Original subtitles

A hot dog war in the French Quarter.

How does a hot dog business war make it all the way

to the United States Supreme Court?

I mean, seriously?

There are not a lot of hot dog vendor cases

that reach the Supreme Court.

I mean, it was nonsense.

Typical New Orleans, you know, skulduggery.

There is no constitutional right to economic equality.

Most people are full of shit.

This city is not a small business place.

We have no idea how much we are depriving.

Why are we not scrutinizing why Lucky Dog is the only business

in the French Quarters?

I guess, you know, Lucky Dog got lucky.

Somebody must have paid, paid somebody, obviously.

I would imagine that there was certainly some corruption involved.

New Orleans has an earned reputation for corruption.

This is the typical legislative chicanery that goes on in New Orleans.

Their luck needs to be changed.

We still have a chance worth fighting.

To be in the ballgame.

Open the playing field up for everybody.

I just want a legal, honest living.

Let's get these bastards. They can't be doing this again.

I see the hot dog.

Dirty dogs, dirty dogs.

Dirty dogs, dirty dogs.

We'll hear arguments next in 74-775.

New Orleans against Nancy Dukes.

Without rolls.

Mr. Chief Justice, may it please the court?

And the question grandfather clause is,

in this case, illustrative of the desire not to favor any particular business,

but to maintain only those features which, over the years,

have become landmarks in the area of the City of New Orleans.

Over 260 years, not to suggest that Lucky Dogs has been there that long,

but all of the features,

the sum total of the functional and physical part of the French Quarter.

The statue itself, and I reiterate,

establishes a monopoly for a lucky business that is Lucky Dogs.

It gives no opportunity to anyone else to provide a hot dog which is better,

able to promote the charm and beauty of the Vieux Carré

if you would assume that a hot dog can somehow or other

promote the charm and beauty of the Vieux Carré.

I have the opinion and judgment for the Court to announce in 74-775,

City of New Orleans against Dukes.

And for reasons stated in an opinion for the Court

filed with the clerk this morning,

the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals

for the Fifth Circuit is reversed,

and the case is remanded to that Court for further proceedings

consistent with this opinion.

Hi. My name is Alicia Renee, aka Blue Eyes.

I'm a female vocalist slash bandleader

right here in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

And man, do I have a story to tell you?

New Orleans, late 1940s.

Many New Orleanians are still enjoying the post-war glow,

while others are still dealing with the negative impact

of Plessy versus Ferguson.

In that case, which originated here in New Orleans

and was heard in 1896,

our Supreme Court Justices, the apex of arbiters

decided it was okay for segregation and Jim Crow to exist.

In 1948, brothers Steve and Joe Loyacano see an untapped market:

the drunk and very hungry revelers,

leaving the many bars in the French Quarter.

They decide to open their first Lucky Dog's hot dog cart

in the iconic neighborhood.

The push cart is an immediate success,

spurring them to expand the business.

New Orleans writer, John Kennedy Toole,

became fascinated with these carts

and later immortalizes them in his great American novel,

A Confederacy of Dunces.

Ignatius Reilly, the slobbering-my main character

with a penchant for emitting bodily sounds,

works as a Lucky Dog's type seller in the Quarter

for a company called Paradise Vendors.

However, he was not very good at it,

as he ate more hot dogs than he sold.

Today, there is a statue of Ignatius on Canal Street in New Orleans.

If you listen closely, you can hear him belch.

After the death of his brother, Steve Loyacano sells Lucky Dogs

to local businessman, Doug Talbot in 1970.

In January 1972,

Nancy Duke starts her own hot dog cart business in the Quarter.

Under the title, Louisiana Concessions.

My name is James A, otherwise known as Jimmy Dukes.

And that was my mother. Nancy Duke's was my mother, of course.

The big thing was when the French Quarter opened up.

But you know how all the big cities in the country all want to develop

their old downtown districts?

When New Orleans was getting into that phase as well,

they created Vieux Carré Commission,

and the commission was in charge of protecting the Albion

an atmosphere of the French Quarter.

And so they blocked off streets. That was the first thing.

They blocked off lots of streets.

They are probably are still blocked off in the Quarter

and turned it into pedestrian area.

So all the people would come out on Saturdays and Sundays,

had juggling acts and bands, musical groups.

It was almost like carnival atmosphere.

And my mother decided that she wanted to get in on it.

And so then she had this cart built.

It was actually a cold drink cart, and they had hot dogs on the side.

But it was a big wooden icebox.

And you know how they have coke, you can buy it in the dispensers,

but they had the canisters across the bottom to stay in cold,

and they fill it with ice.

And they'd set up this thing, and it was on big rubber tires.

You could roll it right into the site.

Didn't need any electricity or anything, and they were selling coke and hot dogs.

You could have both.

In April 1972, the New Orleans City Council,

which to put it mildly, was not diverse,

establishes an ordinance that bans all push cart vendors

in the French Quarter.

The exception being two businesses that had operated in the Quarter

for more than eight years.

One is a small ice cream vendor.

The other is Lucky Dogs.

They are allowed under the ordinance's grandfather clause.

I was contacted and asked to draft an ordinance

that regulated street vending in the French Quarter.

My name is Joel Loeffelholz.

In the early 70s, I was the lawyer for the City of New Orleans

and handled the case of New Orleans versus Dukes

all the way up from district court, appellate court, and the Supreme Court,

and argued before the Supreme Court that case.

Branching up behind the ordinance was kind of simple.

The French Quarter of Vieux Carré, it's what a lot of people call it,

is a very unique area in any city in America,

and with its great tourist attraction.

Back in the early 70s,

it was the economic engine that drove the city's economy.

That was then the years where condominiums

were sprouting up all over, in Arizona, California.

You could buy time-shares at the beginning of those industries.

So there were a lot of vendors of that type of thing.

They were harassing tourists.

It was really getting to be a problem.

We would do a lot of complaints.

So I drafted the ordinance to say no street vending in the area

bounded by certain boundaries, which is the French Quarter.

No street vending of any kind, period.

But then we carved out an exception

for two particular street vendors.

One is, the name of the company is Lucky Dogs,

and Lucky Dogs was established, if my mind serves me correctly,

sometime in the late forties.

It's very unique and very distinctive little carts.

They look like hot dogs.

So we carved out two exceptions,

mainly because in our estimation, that's what I came up with,

and this was a truth,

that both of those companies are institutions and the man

had become part and parcel of the charm of the French Quarter.

There's an ordinance in the city and the world.

And the way they couch it is we want to preserve our lifestyle, our culture,

and the beauty of the French Quarter.

And therefore, we will not have any street vendors

that are not in place before a certain period of time.

That sounds great.

Until you realize that the effect of it is that there's only going to be

one street vendor allowed,

which is a hot dog group named Lucky Dog.

It just had to have been political.

Now, you asked me, did I know that? No, I don't know that.

Look how the thing came out.

If city council, without a whole lot of debate of any kind at all,

adopted an ordinance that gave it to one monopoly,

which happened to be their main competitors,

and which told them you have got to leave, or I'm going to arrest you.

The emergence of Nancy Duke's cart did not sit well with Doug Talbot.

He hated the idea of a competing hot dog cart.

That would cut into his bottom line.

Did he decide to bribe certain city council members

to do something about this?

