NEW ORLEANS -- Edward and Charlee Law would love to watch the birds that fly through their neighborhood, but the surroundings are too upsetting. The first half block of their Algiers street has become a combined jungle and trash dump.
"I've lived in -- I don't know how many cities I've lived in -- but I've never seen anything like this. If you see maybe five or six tires in a field in another city, the city is going to come get them once it's reported," Edward said.
"My family came for Christmas, I was really embarrassed," Charlee added.
They both serve in the Marine Corps Reserve and moved to Algiers just a few months ago. But they say the jungle and the dumping ground get worse almost daily.
"There's small children that play on this street, that walk down the street, and they have to walk through the brush and debris," Charlee said.
"It looks like a hood. I think it's a Chevy," Edward said as he strolled down the block. "That wasn't here the other day."
"Honestly, I've been in third-world countries, and when I see kids playing in trash and tires, it reminds me of a third-world country," Edward said.
Finally Charlee got so frustrated she tried to organize things a bit and clear the street by building a wall out of the old tires, but scavengers selling spare tires keep wrecking it.
"When we first started doing this it had all this water and nasty stuff in it too," she said. "Me and the kids that were helping me were drenched."
But the one thing they can't understand is why the city won't help, despite repeated pleas.
"Over and over again, online, I've made phone calls, and the only response I've gotten is from you guys," Edward said.
"It really says they don't care," their guest Stan Nicholson said. "I mean, if the city really cared, they would really pay attention to their guests, to the people who actually make this place a home."
I'm contacting the mayor's office, asking them not only to pick up the debris, but also to cut back the overgrowth. Cleaning this area up would make a huge difference in this neighborhood.
Adding insult to injury, the stream rushing out of a leaking water meter that is keeping the lawn flooded, and filling the drainage ditch. I reported that to the Sewerage & Water Board. I'll let you know what happens.
