The Politics of Demolition in New Orleans
The National Trust New Orleans field office director, Walter Gallas, blogged last week that, indeed, public housing demolitions have begun in three of the four public housing developments slated to be razed. At current, HUD is spending $762 million to tear down over 4,600 public housing subsidized apartments. All at a time when the Gulf Coast, and the nation, is facing one of the worst affordable housing crisis in American history.
What’s happening in New Orleans is government sponsored economic cleansing. The affordable housing that is being torn down will not be replaced - New Orleans is losing more than 80% of subsidized residences in this process. As 50,000 displaced New Orleans families endure the “solution” to post-Katrina housing provided by FEMA’s formaldehyde laden trailers, the city is razing solid structures to make way for more profitable real estate developments.
Advocates for a humanitarian based Gulf Coast recovery found an ally just this past week in the United Nations. The U.N. has weighed in against demolishing public housing, although not an official U.N. finding the statement from:
“Two human rights experts for the United Nations on Thursday criticized a federal plan to raze public housing projects in New Orleans, saying it will force the predominantly black residents into homelessness.” - AP
More on New Orleans Public Housing Demolitions:
- Truthout New Orleans Residents Vow to Fight Federal Bulldozers
- Walter Gallas blogs from New Orleans on Preservation Nation
- New Orleans Public Housing Demolition Sets Stage for Protests
- Loyola University Law Clinic Justice for New Orleans