We will never know for sure, as there is no paper trail.

She firmly believed until the day she died that, yes.

Somebody had taken money, and they worked for Lucky Dog.

I would imagine that there was certainly some corruption involved

where in New Orleans,

New Orleans has quite a reputation and an earned reputation for corruption.

I mean, it's not a secret that plenty of governors have been imprisoned,

subsequent to leaving power.

Our mayor, from a few mayors' back, did go to federal prison afterward.

New Orleans is known for four things:

outstanding food and drink, great music, ghost, and political corruption.

While every major city in state has its own share of scandal,

political corruption in Louisiana is so blatant

that it actually has an almost romantic feel to it.

And the ghosts are everywhere.

Somebody must have paid, paid somebody, obviously.

They couldn't have just decided they needed to improve the atmosphere

of the Quarter by eliminating everybody else.

The law is created under the guise

to protect the integrity of the Quarter.

Anyone who has been to the Quarter knows it lacks the pristine elegance

of the city's garden district.

In fact, the Quarter's history of grittiness is well known

and part of its appeal.

If you want an elegant and clean French Quarter,

go visit Disneyland,

where such a place exists as the theme area,

full on and square.

Then as I understand that everybody is in titles that equal protection of the law.

Now, obviously there are exceptions to that.

You can, in some cases, discriminate against people,

but you've got to come up with some objective criteria

for why you want to do that,

and you've got to come up in some way,

where other people can comply with that criteria.

Lord, you've got to come up with the criteria people can meet.

If you're going to say you want to protect the Quarter,

well then you can limit the number of carts.

You can dictate how they look.

You can dictate all the different in order to grant them a license,

but you can't just say you can't come.

Under any circumstances, can you come?

And to me, that was pretty clear,

and it should be pretty clear for almost anybody.

For 50 years, this ordinance has denied independent food vendors

the right to operate a push cart in the Quarter,

and we spoke to a number of them.

My name is Chef Scott, Nola Foods, DBH Chef Scott Creole Barbecue,

and we got a couple of food trucks in a new location

that we just opened a brick and mortar.

Were you aware that your vending food company is not allowed

to sell food in the French Quarter?

Yeah. But, I mean, it's like,

I'm aware that politicians aren't supposed to steal either.

So it happens.

Can you please tell the people your name as well as the name of your company?

I am Pedro Alcaide,

and my food business is Taqueria El Poblano.

We sell authentic Mexican food.

How long have you been in business?

We started a couple of months after Katrina,

beginning in 2006 time.

So were you aware that there's only one street food cart vendor

allowed in the French Quarter?

As of right now, I did not know.

For 50, last 50 years?

Since the 1970s,

basically, it's been taken all the way to the Supreme Court

where was only one food cart street vendor allowed in the French Quarter,

which basically sort of has a monopoly.

I just would like to know if things changed,

and you were allowed to have your food cart in the French Quarter.

How would that change you, your family, the business, personally and financially

if you were allowed to sell your,

bring your business into the French Quarter.

So if they allowed it, I think financially, would help a lot.

There's lot more tourists,

a lot more people wanting to try authentic foods

and, you know, I think it would be a fair chance

for everybody to make their money fair.

So here is Nancy Dukes,

an honest, hardworking businesswoman,

booted from the French Quarter.

Along with everyone else with the food push carts,

aka food street carts,

street food carts,

and simply push carts.

Popular all over the planet,

these carts are one of the oldest takeout devices in the world.

The ACLU heard about it,

and decided that this was a case that merited their in intervention.

And so they actually approach her with it.

You know, they said this is a constitutional question

that needs to be resolved,

and it's illegal, it's unconstitutional.

So they, as I understand it, they approached her and said,

we will take it to the federal court for you

because even though she made a good living,

she didn't have the resources to take this battle alone.

We found that Miss Nancy Dukes' rights were violated,

in particular, her 14th Amendment rights,

under the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

And essentially what that says is that each and every person

should have the same rights under the law,

and that I shouldn't be treated differently than anyone else,

certainly not based upon, you know, skin color, religion,

race, things of that nature.

And in this particular instance,

this ordinance that the city council passed created a difference

between Nancy Dukes and the Talbot family.

Just based on this grandfather clause,

it said that the Talbot's would preserve the charm of the city,

whereas Missus Dukes would not,

and that's really arbitrary.

In Nancy Dukes' case,

we've really found that she deserved to have representation.

On behalf of Miss Dukes, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU,

files a lawsuit against the city of New Orleans.

This particular case was heard on summary judgment.

And that's a mechanism in Louisiana in which attorneys can request the court,

look at the merits of the case without actually having a full-blown trial.

And the attorneys submit briefs,

they can submit documentary evidence with their brief,

but there's no live testimony, and there's no formal trial process.

Nancy Dukes lost on summary judgment in the federal district court of appeals.

At this point, the ACLU brings in their top dog to take over the case.

Oh, these people are full of shit.

They're just crapping on themselves and enjoying their own stink.

I'm Joseph Neves Marcal III.

I was, at that time,

General Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union for Louisiana,

and I'm the lawyer who took up the Nancy Dukes case

from the Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals

and followed through to the United States Supreme Court

where I'd always believe that it should have never gone.

The grandfather clause of the City of New Orleans,

which enabled, which established a franchise

by its very language, for Lucky Dog hot dog vendors.

Was it a crock of shit?

That's it. I mean, it was nonsense.

Typical New Orleans, you know, skulduggery.

That's standard operating procedure for New Orleans City Council.

They are despicable.

And the Fifth Circuit doesn't have a trial,

they're simply making a decision based on the record coming from the lower court.

So the district court's record is going to the Fifth Circuit.

They're reviewing what's in that record.

They don't have a whole another trial.

They'll hear oral argument from the attorneys involved,

but they don't get to hear testimony from the parties

or any potential witnesses.

Joe Marcal argues the case

in front of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

He emerges victorious,

but it's sets off a chain of dubious legal events.

This was a very important opportunity for Miss Dukes in the Fifth Circuit,

the three-judge panel ruled in her favor,

and they actually did something called remanding the case

back down to the Federal District Court.

So they sent it back. They just said, You know what?

You all got this wrong.

They really did believe Miss Dukes.

They did believe her rights were violated, so they said you need to do it.

You need to do this over.

At that time, the City of New Orleans had an option.

It could go back, and that, try to rehash it.

But that was going to be unsuccessful.

District Court is not going to go,

run rough shot over a Fifth Circuit Court of opinion.

So what they did is an unusual procedure:

it's the misdemeanor ordinance

on the basis that the city has a right of appeal

to the United States Supreme Court,

and this right of appeal is very seldom granted.

It's not a writ of certiorari.

We claimed that we filed an appeal to the Supreme Court

saying that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction.

Did not expect to win.

It really just bought us the 90 days to reform the ordinance

the way the Fifth Circuit, who had reversed the lower court,

directive us to do.

Then I get the notice that the city's going to apply for an appeal

and said, "This is bullshit."

There are not a lot of hot dog vendor cases

that reach the Supreme Court,

it just in general takes a lot to get a case to the Supreme Court.

I'm sitting in the office, get a telephone call,

and this guy with a clipped British accent,

whatever his name was from Reuters News Agency.

I'm thinking to myself, yes, one of my buddies is screwing around.

