|
Title:
|
Press Conference for the Lower 9th Ward
|
|
START DATE:
|
1/5/2006
|
|
START TIME:
|
9:30 PM
|
|
Duration:
|
1 Hours
|
|
Location:
|
City Hall Steps
|
|
Location Details:
|
Thursday, January 5, 9:30 AM
City Hall Steps
1300 Perdido St, New Orleans, LA
|
|
Event Topic:
|
|
|
Event Type:
|
Press Conference
|
|
Contact Name:
|
People's Hurricane Relief Fund
|
|
Contact Email:
|
|
|
Contact Phone:
|
1-888-310-PHRF(7473),
|
|
DESCRIPTION:
|
PRESS CONFERENCE
Thursday, January 5, 9:30 AM
City Hall Steps
1300 Perdido St, New Orleans, LA
Unlike other NOLA neighborhoods, 9th Ward Residents Lose Homes Without Notice
Class Action Fights City plans to bulldoze Lower Ninth Ward while owners are stranded
Residents from the Lower 9th Ward and their supporters will hold a press conference at New Orleans City Hall Thursday, January 5th, at 9:30am, opposing the City's plan to bulldoze homes. Homeowners of the historically Black, working-class Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood have not been notified or consulted about the plans for their neighborhood, and the city has indicated it has no intention of contacting owners before demolition. "No one is asking the residents anything about reconstruction. We're being thrown to the side," said Vera McFadden, a Lower Ninth Ward tenant.
The press conference will disclose critical information for reporters attending the hearing for Kirk v. City of New Orleans on January 6th. The suit seeks to hold city officials accountable to the Lower 9th Ward community on decisions about home demolition and reconstruction. Community members seek to halt the scheduled demolition of homes until they have had the opportunity to evaluate their properties and make decisions about how to proceed. Many owners remain stranded in other cities, largely because neither FEMA trailers nor insurance payments have been forthcoming. Further, residents believe the houses may contain bodies of loved ones, as well as personal documents and other possessions.
°Residents with flooded homes in St. Bernard are subject to a very different system, they actually have to request home demolition. In the 9th ward, however, the city is taking over, there is blatant disregard for the rights of residents" said Judith Browne, a lawyer with the Advancement Project.
Hurricane survivors have been gaining momentum and support for the protection of their rights since a Times Picayune article on Christmas Eve announced that the city would summarily demolish 5,500 "red-tagged" homes. Lower Ninth Ward community members won a temporary restraining order on December 28th. The City of New Orleans has now claimed alternately that a red tag is not a guarantee of demolition but means a structure has been judged unsafe, and that it is adequate notification if they choose demolition. Information on the city' web site contradicts statements by City attorneys.
New Orleans officials are now planning the immediate demolition of 117 homes and may demolish the rest as well, all without community input.
People's Hurricane Relief Fund
http://www.communitylaborunited.net
http://www.communitylaborunited.net
add your comments
|
|
|
