Author Archives: Jan V. Ramsey

May 16th 2012

No Taxes, No Tourists

There’s another political battle going on between French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny residents and the business community. There’s been a proposal for a new “hospitality district” that would include the French Quarter, Marigny Triangle (where Frenchmen Street is located), Tremé, the Warehouse District and the CBD. The new district would be affiliated with the state as a political agency that will have board members who represent all the neighborhoods included in the district.

In case you haven’t heard, next year’s Super Bowl will be held in New Orleans, and the Convention Center board voted to donate $30 million to help “improve the infrastructure” in these neighborhoods—which comprise most of the areas visitors will frequent during the Super Bowl.

Tell me we don't need infrastructure and more city service in the French Quarter...? Courtesy: nowpublic.com

But the proposed hospitality district would also be able to levy taxes within the district on hotel rooms (1.75%), restaurants and nightclub sales (.02495%) and parking (1% increase in hotel parking tax for overnight hotel guests). The proposed board could also direct additional tax revenues to additional infrastructure improvements, and to spend more money on attracting tourists to the city. At this writing, it’s proposed that about a third of revenues will go to a dedicated fund to enhance city services and to add to infrastructure improvements, and the other two-thirds to funding activities of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors’ Bureau and the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. It’s also interesting to note that the CVB intends to spend some of its marketing dollars pursuing international visitors. I’m surely hoping they do it smartly and they use music to market New Orleans as an international music mecca. But at least they are committed to attracting people from outside the US.

I think this is a good idea. I’ve supported additional marketing and promotions to attract international visitors for many years, and this could help to contribute to these efforts. However, I do believe that the revenues should be split down the middle: 50% for infrastructure improvements and 50% for tourism marketing. We need better sanitation, nice sidewalks and streets, and increased police presence in this city, especially on Frenchmen Street; it’s an important part of the infrastructure that makes visitors want to come to New Orleans and to return again.

It is important that every neighborhood involved in the district be given a voice on the new agency board. But I just don’t comprehend the protests from the residents in these districts to stop the legislation—primarily from the French Quarter and the Marigny residents. According to the Times-Picayune, in 2010, “French Quarter voters voted down a proposed security district that would have taken in about $1 million a year in property fees to spend on private security patrols in the roughly 100-block neighborhood. Although most of the money would have come from business owners, only residents registered to vote in the Quarter could cast ballots.”

This refers again to certain residents in the Quarter, most vocally represented by the Vieux Carre Property Owners & Residents Association, and French Quarter Citizens, not wanting more tourists in their neighborhoods. I find this attitude counterintuitive to the fact that these people chose to live in an urban tourist destination. The French Quarter is one of the most interesting tourist destinations in the world. We should we not want more business because a few people with a lot of political clout—who have the money and determination to oppose more visitors in the Quarter—don’t like the traffic, noise and inconvenience of tourists? Huh?

I understand not wanting your neighborhood to become a tourist destination, but the Quarter and Marigny already are places people go out of their way to visit, and they have been for many years. How many people who live in these two districts and who are the vocal members of the dissenting organizations actually work in the hospitality industry in the city? Will their incomes be affected if tourism drops? I can guarantee you that the businesses on Frenchmen Street and in the Quarter would curl up and die without the support of visitors. When the hospitality industry flourishes in the city, you can tell. The city buzzes with vitality. The hospitality industry is the backbone of the city’s economic health and its success is crucial.

Without a safe, secure, clean place for visitors to patronize, we are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Without reaching out to market to attract more visitors to New Orleans, the French Quarter and Marigny will die.

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May 9th 2012

Filthy Lucre

No denying it: the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell was an outstanding success. Great weather, good music, big-drawing performers, and huge crowds equals big dollars. This year’s fest was probably the biggest and best ever (at this writing attendance numbers haven’t been released, and one can only guess on the revenue they made as those figures are never made public). According to 2010 figures, the festival pulled in over $24 million. I’d speculate that that figure may have topped $30 million in 2012.

The problem is, I felt really shut out of enjoying Jazz Fest music this year at the bigger stages.

I don’t know what the latest demographics of the festival are (they’re never made known to anyone but sponsors), but based on observation, it seems to me that your 45 to 54 age group are probably the demo that the festival is going after, based on its booking policies (Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles) with the 55+ demo being almost as large. This latter group are the hard-core Jazz Festers who literally have made the event what it is today, in terms of growth, size and music orientation. It is the demo of the original producers, Quint Davis and his mentor, George Wein, after all.

It’s also significant to note that these two demographics, particularly the older one, are the people who have the money it takes to attend an event that has a $50 to $60 ticket, plus the disposable income to travel to New Orleans, stay in a hotel, buy the expensive food and artwork that the festival presents to the public, and blow some more dough eating in local restaurants and shopping in local retail stores.

Thus, the city has got to love the Jazz Fest market: they’re older, they don’t get drunk and stupid, and they appreciate the music and finer cultural aspects of the city. More importantly, they spend money here. A lot of money. Ask any restaurateur or retailer in the city who is a more lucrative crowd for the big events in the city—hint, it’s not Mardi Gras.