I said, "Who the hell is this? You're just kidding around."

"No. I'm really from Reuters.

The Supreme Court just accepted your writ. We'd like a statement."

I said, "What? Are you kidding me?"

I remember where I was standing.

I was standing in this building in the hallway

where the secretary was at that time.

I said, "These son of a bitches

they're going to overturn the Fifth Circuit."

Because why else would any court take up this nonsense?

It was over with.

Why are you giving them the right to come here and overturn it?

I was convinced they wouldn't overturn.

I set out to do what I could

and remind them of Morey v. Doud.

The view that my mother had in her view was that there had to be something

going on while the city would really even consider it that important to do.

It just seemed crazy that the city was now going to defend this ordinance

that they had passed at somebody's behest

and then he took it all over to the US Supreme Court.

Who would think?

I became a lawyer much later than that, but I know equal protection.

I know that this doesn't pass any kind of muster.

Some at the Supreme Court

were also skeptical about the validity of the case.

Justice Lewis Powells clerk,

David R. Boyd had this to say,

"It's not a very important case.

In any event, the Vieux Carre is a zoo,

and the addition of a few more hot dog vendors

will only make life for fat people like me easier."

Just as Powell himself found the case to be questionable,

"Taking a look at the briefs, among the worst I've ever seen."

Powell finished by stating, "The city's chamber of commerce

argument with respect to the preservation of the atmosphere

of the Vieux Carre is not impressive."

This case meant every standard for the Supreme Court to accept it

for hearing or decision.

The Supreme Court probably accepts less than 3% of the cases

that are brought to it to hear.

Most of the time the United States Supreme Court

just declines to hear the cases.

If they declined to hear a case,

that means that the ruling of the Fifth Circuit

or whatever circuit that's decided the case at the appeal level would stand.

If the United States Supreme Court denied this case,

or decided not to hear it,

that means that Ms. Dukes would have won.

Wow!

But the United States Supreme Court stepped in.

Into this case about a tiny little hot dog stand

in the city of New Orleans,

and so you really wonder why would they do that?

Really, this is about a much larger issue

of antitrust law and monopoly, essentially.

This case doesn't spread the constitutional muster.

The grandfather ordinance was legal and passed muster.

We'll hear arguments next in 74-775.

New Orleans against Nancy Dukes.

Loeffelholz.

Mr. Chief Justice, may I please the court?

I was a young lawyer at the time.

I was thrilled and I was nervous, though,

to argue before the highest court in the land.

Lucky Dogs, they have more than one of these carts?

I believe they have about 17 or 18. They definitely have more than one.

- Is it a corporation or a- - Yes, sir, it is a corporation.

Likely to be there quite a long time

if it has a legislative monopoly, isn't it?

It's been there 22 years and you're correct

when you say it may be a legislative monopoly

in so far as hot dog vendors are concerned.

What about this other vendor, the ice cream?

He may be out of business.

You can look at it through a prism of what is a rational basis?

What is the state talking about?

Okay, keeping the number of push carts out of the French Quarter

may be a rational basis.

But the ordinance didn't restrict the number of push carts

in the French Quarter.

Hi. My name is Big John Mason.

If you live in Southeast Louisiana,

you may be familiar with my radio show, the originally named Big John Mason Show.

Right here live on WGSO 990 AM,

the most conservative talk radio show in Greater New Orleans area.

Personally, I'm going to say,

"Hey. Who are you to criticize the Supreme Court?"

This one seemed wrongly decided.

Alexander Hamilton, if he had been in the court,

and so far he was prone to enter duels,

he might have jumped up and challenged that whole panel

of the United States Supreme Court justices to a do duel.

Because that was the basis of Alexander Hamilton,

the Tea Party in the revolution.

You're not going to legislate for us.

We decide what legislation applies.

Alexander Hamilton

proverbial spinning in his grave about this one.

I don't think that any ordinance, any city council,

any state legislature,

can simply decide that it is going to favor one man

over another person for no other reason other than desides to favor him.

Now, I suspect that the City Council,

I feel that the City Council only had one purpose,

and it was not to promote the charm and beauty of the Vieux Carré.

It was simply to favor Lucky Dogs.

Without that grandfather clause,

you're going to have some serious problems with our local economy

if we allow all of these street vendors and people that are harassing tourists.

We can't do that.

Grandfather clauses essentially are ways to preserve power.

There are ways for people who have power, who have wealth to prevent other people

from gaining access to it

and also to ensure that they don't have to compete.

I don't think that you could simply eliminate them from the streets

in favor of one person that had been there merely for 8 years.

Can you eliminate them entirely?

I would think so if they desired, but you cannot

have this type of discriminatory scheme.

But you could eliminate them step by step, couldn't you?

Subject to certain regulations, I would think reasonable regulations.

We are going to eventually phase out all pushcart dealers.

We're going to start with the ones who've been in business the least,

the shortest length of time in order to minimize the upset.

This year, these people go out of business,

next year, some other people.

Finally, in 5 years, everyone's going to be out of this.

Finally, in 5 years, everyone's going to be out of this.

The Supreme Court doesn't necessarily just look at the facts and the record.

When they're hearing the oral argument from the attorneys,

there's an implication made in the oral argument that these vendors

will be retiring soon, and so there would be no vendors,

except what we know is, the actual result is

it protected one vendor and created a monopoly.

Wouldn't it be applicable, as applicable, if not more so,

if the street peddlers were all eliminated,

and you had no grandfather clause.

Isn't this the crux of your problem?

This is the crux of our problem, Mr. Justice Blackmun,

and as I would state, that it may well be in the regulatory scheme of things

that after Lucky Dogs and this other fellow

failed to qualify, go out of business or whatever,

there will be no peddlers in the French Quarter on the streets,

which we maintain we can constitutionally regulate.

Hold on.

These so-called smartest guys in the room were actually boneheads

when it came to business.

As we all know, and what the justices should have known,

there are three certain in life:

death, taxes, and monopolies never go out of business.

The Fifth Circuit decision was absolutely all fours in favor

of declaring the grandfather exception unconstitutional

on a basis of Morey v. Doud.

Which essentially says, "You cannot favor

one business over another business."

That came out of Illinois.

The state of Illinois decided that they were only going to allow American Express

because of their sterling record,

lack of chicanery to sell money orders

in the state of Illinois.

Of course, that left everybody else

who wanted to sell money orders out to dry.

The people who are offended by this and really damaged by this,

they took an appeal to the United States Supreme Court,

and Morey v. Doud came about.

The Supreme Court did what they usually do.

They'll take a relatively minor obscure issue, decide it,

and the effect of that is what they're really looking for as precedent.

That's why they overruled Morey v. Doud.

Because the ACLU lawyer

had relied on Morey v. Doud.

Morey v. Doud was a banking case that held

that interstate banking was not allowed.

It was only intrastate banking.

But by the time our case came up, from '52-'74,

20 years passed,

and things had changed in America.

Commerce had changed in America.

Morey v. Doud was not useful anymore because commerce was expanding,

and banks were expanding,

and lending was expanding, and the economy was expanding.

"I join the proposed opinion of the court overruling Morey v. Doud,

essentially, because I believe that case was wrongly decided

for the reasons expressed at the time by Justice Black, Frankfurter, and Harlen.

