Before Taylor Swift show in New Orleans, a homeless encampment is forced to move

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In anticipation of three Taylor Swift concerts, which could draw around 150,000 visitors to New Orleans’ Superdome this weekend, state authorities on Wednesday began clearing a nearby homeless encampment.

Roughly 75 people who were living in tents beneath an overpass would be relocated roughly two blocks away, Louisiana State Police said. Advocates said the sweep would disrupt progress in finding long-term, permanent housing for those affected. Other people without shelter living in the historic, tourist-dependent French Quarter neighborhood would also be moved to the same location, officials said.

Gov. Jeff Landry’s spokesperson said the move was taken to address homelessness and safety issues, linking the effort to the upcoming concerts and February’s Super Bowl.

“As we prepare for the city to host Taylor Swift and Super Bowl LIX, we are committed to ensuring New Orleans puts its best foot forward when on the world stage,” Landry’s communications director, Kate Kelly, said in a statement issued to local media.

Later, in a statement to The Associated Press, Kelly stressed that the move only involved a short distance and that safety was a concern. “Only the most dangerous blocks — where homeless regularly walk across busy streets — are being shut down,” she said.

Initial plans to break up the encampment near the dome came to light Monday. It is unclear when plans were made to move to the location roughly two blocks away.

City Council member Lesli Harris, whose district includes the area, said she and housing advocates had been told the move would be made Thursday. “They’re suddenly here, on Wednesday morning, springing this on us,” Harris said.

Martha Kegel, executive director of Unity of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit that seeks permanent housing for unsheltered people, said moving the encampment was better than disbanding it as advocates had initially feared. But she said it was still a needless and harmful endeavor, as well as a waste of state and federal tax money earmarked for sheltering those without homes.

Many of those in the camp have mental illnesses and are distrustful of authorities and those trying to help them, Kegel said.

“Some people were frightened and left, and that’s not good,” she said. “Because then all the work that we did to assess them and document their disabilities and, you know, work with them on their housing plan has now been wasted.”

Among those making the move Wednesday was Terrence Cobbins. Taking a break from gathering his belongings, he said he was told to move because of the upcoming concerts. “They ain’t never did it before for other people,” he said. “Why Taylor Swift?” He said he wasn’t happy about the disruption, “I can’t do nothing about it.”

City Council President Helena Moreno issued a statement calling for better state and city coordination to address homelessness.

Kegel said her agency should have been contacted, noting that the concert dates were announced months ago. “We could have accomplished what the governor wanted in a humane and rational way and not just push people a couple of blocks away or scatter them,” she said.

There was no indication that Swift or the NFL — which, four years ago, set the 2025 Super Bowl for New Orleans — had any input in the decision to move the camp. Emailed requests for comment were sent to Swift representatives and the league Wednesday afternoon.

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Associated Press journalists Gerald Herbert in New Orleans and Sara Cline in Baton Rouge contributed to this report.