NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans said it will pursue appropriate action wherever possible after seeing video of crowds of people along Bourbon Street Saturday night.
The video has been circulating on social media. It shows a crowd of people, only some wearing masks. The City of New Orleans is calling it "unacceptable," "dangerous," and "a potential super spreader event."
“Some had masks, some didn't, being aware of COVID, but everyone just enjoying themselves, having fun,” said Quentin Chandler, who is visiting from Alabama. “No need to be nervous, everybody was friendly.”
Marlon Buck Horton said he took the 15-second video just after 11 Saturday night.
“If they had on a mask, it wouldn't be as bad, but the fact that they didn't have masks and they out here in the French Quarter partying, that's what made it be like, well it’s disrespectful to the mayor and COVID guidelines,” Horton said.
Horton owns a bar in Harvey, but was shut down last year for non-compliance. He said he obtained a restaurant license and has been trying to reopen since without luck.
“There’s a lot of people out here and there’s money being generated. However, on the outskirts, we can’t do nothing,” he said.
The city said it “will take a hard look at what happened on Bourbon and pursue appropriate action."
The city statement went on to say: “As Mardi Gras approaches, we call upon our residents, our business owners, and our guests, to be vigilant."
“It was crazy and half of the people were not wearing masks,” said Michelle Welday, who lives in the French Quarter.
She worries she’ll see more crowds as we are now two weeks away from Mardi Gras.
“I definitely think so,” she said. “I think it’s more tourists."
“It’s not the people that lives here that's down here, it's the tourists and we want them to come, we want that, but don't look at what the tourists is doing and put the fault or the blame on the actual citizens,” Horton said.
While there aren't any parades this Mardi Gras, Mayor Cantrell has said visitors are still welcome to come to the city as long as they "act like New Orleanians."
RELATED: Krewe du Vieux creates Mardi Gras themed art installations since there will be no parades this year
Full statement from The City of New Orleans/ Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s Office:
“Any mass gathering like the one seen here is a potential super-spreader event. This is dangerous. This risks lives. And it risks the progress our City has made in bending the curve and stopping the spread. This is unacceptable.
As Mardi Gras approaches, we call upon our residents, our business owners, and our guests, to be vigilant. Large gatherings spread COVID, and COVID kills people. We’ve lost nearly 700 of our sisters and brothers already. Don’t be part of making that worse.
The City will take a hard look at what happened on Bourbon this weekend, and pursue appropriate action wherever possible. This cannot be strictly a punitive response — this is not ‘us vs. them’. This matters to ALL of us. This pandemic threatens all of us. And all of us must have a stake in suppressing the spread.”
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