The political branches of government

must have wide scope in regulating commercial activity,

and whether the choices made by the city government here

are wise and sound, or to the contrary,

it is not the function of judges to reassess them on the basis

of the equal protection clause."

I'm wondering, do you think they decided to hear New Orleans v. Dukes

because they wanted to strike down Morey v. Doud?

Do you think the reason they did it?

I can't speculate on that, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

Whether it was or it wasn't, I'm glad for the outcome we got.

The Supreme Court didn't care about the ordinance

or the charm of the French Quarter.

All they cared about was striking down Morey v. Doud.

The little people of New Orleans be damned.

I have the opinion and judgment for the Court to announce in 74-775,

City of New Orleans against Dukes.

And for reasons stated in an opinion

for the Court filed with the clerk this morning

and the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals

for the Fifth Circuit is reversed and the case is remanded

to that Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

When I was notified of the Supreme Court's decision,

it was total happiness with everybody in our office.

I looked at it and it said, reversed.

I said, "Shit."

And I threw the damn thing across the room.

One of my law clerks went to the liquor store and bought,

what do you call fancy champagne, Dom Pérignon.

A big one. Not one of these little bottles.

They call them the Jeroboam, something like that.

It was 500 bucks or whatever he paid for it, and we had a party.

The secretary, Susan, picked and said,

"You better read it. You got to do something"

"I don't have to do shit. I'm angry."

Of course, Joe lived and breathed this whole case.

To him this was the most monumental earth-shattering experience

that had happened and he was beside himself.

Of course, he believed like most other people

that something happened that was crooked.

I think his favorite word and I learned it from him

and I still use it, chicanery.

Political chicanery must surely have occurred in order for this case

to have happened in the first place.

This is the typical legislative chicanery that goes on in New Orleans.

The American colonies...

I read about the king

and the parliament

favoring the United Kingdom businesses,

and at the same time disadvantaging the people in the colonies.

This is the same thing that would happen to Nancy Dukes.

Let's say Hancock is with Nancy Dukes,

John Hancock is with Nancy Dukes,

and then the city on the other side, the British Empire.

It's the same thing all over again.

The Tea Party they would be throwing hot dogs into Mississippi River.

It would be the great hot dog massacre, or whatever you want to call it,

and protesting to the king.

Upon hearing the Supreme Court had reversed the decision,

Fifth Circuit Judge Thomas G scolded Scotus,

and officially sanctioned weiner cartel is what she opined.

And officially sanctioned wiener cartel?

That's what I call a comedic gold mine.

The holding in City of New Orleans versus Dukes

is different than the Fifth Circuit holding, obviously.

The Fifth Circuit was applying the facts that were available to them,

and the facts that had already been presented to the District Court.

The Supreme Court looked at the oral arguments of the attorneys

and was making a decision based on imagined facts.

So for Ms. Dukes, I would imagine she probably felt

like she never really had her day in court.

She never got to sit on a stand and testify

and talk about how the city ordinance would have affected her.

Nancy Dukes never did get her day in court.

Nancy Dukes never had her day in court.

Yeah, that makes me really sad,

and I just learned that she passed too long ago,

but I'm hopeful that there are others who will take up this incredible fight,

the one that Nancy started.

My mother is from New Orleans, more or less,

they always complied with every city ordinance, always.

They paid city taxes, they paid all their money.

They weren't some outlaw outfit that was out there

hustling on the streets of New Orleans.

They were well-known, they had federal tax ID numbers,

they had a company, and they paid a good deal of money

to the city of New Orleans for the privilege of operating in that city.

That was a blow too.

Here you are, you've been in the city all your life,

but you only haven't been in the Quarter long enough.

Nancy Duke was my client.

She was a dignified lady.

The lady worked hard

to get the little bit that she had.

As a matter of fact, I'm not going to name any names,

but if you do a little research, I believe you'll find

that the hot dog vendor in question

is owned by a family of a prominent Jefferson Parish politician,

who definitely has a vested interest in keeping the concern going.

The Lucky Dogs guys that run it

now are the sons, and one of them is a state senator.

That's Kirk Talbot.

He is cracker jack and he's good government all the way.

He's no BS. He tells you like it is.

His people in his constituents love him.

Introduce yourself, tell us who you are, what you run,

and what are your job titles?

I'm Kirk Talbot from River Ridge.

My brother Mark and I own Lucky Dogs.

We've owned the business for 52 years.

My father bought the business after seeing an ad

in the Times, classified section in 1969.

We bought it from the original owners who started it in 1948.

Wow!

How many years have you been operating Lucky Dog?

Gosh, I guess 52 years.

Tell me, what is it, you're also a senator as well?

Yeah, I'm also a state senator.

I represent Harahan, Metairie, Kenner, and River Ridge

and Lafayette Park as well.

Do you run other businesses as well or just Lucky Dog?

Just Lucky Dog.

What is it like senator and a business owner?

It's challenging at times.

I have my brother pick up my slack than Baton Rouge

in the spring for session, but we found a way to make it work.

What is the secret of Lucky Dog? What has been the secret to success?

I don't know it's a combination of Pat O'Brien's hurricanes

or hand grenades, having a few of those, and then having one on Bourbon Street.

Maybe the way we steam them or some combination.

Monopolies are fantastic if you're the monopolist,

but if you're the consumer, they're not as good.

I'm guessing most people in America are consumers and not monopolists.

When you're talking about monopolies and you're talking about ensuring

that certain business interests are protected,

you're talking about big money, period, end of story.

It's what happens when you allow these monopolies

because you establish, in essence,

a fiefdom, a hot dog fiefdom,

and within that fiefdom they do as they like,

and they're not subject to a regulation except maybe health.

Didn't want the vendors to start spreading the mustard

with their fingers and things like that.

Then they take it upon themselves when the need arises,

they say, "You gave us this franchise,

but we've got to get around the Superdome,

we've got-

To get around central business district, and they extend the monopoly.

Once you have a rule in place, it is not difficult to take

one step further, one step further.

In fact, in politics, it's called shifting the paradigm.

Also happens in law a lot.

You have precedent, and then you build upon that precedent.

What happened in this case is once the ordinance was in place,

and it's accepted that the city council can do this in order to preserve beauty,

to preserve culture, history, heritage,

because you want to keep the French Quarter

looking like it was bad 1700,

then it's easy to extend it to other areas.

Why not the CBD?

That's the next crown jewel.

One, at the Superdome, we already have this room in place.

We can just extend it a little bit further out.

That is how you have ever-increasing encroachment

of restrictions on trade.

It's not only the people who enjoy the monopoly,

but the people who grant the monopoly.

It is all that unbridled power.

It lends itself to the the the old saw,

power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

It's the same damn thing.

Would you mind telling me your name and what you do, your business?

My name's Reggie Ford. I'm born and raised in New Orleans.

I'm an artist, and I also do community work in activism.

You seem to be fine and doing your thing

with your livelihood here in the French Quarter.

Have you noticed that there's only one street food cart vendor

in the French Quarter.

Yes.

You have? I have noticed.

The only food street cart vendor I noticed was Lucky Dogs throughout my entire life

and being in the French Quarters.

I've been hanging out here since 1988.

Let's just call it a food monopoly.

Lucky Dogs has become part and parcel of the charm

of the French Quarter and the CBD.