The producers have been able to devise all sorts of ways to capitalize on the Jazz Festers’ wealth and devotion to the event. In the past few years, they’ve also been able to come up with ways to cater to the wealthier demos by establishing “classes” of Jazz Fest ticketing to make attendees feel special and privileged (In my experience with the Jazz Fest over the years, the “I’m behind the police barricade and you’re not” mentality has always permeated the event, so in some ways there’s always been sort of an elitist mentality; who you know and all that crap). The revenue from the addition of the “Big Chief,” “Grand Marshal” and “Krewe of Jazz Fest” tickets now are slowly but surely creating a wider and wider class divide amongst attendees.

This year’s Jazz Fest must have really raked in the dollars; all these elite ticket categories were sold out weeks before the festival. Without including ticket fees, Big Chief tickets go for $2,050 for both weekends; Grand Marshal, $1,400; and Krewe of Jazz Fest, $1,000.

The hoi polloi behind the barricades that separate them from the corps d'elite at this year's Jazz Fest Acura Stage. Notice: no wheelchairs.

Big Chief ticketholders get to sit on shaded bleachers and enjoy a cleaner private porta-potty. Grand Marshal ticket holders get into the so-called “Golden Circle,” which means you get to stand right in front of the stage—but no seating. The Krewe only gets seating at the Acura Stage (probably for dilettantes who should be going to an arena show for the band and who really don’t care about the other music at the Fest).

This year, the Grand Marshal Golden Circle space effectively wiped out the entire handicapped seating area from both the Acura and Gentilly Stages. It also reduced the guest areas to a mere sliver of what they used to be. To accommodate handicapped people (in wheelchairs, on mobility scooters, crutches, blind, etc.), the festival moved the handicapped seating area to a small platform near the Big Chief seating, with access that wasn’t exactly easy.

I heard about this the first weekend from a woman on a mobility scooter who told me she had spent her ticket money to see Tom Petty, but she not only couldn’t get into the handicapped area that’s been there for years, but she couldn’t access the newly designated spot because of the massive crowds. So basically, she was totally out of luck. And boy, was she upset.

Most of our readers know that I was handicapped when I was in my late 20s due to a car accident; the older I’ve gotten, the worse the damage. So I was upset when I tried to get my mobility scooter into the Gentilly Stage handicapped area to catch some of Bonnie Raitt near the beginning of her set, and myself, a blind guy and a few other handicapped people were turned away because the area was full. The woman working the entrance politely apologized and told us to go out into the crowd and try to find a place (!). Listen, babe—when you’re on crutches, in a wheelchair or on a mobility scooter, or you’re blind, that ain’t happening. You’re just screwed. My old friend Bonnie wasn’t in the cards for me this year.

The Jazz Fest seemed to have made a lot of progress accommodating disabled individuals in past years, but this new policy was, in my opinion, really unfair to the handicapped. It certainly reduced the size of the area available for those who can’t physically muscle their way to the front of the stage to see an act they love. Remember, too, that most handicapped people can’t stand up; they are sitting and can’t see the stage from the crowd, so they need to be up front.

This new policy also absolutely favors the wealthy ticketholders who could afford to pay mega-bucks for the Golden Circle. In other words, the handicapped area was 86’ed by the elite ticketholders—remember, those tickets sold out weeks before the festival.

Shame on the Jazz Fest for doing this.

I have a suggestion: the only way we disabled will be able to enjoy the festival in the future may be to buy an expensive “Big Gimp” ticket, which if it’s anything like the Grand Marshal ticket, will set us back at least $1,400, with a premium, as the producers will have to figure out a way to get the disableds’ chairs and vehicles into the so-called Golden Circle. Certainly the organizers know that with the aging of baby boomers, there are bound to be a lot more of the hardcore festers who are going to need a little extra help getting around in the next five to 10 years. I just hope the disabled among us have the money to spend.

How ‘bout it, Jazz Fest? Can we buy an accessible Big Gimp ticket next year so we can enjoy the festival, same as our richer friends?

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May 2nd 2012

Say It Isn’t So

I still do read the newspaper (old school, more info) and I always read the Letters to the Editor. Most of the stuff the T-P publishes reflects the obsession with renaming the Hornets or gripes/kudos vis a vis the Saints (I’m so thrilled that the people in this city have nothing better to write letters to a newspaper about), but occasionally, something piques my interest.

A Jazz Fester (a local who hadn’t been to the festival in 12 years) took his family, including his 12-year-old son, to the Fair Grounds last weekend. He was “sickened” to see women flashing their boobs at Bruce Springsteen, and vows never to return to Jazz Fest.

I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later: the Bourbonization of Jazz Fest. Soon these people will be wearing Mardi Gras beads and flashing boobs on a regular basis.

While Jazz Fest is definitely a more adult-oriented entertainment, I must admit I’ve never seen flashers at the stages. Have seen plenty of scantily-clad exhibitionistic women (no men yet, except for Chubby Carrier’s dancing friend). Yeah, it was hot last weekend, and yeah, most of us baby-boomers who patronize the Festival try to wear as few clothes as our aging, saggy bodies will allow us to. But showing your tits to Bruce Springsteen at Jazz Fest? Puh-lease!

Most of us who are into the music have been known to show various levels of enthusiasm (screaming, dancing, jumping, boogieing, etc.), but exposing breasts as a means of showing approval for a great show is something kinda new to me, and really takes fandom to a new level.

