My Rye

20 Months Later, Katrina Still Rules New Orleans Even at Jazz Fest

I'm waiting for a local band to start singing about Rye's Blind Brook and the 100 year storm on April 15th. Until then, you'll have to settle for Harry Connick, Jr. and the J. Monque'D Blues Band talking and singing about Hurricane Katrina at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. For a place where--20 months after Katrina--there is still no electricity or sewer available in half the City and where the post Katrina population stands at half of the 500,000 residents who lived there before the levees collapsed, they still know how to put on a Big Easy smile and entertain guests with great aplomb.

Just like we should be patronizing Rye merchants such as Parker's and Ruby's as they rebound from Rye's own disaster, think about booking your next vacation to the Crescent City.

(ABOVE) J. Monque 'D Blues Band Sings at New Orleans Jazz Fest on Hurricane Katrina: J. Monque 'D and his band from Baton Rouge sings about Hurricane Katrina at the Southern Comfort Blue Tent at lunchtime on Sunday, May 6, 2007. J. Monque 'D sings the "FEMA Blues": "I got a blue plastic tarp covering my house where my roof used to be..."

(ABOVE) Harry Connick, Jr. at New Orleans Jazz Fest on Hurricane Katrina: Harry Connick says a few words about Hurricane Katrina and his commitment to rebuild New Orleans before closing out New Orleans Jazz Festival on Sunday, May 6, 2007 @7pm at the Acura Stage, Fairgrounds in New Orleans, Louisiana. Harry Connick was raised in New Orleans and his father, Harry Connick, Sr. was a well know district attorney in the city.

Be sure and look at all our stories on New Orleans.

Happy Belated Mardi Gras to New Orleans

We did not want the week to pass without wishing New Orleans a happy belated Mardi Gras, its second post-Katrina celebration. Take a look at this year's pictures from NOLA.com and don't forget Jazz Fest is coming up in April and May.

With News 12, Ernesto Trumps Katrina

News 12 Westchester called MyRye.com in response to our story Katrina, One Year Later. A news producer was scheduled to interview Marian Berkett on Saturday until the Ernesto storm blew in, capitalizing the airtime and causing News 12 to cancel their story. They seemed to miss the irony of the bad weather causing the cancellation of a Katrina story...

Katrina, One Year Later

One year has passed since Katrina delivered its devastation on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. One thing that was never destroyed (and perhaps emboldened) was the spirit of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.

Nothing captures this spirit better than Marian Berkett. A practicing attorney at age 93 for the law firm of Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles who also happens to be my Great Aunt, Marian's house in Metairie, Louisiana was destroyed by Katrina.

Only four days after Katrina destroyed her home, displaced all her friends and caused her firm to set-up shop in Lafayette, Louisiana--something that would bring most to their knees--Marian had a letter published in The New York Times critiquing Bush and the failure of the levees.

One year later Marian is back--this time on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans proper and a hurricane season resident in our very own Westchester County.

The Krewe of Orpheus

I'm still not quite sure how it happened other than luck, alignment of the stars and thru my good friend Gerry, but on Lundi Gras (the Monday before Mardi Gras), we had the privilege of riding in the Krewe of Orpheus parade.

The Krewe of Orpheus, started by Harry Connick, Jr. in 1993, "derives its name from the myth of Orpheus, a mortal whose musical ability was so great he was able to charm the gods into letting him pass into the underworld to retrieve his wife but who ultimately fell tragically."

Preparation for the parade "roll" at 6pm was an all day event, beginning @ 11:30am or so with lunch and a briefing on parade traditions and rules. For instance: once the parade rolls, you may not remove your mask--by law, really, no joke. Your float will be pulled over and you and/or the float can be ejected from the parade.

Early afternoon we were bused out to the New Orleans convention center and walked in to see this:

Not sure if you can tell my this shot, but in this parade, there were at least 20 or so of the largest, most colorful parade floats you will ever see.

Then you move to the dressing area (I had to fax my measurements down three weeks prior) to pick up and change into our costumes.

Then you walk over to your float (ours was # 16 in the parade, and in the middle of all these floats they cram marching bands). Check this out:  

Our float was THREE stories high and held 30-40 people. It had three bathrooms.

Steven Seagal was the grand marshal of the Orpheus parade. Here is the press conference he had in the convention center. A source told us he requires thirty (that's 3-0, or "30") hotel rooms for him and his entourage (hey Steven, see if you can get a few FEMA trailers while you are at it...)

