Bush administration OKs demolition of New Orleans public housing complexes
Despite the severe shortage of housing affordable to low-income residents of the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday approved a plan by the Housing Authority of New Orleans to raze four public housing complexes with a total of 4,500 units and redevelop them as mixed-income housing, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
The developments targeted for tear-downs are C.J. Peete, St. Bernard, B.W. Cooper and Lafitte. The demolition work is expected to begin in the next two or three months, according to the paper.
Among those raising concerns about the plan are U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), the sponsors of the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act (S. 1668), which guarantees that any demolished public housing in the hurricane-affected region is replaced. That bill is under consideration in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which Dodd chairs. Reports the Times-Picayune:
The tear-down plans resulted in a federal class-action lawsuit against HANO and HUD that accused the agencies of violating tenants' rights by refusing to restore the complexes to their pre-Katrina state. But in February, U.S. District Court Judge Ivan Lemelle ruled that HANO could move ahead with the demolition. And last week, Lemelle limited the case to those public-housing tenants who've been forced to pay utility bills since being displaced from their homes after Katrina, because public housing residents pay only rent. The plaintiffs' lead attorney, Bill Quigley of Loyola Law School, said appeals from both sides are likely, which will probably push a trial originally scheduled for November into next year, the Times-Picayune reports.
The developments targeted for tear-downs are C.J. Peete, St. Bernard, B.W. Cooper and Lafitte. The demolition work is expected to begin in the next two or three months, according to the paper.
Among those raising concerns about the plan are U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), the sponsors of the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act (S. 1668), which guarantees that any demolished public housing in the hurricane-affected region is replaced. That bill is under consideration in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which Dodd chairs. Reports the Times-Picayune:
"HUD is moving forward with the demolition of its public housing without adequate plans to ensure that replacement housing is developed in its place," Landrieu wrote in a letter dated Friday to HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "To do so in the midst of an affordable housing crisis in the area is shortsighted and undermines comprehensive congressional efforts to solve this issue."Landrieu is among those scheduled to testify tomorrow before that committee in a hearing titled "Two Years After the Storm: Housing Needs in the Gulf Coast." Also scheduled to testify are Orlando Cabrera, HUD's assistant secretary for public and Indian housing; James Perry of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center; and Emelda Paul, president of the Lafitte Resident Council.
The tear-down plans resulted in a federal class-action lawsuit against HANO and HUD that accused the agencies of violating tenants' rights by refusing to restore the complexes to their pre-Katrina state. But in February, U.S. District Court Judge Ivan Lemelle ruled that HANO could move ahead with the demolition. And last week, Lemelle limited the case to those public-housing tenants who've been forced to pay utility bills since being displaced from their homes after Katrina, because public housing residents pay only rent. The plaintiffs' lead attorney, Bill Quigley of Loyola Law School, said appeals from both sides are likely, which will probably push a trial originally scheduled for November into next year, the Times-Picayune reports.
Labels: Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch
1 Comments:
"Affordable Housing" Who're you all kidding here!? That's a well-used, well-worn euphemism for those who can afford luxury living.
The housing projects that are located on the MOST prime real estate are the Iberville, located right in the heart of the CBD, and the Lafitte, just 15 minutes from the CBD. I ought to know - I used to live in the latter back in the 60's.
Rich folks are getting tired of the burbs, drivng a little too longer (given the gas prices) and want the land these projects occupy; much as with Harlem, NYC, they are moving back into centrally located areas of the City where it's more convenient to their jobs and further inland - not so close to water.
They're taking back Harlem, The South Bronx in New York; Mid-City/ Tremé, and every place that will have been those housing projects in New Orleans.
"Affordable Housing"?? The rich can afford any and everything they want, and affordable housing will be what THEY can afford. The St. Bernard will become gold course for the affluent, the Lafitte, maybe a large movie studio, the Iberville, an extension of what The Krauss Dept., Store Condos. The other projects, well just anything to keep middle=class and poor people out of the loop.
If I sound like a pessimist, I submit I'm more realist thatn anything. It's begun unfolding already people.
RHD
Bronx, NY
Just think about it.
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