Gentilly Messenger

23/03/2023

“With every paint stroke, I channeled the passion, integrity and culture of the people of Gentilly and across New Orleans," said The Artist Jade, discussing the mural unveiled this week on the Norman Mayer Library.

The I Am New Orleans mural was unveiled this mural on the exterior of the Norman Mayer Library on Gentilly Boulevard. The mural by The Artist Jade is meant to inspire young boys and girls across the city through a...

23/12/2022

A warning from the city: Lakeshore Drive flooded and will ice over in freezing temps. Take another route.

09/11/2022

Filmmaker Kelsey Scult, a Gentilly resident, is making waves on the festival circuit.

By Jeanne D’Arcy, Gentilly Messenger For the second year in a row, Gentilly resident Kelsey Scult will be screening a film at the New Orleans Film Festival that opened Thursday (Nov. 3). Her latest film, Slice, will be shown Saturday...

03/11/2022

The city promises regular (though once-a-week) trash pickup — and even recycling pickup — in Gentilly, beginning next week.

New contracts for trash and recycling collection in Gentilly and other Service Area 2 neighborhoods became official on Thursday (Oct. 27), marked by a signing ceremony. Services under the new contracts will begin Nov. 7, the Mayor’s Office stated in...

07/10/2022

It's Gentilly Fest weekend! There’s no charge to hear bands like the Brass a Holics, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias, Erica Falls, the Batiste Brothers and Partners N Crime (P-N-C).

This is Gentilly Fest weekend, beginning Friday (Oct. 7) with Jazz Under the Stars and running through Sunday with some of the best music and best food that New Orleans has to offer. The festivities can be found at the...

16/08/2022

So far, 179 Gentilly homeowners have received free landscaping services designed to control stormwater. The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority is expanding the program -- and is taking application.

The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) and city of New Orleans recently announced a $5 million expansion of the Community Adaptation Program for low- to moderate-income homeowners to manage stormwater on their properties across the city. To date, NORA has...

15/08/2022

"In this 300-year-old city. When we dig in with excavators into the streets, we get a lot of surprises." said Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Infrastructure Joseph Threat.

Officials set up a podium on a smoothly paved Oriole Street on Friday (Aug. 12) to mark the completion of an approximately seven-block roadway repair project in the Lake Oaks subdivision. The joint infrastructure project includes complete reconstruction on Oriole...

11/08/2022

Gentilly Messenger talks to the man who challenged Mayor Cantrell at the District D budget town hall.

By Jesse Baum, Gentilly Messenger The city kicked off its series of budget town halls in City Council District D on Tuesday evening (Aug. 9). Mayor LaToya Cantrell and District D Councilman Eugene Green presided over the event at Beacon Light...

05/08/2022

This Back to School Fair has more than school supplies.

Join the Mayor's Neighborhood Engagement Office THIS FRIDAY, Aug. 5th from 5pm – 7pm at the Gentilly Back To School Fair at the Milne Rec Center (5420 Franklin Ave).

Students, grades K-12, will be able to access the following, while supplies last:

- Free school bags with school supplies (limited to one per student)

- Free Haircut Vouchers

- Free Zoo/Aquarium Passes

- Free Mini Golf Passes

- Free Food

- Free COVID-19 Tests

- Resource Fair

- Music & more!

What: Gentilly Back-To-School Fair

Where: Milne Rec Center (5420 Franklin Ave)

When: Friday, August 5th from 5PM – 7PM

To those interested, we suggest arriving early! Please note that the student MUST be present.

19/07/2022

Back to the beach? This group says it could happen in the next four or five years.

The Pontchartrain Beach Foundation announced Monday (July 18) it submitted a proposal to obtain a lease for the former Pontchartrain Beach site. The foundation seeks to develop it into a recreation and ecological education area for the public. The proposal...

08/07/2022

“The people were an easy draw for us to open a restaurant here. It wasn’t until I started spending time in Gentilly that I realized the lack of food options in this area," says the co-owner of Thai'd Up by the Fair Grounds. "We knew that this would be a good place to open our business and add to the restaurants available to the neighborhood.”

By Marielle Songy, Gentilly Messenger Thai’d Up is bringing Thai modern street food with classic flavors to the restaurant scene in Gentilly. The eatery opened on July 1 on Gentilly Boulevard not far from the Fair Grounds Race Track. The...

09/06/2022

The art planned for public spaces in Gentilly includes "a periscope to the future."

By Jesse Baum, Gentilly Messenger The St. Anthony Green Streets project hosted one of their biggest events yet⁠ on Tuesday evening (June 7) — an “art parade” to engage the community about the remodels coming to the streets and parks...

14/03/2022

Where to find a Friday fish fry in Gentilly

It’s Lent, the season of the Friday fish fry. Here are a few fish fry opportunities at Catholic churches in and near Gentilly. For a complete list of local fish fries, see the archdiocese website. ST. GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL Where:...

26/02/2022

Gentilly's own Krewe of Dreux has been marching on Samedi Gras for a half century. You can join the celebration, beginning at noon today.

