New Year, New Crazy
Thoughts on the New Orleans NYE terror attack, and why it was 100% preventable
Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like to fall apart.
I wasn’t back home in New Orleans for New Years, and being on a media and news diet, didn’t know what happened until a friend texted me. Then, I did what we all do now that crisis is a constant part of everyone’s life: check that the people we care about are still alive.
Fucking heartbreaking.
The absolute last thing the city needed. Not that there’s ever a good time for a terror attack, but more like salt in a putrid wound, because survival in New Orleans has been exceptionally challenging since the pandemic began. A lot of good people have left the city, and the state, for a variety of very legitimate reasons and struggles. Things have not been going well. Things have fallen apart, clearly.
Expect to hear more news about Mayor Cantrell in the coming months. She was already under federal investigation for corruption before the attack, and now City Hall is under a magnifying glass. What will the feds see with a closer look behind the scenes?
I know what the people see. We see lots of money flowing through the city, but money never seems to make it to city services, or streets—or more specifically, the barriers on Bourbon Street off Canal.
Oh, and by the way, it’s a notorious spot for gun violence and car accidents on the edge of the French Quarter. Trouble around that edge of the Quarters is an expectation for major events.
Everyone in the city knows, including police, City Hall, and the mayor’s administration. It isn’t a secret. The city has to give regular updates about deadly violence in that area. Hell, even the shady McDonald’s down the block eventually gave up on that part of Canal because problems have spun out of control for a long time.
When I worked in Mayor Cantrell’s office, all City Hall staff received morning crime updates from NOPD. The amount of violence that happens around Canal and Bourbon 24/7 is astounding, with only the most violent events making the news. To get an idea of the scope, search canal st shooting and you’ll see pages and pages of different violent and fatal headlines over the years.
Those 14 people didn’t have to die.
It’s disgusting that those lives ended violently because officials couldn’t be bothered to fix a known safety failure in a densely populated, high-risk area on a major holiday.
The owner of the security company that sold the city archer barriers (as backups) is in New Orleans right now to train police how to use a barrier purchased in 2017. He said the condition of those barriers looked “exceptionally poor” and, “It’s not something that I think the city would be proud of.”
Mayor Cantrell’s administration let that maniac drive down the drunkest street in the city where tourists are most vulnerable, most distracted by flashing lights and loud music, and drunken street antics for social media. It is the last place anyone would be prepared for a car on New Year’s Eve.
It wasn’t an accident that man made it three blocks in, ending worlds along the way. This terror attack was a direct result of negligence by the City of New Orleans and NOPD, and that rests with the mayor first and foremost.
And, hey, here comes the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras!
The evil little troll running Louisiana, Trump favorite, Governor Jeff Landry is currently greasing his palms. In response to the attack, he said, “Where there are defects in the system, we are going to be transparent, address them with the city, and make sure that we fill those gaps as best we can.”
What Landry means is that this attack gives him all the leverage he needs to squeeze more control over New Orleans, and he will have a Republican-controlled majority to support him; from the state legislature, all the way up to the rotted presidency.
Everyone in New Orleans is hurting. Please stop using the world resilient when discussing the people who give and give, and everybody gets a fat slice except the folks that actually make the magic happen. The strength of the city comes from the dedication of creative and beautiful people, who maintain the authentic joy so many want to consume, but not support.
What people love about New Orleans culture is community in action, like the folks planning a secondline for the Bourbon St. victims. That’s the way forward— people doing what they can, together. Because we sure as shit can’t count on any of these corrupt motherfuckers in charge to show an ounce of real humanity. Not in New Orleans, not in Los Angeles, not anywhere.
If we keep caring about each other and our communities, we’ll get through this crazy shit, and the crazier shit that lies ahead. Every time we exercise compassion, we shift the energy of the world ever so slightly, just enough to make a politician’s asshole itch.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
See, I have hope!
They really don’t like us caring about ourselves and each other. It’s why love is considered a revolutionary act during terrible times. Love is poison to fear, hate, and sociopaths.
Keep giving a fuck, which is a love language.
Little Richard to close. He originally recorded this song in New Orleans at the J&M studio. It’s a kitschy laundromat now.
