New Orleans’ French Quarter to reopen soon

[Lochloosa]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/

NEW ORLEANS - As floodwaters recede from the city’s hard-hit east side, a grim scene of destruction has been revealed: Block after block of once-flooded neighborhoods are covered in a slimy, putrid muck and dotted with ruined cars, snapped utility poles and collapsed houses.

Although the cleanup will likely take months, Mayor Ray C. Nagin said the tourist-friendly French Quarter and central business district may reopen as early as Monday after the Environmental Protection Agency said the foul-smelling air in the city was not overly polluted.

Nagin said he expects about 180,000 people to return to the city within a week or two, when power and sewer systems are restored. Some retailers should be operating by then, as well as two hospitals.

[Demeter]

1. To What Purpose?

Tourism? Don't make me laugh, I have bronchitis.

[Zynx]

2. Desperation. Same as the business downtown.

[KyndCulture]

3. Hope.

[bee]

6. agreed. Hope, determination, resilience...

they wont let their city get written off.
I say good for them. Its the spirit of nola.

And I bet they do get some tourists. People who love the city and want to see it firsthand... or to pay respects.

[geomon666]

9. Hope my left foot

They know they need those tourist dollars ASAP. The city is already bankrupt and they need all the help they can get.

[bee]

12. lol. ok... hope and money. n/t

[alarcojon]

11. I for one would go to pay respects and spend some money

I lived in NOLA one summer and part of one winter.

The only thing holding me back is that I doubt the air is clean.

[bee]

13. me too. & Ive never even been there.

We've been talking about going for more than a year now. And we've decided that we will still go... just as soon as theyre ready for us (clean air etc.) And now its not just about a cool place to vacation. Its about support a cherished city that needs the country's help...

[KamaAina]

16. I may have a shot next spring

long after Mardi Gras, but my agency is sponsoring Miss Deaf Hawai'i at the Nat'l Ass'n of the Deaf conference (yes, there's a pageant on the conference program). As of now the conference is still on for N'Awlins; their hotel (Marriott) had little or no damage.

[SmokingJacket]

4. It's many people's home.

*I'd* want to go home.

Don't know about that stinky air, though...

[CottonBear]

5. Nagin will reopen the city neighborhood by neighborhood

He plans to begin with the least damaged and flooded areas. He hopes to have 180,000 people moved back within the month. Many people live in the French Quarter. It's a REAL neighborhood. It is not a Disney-like tourist trap. It's the real thing that is widely copied (but never replicated) elsewhere.

[Bridget Burke]

So people can go & get a drink--maybe hear some music.

I can understand the need.

And this means work for people in the French Quarter--even if they're just serving locals--& some members of the Press.

[saigon68]

21. THEY CAN GO AND SMELL THE ROTTING CORPSES

sounds like fun to me </sarcasm>

[Bridget Burke]

14. So people can go & get a drink--maybe hear some music.

I can understand the need.

And this means work for people in the French Quarter--even if they're just serving locals--& some members of the Press.

[ridgerunner]

7. The EPA has never made blunders before

so people should trust them that the air is safe :sarcasm:

http://www.geocities.com/cureworks2/mothra.htm

[geomon666]

10. Oh don't worry

There's nothing wrong with the air in NYC. :sarcasm:

[hadrons]

8. gayest part of the Gulf is opened, but Hair-Helmet Lott's home smashed ...

and the fundies believe God's on their side???

[lse7581011]

15. With All The Bungling So Far

should I trust the government to tell me when the air/water is safe?

[KamaAina]

17. Throw me somethin', mister!

Oh yeah chere! Show your (bandwidth limit exceeded) !!

[brooklynite]

18. Parts of New Orleans to Open Next Week (Monday)

By BRETT MARTEL, Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin announced Thursday that large sections of the city will reopen next week, and the historic French Quarter the week after that. "The city of New Orleans ... will start to breathe again," he said.

The announcement came amid progress in restoring electricity and water service and the day after the release of government tests showing that the floodwaters contain dangerous bacteria and industrial chemicals but that the air is safe to breathe.

The first section to reopen to residents will be Algiers, across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter, on Monday, the mayor said. The city's Uptown area — which includes Tulane University and the Garden District, a leafy neighborhood of antebellum mansions — will be reopened in stages next Wednesday and Friday, he said.

The French Quarter — an exuberant and often bawdy neighborhood of Napoleonic-era buildings that serves as the capital of Mardi Gras and is the very heart and soul of the city's rollicking tourism industry — will follow on Sept. 26.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050915/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina

[BOSSHOG]

19. "Often" bawdy neighborhood??

The French Quarter does "bawdy" in a very classy way and it does it 24/7. The good times will soon roll again in the city that care forgot.

THE BIG EASY SHALL RETURN!

[anitar1]

20. In that toxic city? People are really stupid and greedy.

The government hasn't even reported on what the tests have revealed. But they want laborers to come in and clean up the dangerous muck for a lower wage then they deserve, as they are risking becoming ill from working there.They want to get their New Orleans Disneyland built. People with out a moral compass, IHO. The next thing I expect to hear is that they are bottling and selling water from NO.