Demolition of public housing in N.O. draws protest

NEW ORLEANS  Federal officials began demolishing a local housing project Thursday despite protesters who angrily decried the destruction, saying the hurricane-ravaged city needs to preserve its affordable housing.

About 30 protesters had stood Wednesday in the path of a two-story excavator, temporarily blocking the demolition crew's path into the B.W. Cooper housing development in central New Orleans.

Thursday's gathering was less confrontational and crews began demolishing one section of the development. Another part of the complex will remain open.

About 50 protesters marched from the housing project to City Hall and the New Orleans office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

"There is a terrible housing crisis in our city and the country needs to know about it," said Elizabeth Cook, a member of the Coalition to Stop Demolition, which organized the protests. Just behind her, the large excavator chewed into one of the four-story buildings.

HUD officials sealed most of the city's public housing projects following Hurricane Katrina and revived plans to demolish and replace them with mixed-income housing.

Demolition was approved for four of the city's largest developments — B.W. Cooper, St. Bernard, Lafitte and C.J. Peete — which account for about 4,500 public housing units. Some of the properties, in decay already, were further battered by Katrina's floods. B.W. Cooper was the first of the projects to be demolished.

Protesters and civil rights groups said some of the buildings are still habitable and new plans will lead to increased homelessness if more government-subsidized units are not included. About 5,100 families were living in public housing pre-Katrina, according to HUD.

Knocking down dilapidated projects for mixed-income housing is a national trend that often leaves the poorest families homeless, said Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a Washington-based housing advocacy and research group.

Debate over how much public housing to replace in post-Katrina New Orleans has even entangled two Louisiana senators. Legislation proposed by Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu calls for "one-for-one" replacement of the government-subsidized apartments. Republican Sen. David Vitter leads opposition to the bill, saying that with only two-thirds of New Orleans' population back since Katrina, the need for public housing has diminished.