I’ve nothing against showing enthusiasm, but this is taking it a little far. Don’t know if I would never go back because my 12-year-old kid happened to get a glance at some mammary glands, but still…

Ladies (if you want to call yourselves that), please. Do us all a favor and save your tits for Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras, if you must. And may Facebook be kind to you the next time you apply for a job.

 

Other Jazz Fest notes: ordinarily I’m an every-day Jazz Fest kinda girl. Once my poor husband can lug my mobility scooter out of our car and get me situated on the track, I’m free and floatin’ from stage to stage. (And no Virginia, it’s not that I’m just an old broad, it’s that I have a lot of injuries from a long-ago car accident, so shut up, kids). On Saturday, I had a helluva hard time getting through the crowd into the festival, as there were so many people who had already set up their blanket-and-chair “territories” that it was really hard to get through the crowd early in the day. When Joseph and I decided to leave close to the end of Tom Petty’s set, I had to leave on Gentilly, while he went to get the car. There were so many people camped out that Joseph said it was literally impossible not to step on someone’s territorial blanket. He said he made his way over roughly 40 or so “territories” and was literally assaulted by a woman who was mightily pissed off that he stepped on her blanket. What’s a guy to do who’s trying to leave?

After that, we decided that it was going to be a lot worse on Sunday with Springsteen, so we stayed home. When it gets out-of-control crowded, we just can’t do the Fest.

So it begs the question: how much larger does Jazz Fest needs to grow to move to another location? Interestingly, Chris Rose did an editorial on Fox 8 News a few nights ago that mirrored my thoughts.

I also found it amusing that the newscaster on the evening news post-Rose expressed shock at the idea that Jazz Fest would move to another location. Hmmm…does anyone remember Jazzland, which morphed into Six Flags? One of the developer’s original ideas was that the location serve as a possible new location for Jazz Fest. And I can remember several issues in OffBeat’s past that discussed the possibility of moving Jazz Fest to City Park. Obviously the location is a lot more pleasant at the park (Voodoo Fest is a testament to that), but what most people don’t think about is that there’s probably some very lucrative agreement between the Fair Grounds and the Jazz Fest producers that would be hard to eschew if they moved the Festival. So while it sounds like a great idea for fest-goers, it wouldn’t be so great for the dollars and cents of the Jazz Fest, which of course, is more important than the comfort of the people who pay $60 a day to attend. Just sayin’…

I invited visitors and subscribers to say hello if they saw me at the Fest, and many have. I’ve also seen a lot of subscribers who stop by the office throughout the year—and particularly at Jazz Fest—to say hello. That’s always a thrill for me, because despite our geographical differences, we all have our love of New Orleans music and culture in common. It’s a way of my learning about them and their country vicariously. So thanks to Marcus and his father-in-law from Queensland, Australia; Maria from Turin, Italy; and Kendra and her lovely partner from Barbados, along with all the other OffBeat readers who’ve stopped in to visit. We love you and thank you for supporting OffBeat and our music.

May you all have a great, sunny weekend at the Jazz Fest!

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April 25th 2012

That Time, Again

Oh my, it’s Jazz Fest time again. Our annual Jazz Fest Bible is now on the street; we hope you enjoy it, and will continue to support what we do by subscribing every month, checking out our website, and downloading our OffBeat app for iPhone and Android.

Jazz Fest itself is incredibly consuming, but there are so many other events happening during the two-week Jazz Fest period that it’s literally a music and culture lover’s embarrassment of riches. Clubs and venues around town offer just about any type of music or scene that you could possibly crave. And in between the two weekends, there are also musical events: WWOZ’s annual fundraiser, Piano Night at House of Blues on April 30, featuring Henry Butler, Carol Fran, John Gros, and many others; also on April 30 is Instruments a’ Comin’, the Tipitina’s Foundation’s annual fundraiser that provides instruments for young musicians in New Orleans and all over the world. This year’s event features a Battle of the Marching Bands down Napoleon Avenue, with the main event including performances by Trombone Shorty, Galactic, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Shamarr Allen, Anders Osborne and a lot more.

On May 1, the first-ever New Orleans Musicians For Obama event takes place at Generations Hall, with a line-up of over 100 musicians who have agreed to participate in raising money for the Obama campaign, including Dr. John, Troy Andrews, Marcia Ball, Maria Muldaur, Zigaboo Modeliste, the Royal Southern Brotherhood, Deacon John, John Mooney, Irvin Mayfield, Glen David Andrews, Kermit Ruffins, Leo Nocentelli and many, many more. I think it’s probably the largest concert of its type during Jazz Fest that I’ve ever seen. Tickets are on sale in advance or are available at the door.

The “Bible” has an interesting piece on Frenchmen Street in this month’s issue in which our writer Delaney Nolan looks into what could happen to the music on the street if prohibitive noise ordinances hold sway, or if zoning ordinances currently on the books are rigidly enforced. It’s a scary proposition, with no easy answer.