Wherever they were, tourists come,

they want to go get a Lucky Dog as part of the magnet to bring people here.

It's not the biggest thing. The buildings, etcetera, are.

But people that come here like to they have their Lucky Dog

late at night after they've been to the barrooms,

and they're walking back to their hotels.

They're part of New Orleans.

When people look at tourist magazines,

when people look at articles about New Orleans,

invariably, there's something about Lucky Dogs

and the charm of Lucky Dogs.

It's something unique. It really is.

I sound like a spokesman for Lucky Dogs, I'm not, but I'm just telling you

that's the reason that it was.

Monopolies just don't work.

When you give the means of setting the price,

setting the service, setting the quantity, you are always asking for trouble.

It's economics 101.

I think what you've done though, if you've granted a lifetime monopoly

to this company, by virtue of, you were here before,

so you get to stay, is kind of it.

That doesn't meet any constitutional criteria

of any kind at all.

It doesn't matter if you are a rich, uptown liberal,

a greedy, conservative small business owner

trying to make payroll,

it doesn't matter if you don't work,

it doesn't matter if you're a homeowner, it doesn't matter,

you pay the same price.

The politicians are always okay with this

because the city is getting its cut, or the state is getting its cut.

Unless you elect representatives that are willing to say,

"Hey, we're busting up the monopolies,"

it doesn't matter what party you're in, you're going to get soaked.

It's a cheat. It's a scam. It's a monopoly.

You're going to get one person the opportunity.

Whose hand here I have to shake or how much do you to pay to do that?

Because it's paid under the table.

Back then we wouldn't record this stuff

like we're digitally recording it right now.

It was a lot of back through things and back good deals going on,

and backyard handshakes and all that stuff back in the days.

We don't do business like that now.

Now they're scrutinizing everything.

Why are we not scrutinizing why Lucky Dog is the only business

in the French Quarters since 1972, 50 years,

but y'all not looking at the small business?

I don't care if I'm black, because guess what?

They got white vendors, they got Mexicans,

they got Haitians, they got other creole,

they got other cages, so it ain't just me.

It ain't just all about me being African-American.

It's about the equality for everybody.

Here in Louisiana and in New Orleans,

we have a very deep history to say the least,

going back 400 years of racial oppression

and that often takes place, especially these days, economically.

We see situations where usually white-owned businesses

have extreme advantages

and have shut off a lot of opportunity for minority-owned businesses

to get into the marketplace, wherever that may be.

I think this is a particularly acute example of that.

But the reason they've established the exclusivity was simply money.

That's all.

The economic ripple effect, if you would, is huge, and it's always ignored

when you're talking about monopoly.

You're talking about the loss of jobs, the loss of the spending in the community,

the tax that goes to the city and state.

Monopolies are literally a capitalism disaster.

This court case was 50 years ago.

This is 50 years of business that is pretty much unfettered.

People expected to see them when they came here.

Lucky Dogs had 22 carts on all the corners, and people loved them.

Not just the food.

Food was, I guess it was okay. I never had one.

To this day I've never had one.

Imagine a French Quarter where only one musical group

is allowed to do a performance.

A monopoly on music?

Now that would be wrong.

But so is this ordinance?

Tamales! Tamales!

The hot tamale man is a legendary street vendor in the French Quarter.

He even has his own mural.

Can I get it to tamale?

Yeah. What do you want, baby? Chicken or pork?

- Chicken. - I love your babies.

But he's also breaking the law

when he sells his delicious tamales in the Quarter.

I love you all my babies.

Baby, touch it, it's hot.

- It's hot. - It's hot tamale, baby. Hot tamales.

Yet still spreading the love.

Hot tamale, babies.

I love you all my ladies.

The more unrestricted competition you have,

and again, when I say unrestricted,

I'm not talking about letting the hot dog people

dump their water in the street,

I'm talking about minimally-regulated free enterprise,

the more choice the consumer is going to have,

and therefore, the more efficient the system is going to be.

Bottom line is, it shouldn't be a monopoly there.

We should have some open competition, and we fight for that every day also.

When you just have one vendor making the rules,

and all the rules in their way because no one else can compete,

they can get away with almost murder.

Competition means that you present what you have at your best

and others present what they have at their best,

and the people get to decide, right?

What was it? Competition.

Not our thing at all.

Why competition is downright [inaudible 00:47:52]?

I think you should allow for competition.

You should allow for other people.

Why can't I have a cart with beignets?

Why can't I have a cart with Kebabs?

They can be regulated.

They can have sanitary restrictions, of course.

But there is no reason why there's only one vendor allowed

in the French Quarter or in the Dome or in the CBD.

It's the beauty of competition, the better ideas come out.

Anything that restrains competition hurt the American way.

But I really do believe members that once we get the competition cranking up again,

I think is going to take care of itself.

Competition always favors the consumer because prices will go down.

Would you mind telling me your name and the name of your company?

I am Ericka Lassair with Diva Dogs Food Truck.

Would you like give me a little bit more information

about exactly what kind of cuisine?

It should be hard to tell

Diva Dog is a hot dog food truck.

Believe it or not, that specializes in New Orleans' creole style, hot dogs.

I have a raving chili dog topped with fried chicken,

I have a crawfish etouffee dog,

and I do a praline candy shake, crab meat, grilled cheesy,

crown up a pie bread pudding.

I just like to make people hungry when I'm talking about Diva Dog.

Yes, I'm hungry.

I always heard that there were only

a few people that were able to go in that were mobile food cart vendors.

Basically food cart vendors, not any even food trucks at all.

You said you were aware that a few were allowed to go in?

- Mm-hmm. Just maybe one. - Maybe one.

It's not a Lucky Dog, that's for sure.

It's not a high dog, a Diva Dog.

A Diva Dog, definitely.

I like to put New Orleans in your mouth. That's what I say.

Love it.

Are you surprised or shocked that we're in 2022,

and the monopoly basically still continues?

I'm not surprised because just from lawyer friends that I have,

I just know that Louisiana law is hard and it's hard to overturn,

it's hard to learn.

It's not shocking to me that is still the same.

No, it's not shocking to me at all.

I just know Louisiana historically liked to value things that's been here

for a long time,

which I appreciate in a way too,

because I want Diva Dogs to be that name

to where it's historically respected as well.

I guess, Lucky Dog got lucky.

They're in the French Quarter.

It will be nice to be able to come in.

It would be nice be able to... New companies open up.

There's one guy I see who has a hot dog stand,

and I think he stands on Martin Luther King and St. Charles.

That would be great for him to go down there because he has a cart.

I've been here for a very long time, and I've been down here quite a bit

and the food options are pretty lacking.

If you're talking about that I would love to see in the French Quarter,

it's cheap, quick, healthy food options.

Hot dogs are not something that I really eat very much.

I would love to see a Greek food cart.

Something with good bread and vegetables,

really is a thing that is pretty rare down here.

In this case, it appears to have created a system that really hurts the people

of New Orleans, the workers here,

and even the visitors who lack a choice.

When they come in, we're a big tourist town,

and that lack of choice

I think probably affects us as a whole, as the city, the people.

This one-size-fits-all buy from the company

we tell you you're buying from, it's not the American way.

It makes our system inefficient, it hurts consumer choice,

it's just bad.

