Neighborhoods: January 2008 Archives

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away, Carnival Parades in New Orleans were held in a number of different neighborhoods. Uptown, Mid City, Algiers, New Orleans East, and like the Krewe of Pandora, in Gentilly. This shot, from February of 1978, is of the Budweiser Clydesdales coming down Elysian Fields Ave. in Gentilly. I found this photo in a box of stuff from when I was attending the University of New Orleans. The location is in front of what was then the Lambda Chi Alpha house, my fraternity. The chapter sold the house in the 1990s and bought another one down on Gentilly Blvd. The Elysian Fields house got over 10' of water in the storm, but the current owners repaired the place and it looks great.

Pandora was one of two krewes that paraded through Gentilly in the 60s through the 80s. The other was the Krewe of Hercules. Hercules was actually older, being the all-male krewe. Like many neighborhoods, the wives and girlfriends didn't want to be left out of the fun, so they would form their own krewes and parade. Hercules paraded on the Monday before Lundi Gras (8 days before Mardi Gras), and Pandora on the Saturday before that. Neither were big parades, 12-15 floats apiece. There used to be a lot of NOPD and Levee Board cops in Hercules, because it was neighborhood to many of them, and because 8 days before Mardi Gras was a good night for a cop to get off. The closer you get to Mardi Gras, the more people out at parades, the more cops you need.

Carnival krewes in the 60s and 70s were not just about the parade, but rather were year-round social organizations. With strong ties to a particular neighborhood, a krewe would meet monthly in a neighborhood meeting place, like a school cafeteria, VFW hall, etc., to plan and socialize. In the early spring, that meant having a crawfish boil; in the summer, a picnic. The whole family got involved, and life-long friendships were forged. Even the "super krewe" of Endymion had such humble beginnings, starting out as a Gentilly parade (the original route was in the neighborhood near Da Track).

Hercules eventually folded as a krewe, as the city put pressure on them to move the route away from Gentilly. Many of the krewe were lured away by the growth of Endymion, as their "super krewe" status solidified over time. The women kept Pandora going, because there were so few krewes where women could ride. Pandora eventually became a female/male parade, before they disbanded as well.

The photo shows the Clydesdales leading the parade, followed by shriners and police on motorcycles. The Queen's float followed, then school bands, marching units, and more floats with lots of beads and doubloons!

Tomorrow, there won't be a Pandora, but we'll go out to the Metairie parade, the Krewe of Caesar, to see my son march with the Brother Martin High School Band. For a Gentilly school, marching in a Metairie parade is a bit like slumming, but the school's administration asked them for a favor, because they recruit heavily from the 'burbs.

Walgreens on Gentilly Blvd. and Frenchman, in 1962. Gentilly Blvd. from Norman Mayer to Elysian Fields was the commercial district for the Gentilly Terrace neighborhood, anchored by Economical Supermarket on Elysian Fields and the Maison Blanche Budget Store down the street.

The strip malls that sustained Gentilly Terrace for years had already become "ghost malls" long before the storm. The MB Budget Store became a Chuck E. Cheese, then an auto parts store. Gus Mayer on Elysian Fields and Gentilly became a Blockbuster, as the higher-end retail outlets left the neighborhood, either to go to the malls or close outright. What time and the trend towards malls and big-box stores didn't kill, the Federal Flood did.

After the very-successful ride of the Phunny Phorty Phellows on Monday night, a number of folks in Mid City wondered aloud (and on line) why this couldn't become a regular event, where the PPP start by City Park and end up somewhere Uptown. The short answer has three letters:

ADA

That's the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA has opened many, many doors to disabled folks that would never have been accessible to them without direct legislative help. It's complicated our streetcar lines a bit, though. Here's how it works:

St. Charles - The St. Charles line, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The strict interpretation of this designation is that the line must be preserved in the state it was when it was listed, in 1971. That means the route is from Carondelet and Canal Streets to S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne Avenues. The 35 900-series Perley A. Thomas streetcars that were operating in 1971 have been preserved and continue to operate on the line. NORTA (and NOPSI before them) is charged with making sure the line and the streetcars stay in good shape and operating.

