French Quarter business owner says removing parklets would set New Orleans back
Andrew Wilson, Owner of Cuban Creations, joined WWL's Newell Normand to discuss how he went from zero employees to more than 40 employees and why he needs the city to help him continue
He needs to be able to keep the parklet outside his business, he says, something the city has not approved it in his area of the French Quarter. "There's no real tangible objection to it," Wilson said. "We've never been given any type of argument as to why not to have it."
Normand said there were accommodations like parklets that expanded outdoor dining that were made to benefit business owners during the pandemic and some have gotten accustomed to them.
Many businesses have gotten permission to continue to operate with parklets, but Cuban Creations is not one of them. "I want to work with them," Wilson said. "There's no point in going backward."
Removing the parklet would cost the French Quarter jobs, he added. "To remove this outdoor seating (doesn't make sense). If anything, it preserves the buildings."
Newell added that New Orleans has become an outdoor dining community and the folks he talks to "they like it."

















