Dear Lafitte Greenway Supporters,

I am thrilled to share the below invitation from the City of New Orleans to the opening of the Lafitte Greenway tomorrow! It took a community working together to create this new public space. Please join us tomorrow morning at the grand opening press conference and celebrate with us tomorrow evening at the Greenway Soirée fundraiser. Stay tuned for announcements about community events to celebrate the Greenway's opening!

Sincerely,


Sophie Harris
Executive Director
Friends of Lafitte Greenway

INVITATION: Press Conference to Celebrate Grand Opening of Lafitte Greenway 11/6

We invite you to join us Friday, November 6, 2015 as Mayor Landrieu, City Councilmembers, City Officials, and community stakeholders celebrate the grand opening of the Lafitte Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Path.

Stretching 2.6 miles, the $9.1 million Lafitte Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Path is a multi-use trail and linear park connecting six historic neighborhoods from the French Quarter to Bayou St. John and Mid-City. The Lafitte Greenway corridor is bounded by Basin Street, Lafitte Street, St. Louis Street, and North Alexander Street.

This major project has been a direct result of your collaboration and dedication to ensuring New Orleans is an active and livable city.

WHO: 
Mayor Mitch Landrieu
City Councilmembers
City Officials
Community Stakeholders

WHEN: 
Friday, November 6, 2015
10:30 a.m.
*weather permitting*

WHERE: 
Corner of N. Galvez Street and St. Louis Street
New Orleans, LA 70112

*Photo by Tenbo Air

The City made headway on the critical finishing touches to the Lafitte Greenway in September (photos below). While the City has not yet announced an official opening date, the Greenway is already buzzing with walkers, joggers, and bikers.

We encourage users to be aware of car traffic. Stop and utilize the push-button activated beacons at the Claiborne, Galvez, Broad, Jefferson Davis, and Carrollton intersections in order to enjoy safely.

When behind the wheel, please be an example. Stop and allow people on foot and on bike to cross the street at the Greenway’s intersections.

Contractors installed New Orleans’ first protected 2-way bike lane or “cycle track” beginning at the Greenway’s downtown trailhead at Basin and St. Louis Streets.

The Louisiana Landmarks Society unveiled a new Pitot House exhibit, entitled Bayou St. John and the Carondelet Canal: Interconnections of History. Curated by Louis W. McFaul, the exhibit explores the colonial history, unique geography, development and transformation of the Carondelet Canal on the footprint of today’s Lafitte Greenway.

See the free exhibit during its limited time run at the Pitot House (1440 Moss St) on the following dates:

• Wednesday, 9/30
• Thursday, 10/1
• Wednesday, 10/7
• Thursday, 10/8

The exhibit will be up once again in January, 2016.

Click here to read more.

Photo: Robert W. Grafton, View of the Turning Basin. Oil on canvas, 1915-17. 

We need your help to win $10,000 to fight litter on the Lafitte Greenway!

NOLA Trash Mob’s Patrick Armstrong is one of three finalists in the 2015 Cox Conserves Heroes Program, honoring Trash Mob’s volunteer work to pick up over 9.5 tons of litter in New Orleans. 

If Patrick wins the online voting, Cox and the Trust for Public Land will donate $10,000 to Friends of Lafitte Greenway for litter fighting initiatives on the Lafitte Greenway!

Please vote today for Patrick Armstrong. Voting is live until September 14th. 

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Please forward to your friends, share on social media, and help us keep the Lafitte Greenway green.

We did it! The inaugural meeting of the Growing the Greenway Action Committee started off with a bang on Wednesday night at Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center. The Action Committee consists of over 25 community members and organizational partners whose mission is to advocate for and create community gardens along the Lafitte Greenway, which will improve health outcomes of local residents, strengthen neighborhood bonds, support environmental stewardship education, and foster economic growth in the Lafitte Corridor. The committee voted to adopt the Mission and Vision of the Committee, and the Building Our Local Food Economy: A Strategic Action Plan for the Lafitte Corridor, available for download at lafittegreenway.org/lflp1

Many hands make light work. On Saturday, August 29th, to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Friends of Lafitte Greenway led a group of 120+ extraordinary volunteers on a "Greening the Greenway" initiative, in partnership with Broad Community Connections, the Trust for Public Land, NOLA Trash Mob, and JPMorgan Chase.

In a single day, we created a new 1,800 square foot mural on the Lafitte Greenway, cleaned up 1,300 pounds of trash from the Lafitte Corridor neighborhoods (65 bags!), and cheered on racers participating in the Resilience Run.

We are excited to announce that Friends of Lafitte Greenway is welcoming two new members to our team--Nellie Catzen and Sydney Doyle! 

Nellie Catzen (left) & Sydney Doyle (right)

Please join Friends of Lafitte Greenway for the Growing the Greenway Action Committee Kickoff Meeting!

On May 27-28, Friends of Lafitte Greenway and partners hosted the Local Foods Local Places Workshop. Over 80 residents and stakeholders gave their ideas to develop a Strategic Action Plan to increase access to healthy local foods in the Lafitte Corridor. We are pleased to present the draft of Building Our Local Food Economy: A Strategic Action Plan for the Lafitte Corridor, a community-based plan to advocate for and create community gardens along the Lafitte Greenway, available for download at lafittegreenway.org/LFLP1.

We are delighted to announce that, effective August 24, 2015, we are changing our name from Friends of Lafitte Corridor to Friends of Lafitte Greenway. As the grand opening of the Lafitte Greenway nears, our new name is a reflection of our renewed commitment to this, now real, public space.

For nine years, we have worked with the community, our members, partners, and public officials to advocate for the preservation of the open green space within the Lafitte Railroad “Corridor”—stretching through nine New Orleans neighborhoods—and its transformation into the “Lafitte Greenway”. Today, that transformation is nearly complete.

Our new brand reinforces our commitment to providing the programs, events, improvements, and advocacy that will make the Lafitte Greenway a vibrant community asset. We believe that by focusing our efforts on supporting the Lafitte Greenway, we will best serve the surrounding Lafitte Corridor neighborhoods. Friends of Lafitte Greenway looks forward to continuing to be your partner in building, programming, and promoting the Greenway as a great public space.

We invite you to visit our new website at www.lafittegreenway.org to get to know our new look. Let us know what you think by emailing info@lafittegreenway.org!

We want to thank Line 58 for their contributions that made this rebranding possible.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

Sophie Harris
Executive Director
Friends of Lafitte Greenway

On August 11, our partners at FitLot launched a Katrina Commemoration Project to make New Orleans and the Lafitte Greenway community healthier. We're pleased to share it with you. 

FitLot is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to building public outdoor fitness parks throughout New Orleans. Hours ago, they launched a 30-day crowdfunding campaign to build their flagship fitness park along the Lafitte Greenway at the Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center! 

Please take a moment to learn about FitLot's project by CLICKING HERE. Consider providing your financial support to bring an outdoor fitness park to the Lafitte Corridor.

If you like what FitLot is doing, please share this information with others through email, Facebook, or Twitter.