DeGaulle Manor explained

Building Name:Charles DeGaulle Manor Apartments
Location:3010 Sandra Drive, New Orleans, LA 70114
Coordinates:29.9295°N -90.0251°W
Status:Vacated 2005 (partly reopened 2007) (closed 2012)
Constructed:1963–1964
Demolished:(partly razed in 1996) 2024 ongoing[1]
Governing Body:Louisiana Housing Corporation. HUD
Famous Residents:Malik Rahim

DeGaulle Manor was a low-income public housing complex in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.[2] The apartment complex was known for crime and was one of the oldest and most troubled apartment complexes in the city before being shut down in 2012. It later became a dumping ground for trash and in 2014, became a work of art as it was transformed into a graffiti display.[3] [4] [5]

History

The 450-unit apartment complex opened in 1964, with 12 5-6 story mid-rise buildings originally known as "Bridge Plaza."[6] Members from the Black Panther Party were among the first blacks to move into the apartments along with the New Orleans Saints players. Towards the early 1970’s most of the 200 apartments were being leased by the Federal Housing Administration and some were being administered and subsidized by the Red Cross. It later became a low-income PBV assisted property by the Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC), through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).[7] [8] Between 1970 and the present, no owner kept the property for more than seven years; and each time that it changed hands, the new owners made little effort to rectify the many problems that arose under the supervision of the previous owners.[9] By the mid-1980s only 364 units remained occupied as the rest were abandoned with squatters who would normally burglarize the apartments.[10] With bad management, the apartments fell into terrible conditions with interior walls damaged from water leaks of rusted pipes and broken elevators. Large rats and cockroach infestations were commonplace as well as rotting garbage stacked up in clogged trash in the dumpsters. The balcony railings were rusted along with the security gates which did not close. The broken gates made the complex easily accessible for drug dealers to openly distribute narcotics. In 1993, the complex became one of NOPD's Fourth District hotspots for drug activity and violence.[11] Robberies and killings occurred frequently to the point local taxi cab companies suspended cab services around the apartments for several months.[12] [13] [14] In 1996, HUD razed 39 abandoned townhouse units that were allegedly being used as heroin dens. That year it was renamed the Live Oaks. HUD granted approval to sale the complex due to poor living conditions and it was then placed on the market. In December 2000 Woody Koppel, Neal Morris and Mark Schreiner bought the complex for $5 million in hopes of transforming it but many apartments still failed HUD inspections. By then it became ground zero for heroin sales, prostitution and violence. Locals nicknamed the area "D-Block."[15] In 2005 after Hurricane Katrina struck, 135 out of 364 units were vandalized. One hundred families still lived in the apartments until they were evicted on Thanksgiving.[16] Johnson Properties Group purchased the complex and was able to renovate 160 units.[17] [18] In 2007, Common Ground Collective bought the property from Johnson Properties Group, renaming it the Crescent City Gates Apartments. Only a portion of the complex was opened at the time and was in poor condition with termites and rodents infesting the apartments.[19] North of Crescent City Gates were the Christopher Homes Development, another run-down housing complex torn down in 2013.[20]

in 2024 The City of New Orleans has announced the demolition for the complex which was on Mayor LaToya Cantrell blighted properties list known as “Dirty Dozen.” According to the city, “the ownership was found guilty of 15 violations, including deteriorating condition of sidewalks, driveways, exterior walls, porches, doors, windows and roof, as well as trash and debris, rodents and graffiti. [21]

Kevin Mosley death

On October 28, 1999, 13-year-old Kevin Joseph Mosley was visiting his aunt. Mosley climbed out of an open hole in the top of the cab of the elevator and got stuck and was crushed. Several hours later, a wall was removed to retrieve him from the elevator shaft. Mosley was pronounced dead in the early morning hours of October 29, 1999. Mosley's wrongful death was caused by the negligence of DeGaulle Manor under the theories of strict liability, gross negligence, total neglect and negligence. Carolyn Kitzman was the manager of the apartment complex at the time of Kevin Mosley's death. Carolyn Kitzman communicated with existing tenants and employed and supervised the groundskeeping crews which cleaned the interior of the elevator cars.[22] [23]

Police shootings

2005 double murder

On May 8, 2005, authorities discovered the decomposed bodies of two men, stuffed in the trunk of a car parked in the 2900 block of Vespasian Street. Officers arrived and found two men dead, both with gunshot wounds to the head. No arrests were made.[30]

ExhibitBe

In 2014, Brandan Odums and his graffiti crew transformed DeGaulle Manor into a graffiti art exhibit, painting murals of famous civil rights leaders and entertainers such as Tupac Shakur, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali.[31] The murals located on 3010 Sandra Drive attracted 3,000 people when Odums opened it as ExhibitBe on 15 November 2014.[32] It was described as "the largest single-site street art exhibit in the American South." ExhibitBe closed in January 2015 with a concert including musicians David Banner, Erykah Badu, Dead Prez, Dee-1 and a performance by the Edna Karr High School Marching Band.[33]

