Protests heat up as NOLA housing teardowns begin

As demolition crews dispatched by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began tearing down the 14 brick buildings that make up the B.W. Cooper public housing complex in New Orleans yesterday, about 500 protesters tried to block a crane while chanting, "Housing is a human right."

This morning protesters planned to rally at New Orleans City Hall and from there march to HUD's offices to voice opposition to the demolitions, which are scheduled to continue Saturday at three other public housing complexes across the city.

There is also a protest over the demolitions planned for this afternoon at HUD's offices in Washington, D.C. Among those involved in that action are the Advancement Project, Hip-Hop Caucus, Code Pink and New Orleans public housing residents.

New Orleans has been experiencing a serious shortage of affordable housing since Hurricane Katrina. While HUD says it will replace the demolished complexes with mixed-income developments, the new developments will offer fewer slots for the poor. Under the current plans, 4,600 public housing units will be demolished and replaced with only 744 low-income apartments, for a net loss of more than 3,800 low-income units, according to a demolition factsheet from the Defend New Orleans Public Housing website.

A political standoff over legislation to require replacement housing for the demolished units continues between bill sponsor Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and her colleague Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). In September, following months of negotiations, Vitter and HUD abruptly announced their opposition to Landrieu's proposal, which has the support not only of housing activists and faith leaders but also of business groups worried that the lack of affordable housing is slowing rebuilding efforts.

Meanwhile, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson remains under investigation over whether he lied about his involvement in agency contracting decisions. Jackson helped to arrange high-paying contract work for friends and associates at HUD-controlled housing authorities in New Orleans and the Virgin Islands.

UPDATE: Those protesting the public housing teardown in New Orleans now have a presidential candidate on their side: Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) this week called on HUD to reverse its demolition plan.

"Knocking down historic and livable housing today that withstood the winds of Katrina with the bulldozers of Bush is counterproductive to the goal of giving residents a home to which to return," Edwards said in a statement. "Decentralizing poverty by encouraging new mixed-income [development] makes a lot of sense -- I've proposed creating 1 million new housing vouchers to do exactly that. But eliminating housing where people could live in a city where a desperate shortage of shelter exists makes no sense at all."

(Photo of B.W. Cooper demolition courtesy of New Orleans Indymedia)