JPKneworleans

What a joke. The Kailas clan is at it again. Just look at the lovely Plaza. Also, consider the old Slidell Factory Outlet buildings in Slidell, which were almost declared a public nuisance as a result of the inability of the motley crue to maintain the place. The NOPSI building is actually very nice inside. Unfortunately, it is also full of asbestos.

I don't think so. I think it is just a sign that indicates where the company's offices are...until they close the office next summer.

Article from Fortune Magazine Interesting article. There's some frustrating but true facts, including the port's loss of companies to Houston and Mobile and the loss of half of New Orleans' publically traded companies, i.e., from 23 to 12.

Lack of sales, probably. No bank's going to finance construction without a sizable percentage under contract. NCB posted a link to an article in a new thread. I found it telling that the developers were saying where they were "expecting" buyers to come from, instead of saying where the buyers are coming from.

UGH. Pastiche architecture.

I had no idea that Hilton used the Waldorf-Astoria name for any hotel other than its NYC flagship. According to my research, each hotel has a separate name, but under the name is "The Waldorf-Astoria Collection". There are only four or five hotels in the family.

Amen to that. Thank goodness the design is modern. I'm so sick of pastiche architecture such as the Astor Crown Plaza and anything new that's made to look "old."

It sure would be nice it the contractors would get the St. Charles line restoration into high gear!

Not to rain on good news, the cruise numbers are in the tank. In 2005, the Port of New Orleans was on record to have its most successful year and was slated to cross the million passenger mark on an annual basis, which would have made it the third largest cruise port in the United States. According to City Business, the current traffic is about 250,000. I don't know if that number is annualized or is a year-to-date number. Royal Caribbean has not committed for this fall, and Carnival's Triumph, which was to take the Conquest's place was supposed to arrive in August this year. It was then pushed back to March of next year. Now, the date is October 2008 at the earliest. Norwegian Caribbean Line, though, will arrive this fall with a bigger ship and is committed through spring of next year. I know this sounds cheesy, but we should email Norwegian to thank them. We should email Royal Caribbean to complain, and we should email Carnival and ask while there are no seven-day cruises from New Orleans. Like the others...I'll believe it when I see it. I'm losing faith in Trump. _________________________________________________________________ In other news, the World Trade Center lease negotiations are likely to be finalized in early August. The developer, from New York, was chosen because the company has very deep pockets and does not need financing to do the deal. I can't wait to see the designs. It would be great if the exterior cladding is replaced. The plain cement look is, well, plain and boring. At least the building should restore the blue neon crown. The neon, however, was probably placed there by the former hornets owner that renovated the revolving bar/club on top.

I'm afraid you're right. Visitors that have been unlucky enough to view one of the racial spats on TV constantly remind me of the severity of the problem here. Sure, their cities have problems, but not to this level.

By public hospital, I don't mean a charity hospital. Lots of parishes have "hospital service districts." But, in this case, I'm sure that the Cynthias would use this for all of their cronies. I'm not certain which Cynthia annoys me more. They're both pretty bad. What particularly annoys me the most is their penchant to align themselves with groups that scream "racism" whenever a black politician is criticized by a white person, e.g., Eddie Jordan. Get real, people! I don't care if the DA is a pink elephant. As long as he or she does the job, that's all that matters!

Has anyone seen an ad for Trump? I haven't. As for Methodist Hospital: From what I have heard, a new hospital service district has been created, and Methodist may be the home of its hospital. This is bad news. The last thing we need is a publicly owned hospital. I seriously doubt Orleans Parish will be successful at operating a hospital in a manner similar to East Jefferson or West Jefferson. An Orleans Parish hospital service district will be another avenue through which corrupt politicians can hand out favors to their supporters. I'd rather see Methodist Hospital operated by a private company. Universal Health Services owned Methodist, Lakeland (which became part of Methodist after HCA sold it), and Chalmette Medical Center. Universal, however, says it has not plans to reopen Methodist.

The front page of the Times-Picayune contains an article about the attempt to land the draft.

California is expensive in general. However, you're wrong about milk. New Orleans has the highest average price per gallon of milk in the country, as cited by the New York Times, Times Picayune, Garland Robinette, etc. Overall cost of living: The main difference is housing. My house, which is about $400K, would cost $1.5M there, but my salary would not be commensurately higher. With the increase in gas prices, the differential is no longer huge. I filled up for $3.49 a gallon (premium) at the Chevron on Van Ness near Market. Every major city has crime. While there may have been 8 murders in the NOLA and SF during the same period, the city of SF has a population of 750K, versus 280K and a metro area of about 4 million compared to 1.1 million. As for homelessness, yes, they have a big homeless problem. I have seen many a homeless person sleeping on sidewalks and in parks, etc. They smell. Usually, though, the concentration is in the Tenderloin district close to Market, O'Farrell, and Ellis streets. I routinely see people speaking to themselves. A homeless person accosted a friend of mine, and my friend started speaking french as an excuse to avoid the request for money. The homeless person started speaking french right back to my friend. We were wrecked. Public transport? If one lived in the city, one would not need a car. Overall, though, if I had the money, where would I live? SF, hands down. If anything, the climate and physical beauty blow NOLA out of the water. Air conditioning is rarely needed because the highs in August are in the low 70s. The architecture and public buildings are gorgeous. I take it you've seen their city hall compared to ours, their opera house compared to that joke in Armstrong Park, their symphony hall compared to the Orpheum, etc. The city is extremely wealthy, and it shows. But why else do I love it? Because in many ways, it is just like New Orleans. It is a patchwork of small towns sewn together. As Nora Ephron said: New Orleans is one of the two most ingrown, self-obsessed little cities in the United States.The other is San Francisco.

