The Taylor Swift mania hasn't been pleasant for everyone. Ahead of her arrival, Governor Landry and local New Orleans leaders clashed over his decision to remove unhoused individuals from the downtown and French Quarter areas.
The understanding was that the state police led effort would begin on today, however, there was a rude awakening when officers started clearing the encampments a day early.
Martha Kegel, Executive Director with UNITY New Orleans says the individuals in the encampments received as rude an awakening as one can.
"They were unexpectedly rousted by state police. Some of them lost IDs, other important documents, and personal belongings."
Kegel says this will negatively impact the progress the nonprofits and city has made with getting people into permanent housing.
"This will make it more difficult to get those who had vouchers in hand into a place to live."
The Governor's office said in a statement that for the Taylor Swift Concerts and the Super Bowl, Landry wants to make sure "New Orleans puts its best foot forward."
But Kegel says, this would not be what Ms. Swift would want
"She's a humanitarian. She cares about poor people. We may get negative publicity for this."