Krewe of Dreux celebrates 50 years of parading through the streets of Gentilly today (Feb. 26). The eclectic walking krewe has paraded on the Saturday of Mardi Gras weekend and has since 1972. Krewe of Dreux’s 50th Anniversary Blowout begins...

22/02/2022

Edit: It's now safe to drink the water.

Boil-water advisory issued for Gentilly

The Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans has issued a precautionary boil water advisory for Gentilly. The affected areas are: Area 1 – Wright Rd, Lake Pontchartrain, Paris Ave, and I-10 in addition to the Oak Island Subdivision Area...

21/02/2022

From elaborate decorations honoring Mardi Gras Indians to simple floral accents, the Gentilly Krewe of House Floats is again bringing Carnival home. You can celebrate by just taking a walk around the block.

By Jesse Baum, Gentilly Messenger After over a year of uncertainty, Mardi Gras is back — and so is the grand innovation of colorful and creative house floats. From Wizard of Oz- inspired decorations to those honoring the traditions of...

30/01/2022

The Krewe of Nefertiti launches the Mardi Gras parade season tomorrow in New Orleans East.

The Krewe of Nefertiti will usher in the parade season Sunday (Jan. 30) in New Orleans East, rolling with the theme “2 Legit 2 Quit.” The all-female krewe’s 19 floats will celebrate 1990s music. It will be the second parade for...

24/01/2022

A new restaurant will be opening soon in Gentilly.

By Jesse Baum, Gentilly Messenger After eight years of serving Jamaican-Creole fusion cuisine out of a bright purple truck, Afrodisiac will soon open as a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Franklin Avenue in Gentilly. The owners, husband and wife Shaka and Caron...

09/01/2022

Allen Toussaint spent decades of his life in Gentilly, in his home on Robert E. Lee Boulevard and in the revered Sea-Saint recording studio on Clematis. Then the London Canal floodwall broke, destroying Toussaint's home and shuttering his studio.

More than six years after his death, the composer, performer and producer will grace a Gentilly street again -- when his name replaces that of Confederate military leader Robert E. Lee on the street where the beloved musician once lived.

The name of Confederate general and Virginia native Robert E. Lee will be removed from the prominent Gentilly and Lakeview boulevard and replaced with the name of influential musician and New Orleans native Allen Toussaint. Following the recommendation from the...

08/01/2022

SOUL has planted 469 trees in Pontchartrain Park so far, And the volunteers plan to keep planting through 2022.

By Jesse Baum, Gentilly Messenger The historic Pontchartrain Park neighborhood, once a cypress-tupelo forest, can now regain a healthy canopy, thanks to a Sustaining Our Urban Landscape (SOUL) initiative. Since Nov. 1, 2021, SOUL volunteers have planted 469 trees in...

30/12/2021

It's been a year like no other. Let's usher it out with a cocktail like no other.

By Kristine Froeba, opinion columnist Sugar cookie and candy cane martinis top the drinks menu at The Roosevelt. Hot toddies and mulled wine are the beverages of choice in holiday movies. And polls place good old-fashioned egg nog as the...

13/12/2021

Every vote counted in Saturday's election for the District D City Council seat. (And with a razor thing 60-vote margin, they will be counted again.) Our analysis shows that strong support in early voting gave Eugene Green a boost.

By Sharon Lurye, Gentilly Messenger There are nailbiters, and then there was the District D City Council runoff. Eugene Green beat Troy Glover in the election on Saturday (Dec. 11), but only by the slimmest of margins. The tightest local...

27/11/2021

Better watch out, Gentilly. Krampus is coming to town.

On Saturday (Dec. 4), “Krampus NOLAuf: Alpine Dreams on Krampus Lane” will offer a darker perspective on the Christmas holidays at the New Orleans Recreational Development Commission facility at 5420 Franklin Ave. The event is based on a tradition out...

11/11/2021

Happy Veterans Day to Lawrence Brooks, 112. The Central City resident is the nation's oldest living World War II veteran.

  Central City resident Lawrence Brooks, the nation’s oldest living World War II veteran at 112, is back at his home after a recent stay at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a few nights in the intensive care unit. When his daughter and caregiver, Vanessa Brooks, was notified of his impendi...

08/11/2021

The Dillard Wetlands will let New Orleanians experience a piece of the deep, damp forest that once lined the city.

By Jesse Baum, Gentilly Messenger The 27-acre wooded area near the Dillard University campus is a rare patch of uncultivated land in a city that has, for centuries, grown around it. Its groves are thick with invasive species such as...

24/10/2021

Artist Dawn DeDeaux lives and works in a Gentilly compound called Camp Abundance. "I love my quirky neighborhood," she says, "my large garden, my cats, rooster and myriad other creatures who just showed up on their own years ago."

By Sue Strachan, Gentilly Messenger New Orleans is a city of immersion, be it in the culture or as part of the constant battle against water. To fully understand the city and its citizens, experiencing this immersion is essential. Artist...

01/10/2021

Homegrown Pizza was fresh and thoroughly local. It will be missed.

By Marielle Songy, Gentilly Messenger Homegrown Pizza, a favorite mom-and-pop pizza spot in the Gentilly area, at 1625 Elysian Fields announced in a Facebook post on Thursday (Sept. 30) that it is closing its doors. “It is with a heavy...