New Orleans residents bulldoze city workers

On Jan. 5, New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward residents and activists marched through the ruins of the neighborhood, demanding that a group of workers stop bulldozing without owner permission. With the press in tow, 9th Ward residents, along with the People's Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Commission (PHRF); a group of residents, lawyers and advocates of the Lower 9th and other victims of Hurricane Katrina, "sent a backhoe and its crew packing," said the local Times-Picayune newspaper. Lower 9th residents like Michael Allen, who was sent from the Superdome to Oklahoma with his brother, Bernard, has received "no word from officials" about the status of his family property. The two elderly men caught the Greyhound from their temporary home in Pensacola to wade through the debris of a home that has been in their family for 57 years. "Not a pot, not a pan… nothing," Allen told AGR while he and his brother headed back to the bus station. He feels the city has "pushed [the Lower 9] to the side," because the neighborhood is predominantly Black and low income. "If the people don't come back to reclaim the land," said Common Ground organizer, Suncere Ali Shakur, their property will become fair game for "corporate development." Common Ground is a group of volunteers who offer medical care, supplies and other support to Katrina victims throughout New Orleans. The city previously made an agreement to stop the demolition of homes but violated court orders by allowing the continuation of bulldozing in the Lower 9th area. With the help of the PHRF, on Jan. 6, Judge Jonathan Feldman granted the Lower 9th a temporary victory with a two-week extension, to be reviewed again on Jan. 19. Unlike the Allens, many 9th Ward residents have been unable to return to their homes in order to assess the damage and make informed decisions about their properties. Many feel they have been excluded from the decision-making process about the future of their neighborhood. More than two weeks ago, Greg Meffert, Chief Technology Officer of New Orleans told City Council that owners would be consulted before further destruction of their homes would ensue. Chief Deputy City Attorney Evelyn Pugh darkened the gray area, however, by pointing out the city's right to dismantle structures that are in "danger of collapse," the Times-Picayune reported. "There's a real difference in the treatment of Lower 9," with residents being "98 percent Black," and with the "highest percentage of black home ownership in the country," said Brice White, who works with PHRF. "The bulldozing has been going on for months," said White, a fact that makes it difficult to distinguish which homes have been demolished by Katrina and which homes by bulldozer. The "disparity" reveals the underlying "race, class and, to some extent, gender issues," said Shana Griffin of PHRF. "Whose property rights aren't respected? If you're poor, you're black, you're old… forget it." Some "63 percent of female-headed households live in poverty in the Lower 9th; above the city, state and national average." Griffin, who also works with Incite, a group dedicated to ending violence against women of color, pointed to the high number of single mothers and elderly women who make up the Lower 9th. Inspectors have tagged 5,534 homes throughout New Orleans to designate structures that have been deemed unsafe to enter. According to the Times-Picayune, the city listed 1,957 properties in danger of demolition; however, a spokesperson for Mayor Ray Nagin said the list must first be reviewed by Safety and Permits Director Mike Centineo. The demolition plan (which covers structures that are in the public's right of way, that are in danger of collapsing, or in a small number of cases, homes that may not be dangerous but the owner wants demolished) will then be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The city hopes for full reimbursement for the plan by FEMA; however, the agency will foot the bill in its entirety only through June 30, a fact that points to the city's fervent bulldozing without contacting homeowners. In October the Bring New Orleans Back Commission (BNOBC), founded by Mayor Ray Nagin, accepted a proposal by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to assist in the rebuilding of the city with special attention to areas of "market and economic development, land planning and urban design, institutional organization and implementation of the rebuilding plan," according to the ULI. Former Mayor of Pittsburgh Tom Murphy, who was once criticized for building new venues for sports teams at the expense of city neighborhoods, was appointed the new ULI consultant. With the new proposal, inhabitants of severely damaged neighborhoods, such as in the 9th Ward, may not return until June 2006. Neighborhoods that do not attract enough returning tenants will become projects of the city. In addition to combating the city for property rights, many residents have been abandoned by their insurance companies. "If you have flood insurance, the insurance company says you have wind insurance. If you have wind insurance, they say you only have flood insurance," said Shakur. One elderly resident said the insurance company denied her claim because her husband suffered from an arm injury and was unable to paint their home before Katrina. Still another woman found she had spent the last several decades paying for the wrong type of insurance. With a respirator dangling from his neck, Lower 9th resident Tyrone Dorsey spoke of a next door neighbor who did not evacuate and "perished" in his home during Katrina. Dorsey normally works two jobs to keep financially afloat, but since Katrina he has had to cut his hours in order to work on his elderly mother's home along with his sons. Most people in the area aren't "politicized," he said, and they are unaware of their rights. Bus tours of disaster The Gray Line tour bus, attracting tourists nationwide, now offers narrative tours through the 9th Ward, along with other neighborhoods devastated by Katrina for $39. "We're trying to make sure people understand the scope of this," Gray Line marketing director Julee Pearce, told the Times-Picayune. She wishes to hire back Gray Line's former 65 employees, which are now down to six. At the close of the tour, bus riders are asked to sign a petition to President Bush and to mail a form letter to congressional leaders about the urgency of rebuilding New Orleans. The company contributes three of the $39 from each ticket to city nonprofits. "I hate it," said Lower 9th resident Michael Allen. "This isn't for no amusement." Tyrone Dorsey, also of the Lower 9th, says he believes the tours will increase awareness of the neighborhood's continuous struggle but was unsure of where the money was going. Because rescue workers still search for victims' remains in the Lower 9th Ward, the Gray Line avoids the area, leading tourists through the Upper Ward instead. The Isabelle tour vans, however, offer close-up viewing of the Lower 9th for $49 with room for 12 per trip. First blueprint released The New York-Times reported on Jan. 11, that the BNOBC unveiled the first of its seven-part plan for future redevelopment of the city. The blueprints will be released over ten days and will play a key role in determining where redevelopment occurs and at what price. The plans could prove cost-prohibitive for low-income homeowners, such as in the 9th Ward, and will directly affect low-income residents and their ability to rebuild. The proposal, thus far, includes a new light-rail transportation system that would connect neighborhoods with each other along with commercial centers and the airport, the removal of a shipping channel, which may have contributed to the flooding, reorganization of the school system and the addition of a new jazz district. To find out how you can help, contact The People's Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition at www.communitylaborunited.net or Common Ground at www.commongroundrelief.org.