One of the biggest problems on the street, noise-wise, are the rotating brass bands that regularly play on the corner of Chartres and Frenchmen Street. Many of the club owners in the vicinity say that if the brass band could end its set earlier, before music in the clubs begins, it would be acceptable; the brass band is literally so loud at times that their music is louder than what’s being played in the clubs, with their doors shut. It’s also been a source of complaints from some of the residents in the area. But should brass bands be prohibited from playing on the streets of New Orleans? It’s a thorny question.

What should be done to encourage brass bands, and give them the opportunity to get exposure (and make money) on the city’s current “music street”? Should they be banned from playing after 10 p.m.?

What do you think? Love to hear your suggestions on how this can work for everyone.

In the meantime, the next two weeks will be spectacularly satisfying if you’re a music lover.

Wave your flag for me, eat a softshell crab po-boy, buy some unique local stuff, eat out, and go listen to as much live local music as you can.

I’ll be rolling around the Fairgrounds; stop and send me an “OK sign” like the “O” in OffBeat.  Happy Festin’!

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April 18th 2012

More Than Just Festivals and Sports

This afternoon I was lucky enough to be able to leave the office and trek out to the Fair Grounds to take care of a little business. Oh what a gorgeous day! No clouds, cool temps, no humidity, sunshine and a breeze. It’s these days in New Orleans that not only make you glad you live here—you’re glad just to be alive. Wish you were here!

Thanks to CandyChang.com for writing what I feel!

Jazz Fest anticipation is building to a fever pitch. Our regular visitors, Jazz Fest/New Orleans freaks Vlada (from Orange County) and her partner Steve (from Queens) arrive on Monday to begin their annual two-week stay with us. While they’re here, they gorge on everything New Orleans. First stop for Steve will be the Louisiana Music Factory, where he’ll be able to stock up on all the CDs he’s been reading about in the magazine and on OffBeat.com. Then he’ll hit the clubs every night for as late as he can stand it, until Jazz Fest starts. Then he has to make a choice on how late to stay out, so he can be sure to catch everyone he wants to see at the Fest. Vlada, on the other hand, is jonesing for crawfish. Just reading the word makes her salivate. And then there are the Drago’s char-grilled oysters, and Jacques-Imos, and Sabai, and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (congratulations to him for winning the Big Easy Lifetime Achievement Award), Tab Benoit and Irma Thomas.

Tonight we’re dining with another subscriber, John Jacobs and his wife at Ye Olde College Inn. They’ve never been to Rock ‘N’ Bowl or to the restaurant. Can’t wait to introduce them to the fried bread pudding there, and to Rock ‘N’ Bowl later. Trust me, even for someone like me who was raised on homemade bread pudding, that stuff is worth a visit.

Yesterday, two more subscribers from Calgary visited us while they were in town. They come in to New Orleans in non-festival season because they like New Orleans sans festivals, which is sort of par for the course for a lot of our readers. They love it any time, any season of year. As long as they get to listen to music!

If it were up to me, I’d have been promoting Louisiana with music for a long time (anyone who reads this blog knows that mantra—I’ve been saying this for a bazillion years). New Orleans is a lot more than Bourbon Street, something that unfortunately many people don’t know because they’ve come here to “play” and playing to them means getting wicked drunk and hitting Bourbon. It’s all well and good, but we need to draw attention to more than just that aspect of the city. We’re more than Mardi Gras, more than a Saints or a Hornets game, or a Final Four. We’ve got so much more here for people to get connected to. You can see a sports event in almost any other big city in the US. But you can’t experience New Orleans or Louisiana music and culture every day.

Music is a strong attractant.  The success of the Jazz Fest and the growth of the French Quarter Fest are prime evidence of that theory. I’d love to see an analysis on the percentage of visitors to the state and the city the show the changes in international visitation related to music. Do those stats exist?

Long ago, when I worked for a research firm in Miami that specialized in the tourism industry, one of the best tools we had were the statistics gathered by the state of Florida that provided demographic information on family travel, origin of traveler, airport traffic (inside the terminals), and a lot more. I have heard from many sources that the two main reasons why visitors come here is for the food and music. There’s a lot of focus on food. What are we doing to use music as a year-round means of attracting people to visit. We’re more than Bourbon Street, or an annual festival.

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April 11th 2012

French Quartering

Now a day earlier and two days longer than it used to be, the 29th-annual French Quarter Festival begins tomorrow, Thursday April 12.

If you’ve had a chance to peruse this month’s issue of OffBeat, you’ll notice that the entire schedule for the Festival is included in OffBeat, along with maps, special events, workshops and interviews, food vendors and a lot more. Even better, the entire schedule is now accessible at our newly re-launched smartphone app for both iPhone and Android.

We’ll have staff and volunteers handing out OffBeat on the Capital One Shuttle buses and at our booth at Washington Artillery Park (on Decatur, just across from Jackson Square).

Personally, I’m a paper person when it comes to looking at festival schedules, and so are quite a few of the over-40 crowd, which is why we included the paper version in the April issue. We’re also including a paper version of the stage schedule in our annual Jazz Fest Bible, which will be on the street on April 24.

French Quarter Fest crowds—growing exponentially.

French Quarter Festival has gotten huge, and definitely becoming the “people’s festival”  for New Orleans. Many of us are unable to finance four days’ worth of entertainment  at the Jazz Fest, thus allowing the free French Quarter Fest as an alternative.

