Posted on 10/14/2005 1:03:02 PM PDT by abb
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — French Quarter bar owners frustrated with the slow pace of recovery in New Orleans won a partial victory Friday when the city pushed back its curfew from midnight to 2 a.m., allowing a little more partying into the wee hours.
Bars on or near Bourbon Street had been threatening to defy the midnight curfew, complaining it was putting a damper on the famously raucous neighborhood and the city's economy, too.
City Hall announced that the streets in recovering neighborhoods will be off limits to pedestrians and vehicles between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. The city put businesses on notice, however, that violators of the extended curfew could be slapped with a summons and could lose their liquor licenses.
"As we move forward with rebuilding, we are taking steps to accommodate business while also ensuring public safety," Mayor Ray Nagin said in announcing the relaxing of the curfew.
Under normal circumstances, the French Quarter parties well into the morning. Business owners have been eager to let the good times roll again.
The neighborhood was largely spared by Hurricane Katrina, and many out-of-town disaster-relief crews — along with law officers, soldiers, reporters and even tourists — have been crowding French Quarter bars and restaurants, despite the midnight curfew decreed by the mayor Oct. 6.
Bar owners said the curfew was largely ignored and infrequently enforced until this week. Many bar owners attributed the crackdown to the furor that followed the videotaped beating of a 64-year-old man by police officers last Saturday night.
Police spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo denied enforcement had been stepped up in recent days. He said the curfew was imposed because police and other departments are not yet ready to resume full, round-the-clock operations.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
The weekly envelopes were at risk no doubt.
If late-night partying is outlawed, only outlaws will party late.
Awww man... Now the cops gotta wait until 2AM to starting putting the beat down on people?
i think it is a bad idea. everyone, cops included, are still under a lot of stress and drunks will not help the situation. but y'all should stay away from condemning the cops unless you are prepared to do what they do. ten seconds of video should not a bad cop make.
"unless you are prepared to do what they do" -- like punching people in the face repeatedly ?? I can do that ...
Seriously tho, the entire "you can't criticize people because you don't understand their situation" argument is all-too-often a cop-out (no pun intended). Ten seconds of video SHOULD a bad cop make if it's ten seconds of them acting like a thug in a uniform !!
"along with law officers".........Driving their new Caddys?
Nuevo Laredo curfew proving to be a bust [Mexico]
Another place I'll never visit again.
what if in the 2 seconds before the video began, you missed the perp grabbing for the cops gun? there goes your argument.
He is whining one minute because of the lack of help (so he says) and partying up a storm the next. He is a real piece of work.
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