French Quarter street performer Uncle Louie strides still

New Orleans still-life artist and street performer Uncle Louie poses in his signature stride on Royal Street in the French Quarter on January 31, 2014. But beneath the stillness is the mind of an artist, striving for perfection.That's the discovery we've made thanks to NOLA.com readers, who nominated Uncle Louie last month for our feature "Which New Orleans street performer should we meet?" (Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

The New Orleans Police Department announced it will reopen the Royal Street pedestrian mall, nearly three weeks after it shut down the popular French Quarter tourist attraction following the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.

The pedestrian mall will resume its normal daily hours of operation - 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. - starting Saturday (Dec. 5), police spokesman Tyler Gamble said, hours after the closure was first reported.

The city code allows the "superintendent of police (to) make and enforce temporary or experimental regulations to cover emergencies or special conditions, which may remain in effect for up to 190 days," Gamble said, adding that the closure was always meant to be short term.

That wasn't clear to street musicians and performers, however, since the city and police department never provided them with any information or included them in the discussions, said Ethan Ellestad with the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans. One day the pedestrian mall was open and the next it was closed, he said.

"It shows a lack of respect for musicians and street performers who depend on this to make a living that this was done unilaterally without any public input," Ellestad said.

For the past several decades, the NOPD has closed Royal Street for five hours every day, allowing the thoroughfare to become a pedestrian mall where musicians, magicians and mimes perform for thousands of visitors.

Two days after the attacks in Paris, the NOPD ended the practice as part of an "updated security plan," Gamble said.

"The decision was made to ensure first responders can travel through the French Quarter as quickly as possible in the event of an emergency," Gamble said, shortly before announcing the mall would reopen Saturday. "We are monitoring the effects of the plan and will continue to make adjustments as necessary."

Ellestad said that he doesn't completely buy the police department's explanation and thinks that the temporary closure could have been part of an effort to permanently close the pedestrian mall

"It doesn't seem like this came from the (Landrieu) administration or the council," he said. "I believe this was done by a small group of people trying to circumvent the public process in an attempt to shut down the pedestrian mall. If there is another reason I would certainly love to hear it."

Bob Simms, head of the security task force with the French Quarter Management District, said that several people at a recent meeting suggested eliminating the pedestrian mall. They said that reopening the thoroughfare to traffic might help scare away the "street people" who loiter on Royal Street and "make a nuisance of themselves by aggressively soliciting," Simms said.

There was also a handful of business owners along Royal Street who proposed shutting down the mall because it wasn't good for business, but it was never part of a serious discussion, he said.