Category: On The Street

CDC warns public against “aggressive” rats looking for food

(Photo: Matt Baume | CC)
An advisory issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month is warning the public about hungry and “aggressive” rats on the hunt for new sources of food.

COVID-19 lockdown restrictions closed restaurants and businesses in dense commercial districts, including the French Quarter, cutting off rats’ main source of food and leading to the “unusual” behavior of trying to survive, according to a May 21 CDC advisory.

Some jurisdictions reported increased rodent activity following the coronavirus restrictions, according to the CDC.

Days after the coronavirus restrictions took effect in New Orleans, a TV crew filming an empty Bourbon Street captured a congregation of rats, which share a symbiotic relationship with the French Quarter.

Additionally, the CDC warned against a decline, then a resurgence in rat populations due to events such as hurricanes and recommended control measures such as bait stations.

Efforts to eradicate rats in the French Quarter, however, have been unsuccessful in the neighborhood’s 300-year existence.

Read the CDC’s advisory here.

Bourbon Street’s cowboy Joelee dances in Franklin; police chief takes matter into his own hands

(Photo: Joelee, left. | Twitter)
A Bourbon Street cowboy known for his gregariousness and dance moves was accosted by a Louisiana police chief earlier this week after receiving several complaints of dancing in public.

In a video posted to social media on May 7, cowboy Joe Lee (“Joelee”) is confronted Thursday by Franklin Police Chief Morris Beverly. Referring to Lee as “Mr. Seguro,” Beverly said several people phoned in to complain that his dancing on the side of the road was distracting drivers.

Beverly asked Lee to stop or else he would work on getting an ordinance written and passed, giving police officers the power to arrest the cowboy for dancing on the side of the road.

“What I don’t want you to do is do all of that jumping and dancing around and stuff like that if you’re going to be dressed like that because some people take offense to that,” Beverly said in the video.

“What am I doing?” Lee said. “What am I doing? I’m exercising.”

“You’re not exercising sir,” Beverly said. “If we have a collision or anything, [we’re going] to put you down and you’re going to be civilly liable.”

Beverly did not respond to a request for comment.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee was a regular presence on Bourbon Street. He was often seen wearing a crop top and Daisy Duke shorts, mingling with crowds of tourists and appearing in selfies. After coronavirus restrictions closed the French Quarter, Lee relocated to Franklin.

Lee did not respond to a request for comment.

“It’s distracting when Mardi Gras is in the air and people are painting their boobs instead of covering them,” Lee said in a Facebook post May 9. “So just because we all don’t like it does it give Beverly the right to take his [First Amendment] away?”

Watch the full video of the encounter here.

‘Queen of Bourbon Street’ Mamie Marie recovered from coronavirus just in time for Easter

As soon as Mamie Marie Francois recovered from a bout of coronavirus, she resumed her Bourbon Street rump-shaking booty duty with a vengeance in a sign that the French Quarter is starting to resemble the way it was before the COVID-19 outbreak.

And just in time for Easter Sunday.

In a video post to social media by user Nancy Mae, Marie was recorded riding her signature rolling tricycle disco down an empty Bourbon Street at midday on Friday before disembarking and twerking in a pink bunny suit.

Described as the “Queen of Bourbon Street,” Francois has become a fixture of the Vieux Carre gracing pedestrians with dance moves and a decorated musical tricycle.

Francois, 72, came down with a 100-degree temperature in the days following St. Patrick’s Day and eventually went to the doctor where she tested positive for coronavirus, according to the The Times Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate.

She has since recovered, at least to some degree, and is back patrolling the streets making sure the French Quarter stays weird.

30-foot pop-up inflatable poo emoji appears in the French Quarter

(Photo: Imgur)
A 30-foot-tall inflatable poo emoji popped up in the French Quarter on Friday and was placed there by a company trying to bring brand awareness to a product that masks the smell of feces.

The Addison, Texas-based company Poo-Pourri brought its inflatable pile of poo to the 500 Decatur St. parking lot, where it attracted dozens of onlookers who snapped selfies in front of the emoji over the weekend.

The inflatable pile was a part of a cross-country Giant Poo tour that started in Dallas in October 2019 and made its way to New Orleans for a three-day stop.

For 12-hours each day between Feb. 28 and March 1, participants entered the inflatable poo house where they encountered a “transformative” video production experience of shit and dropping the “negative shit you’ve been holding on to.”

More information can be found at giantpoo.com.