So: This was going to be an easy column. Namely: The New Orleans Recreation Development Commission appears dangerously negligent, but a major community coalition is determined, against all odds, to right the ship.
As it turns out, the column is not so simple. But that’s good news, because the complications arise from progress NORD is making. And the coalition that was ready to blow the whistle on NORD is even better poised to partner with it.
The subject arose, and took urgency, from by former longtime local prosecutor Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue, blasting NORD for the horrid state of disrepair of many of its playgrounds. Rodrigue’s reporting, full of photographic evidence, depicted fields in dangerous condition, garbage-filled concession areas, fallen electrical boxes, bleachers broken beyond repair, strong odors of urine and feces and even homeless encampments at a playground.
There is no denying the vast bulk of Rodrigue’s reporting — and NORD doesn’t deny it.
With all of that evidence in mind, seven key groups ranging from the NAACP to the Metropolitan Crime Commission to the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, all led by the (which itself is an umbrella group of well over 500 nonprofit groups and businesses), issued lamenting the “unacceptable conditions of recreational facilities” and calling for “rebuilding NORD.”
Their statement comes on the backdrop of a February notice from the New Orleans Inspector General of an audit “to determine whether NORD spent funds for capital projects in accordance with policy and best practices.”
All of which looks, well, flat-out awful for NORD. At the very least, much more engagement from the mayor and City Council seems warranted.
There is, however, more to the story. What was admittedly horrendous in December is, in at least some of the facilities, improving significantly. Among the ball field facilities most criticized by Rodrigue, two are in remarkably better condition, with major work ongoing.
The first, which Rodrigue identified as Larry Gilbert Stadium in Hollygrove but which actually is the adjoining Cuccia-Byrnes Playground that for years was home to Carrollton Boosters Little League competitions, was the one where homeless people had lived for nearly two years.
Now, though, the homeless encampment is gone, locks are in place, the main building looks clean, and the field seems reasonably usable.
Be that as it may, NORD communications director Emily Oliver said that it was only last summer that NORD regained management of the facility from Carrollton Boosters, which had contractually assumed management during Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration but had moved its Little League programs elsewhere “three or four years ago.”
And NORD already had identified Cuccia-Byrnes as a prime target for repairs.
Meanwhile, when I visited another of the places Rodrigue had described in horrific terms, the Perry Roehm playground near Elysian Fields and Florida Street, things were even better. The place is a hotbed of refurbishment activity, with work crews using heavy equipment to ready the infield for artificial turf literally used in this year’s Super Bowl.
The renovations at Cuccia-Byrnes, Perry Roehm and elsewhere, NORD’s Oliver said, are part of a master plan that preexisted Rodrigue’s December Substack article.
Sure enough, the city’s , which is not just for NORD facilities but for all the city’s parks and greenways, openly lists bad conditions at a number of NORD playgrounds and carefully designates a schedule for substantial improvements. An admirably comprehensive report and guide, it was published in January of 2024.
In Oliver’s telling, Rodrigue’s report was largely accurate but just happened to come in the interregnum between the plan’s adoption and the plan’s actual implementation.
And while it’s well worth figuring out how conditions in so many playgrounds got so bad in the first place, the most important take-away is that caring citizen activists such as Rodrigue and the vast coalition that issued the March 25 statement are fully engaged now, both prodding NORD and, even more importantly, offering their assistance.
Coalition member Michael Hecht, fresh off his successful oversight of the city’s preparation for the Super Bowl, said he has “been struck by the diversity of voices … looking for ways they can help ensure that our kids have safe and supportive recreation opportunities.”
Dawn Hebert, president of the Eastern New Orleans Advisory Commission, said the coalition is “encouraging NORD to consider public-private partnerships, as this is a proven model, and will help NORD leverage private dollars.”
NORD’s Oliver said her agency welcomes such public interest: “These are shared responsibilities that we all have. Taking pride in our communities is something we all should do.”
This engagement, and the transparent goodwill expressed by NORD’s Oliver, is all terrific. Let’s keep it going.