HOW TO DESTROY A COMMUNITY - ALGIERS POINT

 

As you see on the map, Algiers Point is the pink area, a charming, historic community on the West Bank of the Mississippi River.  The Central Business District is labeled, but the French Quarter is not.  The small green square directly across from Algiers Point is Jackson Square, the heart of the Quarter.  You see how convenient the Canal Street ferry is for pedestrians who live or stay in Algiers Point to reach the Quarter and the CBD, where there are also a good many popular restaurants.  The famous St Charles streetcar, which transports riders to the Garden District or for a lovely ride on oak-lined St Charles Avenue is easily reached on foot from the ferry landing.

But no.  Plan a ferry schedule that stops running at 7:00 on weekdays and 8:15 on weekends, the very time when people are having dinner, followed by a drink or a visit to one of the many small clubs in or near the Quarter to listen to music.  If tourists don't follow weekends and want to enjoy themselves every day and evening, well just stay elsewhere.

This is New Orleans!  The reduced hours of ferry operation are idiotic to the point that I want to scream, cry, or bang my head, or all three.  What are you thinking, leaders and planners?  Are you thinking?  

Algiers Point business owners, dependent on visitors keen to get out of downtown New Orleans tourist spots and explore the unique neighborhood across the Mississippi River, say reduced Canal Street ferry hours are proving disastrous for their bottom lines.

“It’s been terrible for business,” said Linda Bullard, manager of the Dry Dock Café, a popular watering hole just steps from the ferry station.

Bullard said the bar-restaurant has seen a reduction in business of between 30 and 40 percent since the Louisiana Department of Transportation clipped the late-night schedule a month ago.
....

The Algiers Point ferry service, which used to run until midnight, now ends at 8:15 p.m. on the weekends and before 7 p.m. the rest of the week.
....

The small Algiers Point bed-and-breakfast industry also has taken a hit in the aftermath of the schedule slash.

“There’s been an absolute turndown in business,” said Kevin Herridge, owner of the House of the Rising Sun Bed and Breakfast on Pelican Avenue.
....

The ripple effect has extended to local artisans who rely on the Algiers Point bed-and-breakfast industry.

What have we here?  A good many businesses on Algiers point, small businesses, which all politicians tout as great job creators, will quite likely be destroyed.

Bars

Cafés

Bed and Breakfast establishments

Artisan shops

Moving picture theater

Landlords

Who cares, but the business owners and their patrons, who will now be former patrons?

A good many hospitality workers with jobs in the French Quarter or the Central Business District will likely have to move, because they will have difficulty getting home after work, thus renters will lose their tenants.

Algiers residents spoke Monday night about their frustrations with the Canal Street ferry’s reduced hours and concerns about what they described as the high cost of commuting across the river under a takeover plan proposed by the Regional Transit System.
....

Under RTA’s plan pedestrians who now ride the ferries for free would pay a base fare of $2 each way or $75 for a monthly pass. That’s a significant cost for many who use the boats daily, residents said.
....

Throughout the discussion, residents called for a cheaper option for those who regularly use the ferry, possibly funded by increasing the cost for tourists and other infrequent riders. A number of other suggestions, including selling advertising and naming rights on the boats, also cropped up during the discussion.

Even as prohibitive fares may be levied on pedestrians who use the ferry, gas-guzzling vehicles spewing carbon monoxide into our already polluted air will ride free of tolls over the Crescent City Connection bridges.  People who don't own cars and workers in the French Quarter and CBD, who may own cars, but who would have difficulty finding free parking places, will have to pay for parking or ride the bus.

“I find it more than a little ironic that those who can afford a car can now cross the river for free, but those who can’t are now going to pay $4 a day,” Michelle Moltz said.  

Indeed.

NOTE: Because of the curves in the Mississippi River, the West Bank is sometimes to the east and south of New Orleans, so it is then the West Bank in name only.

JESUS AND MO

 

From Jesus and Mo.

RICK PERRY IN NEW ORLEANS (LOUISIANA)

Rick Perry: “Now there are many other states that embrace those conservative values, the approach that we’ve taken over the years. I’m in one today – in Florida.  Look at South Carolina; you look at Florida.”

From the audience: “We’re in Louisiana!”

Rick Perry: "I know; I said that.  I'm in one of those states that reflect those today - in Louisiana.  Yes, I got that."

Run, Rick, run.  Oooh, I hope Perry runs. He will not be the candidate unless the death wish in the GOP is far stronger than even I can imagine, but it will be such fun if Perry runs. The video is priceless. Graceful recovery - NOT.

H/T to Daily Kos and a Facebook friend.

THANK YOU, FEEDLY

Feedly, my new reader, which replaces Google Reader, now lists the blogs I follow in alphabetical order, an arrangement I have wanted from the beginning. I didn't change any settings, but today I had my wish.  Previously, I couldn't figure out the rhyme or reason for the arrangement of the list, and I often had to search for a while to find a particular blog. Thank you, Feedly.

So far, I've adjusted well to the new reader.  Feedly pays close attention to feedback from users, and they are trying hard to provide a useful and satisfying service.

GAYS CONFESSING

 

Yes.

