As a young lawyer living in New Orleans in the 1990s, Ed Newman frequented the jazz clubs that were starting to pop up along the newly trendy Frenchman Street in the Faubourg Marigny.
Old storefronts down the street were converted into music venues and restaurants, and jazz enthusiasts like Newman were drawn to the authentic, funky atmosphere.
“There was a special feeling,” said Newman, now a federal prosecutor in New York City. “This was a great place for music lovers and musicians to stop by the clubs and sample the best New Orleans has to offer.”
On a recent trip back to the city, Newman returned to his old home and was surprised to find that things had changed so much.
“It was dirty and run down, and there were crowds of people wandering around the streets like you would drink bourbon. They were there to get drunk,” Newman said.
In some ways, Frenchman Street is more popular than ever, with crowds flocking to the three-block area on weekend nights and less traffic. But the shaggy-chic streets once prized by visitors like Newman now resemble the rough-edged, neon-lit blocks of Bourbon Street, home to 20 musicians, merchants and clubs. This was revealed through interviews with owners and civic leaders.
Longtime regulars say tourists who wander into New Orleans from the French Quarter or are introduced to a French person by a hotel concierge find more of a street party scene than sampling local music. He seems to be interested in that. Some clubs feature cover bands instead of the original music that built the street’s reputation in the 1990s and 2000s. Unlicensed vendors crowd the sidewalks. At least one restaurant now has a frozen daquiri machine for grab-and-go cocktails mounted on its wall.
Musicians and artists who set up stalls at the nearby Frenchman Art Market say it has become harder to make money in recent years as more outdoor activities have taken place. But in addition to the broader shift to a street party atmosphere, many quality-of-life issues have emerged since the pandemic, according to business owners and some city leaders. Vandalism, signs of drug use in public places, an increase in people demanding money, etc. and a lack of enforcement of the city’s laws.
There is also a large, damaged building on the corner of Frenchmen and Decatur Streets. Members of its owners, the Motwani family, recently said they would abandon plans to turn it into a hotel and put it up for sale. It has been vacant for four years, attracting squatters and graffiti, which until recently covered many of the historic buildings, and the steel support beams that keep them from collapsing onto the road are still damaged.
“This is the entrance to Frenchman Street, the first place people see, and it’s appalling that the city is doing nothing about it,” said the longtime publisher of “Off Beat Magazine,” which focuses on Frenchmen. said Jean Ramsey, who kept the office. Late 1990s. “It’s unfortunate that the city doesn’t recognize that this is a special area and needs special consideration.”
“It took over the street.”
New Orleans city officials acknowledge that conditions have worsened in what has long been a prized spot in downtown New Orleans.
Michael Ince, the recently appointed interim director of the mayor’s office’s night-time economy division, known informally as the “Mayor of the Night,” has been accused of walking French at night without permission from disgruntled business owners. He said he heard concerns about crowds. Sales, enforcement, and other issues.
“I completely agree with everything they’re saying,” Ince said.
He is particularly outraged by the condition of buildings in Motwani, where the 190-year-old building has been left to rot and poses a safety risk to pedestrians forced onto the street due to its steel support beams and beams. He said he was concerned it could pose a danger. Construction fence blocking the sidewalk.
The Motwani family had plans to open a hotel with a rooftop penthouse and balcony. However, preservationists and community activists, highlighting the building’s historical significance, successfully opposed the plan.
“This is unreasonable, extremely disrespectful, and all responsibility lies with the property owner,” Ince said. “To the detriment of business owners and residents, they took over the roads to get their way.”
In response to Ince’s comments, the family’s attorney submitted a statement from the project engineer explaining that the steel support beams cannot be removed because they threaten the building’s structural integrity.
“However, Mr. Motwani has directed the contractor to immediately apply for a building permit to address certain aesthetic concerns on the site in order to address the concerns of the neighbors,” attorney Rob Mouton said. said.
growing pains
Long before the Motwani building became an issue, the French were concerned about its ever-changing nature. Although it’s lined with historic buildings dating back to the 1830s, it wasn’t a music or entertainment district until the 1980s.
