Behind the chain-locked gates of City Hall and under massive police protection, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously to approve the demolition of nearly 4,600 affordable housing units on Dec. 20.
The vote comes at the same time there is an acute housing crisis for the city’s predominantly African American
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The city council ordered the gates to City Hall locked at 10 a.m., barring hundreds of public housing residents and supporters opposed to the demolition from attending the scheduled city council meeting.
Protesters took matters into their own hands and sought to enter City Hall anyway. Guarding the gates, police assaulted protesters with pepper spray and taser weapons, injuring many.
Inside, the seven members of the city council conducted the meeting with SWAT agents positioned between them and the people. The meeting was stacked with demolition supporters and HANO (The Housing Authority of New Orleans) and HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) representatives. HANO and HUD are spearheading the government’s dismantling of the city’s badly needed affordable housing.
During the meeting, police attacked protesters who spoke out in opposition to the demolition. In total, police arrested 15 demonstrators during the struggle.
The city council vote is part of a racist HANO-HUD and government campaign to rebuild New Orleans for the rich and in the interest of big-business in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. For the first time in over 30 years, the city council has a white majority.
Mayor Ray Nagin voiced his full approval for the demolition vote.
Rampant gentrification, coupled with closed hospitals and schools, have made life hard for New Orleans residents, especially for working-class African Americans. The tens of thousands still-displaced who want to return are finding it virtually impossible to do so. There are few jobs, and no real social infrastructure exists.
Affordable housing is hard to come by. Over 100,000 homeowners are still waiting for federal assistance. Apartments that used to rent for $400 or $500 now cost up to $1,400.
Over 50,000 families are still living in small FEMA trailers along the Gulf Coast. In November 2007, FEMA began giving eviction notices to families in trailer parks near New Orleans. The federal agency is kicking out every family in its trailers by the end of May.
On Dec. 22, the city drove out hundreds of homeless people who had been living in Duncan Park across the street from City Hall. Park employees and police destroyed tents and erected a barbed-wire fence around the park
The struggle continues
Public housing residents and activists have been intensifying their mobilizing efforts for weeks to stop the planned demolitions of the city’s four largest public housing projects which on the chopping block—C.J. Peete, Lafitte, St. Bernard and B.W. Cooper.
On Dec. 12, dozens of protesters physically blocked bulldozers from entering the B.W. Cooper housing project, stopping crews from demolishing buildings. On Dec. 19 activists stopped demolitions at the B.W. Cooper housing project by chaining themselves to the building.
The Coalition to Stop Demolition held a press conference in front of City Hall on Dec. 22. They pronounced the City Council vote illegitimate and vowed to continue the fight.