Read David's post at nakedpastor.

SLEEPLESS AND SUNRISE IN THIBODAUX

 

Wondering how today will go with no sleep last night. The picture shows a less than spectacular sunrise, a view I don't often see, for I'm not an early riser.  Since I wasn't sleeping, I got up from bed before sunrise and hoped for a beautiful sight.  Still, it's a good thing the sun rose, yes?

No major problems, just vague digestive distress, enough to keep me awake.  And, of course, when one tosses and turns, the mind tends to race, which is not conducive to sleep.  A vicious cycle.  I don't often have insomnia.  Sometimes I don't get enough hours of sleep, but hardly ever no sleep at all.  I should be counting my blessings, yes?

Y'all have a good day.

UPDATE: I slept well last night.

ELEPHANT REVIVAL - "ANCIENT SEA"

Listening to the music of Elephant Revival always makes me smile. All the musicians in the group are so very talented.

WATCHED "THE LIFE OF PI" - FINALLY

Last night, after first receiving a damaged DVD of "The Life of Pi" from Netflix which was unplayable and had to be sent back (frustrating, indeed!), I finally watched and thoroughly enjoyed the film on a replacement DVD.  I cancelled my membership to Netflix's mailing program because this is the second time I've received a damaged DVD. I joined the streaming program, and I'll watch movies online and see how that works.  I gather that Netflix would like to be rid of the mailing program, thus, I assume, the reason for the missing quality control.  

Though I prefer to watch movies on TV, and there is apparently a way to connect to a television set, both our TVs are old, and I doubt they are equipped to make the connection. The other night, I watched an episode of a TV series on my computer, and it was fine, as I have a sizable screen.  I could watch on my laptop in a more comfortable chair, but the sound system is poor. For the next viewing, I'll carry in a footstool from another room in the house, which will give me more comfort watching on my computer.

About the movie, "The Life of Pi" won four major Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Score, all well-deserved.  The story is enchanting, and the combination of visual beauty and splendid music made for wonderfully fulfilling sensuous experience.  I'm surprised none of the actors won the top award, for nearly all were excellent in their roles.  The performance of Tabu, in her role as Pi's mother, was especially beautiful.  The only actor who was not believable to me was Rafe Spall, who played the novelist, Yann Martel, to whom Pi tells his story. Of course, in a sense, the selection for Best Director Award acknowledges indirectly the excellence of the performances.  I award the movie five stars, my top score.

ROSARIES BLESSED BY THE POPE AND OTHER ODDS AND ENDS

Roman Catholic rosary

This morning Grandpère told me that he regretted he had not gone with me to Rome on one of my two visits to the city.  I'd love to have had him along, but he chose not to go.  What can I say?  Regrets, regrets - they will not get you there.

At the time of my second visit to Rome on a study tour, I was already in the Episcopal Church, but, as we were scheduled to attend a general audience with Pope John Paul II, several Roman Catholic friends asked me to have rosaries blessed by the pope.  I agreed, but when the time came for the audience, I realized that none of my friends had given me rosaries, and I would have to provide them.  Hmm...  Did my friends think the pope tossed them out like Mardi Gras beads?

The facade of Santa Brigida on Piazza Farnese.

During the visit, our group, which was engaged in a study of a particular aspect of the history of the Vatican which I've now forgotten, stayed at the Convent of St Bridgit of Sweden on the Piazza Farnese, a lovely place.  The single rooms were sparsely furnished with simple but lovely antique furniture - all that we needed, but no excess.

One of the conditions for staying at the convent was that we had to take breakfast and luncheon meals in the dining room, which was no great sacrifice as the food was very good.  For the evening meal, we were allowed out.  We had a key to the main door of the convent, but the key and the lock were old, and one evening we were quite late and could not get the key to work, so we had to ring the bell.  I'm certain the nun who came to let us in was awakened from her sleep, and we felt like wayward adolescents who'd stayed out past curfew.

None of the sisters spoke English, and only one spoke Italian, so communication was a challenge, but we managed with one of the leaders of the study group, who spoke fluent Italian, doing most of the talking.  I even managed with hand gestures and pointing as the day for the audience with the pope arrived, and I needed rosaries.  The sisters came to the rescue, for they made rosaries and sold them in their tiny shop for a very reasonable price, so I bought the five or six rosaries for my friends there and dutifully remained after the audience to have the rosaries blessed.

St Bridget - Salem church, Södermanland, Sweden

The study tour in Rome was one of high points of all my years of travel, obviously not so much for what I learned, but for the places we visited, which included an after-hours tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.  I had visited both places before, but, during the private visit, I saw the gorgeous mosaic tile floor in the chapel for the first time.  In the previous visit, the chapel was crowded with tourists packed in wall-to-wall, and I could see very little of the floor.

Well, as Woody Guthrie said, I roamed, and I rambled, and I followed my footsteps, but not to this land of yours and mine, but rather to Rome.  As you see, I did not  make a long story short.  I could go on, but, I won't.   

Images from Wikipedia here, here, and here.

ALAS...

To Kill a Mockingbird is a lovely book. I met Harper Lee, the author, when she gave a lecture at our library around the time the book was published.