Well, it's nice to get positive press from someone other than The New York Times. I wish CNN and Fox News would help the country focus on the positive aspects of NOLA. Thanks for the post, Nate. It helped ease me out of my funk, somewhat.

NCB: Most of the time, I share your optimism. That optimism combined with love of city keeps me here. Since Katrina, I've spent lots of time in New York, Dallas, San Francisco, and Chicago, and the universal question that is asked is how we could re-elect a person who has no leadership skills whatsoever. If we had leadership at the state and local levels, we'd be far ahead. Instead, Louisiana cities with leadership, including BR and Lafayette, are benefitting from GO-ZONE bonds that were primarily intended for New Orleansa, and we limp along. If only Kip Holden were our mayor.... We got NOTHING out of the legislative session. One of south Louisiana prize industries is the port. The south Louisiana port complex from the mouth to Baton Rouge is the world's largest complex of ports, and its sorely outdated. Houston and Mobile are kicking our butts. Anyway, I digress. My optimism will return soon, I hope. If there's one thing I have learned, it is the following, legislators and councilpersons read emails. I urge all of you to write and voice your frustrations.

On the movie studio, I know that Aaron Broussard was in LA trying to push an Elmwood location. The mayor should have been there with him. If Cynthia Willard Lewis and the CAO can go to Germany to view "first hand" the "very latest in waste technology," the mayor can go to LA. (As for Cynthia....don't get me started.) The news about iSeatz is good. However, iSeatz is the exception. David Purcell personally loves it here. For people with no prior ties to New Orleans, all they have to go on are current perceptions. Perceptions, for all intents and purposes, are reality even if they are inaccurate. Prior to the storm, it seemed as if that reputation was turining around. Then, with the Mayor's meltdown and is wishywashy pandering to different segments of the population, it seemed like a return to the days of old. We're squandering an opportunity. At this point, my hope lies with Bobby Jindal, whom Nagin is considering challenging for the governorship. Now...THAT would be a joke. I realize that I am being negative. However, having just returned from a vacation to civilization where roads are smooth, public transport is excellent, the arts and funded, businesses flock, and diversity is celebrated, returning to this mess, combined with the movie studio and VA hospital news, was just a bit much. My apologies.

That sure would be nice. The original plans for Canal Place contained a third phase , which included a new city's tallest building. Obviously, it never happened. Pardon my negativity, but this city SUCKS right now. BR gets a movie studio, and among the reasons cited by the developers: New Orleans politics and the inability to even have a telephone call returned. Nagin should be recalled.

That has been the quoted price since the beginning. From what I understand, each of them was considered a total loss. By the way, I was in San Francisco last week, and it was nice to see one of the St. Charles streetcars on the F Line. The F Line runs vintage streetcars from all over the world. If you will recall, San Francisco gave the city an old cable car in exchange for a street car. The cable car was at Pop's Fountain in City Park prior to the storm, but I don't think it is there anymore.

There has been talk about extending the St. Charles line so that it will connect with the Canal Street line. As for the red streetcars, it was my understanding that one red streetcar would be produced every month until the entire fleet was rebuilt.

More news regarding Trump: I emailed Pam Lauer at Trump. She advised that the marketing program is imminent, and she confirmed that the groundbreaking will be in September. I seem to recall someone indicating that an add had been placed. I believe it was in CityBusiness. Does anyone recall which edition the advertisement was in? ALSO: Does anyone known the status of Tracage? It seems like the advertisements have ceased. I hope that's not the case. Besides having a decent height, it has a very elegant modern look and does not look like an early 20th century reproduction.

I wonder if the streetcars are the first red ones to be rebuilt. Several months ago, an article indicated that the first red one should be ready and placed in service in May. Obviously, that did not happen.

The Hyatt (or at least a portion of it) is supposed to reopen this year.

Falstaff, the apartments under construction at the old Baumer Foods plant, and the soon to be under construction apartments at the Cresent City Motors location should be a great boost to Tulane Avenue.

Great pic of the Sheraton. It's so much better looking that the hideous Marriott across the street.