Statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2009

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM NORD AND CAPITOL PROJECTS

Unfortunately last month, the Lyons Center was damaged as a result of copper theft. The facility has been secured and further security measures, are being evaluated at this time. Understandably, the theft and resulting damages, have delayed NORD's plans to reopen the Lyons pool in June, but, NORD and Capitol Projects will continue to move forward with repairs and have targeted a late summer date to open Lyons Center pool.

----- Original Message -----
From: Arnie Fielkow
To: William M. Chrisman; Larry Barabino, Jr.
Cc: Jackie B. Clarkson; Shelley S. Midura; Stacy Head; James Carter; Cynthia H. Morrell; Cynthia Williard-Lewis; Deborah J. Langhoff; Eric Granderson; Katherine R. Schneiderman
Sent: Tue May 26 17:48:53 2009
Subject: Fw: Official Statement NORD and Capitol Projects

The lyons opening is inconsistent with the public testimony bill provided friday to the youth and rec comm. At that hearing, it was represented lyons would be open in mid june. How could your position have changed in 4 days? This is a major setback for the community!

----- Original Message -----
From: Brenda G. Hatfield
To: Arnie Fielkow
Cc: Jackie B. Clarkson; Cynthia H. Morrell; Shelley S. Midura; Stacy Head; 'James.Ross@mayorofno.com' ; cwlewis@cityofno.com ; Ray Nagin; 'ceeon.quiett@mayorofno.com' ; Larry Barabino, Jr.; William M. Chrisman; Deborah J. Langhoff; Eric Granderson; Katherine R. Schneiderman; Pamela S. Smith
Sent: Tue May 26 19:36:22 2009
Subject: NORD press release

Councilmember Fielkow:
Regarding your reprimand to Larry Barabino and Bill Chrisman today, wouldn’t it seem rational for them to promise a more reasonable date of late summer to open Lyons’ pool after gathering more capital repair information -- so as not to disappoint the community while aiming for mid June? Even doing our best, it sometimes takes longer than anticipated.

Can you give some credit for nine pools being ready to open along with 84 parks and playgrounds for recreation, cultural and educational programs for our youth, seniors and families to enjoy this summer?



----- Original Message -----
From: Arnie Fielkow [mailto:AFielkow@cityofno.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 8:58 PM
To: Brenda G. Hatfield
Cc: Jackie B. Clarkson; Cynthia H. Morrell; Shelley S. Midura; Stacy Head; James.Ross@mayorofno.com; Cynthia Williard-Lewis; Ray Nagin; Ceeon.Quiett@mayorofno.com; Larry Barabino, Jr.; William M. Chrisman; Deborah J. Langhoff; Eric Granderson; Katherine R. Schneiderman; Pamela S. Smith;
Subject: Re: NORD press release

Brenda, I am truly sorry you see it that way. There was no reprimand but rather a statement that there is little credibility when a senior official (and I think bill does an excellent job!) makes a public committment and then 4 days later the administration says something very different. The neighborhood leaders who were present on friday are pretty frustrated with this situation given the importance of the lyons center and the fact that this matter could have been averted with appropriate security. Even this past friday, I had to call the nord director because a door to the center was wide open when I passed by.....many kudos and thanks were extended to bill and larry friday for improving the facility issues and working closely with fema to close the reimbursement disparity.....I believe the community deserved a straight answer on this one but they can weigh in directly with you.
--------------------------

At this time, we wait for any further clarification on the matter.

I love April in New Orleans. The weather, while very unpredictable, can be spectacular. Today, after several stormy days this week, is gorgeous. I remembered to put on sunscreen (unlike Mardi Gras) and put on a floppy hat. After voting and walking to Harry's Ace for a few things, we stopped by Cafe Atchafalaya for a crawfish boil. Lordy be, this was some of the best crawfish I've had in a while. Very flavorful, hot and spicy. They had a trio playing tunes while we stood outside, sucking heads, pinching tails, drinking beer and chatting with neighbors from the 'hood.

After our fill, we headed over to the Freret Street Festival. It's a shame I was so full of crawfish because there was some good smelling food there. It was very crowded. I was looking for a jewelry maker who is usually at the Freret Market. It took us our third time down the street for me to see her. I bought her shotgun house necklace. Love it!

