New Orleans takes first steps towards normality after terrorist attack

Less than 48 hours later of the Wednesday morning attack in the iconic French Quarter area of their city, New Orleanians are trying to find a way to move forward.

It’s something they’ve had to do countless times in the 307-year history of the so-called Crescent City. In the past two decades alone, residents and businesses have recovered from a series of disasters, including an unprecedented oil spill, being one of the country’s first coronavirus hotspots during the pandemic, and, of course, hurricanes. Ida and Katrina.

This most recent incident, labeled a terrorist attack by the FBI, took place at 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day when Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen, plowed a white van down three blocks of Bourbon Street, killing at least 14 people and seriously injuring many more.

As the city mourns, local restaurateur Ralph Brennan believes his fellow citizens will react in their uniquely New Orleans way: with defiance in the face of a challenge and love for their shared home.

“We’ve been through this before with COVID and Katrina,” he said. One of Brennan’s restaurants, Red Fish Grill, is at ground zero in Wednesday’s attack. It was allowed to reopen with the rest of Bourbon Street on Thursday afternoon.

“Every time there is a disaster,” Brennan continued, “our goal is to get back as quickly as possible. We want to show the world that New Orleans is safe and that this tragedy is just a small detail in the history of one of the most special cities. of the planet”.

Processing grief

At the corner of Canal and Bourbon streets the first thing you’ll notice are journalists, police officers, traffic barriers and caution tape. A closer look reveals a city cautiously determining how to proceed. A jazz trumpeter plays the national anthem nearby. Employees of a neighborhood restaurant hand out free meals to emergency teams. Visitors pass by on their way to the Sugar Bowl, postponed until Thursday because of the attack.

But it’s not just about the city center. In every corner of New Orleans, residents are struggling with trauma.

Tom Ramsey is a former city chef who now supports mass catering efforts in the aftermath of disasters and along the US-Mexico border. He woke up Wednesday morning to dozens of missed calls and text messages asking if he was okay.

“I didn’t know what they were talking about until I checked the news and saw what happened,” Ramsey said.

His first reaction was to contact everyone he knew who was in the French Quarter that night.

“Then, finally, everyone was accounted for,” Ramsey said. “I looked at my wife, covered my face with my hands and cried, the kind of crying that makes my chest rise and make sounds. I hadn’t felt the kind of pain I felt for New Orleans at that moment since I was in New York on September 11.”

Persistent trauma

Mental health experts like Erin Stevens, executive director of Ellie Mental Health Louisiana in New Orleans, said she worries that residents, with so much past trauma, may have a difficult time dealing with this event.

“When you’ve already experienced significant trauma, it can cause you to feel new and future stressors more intensely,” she said. “I’m especially worried about people who are isolated, who don’t have a support system.”

However, Stevens says that if managed correctly, past trauma can equip people to handle future stressors more effectively, because resilience is something that is built.

Some New Orleanians appear to have learned lessons from past challenges. For example, several mental health professionals decided to help their community by offering free mental health services. And Allison Bullach, a local photographer, is offering free photos to anyone who donates blood to support the victims of the attack.

“I think we just want to find our way to help,” Bullach told VOA, “and I had read that donating blood for victims was an important need.”

“I’m only one person,” he continued, “but if I can find a way to encourage three, four or five more people to help, then I should do it.”

Must the show go on?

The past year has been huge for New Orleans tourism. In addition to a successful Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, 2024 visitor numbers increased thanks to a three-day stop on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

The start of 2025 looked equally promising. The Sugar Bowl, Super Bowl LIX and the Carnival season culminating in Mardi Gras are big news for a local economy that relies heavily on tourism.

As a result, the timing of the attack is a concern for Crescent City businesses.

“Of course, it hurts to have to close during one of our busiest times of the year,” said Brennan, owner of Red Fish Grill. “We understand why it was necessary, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

“But what really worried me,” he added, “is how this affects tourism heading into Carnival and Super Bowl season. New Orleans businesses depend on tourism from these big events.”

However, for some businesses, every day matters. After a tough December, that’s definitely the case for Tara Francolini, owner of Francolini’s, a popular sandwich shop.

“More than anything, I want to give our staff a day to grieve for their city,” he told the VOA. “But the losses we suffered in December were tremendous, and we need… a stable business so we can do basic things like pay our bills and our employees. I worry that staying open will lessen the atrocities felt by the victims’ families, and “It all makes me feel like a horrible human being.”

Resilience, a word loaded with meaning

On Wednesday night, less than 24 hours after the attack, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry dined in the French Quarter, just steps from Bourbon Street. He posted a photo from outside the restaurant, a message to potential visitors that this “resilient city,” as he and so many others call it, was safe and “open for business.”

The word “resilient” seems to be associated with the city every time there is a disaster. Many residents identify with it, proof that they can recover from anything.

Increasingly, however, some say the term is allowing leaders to get away with their mistakes. One of those critics is Andrew Stephens, owner of Sports Drink, a coffee shop in the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans.

“They call us resilient after shirking their responsibilities to the public,” Stephens said, “it’s pandering. I don’t want us to be resilient. I want us to be safe.”

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