[Dixielandjazz] N.O. Report

[rorel at aol.com]

    Ahh, American Journalism at its best. Concentrate on the sensational, the grisly, the negative instead of the positive things.
 
 I was on the last plane out of New Orleans the Saturday night before Katrina struck. I was back the following October. I go to Satchmo Fest and try to celebrate every Easter in St. Louis Cathedral. I can tell you that there is much good going on in the Crescent City. When I was there in October, 2006 the residents all predicted that there would be a spike in crime sometime soon. Any disaster brings out the best and the worst in a society. But anyone who looks at the situation knows this too shall pass.
 
 Yes, it is difficult to make a living there for there is no general population to patronize the everyday business man such as the hardware store, the drug store and the like. The tourist places are doing well, but you cannot base your economy on tourism alone.
 
 I am sad to say the article is right in reporting those restaurants have closed, but it fails to mention that more than 100 NEW restaurants have opened since the storm. The owner of Bella Luna closed because of insurance troubles, not because of crime or poor attendance. He is still there and still cooking as a guest chef -- I had a fabulous OctoberFest meal he prepared at the Crescent City Brewhouse -- and last I heard he is looking to open a new place. La Madelaine is a chain so it is not surprising that it jumped ship, being concerned more for the bottom line than in making a contribution to the city.
 
 All i can say is don't let this type of story scare you. New Orleans is alive and, while not as well as it could be, the denizens are cautiously optimistic. They weather this temporary storm and look forward to a 'kinder, gentler New Orleans'. When i mention I am visiting from New York they always stop me mid-sentance, extend their hand in friendship and say, 'Thank you...thank you for coming. Please tell people we are here and that we welcome them." And welcome you will be. I was greeted with teary eyes on my last visit. A clergyman offered my wife and I ride from City Park back to the Quarter and one local in Cafe Degas offered to drive us to Baton Rouge to visit that city. Complete strangers in a restaurant! We shared a bottle of wine and laughed and cried together.
 
 Amazing things are happening there. Don't let these type of news stories and the people that promulgate them scare you away from a visit. Go. Eat. Shop. Dance. Visit the zoo, the aquarium, the WWI Museum, the Museum of the Confederacy, NOMA, City Park. Talk to the locals and tell them you still care and have them in your thoughts. Yes, be careful too. Stay with the crowds and don't venture off down a dark street alone but I, for one, wouldn't do that in my own home town, much less a any city I was visiting. You'll enjoy yourself for sure and you'll even come back feeling good about yourself as a person - like you contributed, like you made a difference. Where else can you go where your mere presence will move a local to tears? What more can you ask of a city?
 
 Just my take.
 
 Respectfully submitted,
 
 Ray Osnato
 
 
  
 -----Original Message-----
 From: tcashwigg at aol.com
 To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
 Sent: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 2:22 AM
 Subject: [Dixielandjazz] N.O. Report
 
  


     This came up when I Googled "Dixieland"...

 "The French Quarter Is in a Funk
 Jan 17, 2:41 PM (ET)
 NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The hookers are back on Bourbon Street. So are the
 drug dealers, the strippers with names like Rose and Desire, the
 out-of-town businessmen, the college students getting blitzed on
 candy-colored cocktails and beer in plastic cups.
 But a closer look reveals things are not back to the way they were in
 the French Quarter. Sixteen months after Hurricane Katrina, New
 Orleans' liveliest, most exuberant neighborhood is in a funk.
  

SNIP 

   
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