While I am not afraid to do something a bit out of the ordinary, I have to admit that it is a very long walk from my apartment to my car while dressed for the Red Dress Run. There is comfort in numbers; and as I walked solo to my car wearing a red dress, I was hoping that I would not encounter any other residents.
It looked all clear and then as I approached the elevator - there - sitting in a chair enjoying the day before it got too hot was one of my older neighbors. She saw me - but the only thing she said was, “Oh, I picked up your plant when the wind blew it over.” Did she not see the red dress? Did she see it and didn’t know what to say? Maybe she knew I was going to the Red Dress Run. If she didn’t, she may have thought that complimenting me in my red dress was not appropriate. Anyway - she was the only person I encountered on my walk to my car.
In my car, I felt safe because unless someone was in a high-profile vehicle next to me - nobody knew I was wearing a dress. When I exited off the expressway into downtown New Orleans on my way to park at the parking garage for the station, I immediately noticed that there were NO red dresses. I was used to seeing a sprinkling of people in red dresses in that area on their way to the French Quarter.
Why was I not seeing people in red dresses?
Apprehension grew as I got deeper into downtown and still say NO red dresses. I even thought that I might have been wrong about the date; that’s how weird it was not to see red dresses. Finally, when I turned the corner to park I saw 4 people in red dresses coming from the bar Barcadia, which is one of the staging bars on the way to the French Quarter. But the lack of red dresses was noticeable and strange.
I parked, but as I walked the 8 blocks to the French Quarter I saw only a few red dresses. My thought was that everyone must be there already. Along Canal Street, a street that borders the French Quarter - still only a splattering of people in red dresses. As I turned onto Bourbon Street it became obvious that the crowd for the Red Dress Run was not as big as past years. In fact, the further I strolled down Bourbon Street the more obvious it became that this year’s crowd was down - way down.
In past years, I was walking shoulder to shoulder with a massive crowd making Bourbon Street a river of red. This year was distinctively different. Even area at Bourbon and St. Ann, where 2 prominent gay bars are located, the crowd was about one third of what was standard for the annual Red Dress Run. Why?
Was the noticeably smaller crowd the result to the crime wave in New Orleans? I immediately thought back to the Fourth of July fireworks on the Mississippi River and how lean that crowd was compared to past years. But the Fourth of July fireworks display was at night, and the Red Dress Run was during the day. Could crime have kept people away even for a daytime event?
Crime in New Orleans has become so common with thug-types brazen enough to carjack, commit armed robbery, and even murder in the middle of the day. So the answer is - yes - the increase in crime in the city of New Orleans seems to have stuck a serious blow to the welcoming persona of the city.
Not only is the crime wave spiraling out-of-control, but New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has been mostly MIA while downplaying the seriousness of the problem.
From what I witnessed Saturday for the Red Dress Run and what I witnessed first-hand for the fireworks display on the Fourth - I can’t help but think that our city may be dying.
I hope I’m wrong - but it is impossible to see sparse crowds on the Fourth and for the Red Dress Run and hear the parade of calls from listeners who say they will never come to the city again - unless it is for a concert or a Saints game. It’s going to be interesting to see if crowds gather before and after Saints games to party.
Remember, since the pandemic has hit a plateau - people are eager to go out and reclaim the freedoms lost during pandemic. But instead of larger crowds for the Red Dress Run and the Fourth - the crowds were lighter - which makes it appear that crime may be killing our city.
Monkeypox may be a consideration for some - but the disease has not reached a point where there is a collective changing of plans occurring.
The only other reason the crowd for the Red Dress Run was way down was because when Harry Styles and Brad Pitt wear skirts and dresses in public - maybe wearing a dress in public is not as outrageous and fun as it used to be?
On my talk show on WWL Radio in New Orleans, I have long warned that, left unchecked as it has been, the crime wave will hit the city hard; and it could takes years to reverse the trend.
I have no idea if there has been any kind of official crowd estimate for the Red Dress Run - but I can tell you that it was sparse compared to other years.
Along with the fear of being the victim of crime by renegade thug-minded punks, people in the city and in the surrounding area have developed a desire to punish the city in some way - and that punishment might just be to avoid the city.
Voting may be the best weapon we have to fight crime before it kills our city.
