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Pizza at the End of the World
by Tom Diriwachter 01/15/2013Neighborhood: Staten Island
My apartment building, across from the ferry, in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island, fared well against Sandy. From my window, I saw the water rise above the seawall, and swallow the municipal parking lot, but situated on the hill, I never felt threatened. When the power went out, I was watching a DVD […]
Katrina Did One Good Thing
by Debbie Nathan 06/14/2006Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
It sounds like Harlem when black people in New Orleans talk, but way more so. They open their mouths and cane syrup sounds roll out. “Awright, Sugar. Heego, dawlin’,” said the steam table lady serving shrimp as I lunched at a conference that brought me recently to this gorgeous, mangled city. I asked where she […]
People Tell You That You Are Losing Weight And You Don’t Care: Politics and the Mayoral Election in New Orleans
by Johnny Adriani 06/01/2006Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
This past Saturday’s election was as colorful as the primary–Just with fewer candidates. Scholars will probably dissect Mitch Landrieu’s loss for the next several months by analyzing black versus white voting patterns and the numbers from each precinct along with the fact that it was a beautiful day for a stroll to the polls and […]
New Orleans: Election Day
by Johnny Adriani 04/27/2006Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
Election day in New Orleans has always possessed a flare unlike anywhere else in the world. My first recollections of how crazy election day can be come from 1989. Nothing, however, topped 1991, when Edwin Edwards and David Duke competed against each other in the run-off. Nothing, that is, until Saturday’s semi-circus atmosphere outside the […]
Astronomical Odds
by Johnny Adriani 04/06/2006Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
The odds for winning the Powerball are146 million to one. I would suppose that finding the winning ticket lying on the street would be a million times the 146 million to one. But I do propose to you the question of how likely it would be for a mayoral candidate of New Orleans to be […]
Adriani For Mayor
by Johnny Adriani 01/26/2006Neighborhood: All Over, Letter From Abroad
Today I had perhaps the most unique experience that I have ever had in my lifetime. I began walking the streets of New Orleans and speaking to people on a one on one basis. This may seem odd to you, and perhaps it is, but I canvassed New Orleans today not as a citizen but […]
Christmas in New Orleans
by Johnny Adriani 01/05/2006Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
Sprouting out of the ground, just south and east of New Orleans, is Christmas. It is a bizarre sort of nativity scene which bears the fruited colors of the season: green and red. Absent are the Magi bringing frankincense, myrrh or oil. Rather, what is present, green on the outside and red upon being split […]
New Orleans is Dead
by Johnny Adriani 12/15/2005Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
12 December 2005 It has been some time since I have written an update concerning New Orleans. In truth my delinquency is due to the fact that I have been extremely busy in the process of cleaning up. You know when I am busy when you do not receive a rambling of text ranting about […]
Rita: A Baton Rouge Diary, Part 6
by Johnny Adriani 09/29/2005Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
September 23, 2005: déjà vu? Here we go again, first from the East, now from the West. What a mess! While in Jefferson Parish, Wednesday, I noticed utilities crews leaving in droves. The US Army was on the move as well. It was a strange day, very hazy. Haze and cloudy skies are a good […]
Katrina: A Baton Rouge Diary, Part 5
by Johnny Adriani 09/22/2005Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
Sept. 21, 2005: Entering Orleans Parish “Enter Orleans Parish,” read the green sign cocked at a forty-five degree angle announcing my arrival. And with that, I traversed the bridge over the 17th Street Canal, leaving Old Metairie behind and driving into New Orleans. My only impediment to this point was some traffic through Jefferson Parish […]
Katrina: A Baton Rouge Diary, Part 4
by Johnny Adriani 09/22/2005Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
Sept. 19, 2005: Bad Press Vast has been the breadth of bad press. It is true that the scope of this catastrophe has gone beyond the bounds of everyone’s foresight. And, in the beginning, nothing short of evil seemed to be seeping from the deluged City. The bad press has evoked action from seemingly stunned […]
Katrina: A Baton Rouge Diary, Part 3
by Johnny Adriani 09/15/2005Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
Sept. 10, 2005: A History My first memories of New Orleans come from my childhood visits with my grandparents. My earliest memory comes from being told that if you dug down five feet into the ground you would hit water. As a toddler, this little nugget of knowledge stuck me, and I remember going into […]