It’s Carnival time in New Orleans, with locals and tourists alike getting their plans together to hit up parades and enjoy Mardi Gras festivities. There are plenty of long-time traditions along the parade route in the Crescent City: from tents and chairs for friends and family, bbq pits and crawfish boils along the parade route, and even couches and portable toilets set up in some areas. This year, there has been an emphasis on enforcement from the NOPD. Will that hold true along the parade route as these new rules go into effect this Mardi Gras season?
New Orleans City Councilman JP Morrell says, while there will be a focus on public safety this year, he doesn’t expect there to be strict enforcement of the new restrictions along the parade route … mostly due to a lack of manpower. “Obviously because of the cash shortfall the city finds itself in, if anyone is expecting robust enforcement (especially when looking at the list of other things we need to pay for), that’s not very high up on the list,” Morrell explained.
“The law is still the law and you can choose to follow or not follow the law,” noted Morrell. “Just remember that when you’re cordoning off your area of neutral ground for your private use. It’s not for your private use. So, just like we can’t stop you from roping off your little piece of land … when people wander into your piece of land, you aren’t Magellan or (Christopher) Columbus. You didn’t discover New Orleans. You can’t really get those people out either,” added the New Orleans City Councilman.
As far as tent setups, the same basic rules apply according to Morrell. While there may not be enough manpower on the police force to take down every tent, that same police force will not be able to assist parade goers if they feel their cordoned off area has been “overtaken” by other people. “It’s public space,” Morrell reminded WWL listeners. “I understand people are used to some of these fairly obnoxious traditions that have developed over the years since Hurricane Katrina, but those are not your rights. You can do all that stuff, but if someone else comes along and decides to ‘squat’ on your land and set up chairs in your area, that’s also their area. It’s basically squatter’s rights,” he went on to add.
One particular area of concern that will be strictly enforced this year according to the city councilman is the use of confetti cannons by float riders. “The mylar cannons and the confetti cannons are absolutely illegal. It’s not because we don’t like the fun of mylar or confetti, it’s because we don’t want the power going out. That ten seconds of enjoyment is not worth a neighborhood’s power going out. So, they will enforce those bans and they will yank you off a float,” Morrell pointedly emphasized. “If we don’t yank you off a float, the entire route is recorded for safety. So, we will find you, your krewe, or your walking krewe,” he went on to add. Several krewes last year did not invite walking krewes back to their route because of fines that had been accrued for similar infractions.