Here’s a great example of magical thinking. For years, hundreds of us have been tromping through Treme, Lafitte, Mid-City, all the way to Lakeview, as part of an annual ritual. We’ve been tracing a path that exists only in our collective imaginations, picking our way through weeds and brambles, following a dream, chasing a vision.

And now, after nine repetitions of this yearly rite, the fantasy has been made real. The ground beneath our feet has been transformed. We’ve walked this trail right into existence. 

Source: Mid-City Messenger 

Full Article: http://midcitymessenger.com/2016/02/22/13328/

Cyclists can take advantage of new bicycle racks along New Orleans' Lafitte Greenway.

The City of New Orleans, Friends of Lafitte Greenway and the Young Leadership Council partnered to install 28 racks. "Providing bike racks promotes healthy living and economic development along the Lafitte Greenway," said Sophie Harris, Executive Director of the Friends of Lafitte Greenway. "Over 600 people use the Greenway daily. These quality bike racks encourage folks to use their bikes to visit the local businesses, parks and playgrounds along the Greenway."

Source: KSLA News 12

Full Article: http://www.ksla.com/story/31286155/new-lafitte-greenway-feature-welcomes-cyclists

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

HIKE THE GREENWAY: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Basin Street Trailhead. Hike the Lafitte Greenway from Basin Street to Bernadotte, a 3-mile walk guided by Greenway Ambassadors. Block Party at conclusion, with music and free shuttle back to Basin Street. Free. (504) 702-6776, [email protected].

Source: The New Orleans Advocate

Full Article: http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/features/14909415-148/new-orleans-home-and-garden-events-feb-20-2016

Cycling Three Ways (Slow, Serious, Scenic)

Slow

Visitors to New Orleans this Mardi Gras season will find a new and as yet unbeaten path in the city. The Lafitte Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Path is a 2.6-mile linear park that links several neighborhoods, from the French Quarter and Treme to Bayou St. John and Mid-City. Originally a canal site and later transformed by a railroad, the new park includes a 12-foot-wide asphalt path for cycling, running and walking, as well as new recreation fields and over 500 newly planted trees. 

Source: The New York Times 

Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/travel/tour-and-hotel-news-biking-trips-fast-and-leisurely.html?src=twr&_r=3 

The Friends of Lafitte Greenway will hold their annual Hike the Greenway event this spring, they told the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association on Tuesday evening.

According to organizers, the event has been hosted many times in previous years, but this year will be the first hike on the Greenway since it has been officially open in September.

Sophie Harris, Executive Director of Friends of Lafitte Greenway, said this year the event will have a “celebratory twist to the typical event.”

Source: Mid-City Messenger

Full Article: http://midcitymessenger.com/2016/02/03/friends-of-lafitte-greenway-plan-hike-the-greenway-event-for-march/

Seems like we've barely recovered from Christmas and New Year's, but it's already Carnival time, with Mardi Gras falling early this year, on Feb. 9.

Carnival, from the Latin, means "farewell to the flesh." Mardi Gras — which literally translates as Fat Tuesday — is the deadline for finishing off all the goodies in the house before the beginning of Lent, a period of austerity leading up to Easter.

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WHAT'S NEW

The Lafitte Greenway, a 2.6-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail and green corridor linking the French Quarter's Armstrong Park to City Park in mid-city, opened in November. (Stay on the asphalt, please, to coddle turf and other plantings that are late taking hold because of rain.)

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

Full Article: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jan/14/time-to-plan-for-mardi-gras-its-early-this-year/

If anything has been learned from a regional water study that began ten years ago, it’s that results require persistence, David Waggonner, president of local architects Waggonner & Ball, said last week. He spoke Tuesday at Greater New Orleans, Inc., where local leaders discussed progress on the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, adopted two years ago. Waggonner & Ball began working on the plan in 2006 after visits to flood-control structures in the Netherlands. In the ensuing Dutch Dialogues, experts from the Netherlands assisted in the initial study.

It’s one thing to have a big plan on paper, but quite another for those projects to be implemented. “Politicians have to allow conditions for change,” Waggonner said Tuesday. In what’s become “a numbers story” since his firm’s initial look at regional water, each project’s costs and and benefits must be weighed, he said.

Source: The Louisiana Weekly

The Friends of the Lafitte Greenway and NOLA Aikido will host an outdoor fitness event on the patio of Mid-City Market. NOLA Aikido will present an Aikido demonstration, followed by a free beginner lesson. The event is free and open to the public.

This fitness event takes place this Saturday, Nov. 21, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Mid-City Market, 401 North Carrollton Avenue. All ages, sizes, and experience levels are welcome.

Source: Mid-City Messenger

Full Article: http://midcitymessenger.com/2015/11/20/free-aikido-lesson-on-the-greenway-this-saturday/

The Lafitte Greenway’s freshly paved walking and biking path and newly manicured landscape is officially open. City officials and greenway supporters held a grand opening on Nov. 6, marking the end of several years of work, including assistance from Tulane University.

The 2.6-mile Lafitte Greenway transforms one of the city’s oldest rail lines into a multiuse transportation corridor and linear park, connecting neighborhoods from Armstrong Park to City Park. The City of New Orleans broke ground on the $9.1 million project in March 2014. Friends of Lafitte Greenway, the nonprofit steward of the greenway, spent several years generating financial support for the project, developing programming on the land, and promoting it as a community space.

Source: Tulane University

Full Article: http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/111015_lafitte-greenway-opens.cfm

Megan and Jonathan Walker want to convert a former Mid-City gas station into a bakery and coffeeshop. If the city approves, they plan to open The Station at the corner of Bienville and North Alexander streets in summer 2016.

On Tuesday (Nov. 9), the City Planning Commission will hear the Walkers' request for a conditional use to allow the business. The planning staff has recommended that the conditional use be granted. Ultimately, the City Council will have to approve the project.

Source: NOLA.com

Full Article: http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2015/11/the_station_a_new_coffeeshop_a.html