ADA mandates that public transit be handicap-accessible, but this conflicts with the basic design of the 900s. They were built in 1923-1924, and wheelchair access wasn't an issue then. NORTA just can't cut holes in the sides of these vintage streetcars, so the line is exempt from the requirements of ADA.

Riverfront - The original Riverfront line opened in 1988, prior to ADA. It used three 900-series streetcars rescued from other places in the country after the Canal line was converted to bus operations in 1964. The line also used two Melbourne W2 cars that have center-opening doors. The stops on Riverfront are raised platforms, so a rider in a wheelchair could go up the ramp and board one of the Melbourne cars. When the line was re-worked in 1997, it was expanded to double-track and converted from standard (railroad) gauge to wide gauge. The changes were so significant that the line came under the ADA microscope. ADA activists were not satisfied with every other streetcar on the line being handicapped-accessible and insisted that all cars be in compliance. That meant the vintage 900s could not be used. NORTA decided to design a new class of arch roof streetcars. The 400-series Riverfront streetcars look very much like their green cousins, but they're equipped with wheelchair lifts.

Canal - The 2000-series Von Dullen cars also have wheelchair lifts on both sides, making them fully ADA-compliant.

The storm disrupted regular streetcar operations. Because of the severe damage to the ADA-compliant streetcars in the NORTA fleet, there's just no way to offer proper service until the 400s and 2000s are rebuilt. ADA isn't the only thing in suspended animation at the moment. Since the wiring and track on St. Charles were damaged by the storm, the 900s couldn't return to service on the historic line immediately. NORTA received approval to run the 900s on the Canal line, where the infrastructure was essentially intact in spite of the flooding in Mid City. So, for the last two years, the streetcars have been operating in an environment of regulartory anarchy.

NORTA anticipates that the the Von Dullens will be back on Canal this summer. When that happens, the regulatory limbo that currently exists goes away and the pre-storm rules have to return. That means green streetcars on St. Charles, red ones everywhere else. Last Monday's PPP ride can't happen under the pre-storm rules. Under those rules, the 900s that the PPP boarded at Beauregard Circle can't operate on "revenue runs" off the St. Charles line. They're not ADA-compliant, and the Canal line must maintain that compliance.

The 400-series Riverfront cars have wheelchair lifts, so they can operate on revenue runs on Canal. When they get to Carondelet and St. Charles, however, they run into a problem. The 400s didn't operate on the St. Charles line in 1971, so they're not on the NRHP list. If NORTA operates a 400 on St. Charles for money, the line would lose its ADA exemption. That would create a situation similar to what happened on Riverfront, and the 35 vintage 900s would no longer be able to operate on the line.

So, even though there now are track and electrical connections between the three streetcar lines, that connection between Canal and St. Charles exists solely for the purpose of streetcar maintenance. Once the Von Dullens return home to Canal Street, the 900s will go back to their barn on Willow St. The red cars will be able to switch onto St. Charles to return back to the shop at Carrollton Station, but they can't do it for a buck

I have a modest proposal for the people of Mid City: If the Phunny Phorty Phellows decide to return to their traditional Uptown ride next year on Twelfth Night, charter a 400-series car and have one of your own! My guess is that the PPP will consider imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery. They're folks who like streetcars and like Mid City. Even if the party run was just from Beauregard Circle to the Canal barn, it would return some of the "neighborhood" feel of Carnival back to the area. The days of true "neighborhood" parades are long gone, as NOPD and City Hall have jammed almost every krewe into Uptown routes. Endymion still gets a pass on this, but Endymion is so huge that it has a life of its own. A Twelfth Night streetcar run on Carrollton and Canal would be something fun for everyone in Mid City, and we at CanalStreetCar (dot com) would gladly work with y'all to make it happen.