"They’re bringing the Quarters to Rocheblave"

I've got more on this and some other issues coming, but before I get to that, I wanted to highlight something that caught my eye in this NOLAFugees piece by Christine Horn which doesn't quite fit with the post I want to write. 

At a recent showing of Bury The Hatchet, a documentary film on Mardi Gras Indians, the film series’ monitor was pleased to point out to a predominantly tourist audience the idealism inherent in the proposed removal: although in the 1960s the city overlooked the concerns and opposition of Treme and 7th ward neighbors in erecting the elevated expressway, current Mayor Mitch Landrieu is poised to right the wrongs of history and return the once majestic Avenue to its former glory. The monitor went on to say that mostly everybody supports it. Special guest Big Chief Alfred Doucette disagreed.

“They might say they’re bringing back the Avenue, but they’re bringing the dollar for them. Mayor Landrieu might go on TV and say he supports my community and my culture, but he don’t,” said Doucette. Further commenting on the proposed revitalization of Claiborne and its potential expansion as a cultural economy zone, Doucette noted “They’re bringing the Quarters to Rocheblave. The city is making downtown pretty, but what about the rest? The 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th wards? And New Orleans East?”

Taking down the Claiborne overpass isn't going to bring back the neighborhoods its installation destroyed. It might help the Mayor's friends in real estate salvage the wreckage for their own profit.. at least that's what they're hoping.  But, of course, they can't say it that way.