If you buy my premise that free market capitalism

is what makes America great and by default, it is un-American.

There's not many options for us locals.

There's probably all sorts of booths you could have that would be so nice,

like Greek falafel.

Or God knows, you'd be like Genesis says,

you could do all sorts of things that would enhance the quality

of the French Quarter atmosphere so tremendously.

Instead, you got one old, worn out Lucky Dog wagon.

I wonder if they bought any new ones even.

Why bother if you got monopoly?

That whole area could really come to life with that sort of thing.

Are you aware that in 1976, the Supreme Court rubber stamp

the monopoly in regards to Lucky Dog,

and that's what keeps all the vendors outside of the French Quarter?

No. I wasn't aware of that.

I now think people should advocate

to have more inclusiveness in this process

so we could have a diverse selection of food

when we're walking up and down these sidewalks.

How do you feel allowing more than just one food cart vendor?

Street food cart vendor to be allowed to sell their food in the French Quarter,

how do you that would affect the community.

Do you think it could translate

into people having brick and mortar situations?

Yeah, I believe it could be done

because I've seen something similar happened

from a guy selling chicken out of a food truck,

now he have brick and mortar business all over the place,

and also vending in arenas at the NFL games and at the NBA game.

It's called We Dat's Chicken.

He started off small from right then a food truck.

Somebody could start at a street food vending

and then grow into brick and mortar

and then turn it into a Fortune 500 company.

The sky's the limit.

But you need to be able to get in the door from the ground up level,

and that's the perfect way

to invest into a small business and watch them grow.

Particularly, the tourists and a great number of the residents

of the French Quarter really like Lucky Dogs.

It really is a staple. That's a good way to put it.

The food options are very limited.

What would you like to see in the French Quarter if you could have?

What kind of food cart?

I would like burgers and barbecue.

I even would like some Mexican food or something like that.

Of course, New Orleans food,

I don't see that very often off the street.

You got to wait if all places are closed.

You can eat till the next day.

These vendors that would come in, if they would offer something nice

that you'd find appealing, now that would be...

Sushi bar would be great.

You could sit there and have a cold sake beer

and eat sushi or whatever floats your boat.

But to put those kind of vendors in there now

would make a lot of money for the city.

If you don't have a choice, If you don't have a real choice as a consumer,

you can be up the preferably polluted creek

without proper means of propulsion.

These Lucky Dog vendors are making like 16%

and their 1099 employees.

There's no protections.

To my understanding, they take their carts from the warehouse

all the way to the workplace, and that's all on their own nickel.

To us in a live moment, it's not fair.

We think people should be treated fairly, we think people should get a living wage.

We get paid commission plus tips.

If people are generous, then I can live.

I can live. I can live.

That oppressive labor practice, not paying people what they are owed,

that is created and catalyzed by a monopoly.

Back to Lucky Dog, all the things I just said about workman compensation,

unemployment benefits, and Social Security,

they get none of that if they're an independent contractor.

They'll be in that same shape that if they get hurt

in the workplace, no insurance.

If they decide to retire at that job at 65, 70 years old,

there's nothing in the pipe for Social Security.

I'm an independent contractor.

I do my 1099, I do my own taxes.

To learn that the folks who are working, doing the really difficult labor

of pushing these carts

and being out in the extremely oppressive New Orleans heat,

to learn that these folks are not making a livable wage is really shocking.

It should make all of us really, really concerned and even angry

that we would allow folks to labor and to really be able to benefit

from their labor with even a livable wage.

That happens because of monopolies.

To demonstrate Lucky Dogs exploitation of its vendors,

we sent our guy Tristan undercover

and followed him around on a Saturday afternoon

in triple digit heat and 95% humidity.

Run out of Doctor Pepper, running out of Coke.

It might be an early day today.

All the way out of water now.

Man, I think it's probably about 95–100 degrees out here.

I'm sweating like a stuck pig.

It's humid and it's hot.

I can feel my breath coming off pavement.

For most of the day he only sold a few cold drinks.

By the end of his shift,

he made a total of only $76 including tips.

My community are natural entrepreneurs, but unfortunately due to the law,

a lot of vendors that you might catch in the French Quarter

are being forced to, by law, commit a crime

just by selling bottles of water, different fruits.

We have communities just bordering the French Quarter

that are predominantly black and brown, predominantly lower income folks,

and we're essentially putting up almost a wall around the French Quarter

when it comes to economic opportunity

for those folks who could just walk a few blocks,

try to set up a business, try to make some money,

and we're forcing them to be criminals if they do that.

That doesn't seem like a really good way to help people.

Would you like to own your own food cart here in the Quarter?

Looking at all the legalities it is and all this...

I was just reading a survey, not with a survey,

a poll today or something like that.

They said the cities, the states who have the best places

to start businesses in, and Louisiana is 48th.

I went through that.

I spent $10,000, yes,

and I went through the whole thing, and it's just like, I'd rather do this.

Who doesn't want to be in the area where tourists are?

I would love to have a food cart in the Quarters.

Number 1, where I'm working at, at Bohns,

I appreciate that they actually let me work here,

but it's been slow because they're getting everybody up in the Quarters.

The vibe won't really be a consistent flowing.

In the French Quarter is where everybody be at,

so I would love to be in the Quarters if I could.

Because I wouldn't have to be struggling the way that I'm struggling.

It would be beneficial for me and my family.

I'm raising my grandson, he's one years old,

and I'm taking care of my daughter,

and it's just me and it's very hard being a single parent

trying to do everything to try to make ends meet.

I would love a cart in the French Quarters, definitely.

This ordinance which is going on its 50th anniversary

has really helped economic development in the French Quarter.

It has also helped residents in the French Quarter.

You have to remember that the French Quarter

it's a unique blend of residents and businesses,

and it's helped economic developments, it's given opportunities to other people.

One vendor who has been denied access in the French Quarter

is New Orleans native, Lloyd.

He has been relegated to selling cold drinks

on the outskirts of the Quarter.

He is well aware of what's going on.

I just want to have the opportunity to do what I like to do, work with the public.

I'm always out here.

I just want a legal, honest living.

I feel like I deserve the opportunity to work for myself.

After 50 years, the monopolist still going on.

Small vendors such as myself,

we're not trying to run off like a dog,

but I do want to have my shot at it too.

- Understood. It's the American way. - Yes, it is.

American way, capitalism.

It shouldn't be a one-way street.

With that being said, I'm expressing my feelings

because it's time for a change.

- New Orleans is beautiful. - Yes.

This is not about who's the bad guy, who's the good guy.

It's just about the American way, the American dream,

and allowing people to have an opportunity to provide for their families.

Exactly.

I'm just a little fed up

the monopoly is still going on

and that we don't even get a chance or a shot

to even fill out the application for the vendor's license

because it's all sold up to those that are grandfathered in.

We can't even work in the city that I was born and raised in,

in the area not even half a mile away where I grew up.

I don't like to bring race into things, but it is what it is.

It's straight up and down racism.

You can't call it a horse and it's a donkey.

You can't sell me water and it's sand.

It just doesn't work that way.

This city is not a small business place.

It's the laws of New Orleans that are against small businesses.

It's not me or anyone else, it's just how the city is set up.

You have to come here with a lot of money to get started.

For average Joe like me, it's kind of... You know what I mean?

