On Easter, Joe Henry and his friends would like to dance through the city in sky-blue and soft-yellow suits with matching alligator shoes, fans and streamers, as they do every year.
The only thing stopping them: the security bill for $7,560 from the New Orleans Police Department.
As president of the Original Pigeontown Steppers Social Aid and Pleasure Club, Henry started parading on Easter 14 years ago. In 2005, the last time the club paraded, the NOPD charged them just $1,200 to escort the parade -- which made Henry think this year's bill must have been a simple mistake.
Either let New Orleans be New Orleans or stop trying to sell a Disneyfied brand to your precious tourists.
Update: In my haste to get this post up this morning, I neglected to include this fun nugget.
In another apparent inequity in the fee schedule, the department charged two vastly different fees to police two high-profile jazz funerals, those of Hot 8 Brass Band drummer Dinerral Shavers and filmmaker Helen Hill, whose murders in part launched January's march against crime on City Hall. The NOPD charged $3,610 for Shavers' Jan. 6 funeral march but just $1,175 for Hill's Feb. 24 jazz funeral.
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