They’re certainly different and both wonderful in their own way. I think French Quarter Fest is the mother of all neighborhood festivals because it features so many of the local music and musicians we are familiar with and that we love. The Festival also invites so many locals who tend to avoid the French Quarter normally (shame on them!) back to the heart of the city, the Vieux Carre. It would benefit everyone in the metro area (and in Louisiana, for that matter) to come back to the Quarter and play tourist in one of the world’s most interesting cities and neighborhoods, particularly during French Quarter Fest.

The Quarter personifies everything that’s unique about New Orleans: it’s historic, it’s avant garde, it’s loud, it’s quiet on the streets that surround the touristy areas. It’s a real neighborhood where people live and get to know each other and it’s the heart of New Orleans’ hospitality industry. It’s prissy, it’s boho. The food ranges from potato po-boys to haute cuisine. It has some of the most elegant and expensive homes in New Orleans. It’s also the hangout for a lot of transients who are just passing through. The music is local and original, or loud and geared towards tourists who don’t know any New Orleans songs but “When the Saints Go Marching In.” There are spur-of-the-moment street parades with participants in homemade costumes (or none at all), Easter parades with expensively-clad ladies in custom-made hats, and outrageously fun and fancy gay parades.

In short, the Quarter is a microcosm of the best of what it’s like to live in New Orleans, and the French Quarter Festival celebrates that.

My only complaint about the Fest is that it’s gotten so huge that it’s becoming more and more crowded and needs to venture outside the Quarter because the Fest is bursting at the seams. They’ve already added two extra days to the festivities, but it still may not be enough. It needs to expand into Armstrong Park (when, oh when will the park be put back into the city’s consciousness in a big way?). The recent Congo Square Festival was one of the best little festivals I’ve been to in a long time, and perhaps the French Quarter Fest should put a stage, food and craft booths there as well next year.

Then, of course, there’s the need to move the Festival down into the Marigny on Frenchmen Street, with a stage on Washington Square Park.

I have no doubt, that as the Festival continues to grow, that these two expansions will become a necessity. For someone who’s a proponent of paying musicians for the art that’s a big part of what the Festival is all about, I’m happy to let you know that for the first time this year that French Quarter Festival  developed a program to pay musicians who perform, rather than requiring bands to find their own sponsor. For the very first time, French Quarter Festival is acknowledging that it’s a true music festival, and it’s acting like one.

Long may it live and grow!

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April 4th 2012

Disneyfied—Not.

I’ve heard a lot about the “Disneyfication” of the French Quarter.

That term generally means, in a negative way, that a place is going to be stripped of its original character and homogenized and repackaged in a sanitized format.

If ya want it, ya got it. (Courtesy: American Dinosaur)

People who want a clean, orderly, quiet Quarter are often accused of trying to make the Quarter something else than what it’s been since before I was born. For the most part, the Quarter is still mostly residential, except for the streets that cater to the tourist trade: Bourbon, up to Orleans Avenue, and sections of Decatur, Chartres and Royal Streets. Other than Bourbon, most of the streets are relatively quiet. The Quarater has always had a large residential component, but the people who lived there weren’t moneyed, as they are now. They were immigrants and blue collar folk.

There was a time that Bourbon was a bit less raucous than it is now. Actually, it wasn’t less raucous, it was perhaps a bit quieter but certainly appealed to people who wanted to enjoy good music, good booze and food, and sometimes an evening of entertainment by beautiful ladies. Bourbon was certainly the home of myriad jazz and music clubs, and high-end burlesque clubs, but those days are gone. The merchants and bar owners on Bourbon have changed with the times. With the promotion of New Orleans as “the” party city to a mass audience, entertainment has devolved from high quality jazz that featured world-class musicians and classy practitioners of the art of burlesque to Big-Ass Beers. What’s happened is that Bourbon’s entertainment now revolves around drinking, and encourages drinking to excess. Let’s face it: the drunker you are, the less you care about “quality,” right?

The bar and club owners on Bourbon are simply practicing capitalism: they’re giving the people want they want,and they’re making a lot of money doing it. If tourists want loud cover bands blasting “Proud Mary,” then so be it. If tourists want a Hustler Club versus a Lilly Christine, then by god, they’re going to provide it. The market has been created, developed, and is certainly promoted to consistently.  So what else can you expect?

I’ve nothing against sports, but a lot of the visitors that are here for sports events could care less about experiencing the real culture of the city. It’s those Big-Ass Beers all the way. But if that’s what a visitor wants, then the intelligent businessperson is going to satisfy demand, right?

But Bourbon Street has always pretty crazy, and it’s been crawling with the hustlers, pimps, bartenders, musicians, strippers, and people who would pay them to experience a taste of New Orleans’ most famous street.

When I hear residents complaining about how nasty and loud the Quarter is, I have to wonder: why do they even live there? It’s a wild place to live; it’s a bohemian; it’s loud and musical; it’s tacky; and it’s also teeming with yahoos who want to experience the New Orleans that’s been promoted to them by tourism officials.

I suggest that if residents in the Quarter or in the Marigny (near Frenchmen) don’t care for the atmosphere and want to change it, make it clean, orderly and quiet, then they are indeed trying to “DIsneyfy” neighborhoods that have been loud and raucous for many years before they were even born. What gives them the right to impose their standard of what’s acceptable on a neighborhood that’s  always been that way?