Dream Palace (now Blue Nile) was the first club to open, followed by Café Brasil (now Favela Chic) and the venerable modern jazz club Snug Harbor.
By the late 1990s, French had become a mecca for musicians and music lovers, Ramsey said, with a “significant number” of venues located along the dense quarter-mile district as a hipper, more local alternative to Bourbon Street. It is said that there was.
But there were growing pains. In the 1990s and early 2000s, neighbors tried to limit the decibel level of music coming from clubs. Ten years ago, existing properties sought zoning regulations that would limit the number of nightclubs and restaurants.
In some ways, the French have become victims of their own success, said Richard Campanella, a Tulane University geographer who has written extensively about the city and its neighborhoods. Therefore, it is debatable how successful these efforts were.
As people new to the city discovered the area after Katrina, locals sought out cooler, more culturally authentic spots like St. Claude Avenue and the Bywater, Campanella said. This trend has continued for most of the past decade, with an increase in the number of bachelor and bachelorette parties and tourists who see the French as an alternative to Bourbon Street.
still bright spots
Drummer Gene Black, who has played on Frenchman Street for more than 20 years, said musicians can still make a good living on the street.
On weekend nights, tourists line up outside clubs like dba and Spotted Cat, waiting to hear bands like the Cottonmouth Kings, where Black regularly plays.
Tourists from all over the world flock to Snug Harbor to hear acts such as Jason Marsalis and Charmaine Neville.
Trumpeter Kermit Ruffins performs weekly at the Blue Nile, always drawing an audience and then visiting without hitting the streets. Also, popular bounce artist Big Freedia is working on plans to develop a boutique hotel with a restaurant and nightclub on the Strip.
But despite the crowds, some club owners say business remains under stress since the pandemic, when changes in the city have become more pronounced.
Snug Harbor owner Jason Patterson remembers 10 years ago when people would go to Frenchman Street to hear individual musicians and bands play. These days, tourists don’t spend as much money, and the streets are even noisier.
“You don’t want a street scene because it changes the whole dynamic,” Patterson says. “There are people who come to hang out on the street instead of going to clubs.”
“The situation was much better before the pandemic,” he added. “Food and beverage sales are strong, operating costs are lower overall, and street conditions are much better.”
Artist Joe Badon, who has been selling his surrealist comic works at the Frenchman Arts Market since 2016, said his sales have also declined, with people coming to view them but not buying them. Blame it on the young crowd.
rules not enforced
There is also a feeling that the rules are not being strictly enforced. On a recent Friday night, street vendors hawked cheap trinkets, battery-powered fans, hair clips and snack bags filled with potato chips. Cars drove down the street playing loud music, and street musicians were waiting with cover charges across the street from the club.
Stephen Jeffcoat says knife etchings stain the windows and picnic tables of his bar, The Rambler. This is a type of graffiti that is more difficult to remove than spray paint.
“People say, ‘That’s what you have to put up with in the Marigny or the French Quarter,'” Jeffcoat said. “You don’t have to put up with that.”
Haley Waldner, owner of Downtown Tattoo and Piercing, is similarly frustrated. She filed two complaints with the city’s 311 line on a recent morning after a stop sign on a busy corner was stolen.
No one replaced and she witnessed two accidents at the corner later that day.
take a step
Ince said incidents like this are unacceptable. He said he has started holding monthly management meetings in hopes of getting everyone on the same page to address common concerns.
He is also working with Michael Hecht, president and CEO of GNO Inc., who was appointed by Governor Jeff Landry to help prepare for Super Bowl LIV, on cleaning streets. . Starting in October, roads will be repaired and repaved on an expedited schedule.
The city is also rolling out a new pilot program that will send rideshare drivers to Elysian Fields Avenue to drop off passengers to ease traffic congestion and avoid the eyesore at Frenchman and Decatur.
Meanwhile, the NOLA Designed to spotlight local music culture, Sundays have a special focus on the French.
“Music venues are struggling, not just in France, but in the city as a whole,” said Sig Greenbaum, founder of NOLA X NOLA. “We are working to ensure that these venues, which are so valuable to our city, have the opportunity to host another date.”