Back To It

I made this picture one late afternoon that turned into night on one of my infrequent trips to Algiers on the Westbank. He’s riding on the levee.

Algiers is an interesting neighborhood. While most of the Westbank is located in Jefferson Parish, Algiers is located in Orleans Parish, making it a neighborhood in New Orleans.

You can take a ferry or a bridge from the rest of New Orleans to get there. The ferry used to be free. Now you have to pay to ride. You used to have to pay a toll on the bridge. Now it’s free to drive.

Charging for the ferry is probably a good idea. The city paid for the cost of fuel, maintenance and crew salaries.. As usual, a change like that hurts someone. Most of the service staff — bartenders, wait staff, cooks and folks who work in the stores — in The French Quarter use it to commute to work and home again. That’s five dollars a day for someone who mostly lives on tips.

The bridge is called The Crescent City Connection. It was once a single span. Now there are two spans. When you get to the Westbank via the bridge getting off can be confusing.

There are about five ways to turn, none of them make much sense. I always get lost. Sometimes I can see where I want to go, but I can’t get there. Sometimes you have to turn left to go right. And, sometimes… oh, never mind.

It’s prime New Orleans.