N O L A.C O M
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T h u r s d ay, F e b r u a ry 20, 2025
West End Park plans move forward
redevelopment project faces some opposition
$2.00X
Lewis removed as PSC vice chair
move comes after coarse criticism of Gov. Jeff Landry BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer
STAFF FILe PHOTO by cHrIS GrANGer
Pilings once supported restaurants and walkways at West end Park on Lake Pontchartrain. BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL
Staff writer
Plans to redevelop the edge of West End Park — an abandoned site overlooking Lake Pontchartrain that was home to popular waterfront restaurants before Hurricane Katrina — are moving forward after years of false starts, raising fresh concerns from residents of nearby boathouses. At a community meeting Tuesday night, consultants and elected officials from Orleans and Jefferson parishes asked residents what they’d like to see at the site — feedback that will be used to help draw up specs to hire a developer later this year to come up with a plan. But the meeting at the Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library,
“If you were to run a survey of everybody in New Orleans, of course people would love to see Bruning’s and Fitzgerald’s come back. But they don’t live in the neighborhood, and they don’t see how it has changed and how bad the infrastructure is.” rON DUPLeSSIS the first of two this week, was overwhelmingly attended by opponents of the project, including several boathouse owners, who said they oppose bringing any type of commercial development back to the site. They are pushing, instead, for more green space and even a bird sanctuary.
“If you were to run a survey of everybody in New Orleans, of course people would love to see Bruning’s and Fitzgerald’s come back,” said Ron Duplessis. “But they don’t live in the neighborhood, and they don’t see how it has changed and how bad the infrastructure is.” “There is an opportunity to do something special here, to do something with eco-culture,” he added. Returning the corner of the West End Park to commerce has been a priority of state and local elected officials in Orleans and Jefferson parishes for years. But it has been complicated by the fact that the land is owned by the state, managed by the city and partially located in both parishes.
ä See WEST END, page 4A
The state Public Service Commission on Wednesday removed Commissioner Davante Lewis as its vice chair after he called Gov. Jeff Landry an “a**hole” on social media. On a 3-2 vote, the commission chose to replace Lewis with Commissioner Eric Skrmetta in that role on the board. The vote followed public comment from a line of people arguing the move violated Lewis’ right Lewis to free speech. Sharon White, a retired state employee from Ascension Parish, said she was “just in disbelief at this point that you’re willing to remove an official because of their freedom of speech.” “To me, to be honest with you, this is straight-up racism,” she said. Lewis is the commission’s only Black member. On the social media app X, Lewis responded last week to a post from Landry’s account showing a picture of Rachel Levine, who was assistant secretary of health in the Biden administration, next
ä See LEWIS, page 4A
Some Trump policies creating uncertainty for Louisiana CEOs business leaders remain largely supportive of president BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
Fitzgerald’s was one of several popular restaurants in West end Park. STAFF FILe PHOTO
In his first month in office, President Donald Trump has enacted a series of executive orders aimed at fundamentally changing some of the nation’s foreign, domestic and economic policies. Business leaders in Louisiana, a deep red state that Trump carried with 60% of the vote, say the changes have created a sense of uncertainty, making it hard to predict what the world will look like in six weeks, let alone six years. In more than a dozen interviews over the past week, CEOs and executives at many of the state’s largest companies and financial institutions said that they expect some investments to be delayed and are concerned about the potential for scuttled projects. But they largely remain supportive of the new administration.
ä See POLICIES, page 5A
Moreno dominates fundraising in New Orleans mayor’s race Only declared candidate has nearly $1m in account
fundraising circuit, amassing a nearly million-dollar war chest last year, records show. Moreno, who announced her campaign to succeed Mayor LaToya Cantrell in December, raised more than $800,000 in 2024 BY JAMES FINN and had $972,000 in her campaign Staff writer account at year’s end, according to City Council Vice President state ethics documents filed TuesHelena Moreno has dominated day. potential challengers in the New District E council member OliOrleans mayor’s race on the city’s ver Thomas raised $192,000 and
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had $205,000 on hand at the end of last year, ethics records show. Thomas has publicly said he’s considering running for mayor and has be- Moreno gun hiring consultants. State Sen. Royce Duplessis, who considered the race but said in January that “machine politics” snarled attempts to raise cash,
took in $135,000 and spent $85,000 in 2024, leaving him with $77,000 on hand. The records — the first batch of campaign disThomas closures filed in the lead up to New Orleans’ fall municipal elections — provide an early glimpse at millions of dollars candidates are expected to spend
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on advertising, outreach and campaign staffing. Political analysts gauge it will cost at least a million dollars for mayoral candidates to wage competitive campaigns in New Orleans this year. “Everyone else has a lot of catching up to do,” said Ed Chervenak, a political scientist at the University of New Orleans. “It’s going to cause people to think really hard
ä See MORENO, page 4A
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