NEW ORLEANS — A blighted car wash in Gert Town will soon be gone. Wednesday city leaders announced the Paradise Car Wash on Olive St. had become a crime hot spot and would be demolished.
The action, led by the Mayor's Violent Crime Reduction Taskforce is a result of a crime data review and recommendations from NOPD.
“The broken window theory is real and if we can get the trash out of people’s eyes then we can clearly allow people to see progress,” Mayor Latoya Cantrell said.
Cantrell says Wednesday’s demolition is an example of the progress she says the Taskforce is making.
“We understand that this property is owned by someone and for the city to come in and demolish it is something we don’t like to see happen,” said Taskforce chairman Tyrell Morris. “But we will do if it is necessary to protect the people that live in this community.”
In January, police say a man was bludgeoned to death on the property and they have yet to find the killer.
“This property has been the source of criminality for some time,” Code enforcement director Tom Mulligan said.
Staff at a neighboring auto shop told WWL-TV they welcome the change and hope it will put a stop to criminal activity in the area.
Morris says this is the first demolition initiated by the task force but it’s possible it won’t be the last, in an effort to clean up blighted properties throughout the city.
“I won’t give the location, but we have one location that has commanded a public safety response 110 times since January one,” said Morris. “So clearly that is an area we need to look at.”
Monday council woman Helena Moreno wrote a letter to Mayor Cantrell and the Taskforce asking for a promised “60-day mark” update deadline.
Mayor Cantrell told reporters Wednesday she never gave such a deadline.
“I didn’t say that,” Cantrell said. “I did not say that. What I said is that we will always look at data week to week relative to crime trends throughout the city of New Orleans.”
She says the Taskforce has consistently given updates on their progress at committee meetings that the council is invited to.
Wednesday Morris highlighted a few of those updates. Including working on minimizing blighted buildings they claim to have removed hundreds of abandoned or junk vehicles and plan to host a social media training with law enforcement that helps them further understand violent crimes.
On April 5th the Taskforce will host a public briefing to go over the data that is driving their efforts.
Mulligan told WWL-TV the cost of Wednesday’s demolition will be passed on to the car wash owner in the form of a lien.
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