Early Saturday morning, Louis Matassa was standing, as usual, outside the French Quarter’s iconic grocery store, on the corner of Rue Dauphiné and Rue St. Philippe. The grocery store still bears the family’s name despite changing ownership.
Tourists strolled and residents walked their dogs on streets still damp from the lemony fresh cleaning agent patrolled by IV waste trucks. Matassa approached Terry Dufresne, who lives across the street, and greeted other friends and neighbors in New Orleans’ most famous residential neighborhood.
It was a weekend morning like any other. But just days after the Bourbon Street attack, a sense of normalcy was overshadowed by a deep undercurrent of sadness and anxiety.
“People are wondering how we’re going to secure this space,” Matassa said. “And I don’t know if I can actually secure it.”
Jess stands on a balcony in the French Quarter and watches as FBI agents investigate a possible IED as New Orleans police and federal agents investigate the Bourbon Street terrorist attack on Wednesday, January 1, 2025. – Nas and Blanca Young. (Photo by Chris Granger), Times-Picayune)
The attack on Bourbon Street is reigniting a debate New Orleans has had for decades. How can we keep people safe in the French Quarter, which attracts millions of tourists each year, supports the economy of southern Louisiana, and is still a residential area? , Without diluting it, why is it such a valuable place in the first place?
Wednesday’s attack by Shamsud Din Jabar killed 14 people and shifted the city’s focus from preparing for the Super Bowl and the upcoming Carnival season to securing the 300-year-old French Quarter for those events. . The 85-square-block area includes dozens of hotels and more than 100 restaurants. A cultural and economic powerhouse that generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the city, it is known worldwide for its historic buildings, Creole restaurants, Dixieland jazz, and Bourbon Street.
New Orleans flags fly at Exchange Place on January 2, 2025, as the French Quarter begins to fully reopen after the New Year’s Day attacks. (Staff photo: Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
It is also home to approximately 3,000 full-time residents and 350 small business owners.
“There will be a lot of discussion going forward about safety in the French Quarter,” said John Casbon, owner of First American Title Insurance Company and civic leader who founded the 30-year-old New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation. It will be done,” he said. . “This is our major asset and we need to make sure everyone feels safe coming here.”
Civic leaders held press conferences in the days after the tragedy to praise first responders, mourn the dead and provide updates on what happened. They also addressed how New Orleans and its tourism economy will recover.
For Dufresne, who said she still grieves for the families of those injured and killed in the attack, it’s difficult to think about moving on. But he recognizes how important a safe and prosperous French Quarter is to New Orleans’ survival.
“So many people depend on it,” Dufresne said. “We want people to respectfully remember what happened here. We also know that for our city we have to get back on track.” Masu.”
Familiar conversations in the French Quarter
The comment was a sign of how serious the area and all the violence there is to elected leaders in New Orleans and Louisiana.
Over the past century, these leaders have sought to balance the demands of the French Quarter’s cultural and tourism-based economy with the preservation of the area’s historic and residential character and its safety. I did. Bourbon Street was a mostly working-class neighborhood in the early 20th century, but by the early 1940s it had developed into a famous nightlife spot. Attempts to crack down on “vice” were often political tools for ambitious politicians, such as District Attorney Jim Garrison, who campaigned for attacks on French Quarter clubs in the 1960s. Dating back to the 1970s, when Bourbon Street was transformed into a pedestrian mall at night, there was debate about how to limit traffic while keeping the neighborhood functional for residents and businesses.
Former New Orleans Police Chief Ronal Serpas began his rookie stint as a beat cop on Bourbon Street in 1980. His job was to prepare the street for its transformation into an evening party venue.
“Back then we had yellow metal bollards that we manually placed in the potholes at each intersection every night,” Serpas said. “Then we unlocked them first thing in the morning, took them and threw them in the back of the van.”
In recent decades, that focus has expanded from protecting drunk pedestrians and responding to noise and other complaints to guarding against gun violence and terrorist attacks. In the wake of the Canal Street shooting after the 2016 Bayou Classic and terrorist incidents overseas, including the use of a vehicle as a weapon, then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu introduced extensive French Quarter security measures. As part of this, we promoted vehicle traffic restrictions. There was opposition from business owners and residents to the “pedestrianization”. Ultimately, a $40 million security plan in 2017 added numerous new security cameras, police and safety bollards along Bourbon Street to deter vehicular terrorism.