(P.S. I can't remember if I said this before but a friend of ours bought Cafe Atchafalaya back in January and has changed up some things for the better. Open on Mondays. Check it out!)

Here's the other side of the renovated house on our street. There's a gate so this is close as I can get. There's another set of French doors you can't see. Such a cute side gallery!

Today has been one of those days when I really love my neighborhood. G and I walked over to the elementary school to cast our votes in today’s election (Congressional seat). We ran into some neighbors from around the corner we hadn’t seen in a while and caught up with them. We then walked up to Magazine Street. We were right by Katy Beh Contemporary Jewelry so we popped in to say hi to Katy. G needed to go to Harry’s Ace Hardware so we walked by there. I continued on because I needed to stop at Breaux Mart to buy some veggies for the soup I wanted to make. Along the way I stopped in Buffalo Exchange and bought a sweater. Walking back from the grocery, I stopped in a relatively new store “Francesca’s.” I’m pleased to report that it is not your typical overpriced ladies boutique that only carries size 0 and 2. The sales clerks were friendly and I got some really cute gifts for some people and a new top pour moi. Much like San Fran and NYC, two of my fav cities, you can actually walk to places you want to go. We also have a drug store, Martin Wine Cellar, some great restaurants, bars, coffee houses and a bunch of other shops. Only thing missing is a great bakery and cheese shop. Technically I could walk to St. James and La Boulangerie‎, but it’s a bit more of a hike. The new Border’s opened up and that’s close by too, but I think I’ll make the trip to Octavia Books instead. Remember: buy local for your holiday gift giving and every day!

Eyesore update

The POS house on our street has been renovated! And there was much rejoicing. I first commented about the house last December. I forget when it sold but I noted back in June that renovation work had been started, so they worked on it for 4-5 months.

Before

Before

After

I'm always amazed at what can be done to house that looks like it's about to fall over. The paint color are a little on the bright side, but they should weather nicely. They are cleaning up the job site today so maybe someone will move in soon.

FEMA is a four letter word

The Lyon's Center on the corner of Tchoup and Louisiana is in my neighborhood and since Katrina, people have been paying more attention to it. The latest saga of the park: FEMA, after being pressured by the City Council, laid new sod at the park after removing the FEMA trailers. The sod was looking good, kids were playing on the fields ect. Then one day it was locked. Here's what we found out (this put together from two emails).

I just got off of the phone with Keith J. Wright, deputy director of NORD. He returned my call asking about why the Lyons Center baseball field was locked. He explained that FEMA has not released the property back to the city. Apparently the locks on the gates are a measure taken either by FEMA directly or the contractor who is handling the refurbishment of the park to protect the sod and allow it to take hold on the field as well as to protect the park from vandalism. (There was an instance where some kids were in the park and a pipe was broken and had to be repaired.)

I asked Mr. Wright when we could expect to have our park back and he said that it was supposed to happen in October, but with the storms we have had that date has been extended. Mr. Wright could not give me a firm date, but expects us to be able to use the park again in the next few months.

. . .

I just spoke with Keith Wright at NORD (658-3000). In substance, I am told that I cannot write to this mysterious person at FEMA who is holding our neighborhood's field hostage. Mr. Wright assured me he would call and voice my concerns, but politely refused to tell me who at FEMA had the authority to go to the field, see that the sod has taken root and open our field back to the public.

Apparently, the "official" turnover date from FEMA to NORD has not occurred (and no one seems to know what this date is), and when the water main was vandalized, the contractor (who had left the field unlocked after laying the sod) was required by FEMA to repair the damages. So, the contractor understandably has locked the field pending FEMA's decision to turn it over to NORD.

I have a new nickname: “Hammer.” My book club group, “Babes, Books & Booze”, bestowed it on me last night. One of the babes had emailed everyone Sunday asking if we could move the meeting back a week because she hadn’t finished reading the books. We usually meet every 5-6 weeks, but because of JazzFest we had a 2 month gap and picked two books to read.* Two other people wrote that it was OK with them, but it wasn’t with me because I had read the books and will be out of town next week so I put that out there and waited for others to reply. I called the hostess and she was in agreement with me, and she also could not meet later this month. I sent out an email stating this and that we were going to meet on the date we originally picked. When we met, the other “babes” cheered me and said I had dropped the hammer, hence the nickname.