Part of the charm of this city is the fact that the people who live here are loosey-goosey. They enjoy their liquor, they live to eat and to parade, they love to celebrate (anything!), and they’re accepting in a unique way, of, let us say, unusual and “eccentric” behavior. This is why we live here. If one lives in an such a neighborhood, one must be prepared to put up with the problems that living there entail, especially in unique places like the Quarter or Frenchmen Street, present.

Otherwise, I think that playing Disney with our neighborhood and the sometimes-raunchy stuff that’s part of it is just presumptuous, and indeed, they’re trying to make the city something that it’s not, and never has been. If they really want to effect a change, then why don’t they work to establish a market of people who want something other than Bourbon Street by persuading city officials to create event that draw people who want to experience the city as a cultural mecca, rather than a place to get wasted.

I’m not saying we can’t improve things. I’m only asserting that you have to be really careful what you choose to attempt to change, and in addition, you have to find a way to change the perception of the city. Frankly, I don’t know if that can be done, or if it even should be done. All I know is that I don’t want to live in Disneyworld.

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March 28th 2012

Loudspeaking

The rocky road to achieving fairness and accountability in managing sound in the city’s largest entertainment districts continues to plug along. Before I describe the latest developments, I want to assert that once the so-called noise ordinance is revised, introduced into city council, and approved, it will apply to everyone in the city: all businesses, events, clubs and bars. The first step towards revising the noise ordinance is the provision on loudspeaker placement in the French Quarter. This could potentially apply in the rest of the city as well.

So it behooves any business or interested citizen to attend a public forum that’s being presented by the French Quarter Management District on Thursday March 29 at 1:00 p.m. in the North Ballroom of the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street.

The French Quarter Management District is a state entity created by the Legislature as a means for the residential and business communities to work together to protect, preserve and maintain French Quarter as a safe, clean, vibrant and friendly neighborhood for residents, businesses and visitors.

In 2011, the Board of Commissioners of FQMD voted unanimously to approve the Bourbon Business Alliance’s (BBA) proposal to create a Loudspeaker Placement Ordinance. The purpose of the public meeting is to provide all interested persons an opportunity to comment on Loudspeaker Placement Ordinance, No. 28,967, and to reach a community consensus on the Ordinance and any amendment proposal(s).

It’s interesting to note that the BBA consists of a group of businesses in the six or so blocks of Bourbon Street that generate the most noise on the street. The noise issue has escalated to a level where it’s not only intrusive, but potentially dangerous to the employees on Bourbon, who endure loud sounds for hours on end. Because one dumb operator cranks up the music in his/her establishment, the noise on the street escalates into a noise war—to see which business can be louder than the other. Every clubowner I’ve ever spoken to asserts that you need to hear music before you’ll go into their club. So if your competitor across the street cranks it up,  you have to crank it louder. It escalates from there.

And then, of course, there are the residents who complain vociferously about the noise on Bourbon Street; and the group who complains about the music on Frenchmen Street. Personally, I feel that these people are not the ones who are most affected by loud noise. The employees and musicians are. Maybe they don’t have as big a loudspeaker as the residents, but isn’t it interesting that they’re not screaming about the noise?

If you have a bar or club that’s not in the Quarter or the Marigny, you might very well be affected by what goes down when the loudspeaker ordinance is approved. It could very well be applied citywide.

Actually, the best solution to preventing harmful levels of noise is to involve the city’s health department, who should be enabled and authorized to issue citations to offending businesses, and potentially shut down businesses that don’t comply. That’s an idea that’s come up again and again.

The sticking point is, of course, what is too loud? Acceptable decibel levels are the real issue in any changes to the overall noise ordinance. Decisions on that is what’s going to be really controversial.

I’d suggest you visit “Save Our Sounds,” a project of the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation. It includes some very interesting information on how sound can potentially damage hearing.

There’s going to have to be compromise on the part of the residents who complain about noise and the businesses that produce it, whether it’s speakers in a club, or bad zydeco being blasted into the street from a daiquiri shop. The residents who live in or near entertainment districts are going to be required to tolerate some loud music and noise, because they live where they do. Bourbon Street, Frenchmen Street and the other music-presenting venues in the city are arguably the most important part of any visitor experience. Their economic impact is going to have to be weighed against the complaints of a few residents who don’t like “loud.”

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March 23rd 2012

Bourbon Business Is Victim of Noise Issues

Bourbon Heat, the bar at 711 Bourbon Street, was recently fined $500 for being a “public nuisance” based on complaints from neighbors about the club. Strict sanctions were handed down requiring the venue to keep its doors closed, not use speakers in its courtyard, and prohibiting barkers in the street. Doors and windows are also required to be closed whenever the bar plays amplified music in its upstairs bar. All of these things are requirements that are not required of any other Bourbon Street venue.

In an email, the Vieux Carre Property Owners & Residents Association called the ruling by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABO) a  “major victory” in their efforts to stop noise in the Quarter and praised its members by saying that “It’s because of you that we can be the watchdog that follows an issue like this for years…and be vigilant about protecting and preserving the French Quarter as a neighborhood where businesses and residents can co-exist as they have for almost 300 years.”

