"Nobody's house is safe."

Central City house razed before deadline for appeal
by David Hammer, The Times-Picayune
Thursday October 23, 2008, 10:53 PM

Delores Jones called the city of New Orleans frantically this week when she heard that a demolition crew had arrived at the Central City house she and her husband have owned since the early 1970s.

The 73-year-old woman had in her possession a letter, dated Oct. 1, saying she had 30 working days to challenge a plan to raze her two-story rental house at 2401-03 La Salle St. on the grounds that it was in "imminent danger of collapse." But Wednesday, just 16 weekdays after the date of the letter, Jones' house was turned into a pile of rubble by Dynamite Demolition, a city subcontractor.

"I started to go around there and I started to have an upset stomach because I didn't want to see it go down, " she said, her voice cracking. "Nobody's house is safe."