It seems to fit since now as president of my neighborhood association, I have to maintain control. We have our first meeting where I will preside early next month. They can get pretty heated when certain topics are discussed. Monday, I called a small meeting about a problem property in our neighborhood. It’s a dump, not section 8 and the neighbors have witnessed drug dealing and other criminal activity. It’s been a problem for years. We’ve started a new campaign with the owner, a retired lawyer in a well-known law firm. We wrote a letter with a list of complains and followed up with a phone call. He was cordial, which he hasn’t always been in the past, but didn’t make any promises other than ask the tenants to be “tidier” and if there confirmed criminal activity, to let him know and he would evict. I invited the Quality of Life officer from the Second District Police to our meeting. I thought he’d only be able to address the crime, but he said can also help us with the trash and other issues, and if the owner refuses to cooperate, can have the property placed on a list of problem properties. Stacey Head has tried dealing with the owner on our behalf but didn’t get far. We are hoping a phone call from the police will strike some fear into the owner.

Being “the hammer” isn’t really in my nature and there are many time I kick myself, wishing I had spoken up or been more assertive, especially so after Katrina. That whole affair really took the wind out of me. I find myself being more fearful than I used to. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. The federal flood, lack of response from the government, the harsh words from the media and pundits, stupid and corrupt city and state politicians, increasing crime and the sluggish recovery can mess with anyone’s head. I was talking to someone about this yesterday and they asked if I worried about the upcoming hurricane season. I thought about it and realized that no, I wasn’t. I know what to do, more so now than ever. It is the things I have no clue about – ie. The recovery, will the city come back, better than before? Will the out of control crime get worse? Better? Will I be a victim? How long will it take? – that stress me out.

I like “hammer.” I think I could get used to it and embrace the title. My shield. I am really looking forward to “checking out” for a week and a half when we go to Boston next week. A break from the humidity, rebuilding, work, life… Dr. A sent me a link to a great article in the Washington Post about things to do in Boston – thanks! link

*The books were “Wine & War” and “Suite Francais” both set in WWII France and both fantastic.

What have I done? I’ve been my neighborhood association’s secretary for about 3-4 years. Recently, our president has stepped down due to health issues. I was the only sucker to step up. Actually, one other person was interested but can’t do it right now due to other obligations. I told her she’s welcome to take over whenever she’s ready. She’s serving as VP and I found another sucker, er, person, to be secretary. Our usually quiet and safe neighborhood has seen an up tick of crime, drugs and shooting (what neighborhood hasn’t?) and people are on edge. One problem property produced a firestorm of emails from neighbors and it was decided to do something about it. So much for easing into this position. That wasn’t so bad, but a back-and-forth e-mail exchange broke out between two people that was unpleasant and unnecessary. This is the part of being president of an organization I dislike –dealing with people’s egos. I’ve served on board before, but not for something like a neighborhood group, with widely different personalities and an issue so passionate-your home. You’ll be seeing a lot more neighborhood-oriented stuff up here.

That up tick in crime? There was a gunfight between two cars the other night. Cursed Tea lives a few blocks away and describes it (link). We didn’t hear a thing. Another neighbor reported that the shooters rammed another neighbor’s truck, and:

A bullet had entered my house about 32" from the center of the front door and went into an antique secretary and lodged in the other side of it. I called the police and the crime lab came out. After walking around the perimeter we noticed another bullet hole in my wooden fence by the cast iron fence. The bullet that went through the fence was the same one that broke the window on Mike's house then went through the window in the back of his house.

The police state these cars could have met up anywhere but happened to be on our corner.

Yikes!

Once again, I go to my happy place “JazzFest, JazzFest.” Even with the rain we had a blast last Sunday. The first thing we did when we arrived was get cochon de lait po-boy. It was AMAZING. Later I got a Seafood Mirliton Casserole and a Fried Crab Cake w/ Smoked Tomato & Jalapeño Tartar; they were both OK. A couple celebrity sightings… We saw Jane Krajkowski from 30 Rock walking around. When we were leaving the fairgrounds, a black stretch limo pulled up. A window went down, Al Green stuck his head out and said, “How was my timing?” Everyone cheered. We are definitely going Sunday... maybe Friday but not sure yet.

It's not yet 5:00 so I should still be working. But my brain is fried having just written 3 proposals. Oy.

