SPECIAL REPORT: Crime in the French Quarter crippling tourism

Crime has gotten so bad in the French Quarter that there's a danger tourists will start to think twice before vacationing here.

That's according to a major player in the city's hotel industry who sent an urgent email last week to City Councilman James Carter (pictured), whose district includes the French Quarter and who chairs the council's Criminal Justice Committee.

The hotel magnate--who's on first name basis with the councilman--tells Carter: "I believe it is at a point where it will be affecting commerce and I have told the hotels I am involved with to warn guests to be careful.

"There was a time when as long as the tourist stayed on the river side of Rampart, they were safe. Now I am not sure that there is a safe place in the Quarter."

The situation is so dire, he pleads, that "we need to do something before someone (a tourist) gets killed."

Already, hotel occupancy is well below the rosy numbers often touted publicly by tourism officials.

This hotel guru--who has links to most, if not all, of the biggest hotels in the city--says, "Despite what you may read in the paper as it relates to occupancy in the area hotels, it is all false. Most are still running at somewhere between 50% and 60% occupancy for the year."

That means, plainly and simply, not as many tourists are coming to New Orleans as generally portrayed in the media.

He acknowledges that "we have a city with an image problem as it currently stands, but the French Quarter is still sellable," but adds, "We can't afford to let it slide any more."

Then he asserts what we've all long suspected about the NOPD covering up crime in the French Quarter: "I don't think the 8th District can keep the situation under the table too much longer."

(In all fairness to Maj. Edwin Hosli and his crew manning the NOPD's 8th District, which includes the French Quarter, censorship and suppression of information on crime in the city comes from the very top: Big Chief Warren Riley.)

The hotelier goes on to say, "Locals, as well as others in the Greater New Orleans region, know what's going on, and do not care to play tourist as they once did because they know the area is not safe.

"Something needs to be done, and we need someone to step up in the political arena and take charge," he tells Carter, who's a candidate for Congress. "Is there anything we can do? This is not my expertise but I would be willing to contribute people and dollars to help in any way I can," he concludes. "Something needs to happen."

Now the ball is in Carter's court as chairman of the council committee directly charged with dealing with crime. It will be interesting to see how he responds to this offer of money and manpower from the private sector. It would be a great opportunity for Carter to show what kind of leader he could be in the public sector.

I've always maintained that the crime problem in the city--in the French Quarter particularly--would have a better chance of being solved if the city's moneyed and powerful interests stepped up. They were instrumental in deposing District Attorney Eddie Jordan. Now they could have a similar influence in ridding the city of crime.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler