Ragin' Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans defended accusations that he's taking too long to clean up the Big Easy a year after Hurricane Katrina - by taking a cheap shot at New York's recovery from 9/11.
During a tour of the decimated Ninth Ward in New Orleans, the outspoken, blunt and sometimes profane Nagin invoked Ground Zero when a TV reporter pointed out a street that still has flood-damaged cars and a house washed partially into it.
"That's all right," Nagin told the correspondent in an interview that will air Sunday night on "60 Minutes."
"You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed and it's five years later. So let's be fair."
Ray Nagin has allegedly angered many over his hole in the ground comments. While I dont think his comments were tactful. I don't think its the big deal its about to become. The point here is however long it is taking to rebuild the WTC site, it should definitely NOT take as long in New Orleans. I know New Orleans is a larger task, but people need to get back to their homes. Ray Nagin should be using the WTC site as an example of how NOT to handle the tragedy in New Orleans. Furthermore, comparisons are not going to get the job done. And neither is focusing on his comments.
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New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Nagin is sorry man
BY MICHAEL McAULIFF
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Monday, August 28th, 2006
WASHINGTON — With the anniversary of his own city's tragedy coming tomorrow, loudmouthed New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is apologizing for calling Ground Zero a "hole in the ground."
"I am sorry for that because I have seen death in my own city," Nagin said yesterday.
Nagin, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," said he was just trying to counter critics on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's anniversary by pointing to another American disaster site that has not been rebuilt.
"After 9/11, we sent trucks, we sent resources, we sent food. We prayed for New York," Nagin said. "When we had Katrina, they reciprocated. So I understand what they've gone through, and I hope they understand . . . what we've gone through."
Nagin says he wishes he had chosen different words to describe Ground Zero.
"I wish I would have basically said that it was an undeveloped site, which it is," he said.
But Nagin did not escape criticism yesterday for the slow pace of work in his city, including some from Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a fellow Democrat, who called his performance "hit and miss."
"We've all made mistakes," Landrieu said on ABC's "This Week." "But he's not stayed focused on the job at hand."
Among other things, Nagin has been slammed for failing to get people out of the city during the storm and doing a poor job getting the city back on its feet.
But Nagin and Landrieu both said the city would be doing better if the federal government had not failed so dismally. Landrieu said a major problem was that of the $110 billion President Bush authorized to help after the storm, only about 12% has gotten down to the local level.
Donald Powell, the President's appointee overseeing Gulf Coast reconstruction, said on "Fox News Sunday" that New Orleans has a long way to go, but its port has been rebuilt, tourism is back and the energy industry is roaring.
"We still have a long way to go, but the President's in it for the long haul," he said.
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