Mid-City Neighborhood Organization

Saturday’s fundraiser at the Mid-City Community Garden was a big success! Thanks to everyone who stopped by.

For more information, visit midcitycommunitygarden.com.

Chow Down on Barbecue and Raise Money for Community Gardens!!!
Barbecue Rib Plate only $5.00!!!
Mid-City Community Garden Barbecue Fundraiser
Saturday, April 25th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
514 S. Salcedo Street, New Orleans, LA 70119
www.MidCityCommunityGarden.com

Stop by for a plate of yummy barbeque on your way to Jazz Fest or come out even if you are not going. This barbecue fundraiser will help pay for more soil and plants for the Mid City Community Garden. Please RSVP to info@midcitycommunitygarden.com

This morning, someone posted to the MCNO Yahoo! Group about a “shooting” in the 3500 block of Palmyra. From the comments, it appeared to be a question of something that sounded like shots being fired, not necessarily a shooting. This opened up a dialogue about the relative merits of continuing to live in the city. I welcome anyone else’s thoughts. Here are mine, and they come down firmly on the side of staying.

Living in New Orleans today comes down to an issue of risk tolerance. Those with little risk tolerance may have a hard time justifying their continued residence here. However, there has never been a better time in New Orleans’ history to exercise risk tolerance, because we are slowly, incrementally, but assuredly making strides in the way this city is run and the recovery managed.

I believe the next administration will only accelerate the progress, provided that we are very, very careful to support a citizen-friendly candidate who respects transparency and accountability and has zero tolerance for corruption and graft.

Someone may prefer Cedar Rapids to New Orleans. If that is the case, I would say that person’s risk aversion far surpasses their sense of joie de vivre. And that is their right and their decision.

With that in mind, we need every able-bodied person on board for this train ride, so if you can raise your risk tolerance a bit, I would hope you stay. Consider that Outdoor Magazine named New Orleans #3 in its list of best places to begin a rewarding new adventure (by moving here to live and help rebuild.)

New Orleans has long been a city of adventurers with high risk tolerance. In the mid 1800s, the city lost a third of its population on several occasions to yellow fever, something we no longer have to worry about. Yet, the city endured and thrived, because the people who lived here felt the rewards of staying outweighed the risk.

To me, that makes today’s risks seem negligible in comparison. As a local architect told me in an interview, “We will not go quietly into the night.” Neither will our city.

Kyle Franklin from the Zulu Social Aid Pleasure Club came to the MCNO meeting last night to advertise the 1st ever Zulu Anniversary 5K Run/Walk. It will be held on May 9th 6:00 PM. It will begin and end at the Zulu Headquarters. The run will be co-hosted by the New Orleans Track Club and it looks like proceeds will go to NORD. Every registrant will receive a t-shirt and there is also a poster for sale. You won’t get a 2nd chance to be part of HISTORY! So join Zulu for this fun day!

You can get the registration form online. (You must be logged in to the Mid-City Discussion Group on Yahoo.)

For Immediate Release: Dec. 30, 2009
Contact: Virginia Blanque (504) 416-1429

Who knew that the New Year’s Baby had elves? The Mid-City Bonfire was saved, a decades old tradition which city officials had threaten to quash this year, after a small band of Mid-Citizens dedicated themselves to finding a solution the city would approve.

The New Orleans Fire Department issued a flyer to the media and leafleted area homes for a meeting to discuss what it called “The Illegal Bonfire” at a local church on Monday, Dec. 22. Over 150 supporters of the Mid-City bonfire hooted down official’s suggestion that a safe fire was not possible and challenged the city to respect local city tradition. After Council member Shelly Midura promised a quick follow up meeting with city agencies, a small ad hoc committee of area residents met the following morning, with Council Vice President Arnie Fielkow in attendance, and produced a proposal for a revamped bonfire.

A small delegation was sent to City Hall, and won preliminary approval of city officials. The fire department imposed conditions that will change the bonfire from the event of recent years. A double row of barricades will be erected around the fire, and only the fire department will be allowed to add Christmas Trees to the fire. The ad hoc group of Mid-City residents had to produce a metal fire box and a 20×20 foot square of expensive welder’s cloth to protect the neutral ground.