“This is selective enforcement,” said Angelo Farrell, owner of Bourbon Heat. “I don’t even know if this ruling is constitutional. I think it’s totally wrong. From a businessman’s standpoint, for a ruling like that, it’s not a good representation of what New Orleans is all about. You can spend millions of dollars to renovate property, and make a business, and produce tens of thousands of dollars in sales taxes, create jobs, and then 20 or 30 people can sign a petition, and they can literally shut you down. God help Bourbon Street if the ruling sticks and they force me to do this; it will be a negative wave down Bourbon Street and it will have a major impact on the business on Bourbon.”

 

The French Quarter Management District will host a public forum on changes to the proposed noise ordinance that focuses on speaker placement issues next Thursday, March 29, at 1 p.m. at the North Ballroom, Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street. The resident civic groups and the business groups have been invited to attend. Councilman Gisleson Palmer will attend and will respond to questions. The forum is open to the public.

The ordinance as drafted applies only to Vieux Carre and CBD, but this is an opportunity for anyone with views on the ordinance to be heard. The text of the proposed changes to the ordinance are shown below:

 

AN ORDINANCE to amend and re-ordain Article IV, Sections 66-136 and to ordain 66-209 of Chapter 66 of the Code of the City of New Orleans in order to provide a definition for commercial enterprises with respect to noise-related ordinances and to establish placement of loudspeakers in commercial enterprises within the Vieux Carré Historic Districts and the Central Business Districts, and all subdivisions related thereto.

SECTION 1. THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS HEREBY ORDAINS, that Article IV, Section 66-136 of Chapter 66 of the Code of the City of New Orleans is hereby amended and reordained to read as follows:

“Sec. 66-136 – Definitions.  The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

* * *

Commercial enterprise means any enterprise that sells goods or provides services, including but not limited to, selling or providing novelties, t-shirts, food, or beverages.

* * *”


SECTION 2. THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS HEREBY ORDAINS, that Article IV, Section 66-209 of Chapter 66 of the Code of the City of New Orleans is hereby amended and ordained to read as follows:

“Sec. 66-209 – Placement of Loudspeakers.

These regulations govern the placement of loudspeakers by commercial enterprises      operated within the Vieux Carré Historic Districts and the Central Business Districts.

Each of the following is a “responsible party” for assuring compliance on the premises of a commercial enterprise governed by these regulations:

An owner of the premises;

A manager of the premises;

Any person controlling the volume of a sound amplification device on the premises, including but not limited to disc jockeys;

Any person named in the occupational license for the premises; or

The commercial enterprise.

 

A responsible party for any commercial enterprise governed by these regulations must assure compliance with the following requirements regarding placement of loudspeaker operated by the enterprise or any person described in Section 66-209(b):

In commercial enterprises, loudspeakers must be located not beyond the interior walls of the building and shall not be oriented in such a way that the face of the loudspeaker points in the direction of any door, window, or other opening.  Loudspeakers shall not have any openings on the back or side that project sound.

For commercial enterprises that hold a Class A alcoholic beverage permit so that they are lawfully permitted, whether a permanent or temporary permit, to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises:

Loudspeakers or any person playing a musical instrument must be located in the interior of the building and must be located at a distance greater or equal to ten (10) feet from any door, window, or other opening; or

If a loudspeaker or any person playing a musical instrument is located less than ten (10) feet from any window, door, or opening, then all windows, doors, or openings must remain closed during the hours of operation. In the event that a door subject to this section constitutes an emergency fire exit that is required to remain open during hours of operation then the Fire Marshal, pursuant to city and state law, may exempt such door from the operation of this section.  Written documentation issued by the Office of State Fire Marshal of such authorized exemption must be located at the commercial enterprise and must be available upon request.

For commercial enterprises that do not hold a Class A type alcoholic beverage permit so that they are not lawfully permitted to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises:

All loudspeakers must be located in the interior of the building at a distance greater or equal to twenty (20) feet from any window, door, or other opening.

Penalties.  A responsible party is subject to the following penalties upon a finding of a violation of these regulations at the commercial enterprise:

For a first violation, a fine of up to $250.

For a second violation within 12 months, a fine of up to $500.

For a third violation within 12 months, a fine of $500, a two-day closure of  the premises, or both.

For a fourth violation within 12 months, a fine of $500, and a two-day  closure of premises, one day of which shall be a Friday.

Severance.  If any subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this section is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, it shall in no way affect the validity of any remaining portions of this section.”

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March 21st 2012

Noise Ordinance Still Undecided–Neglecting the Birthplace of Jazz

Last week, I met with representatives of the VCPORA (Vieux Carre Property Owners and Residents Association). This is the group that’s been behind the very public, very loud (how ironic) protest against “noise” in the Quarter. Most of that noise is, of course, music. Somehow crowd noise, which on average is much louder than most music, never gets factored into their complaints.

But they and I agreed that the rhetoric surrounding the noise (music) issue is polarizing public opinion. We did reach a consensus that there’s a “loud” problem. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed, but a much broader representation of the city’s constituency needs to participate in the process to revise the ordinance. There may be many more people than the very vocal VCPORA that aren’t opposed to the noise in the Quarter. Who knows? How many people really complain?

