NEW ORLEANS – COVID-19 precautions wiped out most of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebrations in 2021, and a shortage of police officers forced the city to shorten routes for some of its lavish seasonal parades in 2022.
Now city officials and business owners are celebrating plans to keep the good times rolling at longer distances – and in front of businesses welcoming the crowds – with security being reinforced by neighboring police departments.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s official announcement Monday that the parade routes would be extended was welcome news for Staci Rosenberg, a founder of the Krewe der Musen. It means the all-female organization and their signature floats – including a giant heeled shoe cloaked in color-changing lights – can roll down Magazine Street again. Lined with small shops, century-old cottages, bars and restaurants, the thoroughfare runs through neighborhoods that gave the parade what Rosenberg described as a more intimate, family-friendly vibe.
“I think it was important to send a signal to the world that we’re back,” Rosenberg said of the plans to restore the longer route. “We’ve recovered from all sorts of things — the pandemic, the labor shortage, the police shortage.”
It also means increased business at Le Bon Temps Roule, a well-known 24-hour neighborhood bar on Magazine Street. Co-owner Joe Bikulege said it had been closed for 17 months because of the pandemic. Mardi Gras deals, he said, usually allow him to set aside money for taxes, insurance, building improvements, and other emergencies.
“There are a lot of people who make a living from Mardi Gras,” he noted.
Cantrell made the announcement, which was heralded by a marching band, at Gauls Hall, a 19th-century Greek-style building that was once the seat of the city government. She was joined by interim police superintendent Michelle Woodfork and, via video link, Sheriff Susan Hutson – who was working to negotiate agreements with other law enforcement agencies in Louisiana to bolster the workforce.
It was a chance for Hutson and Cantrell, both elected officials, to bolster their political fortunes at a time when both were under pressure. Cantrell, in her second term, faces a recall amid rising crime, unhappiness over delays in road projects and garbage collection, and questions about her use of a city apartment in the French Quarter. Hutson, who took office last year, inherited a long-troubled city jail and is embroiled in political and legal battles over building plans and security issues.
labor shortage have affected police departments across the country since the beginning of the pandemic and the nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd. Various estimates put the number of police officers in New Orleans at around 900 to 950, about 400 below the ideal number at any time of the year.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many cops and sheriff’s deputies from other jurisdictions would be helping with the parades. A spokesman for Hutson’s office said in an email that arrangements with other agencies were being finalized before the big parades.
The carnival season kicks off on January 6th each year and picks up steam with a growing list of balls and parades. It reaches a peak in the last two weeks before Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and Lent. Mardi Gras falls on February 21st this year.
Last year, major parades were limited to a route that took floats, marching bands and walking clubs downtown down historic St. Charles Avenue. The restoration of longer routes means the Krewe of Thoth can once again roll past Children’s Hospital of New Orleans after a nearly three-year absence.
A return greeting will be given by Dr. be Scott Macicek. “It’s scary when you’re a kid and you’re in the hospital,” Macicek said. “It’s important to have as many joyful experiences as possible.”
Joe Bikulege, co-owner of Le Bon Temps Roule. The bar is open 24 hours a day on Magazine Street – a busy thoroughfare that deviated from the route last year. Bikulege said the money earned during the carnival boosts income and helps pay for insurance, taxes and upkeep of his building.
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