I Googled "Annunciation Street New Orleans" and low and behold I came across a vid clip of the Hot 8 on Annunciation Street 2005.



I can't tell what stretch of the street they are on, and I'm pretty sure this is Pre-K. But you can always tell Annunciation by the huge power poles. They are so big you don't really notice them after a while. Except when it's about the rain, they buzz like crazy.

In 1897 they must have renumbered the buildings on the street. link
There must have once been an Annunciation Street Car line. link

It's that time of the year when you never know how to dress. Will it be cold? Hot? Wet? All of the above in the same day? I'm a fair weather hikers/walker so when it gets nice I like to hit the streets. There is always something interesting to look at. All of these were taken during a 40 minute walk.

Check out His hands...

These people always have something interesting in their yard...
a ?bronze? seal and look waaaaay in the back by the edge of the fence.

I love the giant fry pan.

Awesome typography. I only just now noticed it says "1845-1907"

I'll have to go back and see what it's been the last 101 years.

And it can't be a NOLA blog with out one of these.

All of these were taken on or near this street... can you guess what it is?

I'm exhausted. From a long football season, from holidays... and it ain't stopping anytime soon. As one of my friends put it:

The holidays keep coming and I'm too stupid to stop!

I love it! I may put that on a t-shirt.

I know you are all just dying to hear about my hiking trip to Natchez. But that will just have to wait. If you read today's paper you know there was a letter from Hizzor C. Ray in the Metro section:

We selected 17 target areas throughout the city to begin our recovery implementation. Several high-profile projects are already under way, such as the opening of the Freret Market, planning for the future of Circle Foods, demolition of the former New Orleans East Plaza, redevelopment activities at I-10 and Carrollton Avenue, and several miles of street work completed to date, with many more miles planned for repair and improvement in 2008.

Now, I know the people who started and run the Freret Market; we help them with their marketing. That market exists not because of anything Nagin or Blakey did. They tagged their name to it, which probably help the market get some initial good press. But it was the group of citizens who wanted to help lift their neighborhood up and revitalize the Freret Street area who deserve all the credit. Gee, that sounds a lot like everything Post-K in New Orleans doesn't it? I know the Freret Market would have happened even if Freret wasn't one of the 17 target areas. It makes me wonder what else is the Office of Recovery Management is taking credit for.

All of a sudden, stuff is happening in our neighborhood. It started when we pulled up to our house upon return from our trip to FLA, and we saw a "for sale" sign on the eyesore on our street. It's a Christmas miracle. It's been empty for years and like many properties, the owner refuses to do anything, other than keep the weeds cut. With pressure from neighbors, the city got on his case and he started working (tearing parts down actually) on it just before Katrina hit. After that, he did nothing knowing the city was too disorganized and understaffed to enforce anything. He got reported to the Good Neighbor Program (it does work!) and a couple of months ago (slow, but it works) a bright orange noticed was posted on the house. I guess he got tired of dealing with it and put it in the market. In less than a week "sale pending" was added to the sign. A realtor friend said the asking price of $75K was a steal. It remains to be seen who buys it and what they do with it. Of course I'll keep you all posted.

le eyesore

If that wasn't enough, a neighbor just informed us the former apartment building next door that got sold, flipped and condo-ized, has filled; all the condos have been bought. The condo-izing process started before Katrina. Hopefully this won't lead to a parking war on our street. The house on the other side of us is still empty (has been for years) though today the owners were over there moving stuff out. And lastly, the FEMA trailer park in the city park behind us is slowly being taken out. I noted that the trailers were installed Dec 05 and sat empty until March 06. Some less compassionate people in the neighborhood were acting all NIMBY. I want to say, for the record, we had no problems what so ever the whole time - and the park backs up to us. It's always been quiet, you wouldn't even know people were living back there. All we heard was the occasional crunch of tires on gravel. I actually started to miss the sound of kids playing and finding the occasional ball in our back yard. One last odd development... a stop sign has appeared at the corner. It wasn't there when I left for work Friday morning but was when we left for dinner that evening. I don't think it was placed "officially" I think some one came across a stop sign and decided to put it there. I have mixed feelings; it is a bad corner - our street has the right of way, but you can't see around the house to your right. I always go through there very slowly since some people on the cross street seem to feel the stop sign doesn't apply to them. So while this may slow down those who go flying down our street at 80 mph, we'll have to listen to the earthshaking BOOMBOOMBOOM slightly longer. And one of these days I'll figure out how to thwart the guy with the super charged muffler who drives down our street every morning at 6am.