The first portion of the revision was introduced last week by Councilwoman Gisleson-Palmer and it addressed speaker placement in the French Quarter and in the Downtown Development District (not on Frenchmen Street). Speakers must be placed no closer than 10 feet from the front door and they must face inward for businesses with a liquor license. Other retail establishments without a liquor license must position speakers 20 feet from the door, with sound facing inward.

However, this ordinance could potentially do away with live music at places like the Market Café and the Gazebo, near North Peters and St Philip.

Frenchmen Street lies within a special zoning “Cultural Overlay District” that has different requirements of businesses that operate there. For example, doors of clubs in the district are required to be closed. There can only be so many non-restaurant businesses with alcoholic beverage licenses who can offer live music. If your business is considered a restaurant (over 50 percent of revenues are derived from food sales), then you may offer only music that’s played by an acoustic group of no more than three people.

Clearly, Frenchmen Street music clubs may have issues, and the zoning in this area must be revised if the street is to continue to be known as a hotbed of local, authentic music. It’s too restrictive.

Even though the first attempt to revise the noise ordinance doesn’t apply to Frenchmen Street, it’s clear that the VCPORA group, French Quarter Citizens, hearnolamusic.org and their attorney, Stuart Smith, are taking a hard look not only at the French Quarter but at Frenchmen Street as well, as evidenced by the crackdown on Frenchmen Street a couple of weeks ago and a lawsuit filed against the Balcony Music Club. A new target—Frenchmen—has been identified, and it could be only a matter of time before music on Frenchmen is squelched.

Smith has lots of money to put behind politics he supports; when he wants something his way, he throws money at it. Coincidentally, the Market Café and the Gazebo are a half-block from his apartment on St. Philip Street, which he only occupies part time (he owns a plush apartment in Miami as well), and these venues were the first targets in his crusade against music some years ago. Smith manipulates public opinion and politics (his way) via cash, apparently. This is wrong. It’s not the way a democracy is supposed to work. Money shouldn’t be able to buy enough clout, public relations professionals and noise “experts” to influence public opinion without the general public’s option being heard. But in his case, it most certainly does (read previous blogs about Smith’s purchase of hearnolamusic.org).

Please read this revealing article on Smith’s political ties and how he uses his wealth to devise tactics to control public opinion and political outcomes.  A fairly recent list of Smith’s political contributions can be seen here.

The controversy between the anti-noise groups (which are obviously backed by Smith) versus the businesses and citizens who support music continues. Robert Watters, of the French Quarter Management District, and the current head of the Bourbon Street Business Alliance, seeks to give more citizens access to the ordinance revision process with a discussion forum that will be open to the public next week (date and place not announced as of this writing). At least this forum will allow interested parties to participate in the process democratically, since most of the constituency that will be affected by the ordinance—French Quarter and Frenchmen Street businesses and residents—have not really had a voice in the process thus far. Unfortunately, they don’t have a well-heeled angel like Mr. Smith to fund and to promote their interests with a major public relations push. Perhaps airing issues and problems publicly will help the two sides come to a consensus in a more democratic manner.

Last week, the Eagle Saloon—one of the city’s important remaining historical jazz properties—was defaced by graffiti.

One of our readers, Nita Hemeter, wrote in outrage:

Regarding the recent defacing of the historic jazz landmarks on South Rampart Street: this is another sad reminder of the decay these buildings have suffered through. This should be an impetus for the city, the state, historic preservation groups, the National Park Service, the various tourism promotion organizations, and all other concerned individuals who care about the history of New Orleans and its priceless jazz heritage to step in and save these buildings.

It is outrageous that these properties are in the hands of an individual and a group of non-New Orleans residents who are either incapable of restoring them or are unwilling to do so. Instead, they have allowed these structures to deteriorate. These three buildings are some of the most historically authentic in relation to the city’s rightful claim to being the Birthplace of Jazz.

Visitors come to New Orleans from all over the world to experience our food, our architecture and – especially – our music. These buildings, if restored and opened to the public, would be a
yet another priceless tourist attraction.

Among the amenities I am envisioning for one or more of these buildings are venues for the performance of New Orleans jazz, something that millions of people come to New Orleans to hear. This
could take some of the onus off of Bourbon Street where loud, blaring music often drowns out the non-amplified sounds of traditional jazz coming from the few French Quarter clubs where it is performed. The soon-to-be-completed streetcar line down Loyola Avenue could take people a block away from these buildings, thus avoiding the congestion of Bourbon and Frenchmen streets.

It saddens me every time I look at these buildings and think about Louis Armstrong and our musical fathers and mothers who must be weeping in heaven at their decrepit condition.  Don’t we owe
these giants of New Orleans music who contributed so much to our culture the decency of preserving their heritage? —Nita Hemeter, New Orleans

Nita, I could not agree with you more. I wonder why our city allows historic structures such as these to deteriorate. The many preservation groups complain in protest—as do we—but who has the “teeth” to compel negligent owners to restore these properties without masses of red tape? These are not just old buildings; they are a part of our legacy of our music and our city’s history. I’d challenge the City Council to find a way to make sure these historical properties are preserved and renovated—before they, and our musical legacy, crumble into dust once again.

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