NEW ORLEANS -- Little but a gutted shell remains of what was once a two-story office building, and neighbors say city officials are sending a message by not taking action here.
"They don't care about the people who are here, they really don't," said Neighboring Business Owner Pedro Antones.
They say workers have started but never completed several projects here since Hurricane Katrina. Now the supports for the walls are bending, the front overhang is about to crash to the ground. The dumpster that has been left in front of the building is overflowing, and now the debris is spreading across the sidewalk and street.
"Our customers park back here all the time," said Neighboring Business Owner Bertrand Washington. "I'm afraid they're going to get robbed. I have security walk them to their cars."
"That dumpster drives me nuts, period," added Pedro Antones.
But the big fear that is making Augusta Rouzan lose sleep is the brick wall that is beginning to lean towards her house.
"It's going to fall on my house. My son's room is there, my neighbors are there."
She said part of the back wall fell on Christmas Eve with a rumble like an earthquake. Before they e-mailed me, the neighbors say they sought help from the city.
"We've been calling the city for months and months already," Pedro said.
"I never heard anything from Safety & Permits, as of yet," Bertrand added.
"They told me that the person who handles that is on annual leave," Augusta said.
In this case, there are so many things to report to the city. This dumpster needs to be removed as quickly as possible, plus all the debris on the ground needs to be picked up.
And this sagging entryway needs to be removed. It's going to fall right where I'm standing, and they say peple like to sit on the front steps under it. It's a disaster just waiting to happen.
And the way the wall is bowing outwards will give you a claustrophobic feeling when standing in the alley between the building and Augusta Rouzan's house. You can see why Rouzan isn't sleeping. So I'm asking the city to take emergency action on this.
City spokesmen say a hearing has been scheduled next month. While they plan to clean up the debris, and remove the overhang, they don't believe there is a danger of collapse at this time. I asked them to take another look.
"It needs to be torn down. It's got to go, it's got to go, we're in danger," a worried Augusta Rousan concluded.
I'll let you know what happens.
