Neighbours in Gentilly have had enough of empty house

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The city of New Orleans is slapping a homeowner with more fines for his vacant property, and neighbors say they’ve had enough. They’ve fought for years to get the house cleaned up and put back on the market.

“The owner is doing his best. But it’s just not where it belongs. It’s not habitable, it’s empty,” said neighbor Kenya Harry.

Sixteen months after our first Fox 8 Defenders report on a Gentilly home on Cartier Avenue, some changes have been made.

The broken windows are now covered with plywood and “No Trespassing” signs have been put up. A ditch around the house that was collecting water is now filled in. A recent building code enforcement hearing prompted some of these changes.

The owner, Larry Taylor Jr., was found guilty by the city’s building inspectorate of blatantly violating codes on his property and was fined.

Neighbor Hillary Honor said: “I just want him to get things sorted out and move in.”

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After our first Fox 8 Defenders report, building inspectors and then-principal Thomas Mulligan visited the house for the first time. We detailed the frustration of neighbor Kenya Harry, who lived next door to the vacant property for years.

“This is pretty bad, and that’s why we need to see immediate action from the owner,” Mulligan said in April 2023.

At the time, Mulligan expressed concern about the open ditch, saying: “The standing water – you see flies and mosquitoes everywhere – especially when there are children around.”

So he gave Taylor a deadline to repair the property.

“I think six months is a reasonable time to see progress,” Mulligan said.

Taylor, who purchased the property in 2021, told us last year that financing the property’s renovation was an issue.

“I have a family member with me. We’re just taking our time with it,” Taylor said in April 2023.

Through tears, Taylor said, “I want to finish it. I want to finish it.”

After our stories, Harry said, Fox 8 viewers showed up on the street and offered help.

“A lot of people would just come by and ask how they could get in touch with him and stuff like that. But then after about a month, it seemed like it died down. And as it died down, the activity in the house died down too,” Harry said.

In June 2024, the city fined Taylor again for lack of progress. He paid more than $1,000 in fines and boarded up the broken windows. But the house still stands unfinished.

“That’s not enough,” said Harry. “That’s not enough, something has to be done.”

Despite her frustration, Harry said she and others have tried to find financial support for Taylor.

“We have reached out to various resources to see what is available in town to perhaps help him get the ball rolling on the property,” she said.

However, she says they have not found an organization that will help him finish the house, so she and other neighbors say the wait for the cleanup and the property to be livable continues.

“We just stay hopeful, that’s all we can do,” Honor said. “All we can do in New Orleans is stay hopeful.”

The city explains that the house is currently undergoing construction work and therefore cannot be classified as dilapidated or a public nuisance and is therefore not a candidate for demolition.

We tried to contact Larry Taylor Jr., but his phone numbers are no longer available.

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