New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell says closing bars for Mardi Gras is the tough but right choice to keep from making the pandemic worse.
When the pandemic began in the spring of 2020, Mayor Cantrell said if she had known what was coming, she would have shut down Mardi Gras last year. She told The Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Redick on RADIO.COM that shutting it down now may not be popular, but she believes it to be the right thing to do.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
"You're always going to have those that are unhappy, but in the end, they'll be okay," Cantrell told the hosts. "If we want to get back to where we know we'll get to, we have to do what it takes right now."
The mayor acknowledged that after nearly a year of being unable to do business as usual, many bars and nightclubs had been looking forward to one of the busiest times of year allowing them to cut their losses. But she said it is just not safe for public health to allow that to happen.
"The revenue streams that are business owners and our folks looked forward to a year ago, it's just not an option right now," she said.