In popular culture

Film

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://www.nola.com/news/politics/new-orleans-demolishes-degaulle-manor-in-algiers/article_f38b1e78-17be-11ef-ac2e-a32b8989b60c.html
  2. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021755759/
  3. Web site: One-day exhibit turns blight into art. DELLA. HASSELLE. theadvocate.com. 19 November 2014 . 17 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170812022655/http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_7ba63f0a-ea08-5b1f-aaa6-07a69d9ba821.html. 12 August 2017.
  4. Web site: Several burned cars litter blighted Algiers complex. Blake. Hanson. 6 May 2014. wdsu.com. 17 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170812021742/http://www.wdsu.com/article/several-burned-cars-litter-blighted-algiers-complex/3370582. 12 August 2017.
  5. Web site: Mother of two found shot to death in Algiers apartment complex. Allen Powell II, The Times. Picayune. NOLA.com. 2 April 2011 .
  6. https://nola.newsbank.com/search?text=bridge+plaza+luxury+apartment+algiers&date_from=January+26%2C+1964&date_to=January+26%2C+1964&content_added=&pub%5B%5D=1223BCE5B718A166
  7. Web site: Woodlands residents struggle with the affordable housing quagmire in New Orleans. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140504225843/http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/out-in-the-cold/Content?oid=1246942. 2014-05-04.
  8. Web site: Archived copy . 2017-08-30 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130801105258/http://jedco.org/files/Market_Study.pdf . 2013-08-01 .
  9. Web site: From de Gaulle Manor to the Woodlands – the History of the Site — Exhibit be . 2015-08-31 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150926132138/http://brandanodums.com/be/the-history-of-the-site/ . 2015-09-26 .
  10. Web site: Search the Times-Picayune Archive. nl.newsbank.com.
  11. Web site: Drugs, shootings, Robberies Worry Tenants in Troubled Apartments by Leo Williams - Issuu . 11 December 1993 .
  12. https://nola.newsbank.com/search?date_from=November%2029%2C%201993&date_to=November%2029%2C1993&text=2300%20Murl%20street%20shooting&content_added=&pub%5B0%5D=1223BCE5B718A166
  13. https://nola.newsbank.com/search?text=Degaulle+manor+apartment+shooting+&pub%5B%5D=1223BCE5B718A166&date_from=May+3+1993&date_to=May+3+1993&content_added=
  14. Web site: Cabbie picked up fare in Harvey before being murdered in Algiers. Times-Picayune. Ramon Antonio Vargas, NOLA com The. NOLA.com. 7 April 2010 . en. 2020-05-08.
  15. Web site: D Block | Lykins Films.
  16. Web site: Hundreds Face Eviction in New Orleans. democracynow.org. 17 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170930125744/https://www.democracynow.org/2006/11/27/hundreds_face_eviction_in_new_orleans. 30 September 2017.
  17. Web site: Woodlands Apartments . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140505002652/http://www.gibbsconstruction.com/projects/multi-family/woodlands-apartments/ . 2014-05-05 .
  18. https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2006/11/28/woodlands-tenants-win-short-rentfree-grace-period/
  19. Web site: Curtain Closes on Exhibit BE - NOLA DEFENDER. www.noladefender.com. 17 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170812055645/http://www.noladefender.com/content/curtain-closes-exhibit-be. 12 August 2017.
  20. News: Officials witness demolition of Algiers public housing complex. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140505005619/http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/04/officials_witness_demolition_o.html. 2014-05-05.
  21. https://www.yahoo.com/news/city-orleans-demolishes-former-degaulle-204719683.html
  22. Web site: Casetext. casetext.com. 17 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171003075626/https://casetext.com/case/bienaime-v-kitzman. 3 October 2017.
  23. Web site: New Orleans, LA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NOLA.com. nl.newsbank.com.
  24. https://nola.newsbank.com/search?text=12%20year%20old%20boy%20shot%20%20%20boy%20Troy%20Harvey%20&date_from=2000&date_to=2000&pub%5B0%5D=TPIC
  25. Web site: New Orleans, LA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NOLA.com. nl.newsbank.com.
  26. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/la-court-of-appeal/1344648.html
  27. Web site: 2001 shootout . 6 May 2019 .
  28. Web site: New Orleans, LA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NOLA.com. nl.newsbank.com.
  29. Web site: New Orleans, LA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NOLA.com. nl.newsbank.com.
  30. https://nola.newsbank.com/search?date_from=may%2011%202005&date_to=may%2011%202005&text=2900%20block%20of%20Vespasian%20St.&content_added=&pub%5B0%5D=1223BCE5B718A166
  31. Web site: How This Building Covered In Eye-Popping Street Art Explains New Orleans. 15 January 2015. fastcompany.com. 17 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170629004625/https://www.fastcompany.com/3040852/how-a-single-building-covered-in-eye-popping-street-art-explains-new-orleans. 29 June 2017.
  32. Web site: 'ExhibitBE,' a spectacular outdoor graffiti environment, on view Saturday only. nola.com. 12 November 2014 . 17 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170830054457/http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2014/11/exhibitbe_spectacular_outdoor.html. 30 August 2017.
  33. Web site: Exhibit BE closing celebration and more things to do in New Orleans Monday. nola.com. 16 January 2015 . 17 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170830055731/http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2015/01/exhibit_be_closing_celebration.html. 30 August 2017.
  34. Web site: 'Can't fake it': Director Deon Taylor filled each frame of 'Black and Blue' with electric New Orleans. writer. JOHN WIRT Contributing. The Advocate. 25 October 2019 . en. 2020-05-08.
  35. Web site: Contraband (2012) - IMDb. IMDb.

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