Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has authorized state police to begin clearing a homeless encampment near the Superdome in New Orleans, where 150,000 people are expected to attend a Taylor Swift concert this weekend. .
About 75 people living in a tent encampment on Calliope Street under the Pontchartrain Expressway were relocated about two blocks away, Louisiana State Police said.
In a statement to local media, Landry spokeswoman Kate Kelly said the move was to address homelessness and safety issues in preparation for Taylor Swift's concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the Super Bowl in February. stated that the purpose is
“Governor Landry understands that the biggest issue facing the city of New Orleans right now is the homelessness crisis, and he is working with LSP and local officials to solve this problem,” Kelly said. Ta. “As we prepare to host Taylor Swift and Super Bowl LIX, we are committed to helping New Orleans perform at its best on the world stage.”
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Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries tells people living in homeless encampments to move to pre-designated locations during cleanup ahead of Taylor Swift's concert in New Orleans on Wednesday We are assisting the state police with this. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
However, New Orleans officials criticized the operation, arguing that it would hinder the progress of those affected in finding long-term, permanent housing.
Approximately 75 homeless people lived at the encampment and were relocated approximately two blocks away. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
“We are asking the governor not to clean up this or any other campground,” Nathaniel Fields, director of Mayor LaToya Cantrell's Office of Homeless Services and Strategies, said at a news conference Tuesday. said. “We are asking them to work with us and be part of the partnership, not part of the problem.”
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Officials said other people living without shelter in the city's tourist-dependent French Quarter area will also be moved to the same area where the homeless were removed from near the Superdome.
New Orleans city officials opposed the relocation of homeless encampments, arguing that it would hinder progress in finding long-term, permanent housing for those affected. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Resident Andy Levin told WWLTV He argued that the move was necessary, acknowledging that it was a temporary solution to chronic problems facing the city and its communities.
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“When you have this high concentration of drug addicts and mentally ill people, they go to neighborhoods,” Levin said. “You see them defecating there, doing drugs, having sex. There's a man urinating there right now. It's immaculate…and the perspective of the Central City community. We need to move these people away.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
