NEW ORLEANS — Business owners say crime is hurting business and that more needs to be done to protect tourists and locals this carnival season.
Frank Gagliano Jr. has owned Frank's Restaurant in the quarter for 43 years. The building has been in the family name since the 60s.
“We’re business people trying to make a living, so something needs to be done soon,” Gagliano told Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News asked if the crime is hurting his business,
“It's hurting everybody down here,” he said.
He says crime is pushing people out of the city, and that’s taking a toll on business.
“You pay rent, you pay insurance and you pay property tax. You have to make a decent amount of money to survive down here," Gagliano said.
Weeks out from carnival season, he says city leaders need to eat their pride and call in help now.
“Bring in the national guard, bring in some kind of military or state police to help out, cause they really need it the crime is just out of control," he said.
While over in Mid City, Jay Morris from Juan’s Flying Burrito says he’s not too worried about crime during parade season.
“In Mid City I am not that concerned about it, it’s a rowdy crowd for sure, but it's definitely hyper-local for sure," Morris said.
Mayor Cantrell stressed the city’s dedication to public safety at Wednesday's press conference.
“The routes have to be aligned with our deployment strategy, so we can keep our residents and visitors safe. That is the priority during carnival, public safety. Public safety will influence our routes,” Cantrell said.
Meantime over in Jefferson Parish - residents also felt the sting of crime. Wednesday, Residents living at the Creeks of River Ridge Apartments woke up to find at least 62 vehicles broken into.
Investigators arrested 12 and 14-year-old brothers for the crime, along with their 42-year-old mother for separate warrants. According to the Sheriff, the third and fourth suspects got away.
Sheriff Lopinto talked about what his department is doing to protect people and property during Carnival.
“We certainly have undercover, we have our helicopter up in the air, we have certain things to be able to do when we have large police presence out there, you would have to be stupid to come to Jefferson Parish to commit burglaries,” Lopinto said.