The neighborhood responded by finding a donor of a firebox, the required fire-proof cloths, and organized bonfire marshals to help with the event as well as a clean-up crew of area volunteers to supplement the neighbors who have cleaned up after the event for years.

The citizens who worked frantically around the Christmas holiday to work out a compromise wish to thank the New Orleans Fire Department, the New Orleans Police Department and the Parks and Parkways Commission for their willingness to find a compromise. Also, thank you to New Orleans Roofing and Metal for volunteering to build a metal fire pit, John Cummings for your support in obtaining the necessary insurance and to the Friends of St. Patrick Park organization which agreed to request the necessary permits.

The Mid-City Bonfire Committee requests that visitors to the Bonfire observe the following:

The Mid-City Bonfire Committee Guidelines

• No Fireworks In or around bonfire
  City Ordinance No. 123-45.a
  The N.O.F.D. will extinguish the fire immediately if fireworks are tossed into the fire. If you want to see this tradition continued, no fireworks.
• Do Not Throw Items in Fire
  Only fire personnel only can place items in fire.
  If you bring a tree place it in the designated area.
• No Glass Containers
• Respect the barricades, volunteer marshals & the NOPD & NOFD
• Be Nice or Leave
  This is a family-friendly neighborhood event. Please behave accordingly.

MCNO has been informed that the City of New Orleans is taking steps to prevent the New Year’s Eve Bonfire (typically in the 4200 Block of Orleans Avenue), due to the risk to public safety and violation of a number of City codes. An informational session will be jointly hosted by NOPD, NOFD, and Parks & Parkways on Monday December 22, 2008 at 6:30pm, at Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal Street. The purpose of the session is to proactively inform residents and business owners about the City’s enforcement plans for the night of the event.

MCNO has questioned whether an engineered bonfire could receive a permit, and was told that City Code prevents any permit from being issued for an open burn on this neutral ground because of the proximity to homes. MCNO also questioned whether any permits for a block party, without a fire, might be issued. This is a possibility, should the organizers of the NYE event wish to pursue it through the normal permitting channels.

Attached is a flyer for the Informational Session. Please distribute this information to your Mid-City friends and neighbors. Also note that NOFD representatives will be distributing these flyers door-to-door for a 2-3 block radius around the event site starting tomorrow.

Every Thursday at the American Can Company [map] from 3-7 PM.

www.midcitygreenmarket.org

Many thanks to Lili LeGardeur, Angie Brennecke and Brenda Napolitano for compiling this index of daycare facilities in Mid-City.

Information was obtained between October 29-Nov. 2, 2007. We’ll try to update after the new year.

MCNO BBQ 070207

Originally uploaded by dougjoubert

Over 300 hamburgers and 100 hot dogs after things started, most neighbors who attended the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization BBQ on July 2 enjoyed a great evening of food, fun, and music.

The event, sponsored by MCNO, was free and open to Mid-City residents, attracting police and fireman, politicos, neighbors, and the occasional drop-in. A huge thanks go to those involved in the planning and coordination of the event, especially Dawn Loebig.

The BBQ took the place of the regular monthly meeting of MCNO. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 6 at Grace Episcopal Church.

You can now download the form for reporting suspected criminal activity for the 3rd District here:

http://mcno.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/3rd_district_hot_sheet.doc

Both the 1st District & 3rd District Hot Sheets are on their own page on this site. Go to the navigation bar on the right and find Police Hot Sheets. Click there and you’ll find these in Word format.

We’re having a big community BBQ and you’re invited!

July 2, 2007 at 6:30 PM
Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal Street

We’ve been having community meetings on the first Monday of each month for quite some time now. We thought it would be a nice change of pace to have a cookout this time and not talk about the big serious issues that usually occupy us these days. We hope this will also bring out some new folks.

If you are interested in helping to organize the event, please contact Dawn Loebig at 504-495-7904.

We will also be organizing a flyer campaign to help promote this event. Stay tuned.

Black and white kids playing together at the statue of Jose Marti on Jefferson Davis Parkway.