If you see a business start here, they showed up with millions of dollars.

They didn't show up with thousands, not like Texas or Ohio or California,

where you could just put your money down and start your business and get going.

Here, no, you got to pay this person and that person.

It's so much.

I would love doing my own food cart in the Quarter.

Being an American, owning your own business

is a part of that dream.

That law needs to be changed

and it needs to be open to anybody

that want to do business in the French Quarters.

Anybody, not just him, not just Lucky Dog.

I ain't saying let's take Lucky Dog out.

I'm saying open up open a playing field up for everybody.

I want to take you back to an argument that was made a couple of years in London

when young chefs couldn't afford to buy restaurants.

What they did is they bought old beat up bars,

and they souped out those kitchens

and that is how the gastropub movement began.

Look at the taco truck movement.

It's not just tacos, it is Korean barbecue, it is Indian food.

Why can't we have a renaissance of food in the French Quarter

where some young, upcoming chef who wants to go out on his own,

do something creative, get a cart and start somewhere

and then build up from that.

Do you think it's fair to the tourists?

Does it seem fair to both, the citizens, the locals, or the tourists?

I really don't think it's fair.

I think that what would be fair would be to empower

those people who have contributed so significantly to the food, and culture,

and music, and everything else, to be able to be entrepreneurs

and to be able to have the opportunity to market and sell their goods

and their services as much as possible.

When we disallow that,

and we only permit certain folks to have opportunity,

we have no idea how much we are depriving

not just tourists.

Honestly, we're also depriving the people of the state of Louisiana.

Imagine what it would be like for a young person of color

to see a Diva Dog cart in the French Quarter,

or to be able to see the Empanada Lady,

some Hispanic culture in the French Quarter.

In order to be something, you have to see something.

When our children see entrepreneurs of color,

they know that they can become entrepreneurs themselves.

I never thought I'll be in the Quarter.

That's that's like, wow.

As a local, you think of the Quarter as a big, fancy type restaurants.

My cuisine is like out in my kitchen.

If you were to come and eat, it'll be like sitting at the table

with me because I'm from here.

I cook like my grandma showing me how to cook

and how my mama, my aunties showing me how to cook.

That would be pretty cool to have something like that in the Quarter.

Were you aware that basically no one from the city of New Orleans

or anywhere else is allowed to have their food carts

inside of the French Quarter?

Is that maybe why you probably never thought about it?

- Were you even aware of it? - It seems impossible.

I wasn't aware, but it seems impossible for the local person

climbing up the ladder themself

with cooking from this, that, to actually make it there.

I wouldn't even know how to get in there

and I'm from here, raised here, live here, play here,

and the Quarter just seems like it's impossible for me.

Being able to have a small cart and start, you're able to get your food out there,

make money, save, and build on from that.

But without that, you're just pissing in the wind.

There you have it.

I didn't know all of that was going on.

Real facts, having to sell the food outside on the side to do the thing,

but if you could go to city hall, pay what you're supposed to pay

and be proud to roll out and make an honest day's living,

that'd be really, really, really awesome.

I think that if we were to open up the French Quarter

in a way that would be very welcoming to small businesses,

especially locally-owned small businesses,

you're talking about not just a way for some people to make some money,

but you're giving people some hope.

A kid who's growing up a few blocks away from the French Quarter

in one of those communities where there isn't a lot of opportunity,

there isn't a lot of hope,

who can now walk six blocks

and see somebody who's operating a business

who looks just like him or her,

I think that does more than just create some financial opportunity.

It creates a sense of hope.

It's amazing how important that can be.

I agree.

I'm Chef Denisha, owner of the Da Real Big Ezy Food Truck

here in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Been cooking for about 15 years professionally.

Have you tried to have a business in the Quarter?

Yeah, we tried to go to city hall, but we can't-

Pretty much you're stopped at the gate.

- What do they say? - You can't.

You can't do it. The first squad doesn't want us.

- At least give us a fight and chance. - Correct.

Not taking the bacon from anyone else,

but give us a shot to be in the ball game.

- You know? - Understood.

It's 2022, and we shouldn't still be fighting to be in the ball game.

This story has a medieval quality to it.

The French Quarter represents the king's castle.

The residents of New Orleans are the servs that border the castle.

The ordinance is the molt that surrounds the castle.

The draw bridge needs to be lowered.

There's primarily two ways to get this ordinance changed.

One is to get another case in front of the Supreme Court

by having another vendor challenge this ordinance,

but that could take years and it's very costly.

And the Supreme Court could decline to hear it.

They had discretion over which cases they want to hear.

The other option is to have the city council change it.

The city council of New Orleans can come in and amend their ordinance,

and they can allow other vendors.

All they have to do is write a new law.

The city council could meet tomorrow and say, "We don't like this.

This didn't work out for us and it's wrong if you want."

Or they can just simply repeal what's there.

It's important for people to be vigilant as to who they elect

and what they're doing and having some transparency.

This ordinance could be changed.

It doesn't have to be taken all the way to the Supreme Court.

It literally just would have to go through the city council.

Maybe what words of advice,

or just anything you'd like to share?

I would ask the city council that's in place.

It's a new city council that's making immediate changes

and I would ask them that they open the doors for these local vendors

to have the carts to be able to vend food,

and not just have a monopoly

where only the Lucky Dog guys could sell their foods

and let some locals get in, so they could get a foot in the door

and then they could build into brick and mortar.

This ordinance which now, I believe it's its 50th year anniversary

of the decision this year,

has not in any way, shape, or form

hindered small businessmen in the French Quarter.

It has stopped street vendors. That's for sure.

But the city and their wisdom didn't want that,

and still obviously don't want that.

They expanded it and the Supreme Court affirmed it.

There's two sides to every story, I'm sure.

But there's no right to economic equality.

There's no right to economic equality.

There's no right to economic equality.

There's no right to economic equality?

How's that square with the American dream?

Everyone having an equal chance,

at least that's what we thought to be deemed.

Do you feel like it's fair that the

that don't live in the city are able to profit

while the people and the locals here aren't?

The reason why people form family businesses

is so that they're children

and future generations can profit from it.

If they are willing to do the work

and they're willing to maintain the business,

that's what happens.

I think the harmful part about this law was essentially

the ordinance being passed to begin with.

Because I want to say if this ordinance is overturned

and repealed, which I hope it will be,

I hope there will be many, many, many other people, diverse people

who have the opportunity to have businesses that are able to sell

in the Quarter and in other places.

I am particularly hopeful that those individuals have children

and partners and spouses that will benefit greatly from what they are doing.

There's no knock from me on building wealth in your family

and having a family business and ensuring that that business

can continue to take care of future generations.

The knock is, the rub is

you shouldn't do that by excluding everybody else from participating.

If the city were to suddenly decide they were going to do the right thing

and reverse the ordinance,

my mother would have loved to have heard that,

but she passed away, so it's a little too late for her.

The Supreme Court ruling created a monopoly.

At the end of the day, when you read the opinion

and you look at the ordinance

and all these decades later, it created a monopoly

and it's time that that changed.

If they tinker with it and want to change it

in any material way,

it's going to hurt the French Quarter.

Who knows?

We reverse the ordinance and all of a sudden you get

a couple of people operating food carts in the French Quarter,

and maybe one of them is the next Emeril Lagasse.

