There's a house on Esplanade Avenue that's getting a lot of attention from police. It's also known as the tree house because of the huge structure in the back, but its residents say authorities are throwing them out for no reason.
There are about a dozen people who live in the house who say they are artists, and while they admit their home needs work, they say the neighborhood is picking on them for the wrong reasons.
While no one lives in the tree house in the backyard, they do say they play in this and have parties around it.
They say the residents here teach and volunteer around the city, and this house is their home. However, they say the fire marshals who showed up Thursday told them they had to leave the place because of the hazardous conditions.
“They claimed that we're squatters and we're not,” said Dave, a resident who declined to provide his last name. “We have proper utilities, and basically giving us a cease and for being the artist village of New Orleans.”
“Based upon perceived code violations, the city is issuing an order to vacate,” said attorney Miles Swanson. “The city was saying they needed to be out by 4:30, and that's not a reasonable period of time.”
The residents say they are willing to fix the house in whatever way and cancel parties at night in order to keep their home.
Our calls to the New Orleans Fire Department and the NOPD haven't been returned yet. We'll let you know what happens.
