Before Taylor Swift show in New Orleans, homeless encampment is forced to move
In anticipation of three Taylor Swift concerts, which could draw around 150,000 visitors to New Orleans’ Superdome this weekend, state authorities on Wednesday began clearing a nearby homeless encampment.Roughly 75 people who were living in tents beneath an overpass would be relocated roughly two blocks away, Louisiana State Police said.Advocates said the sweep would disrupt progress in finding long-term, permanent housing for those affected.
Other people without shelter living in the historic, tourist-dependent French Quarter neighborhood would also be moved to the same location, officials said.Gov.Jeff Landry’s spokesperson said the move was taken to address homelessness and safety issues, linking the effort to the upcoming concerts and February’s Super Bowl.“As we prepare for the city to host Taylor Swift and Super Bowl LIX, we are committed to ensuring New Orleans puts its best foot forward when on the world stage,” Landry’s communications director, Kate Kelly, said in a statement issued to local media.Later, in a statement to The Associated Press, Kelly stressed that the move only involved a short distance and that safety was a concern.
“Only the most dangerous blocks — where homeless regularly walk across busy streets — are being shut down,” she said.Initial plans to break up the encampment near the dome came to light Monday.It is unclear when plans were made to move to the location roughly two blocks away.City Council member Lesli Harris, whose district includes the area, said she and housing advocates had been told the move would be made Thursday.
“They’re suddenly here, on Wednesday morning, springing this on us,” Harris said.Martha Kegel, executive director of Unity of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit that seeks permanent housing for unsheltered people, said moving the encampment was better than disbanding it as advocates had initially feared.But she said it was still a needless and harmful endeavor, as well as a waste of s...