Newell has been on somewhat of a tear lately, shining a spotlight on what he calls New Orleans' "culture of non-compliance," referring to unlicensed and unregulated purveyors of food and drink plying their wares in the French Quarter and around sporting and music events at the 'Dome.You've probably seen them, dozens at a time, selling bottled water, cold beer, barbeque and even marijuana-laced baked goods, all in the open air, with no expectation that any city authority will challenge them on it.Meanwhile, legit restaurants and bars seem to be facing an ever-increasing list of rules and regulations on their businesses; everything from mundane insurance requirements to more eccentric rules, like those limiting how many musicians they can have in their house jazz band. How is that fair?The answer? It isn't.
Newell reached out to the French Quarter Business League for more background, and was joined in studio Friday by their President, Alex Fein, who is also the owner of the legendary Court of Two Sisters on Royal Street. What's the reaction to the "culture of non-compliance" from the business community?"All the businesses in our group try our best to do the right thing," Fein said. "We try every day to run good quality honest businesses, and if we're not doing the right thing we want to know about it, and we're going to fix it. When you see the bad actors not doing the right thing and no one does anything about it, it just makes things more difficult."Newell recounted an observation he made the night he attended the Paul McCartney concert a few weeks ago. "I'm walking from the Warehouse District, about three and half blocks to the arena; thirteen vendors out in the street, not a single one has a license. Selling beer, wine, water, some kind of food item. They just expropriate public land and set up a business, and they're not paying like everybody else has to do. From a compliance and regulatory standpoint, it seems to me you'd go after the low-hanging fruit first, those that are completely and totally non-compliant, and deal with that issue before you start going after business owners that have made a significant investment in the city... go after those others first!"Fein agreed, painting an unflattering picture of the streetscape that patrons and visitors have to navigate to get where they want to go.