I'm sure I'm not the only one here suffering from post-election hangover. Before I was a homeowner, I paid very little attention to local politics. But since now I have put down roots, I feel it's important to educate myself on the candidates and the issues and cast an informed vote. It can be overwhelming, especially when you have 10+ candidate running for one seat in Louisiana's open primaries.

I just finished reading Clancey Dubos' article "It never ends" where he talks about how "there's never a recession in Louisiana politics" and all the upcoming special elections on top of regular elections. Pshew! It wore me out. Since I'm registered "Independent" I pay a only a slight margin of attention to the on-going presidential candidates. I vote in every presidential election, but I don't feel like my vote holds as much weight as in local elections.

Slowly the election signs on the neutral grounds are starting to dissappear. I actually saw someone from Cheryl Gray's camp (he was wearing a Cheryl Grey t-shirt) picking up her signs on Louisiana Ave at St. Charles. Jalila's signs seems to the be the one mostly left around. According to an article in the T-P it's not clear what the law is in regards to the signs. I had decided if the signs were still up yesterday after work, I'd take it upon myself to clean them up on LA Ave. I also wanted the metal stands the signs sit on for another project. Low and behold when I drove home down LA Ave. someone had taken the plastic (coroplast in the biz) signs and left the metal stands! In a matter of 15 minutes, covering 3 blocks I had 35 stands. They sell for $.75 each and works out to $26.25 before tax. Sweet!

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. And leave you with this gem; Nola.com has a "Turkey of the Year" where they encourage people to upload their candidate.

Cursedtea has some lovely photos of our mutual neighborhood up on her blog.

Some of you may have remembered the t-shirts I put up on Cafe Press after Katrina. I updated the design on "New Orleans c'est moi" because I thought the original one was boring. The super simple "NOLA" design had been very popular and the "Laissez les bon temps..." also continues to sell. So there's my plug.

"Remember: Rebuilding is a marathon, not a sprint."

I saw that on a law office sign on Carrollton Ave. while driving in Mid-City yesterday. A good reminder. We had a neighborhood association meeting Monday night and we have some very frustrated people in our neighborhood. We had 2 candidates come speak to us. Most people asked intelligent questions but there were a few that made you go "huh?" and feel sorry for the candidate. Maybe I shouldn't say "stupid" - isn't the saying "there are no dumb questions"- I should called them uninformed or just not thoroughly thought through. After the candidates left, it became more of a free-for-all, which is weird for our little laid back group. G was pretty good talking people down with facts and logic, though with a few it wouldn't sink in - that's what happens when you close you mind and refuse to consider a different perspective. Or maybe our group of neighbors have always been this way, now that I think about it; it was me and my patience (or lack of) that was different. When I got home from work that day, the front gate and the side gate to the back yard were both wide open. The side gate has a padlock. I called G to see if he was expecting anyone. No... and that's when I realized our copper downspouts had been stolen. I carefully looked around to make sure no one was still in our yard and if any windows looked broken. The coast looked clear. G came home and we checked everything else to see if anything was missing. Didn't look like it. I don't know if this is a problem in other parts of the country, but with the high cost of copper, people have been stealing stuff to sell at scrap yards.

So this is why my temper was short Monday night. I was pissed. And I have to say, our neighborhood was relatively unscathed by Katrina with no flooding, so I have little patience to listen to these people bitch and moan about the recovery and crime. And when our president asked if anyone wanted to head up a neighborhood crime watch, the room fell silent. Typical. Whine about stuff but don't step up the the plate. Yeah, I'm frustrated too people. Suck it up and if you can't, shut up, you're bringing me down. Argh...I'm getting myself all worked up all over again-can't be good for my blood pressure.

Whenever we travel, people asked "Why do you stay there? Why not move to another city?" All the cultural riches here and other good stuff aside, that would mean starting over somewhere else: new city, new friends, new jobs, plus, it's next to impossible to sell a house right now. So leaving, to us, is harder than staying. I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about leaving because I have. We've invested ourselves in this city and we've just got to hunker down and ride this out.

Hmmm... maybe I'll make a new t-shirt "Suck it up and if you can't, shut up, you're bringing me down." What do y'all think?