Now here are the photos everyone has been waiting for--yours truly in costume. Anyone who wants to see me where this again will have to come to Rye for Halloween or invite me back to parade in the Big Easy.

 

Gerry and me in full costume.

Me and Gerry before the "roll" at Tipitina's, one of the world's greatest places to hear R&B music. Note the sign on the door. When I was in college and met Eddie Clearwater, I asked him (over scrambled eggs at the local diner at 2am with him and his band) what the best place was in the country to hear R&B and he told me Tipitina's.

Another shot of yours truly.

A word about beads. After Mardi Gras, beads are, well, beads. Up to and including Mardi Gras day, beads are gold. And fancy beads, beads with the name of your Krewe, beads with King Cake babies, well...

Not sure if you can really tell with this photo, but I estimate there were somewhere between one and two TONS of beads on our one float. I am not joking. The three hours you spend rolling down the parade route you are opening bags of beads, stuffed animals and other throws and throwing these items to hundreds and thousands of parade-goers (men, women and children) who all have their hands up in the air and who are screaming their lungs out.

  Gerry practicing the toss.

One level of one section of our bead throwing machine.

Unless you are a rock star, this is the closest you will ever come to feeling like one. If you ever have the chance to ride down Napoleon, St. Charles and Canal in a Krewe, do it.

Sunday Night Parades

Sunday night we watched the Bacchus and Endymion (rescheduled from Saturday because of the rain) Parades. We had a great spot to watch on the balcony of the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street, thanks to a nice folks at the W Hotel on Poydras Street. We caught lots and lots of beads.

New Orleans and Defiance

The pride of New Orleans is alive and well. And FEMA, to put is politely, is not very popular. We met a woman at a Mardi Gras event at the Sheraton Hotel and we practically had to beat it out of her that she worked for FEMA. Katrina is omnipresent in New Orleans.

Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish

On Sunday (02-26-2006) we drove out thru the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish. Both these areas have been reported on extensively in the national news. After having been there myself, I can tell you the pictures just don't do it, you have to see it for yourself. Get on a plane. After six months, the place still looks like a war zone. Never in my life was I seen an area so utterly devastated.

Here are photos from the Lower 9th. We drove around randomly. There is nothing. Every 5-10 blocks you will see a family picking thru the remains of their home. Piles of garbage are still everywhere are destroyed cars and boats are all over the place. Everywhere you drive in New Orleans you are see the high water mark of Katrina--a grizzly reminder of the devastation.

Lower 9th

Everywhere is New Orleans you will see these markings on building. The date on top is when the federal, state or local agency first searched the house. Katrina hit on August 29th. This house was not searched until September 16th. The number on the bottom is how many people they found in the house--in this case zero. House markings also show when they found animals--dogs and cats. People were not allowed to take their pets when evacuating the city.

Lower 9th:

  Look at the high water mark in this house--easily six or seven feet and the house itself was up on blocks a foot or two above the street.

Lower 9th:

Here is one of the house markings showing they found a cat inside. Of the over 1,000 officially reported dead, many of these of people that stayed with their pets after they were told pets could not be evacuated. Thousands of other people are still "missing" -- either bodies waiting to be found in the rubble or unaccounted for in the greatest diaspora is US history.

St Bernard:

The white trailers you see are FEMA trailers. Residents can apply for FEMA trailers--they live in the trailers while repairing their homes. We saw no FEMA trailers in the Lower 9th Ward, but there were a good number in St. Bernard Parish.St. Bernard:

St. Bernard Parish

Six Months Later

In many ways, New Orleans is still suffering from the "FEMA Blues" - named after the blue tarps FEMA stapled to people's roofs after Katrina. Six months later, many neighborhoods are empty and many stores are closed.

Apparently it is much better than it was, but if you drive along any of the elevated roadways and look out over the city, you will see an array of blue tarps the roofs. And when you drive around, many supermarkets and other vital stores are still closed.

If are thinking about taking a trip to the Big Easy, the good news is the "Sliver by the River" - the French Quarter and its environs, is up, operating and ready to host you in its great style.

Cafe Du Monde, Pat O'Brien's (home of the Hurricane Cocktail) and Bourbon Street are ready to host you:

New Orleans Still Has a Sense of Humor

Good news--New Orleans still has a sense of humor after Katrina and Rita. Here are a couple of the 10 rules of Mardi Gras, posted in the baggage claim area at the airport.