During the pandemic, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration proposed a French Quarter Pedestrianization Plan that calls for expanding pedestrian malls, restricting vehicle traffic, lowering speed limits and reconsidering the area around French Market. Plans fell by the wayside after pandemic-era restrictions ended.
Sacrificed for the safety of Bourbon Street?
In the wake of last week’s attacks, some civic leaders said it was time to reconsider the conversations we’ve had and look at what more needs to be done now.
“We need to discuss and consider all options to make sure we feel as safe as possible,” New Orleans President Walt Leisure III said.
On Friday, City Council members JP Morell and Helena Moreno inspected the city’s system of safety bollards on Bourbon Street to protect revelers on streets that are supposed to be off-limits to vehicles. asked for an investigation into what could have been done. Morrell said it was clear there were “serious flaws” in the city’s preparations for the deadly attack.
Cantrell’s office did not respond to a request for comment last week.
However, it is difficult to determine how much protection is sufficient. Cedric Richmond, a former congressman and White House adviser who recently purchased several buildings and restaurants in the French Quarter, said it’s important to “think outside the box,” especially when it comes to this year’s Carnival.
“We have to remind people that we will do everything in our power to keep them safe, but when you’re dealing with terrorists who just want to cause carnage and terror, there’s no 100% guarantee,” Richmond said. he said.
Richmond said the terror of the mass sniper who killed more than 60 people at an outdoor concert from a Las Vegas hotel room a few years ago is as worrying as the man driving a truck into the crowd.
“Unfortunately, you can’t stop everything in the world because that’s not possible in today’s world,” he said.
New Orleans isn’t alone in having these conversations. Cities around the world need to reevaluate how they keep people and visitors safe.
Memphis’ Beale Street, a popular strip of bars and music clubs, has taken a number of safety measures in recent years, including bollards, metal detectors in some clubs and searches for weapons. After the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, the city added new security cameras and police began checking backpacks.
In response to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, some hotels have instituted new policies such as installing metal detectors and conducting unannounced checks on some rooms, the Orange County, California-based company said. , said Adam Colan, a security consultant who advises cities on public safety.
“Security always involves a balance of convenience,” Koran said. “How much are you willing to sacrifice in the name of safety? That’s the conversation the community needs to have.”
what’s next
Mika Lowenthal, a French Quarter real estate broker, has lived in the neighborhood for more than 10 years. He goes to Galatoire’s house for lunch, spends happy hours in the courtyard with his neighbors, and feels generally safe where he lives, even after dark. He said there are countless small ways to make the French Quarter safer without requiring major changes to the neighborhood.
“Signs are down, we have broken sidewalks that are not ADA compliant, and the lights are out,” Lowenthal said. “I testified before the city council about this and was ignored.”
While Wednesday’s attack is still fresh in everyone’s memory, Michael Wilkinson, a longtime French Quarter resident and owner of FQ Realty, said he and some other residents had a big weekend. Talk about sporadic, seemingly random gun violence that can occur at large gatherings or late at night. I’m most worried at night.
Michael Valentino, a hotelier who owns six hotels, including four in the heart of the French Quarter, said City Hall is communicating with other stakeholders in the French Quarter, including businesses, residents and law enforcement, about public safety. We hope to have a comprehensive dialogue.
“This needs to be addressed as part of a comprehensive discussion,” he said. “Whatever they come up with, access restrictions, parking restrictions, specific hours for delivery vehicles, it has to be managed and enforced on a disciplined timeline.”
Heather Hurley, 57, has had an apartment in the French Quarter on lower Bourbon Street for more than a decade, and has lived in the neighborhood full-time since 2021. She welcomes more police presence and surveillance cameras in neighborhoods, but says she’s fine with cordoning off the streets. The increase in roads and pedestrian malls may compromise her quality of life.
“We have a great life here because we have a traditional sense of community,” Hurley says. Hurley enjoys visiting with neighbors and walking to nearby restaurants with friends. “There are remnants of the old neighborhood that we desperately want to hang on to.”
