Friday, January 11, 2008
Preserving the PRC
Posted by Noah Bonaparte Pais on Fri, Jan 11, 2008 at 11:09 PM
It’s one thing to say that New Orleans needs to be rebuilt — quite another to be the one doing the rebuilding. From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, local philanthropists Randy and Bernadette Fertel will co-host “Rebuilding New Orleans in NYC,” a charity jazz-concert event in the Allen Room at the Lincoln Center. The fundraiser, which features musical guests Ellis Marsalis and the Derek Douget Band, is a benefit for the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, one of the organizations leading the charge in the actual brick-and-mortar renaissance of the Crescent City.
Through programs such as Operation Comeback and Rebuilding Together, the PRC — a 33-year-old outfit that’s been in the business of restoring historical buildings since well before the storm — has steadfastly promoted the renovation of blighted and adjudicated properties and the revitalization of low-income communities. Among other achievements, its work has assisted families in returning to the New Orleans area after Katrina and made habitable previously abandoned areas of the city.
For those unable to attend the concert but who still wish to contribute, donation and volunteer opportunities are available on the PRC Web site.
Bourbon Street pt. 2: 86'd
Posted by admin on Fri, Jan 11, 2008 at 6:24 PM
(Scroll down the blog a piece for 'Bourbon Street pt.1: The Big Game')
Following my first real shift bartending on Bourbon Street, I got canned.
Over the weekend, my new boss had rushed me through three, three-hour training sessions (pay: $20 a shift, no tips) to ready me for the surely-lucrative Ohio State vs LSU game on Monday. At the end of those long short-shifts filling beer bongs for crosseyed-drunk Ohio State meatheads -- then waiting for hours into the night for my managers to cut me checks for $20 for gas money tomorrow -- I then declared to my new boss, “I am ready to make some money Monday!”
“No way man,” my amnesiac boss responded. “I got bartenders been working here all year waiting for this shift. You gotta stick around here a while and earn the good shifts.”
Crappy. But not strange. Who can you really trust on Bourbon Street? This particular bar is famous for Jaeger bombs, yet uses fake Jaeger in a green plastic bottle branded with a variation on the Jaeger logo. But because I wanted to bartend Bourbon through Mardi Gras -- to save up and move away from New Orleans for a while -- I flowed with their b.s. Let the bad times roll.