The city of New Orleans has progressed tremendously in the last 50 years

as have all southern states and the entire nation.

The city council as it is today

is a diverse council of men, women, people of all races

representing the city of New Orleans.

The vendor should be represented in an equal way.

They should have that same opportunity no matter their race,

no matter their religion, no matter their background,

they show have the same opportunity to operate

in a vocal way if they want to sell a hot dog.

It's time that the city council changed it.

I am a big believer in free competition in the free market.

I think it makes things better.

I don't think that ordinance really has even had the effect

that you can see on paper they intended.

I think allowing other vendors would be great for the economy,

I think it'd be good for the culture and the history of the French Quarter.

If this is ever reversed and we go back to what it was before,

and this is the case, it would be terrible for the Quarter, for the CBD,

it would hurt our economy,

it would be a lot of turmoil with the residents and with the tourists.

There are many people who are touched by this ordinance.

There are many individuals who we believe would be empowered greatly

if they had the opportunity to compete just like everybody else.

We're not necessarily asking for a handout,

not asking for unfair advantage, nothing like that.

Literally just the opportunity to be present

and to be permitted to participate fairly and equally.

Haven't we changed some of the names of the schools?

Haven't we changed some of the names of the streets?

Now we need to change some of these laws. You know what I mean?

That's holding businesses back that made sense.

I'm looking right at you, so if you see this,

you know I'm talking than you.

Don't act like you didn't hear what I just said.

I'm saying the exact same way I'll say if I wasn't on camera,

I'll tell you the same way, and I'll come to city hall

and I'll tell you the exact same way.

You're wrong.

Open up the door, open up the gate, and open up these contracts,

DBD and everything, and all these other kind of stuff.

Stop letting these white boys pull the primary contract

and open it up so black and African American

or other races or ethnicities can have the same opportunity

white boys have been having forever.

I ain't scared to save me.

I'm from the hood, so what's up?

Curiously, our Dirty Dogs production team was having problems

connecting with the New Orleans City Council.

Our numerous interview request went unanswered.

Why was that?

It is said New Orleans politics can move slower than cold molasses,

but molasses may take exception to that statement.

Fortunately, interested community leaders and vendors turn to the media

to bring attention to the issue.

City famous for delicious food and unique flavors

some might be surprised to find out only one street vendor, food vendor

is allowed in the French Quarter.

A decades-old decision paved the way for a monopoly of sorts,

and local food vendors say the rule shuts them out

of the city's most lucrative tourist areas

stifling their ability to grow and severely limiting options

for hungry visitors.

Here's our new investigation, Starving The Competition.

Louisiana's top investigative television journalists,

Lee Zurik, saw the injustice to this ordinance,

so he produced a series of reports about it,

and city council members could not ignore him.

A city ordinance from the 1970s allows only one company, Lucky Dogs,

to sell food on the streets and sidewalks of the Quarter.

I would love to see more people have the opportunity

to have a business and make a living selling food in the French Quarter.

Thanks to Zurik's series, council member, Freddie King,

whose district includes the French Quarter,

finally agreed to sit down with us.

You're on record saying that you want to be a change agent to the ordinance.

What did you mean specifically by that?

I would like to see more companies given the ability to operate,

push carts in the French court.

Do you think or feel that the ordinance is fair?

I think it needs to be revisited.

It's not fair to those who are not able to operate legal businesses

in the French Quarter.

I look at it as the ordinance not allowing residents of this city

the ability to make money in the city that they live in, that they work in,

and that they love.

I just want to see more people with the opportunity

not necessarily work for somebody, but to own their own business.

We need to empower those people to have their own business

and maybe they can pass down

their company to their kids, and to their families.

- Generational Wealth. - Exactly.

I know the talent that we have in the city with chefs and cooks.

I definitely want to see more people with that opportunity

to maybe start off as a push cart

on a corner in the French Quarter, now they have their own brick-and-mortar

in the wider country.

I think giving them the opportunity in the French Quarter

would be a good start.

Reversing the ordinance would be a win-win for the city.

Not only would some local small businesses benefit,

but it would be a financial boon to the city.

License fees and taxes would be a great

Does that have an appeal to the city council?

It has some appeal.

I don't want to make it seem like we want to just drain people with taxes,

but if we could some kind of way use those extra fees and taxes

to improve the French Quarter,

to help improve the safety of our community,

French Quarter and beyond, I think that'd definitely be a win

for everybody in the city.

Not just the Quarter,

but those living in other parts of districts,

and now other parts of the city, in the east and mid-city and uptown.

We can take those monies and make sure it goes to the right place

and that definitely sounds good.

It's an appealing factor to me.

I read the case law.

I talked to some of the individuals involved

so I can get a better idea of what's put before me.

It's a big deal.

I don't want to just rush into it, so I took the time to study it myself.

I also talked to homeowners in the French Quarter,

I talked to business owners in the French Quarter,

and business owners outside the French Quarter who like to be

a part of the additional carts,

just to get a good idea of how we can possibly make this happen moving forward.

I'm not shying away from the ordinance that needs to be changed

to be that change agent.

I'm not shying away from that.

I would like to see more vendors in the Quarter.

I'm only speaking for one out of seven.

Let me first talk to the six.

Let's just talk about it individually

and we'll get it changed.

By late August, after meeting with various local leaders,

council member King brings up the ordinance

in the city council community development meeting.

We're going to jump to item number 6(1) discussion

regarding mobile pushcart food vending

in the city, specifically in the French Quarter.

For the first time, council members start talking about the ordinance.

No one else can get in there and have a shot.

It's just appalling that we just would allow that.

It makes you wonder how long these little games have been played

and how have we not caught on with them sooner.

I do agree that there needs to be paying to the Quarter

on hot dogs and street vending

pursuant to what Aaron said and what Councilman King said

that obviously, there're some constraints with how we use the carts,

open flames, the like, but ice cream carts should be in the Quarter as well.

We already have apparently a permitting process for it.

We need to expand the feasibility where you are

because I don't know why we don't have more cards available

in the CBD and around the Superdome where the demand is there,

it's just not being utilized.

It also created more awareness on social media.

Sixty-six by council member king, an ordinance to amend

and reordain sections 110-212,

110-215 of the code of the city of New Orleans to permit

certain mobile food pushcart, and animal drawn food vendors

to operate in non-residential zoning districts of the Bucharest and otherwise

to provide with respect thereto.

For the first time in over 50 years, there would no longer be a monopoly

of vending in the French Quarter.

This vote today will allow for five new businesses

to start vending in the French Quarter.

We won't stop here.

At the next council meeting there will be a vote to allow

for an additional 14 businesses to start legally vending in the French Quarter.

These vendors are currently adding value to the areas in New Orleans,

in which they can vend.

They have invested tirelessly in their businesses

and are inspected by the health department

and have been through hell and high water to obtain their permits.

These vendors are visible models

of all things great about the pushcart model,

a small footprint, easily movable, added essence without building up or out.

They are a perfect example of legal vending opportunities

in the city of New Orleans.

We are here today because they are an example of engaged

and empowered business owners working diligently to get it right.

Thank you, brother King, or Councilman King, I'm sorry,

for bringing this

long overdue change to the Quarter.

Thank you very much.

We need to open that economic opportunity to everyone

and get away from this seemingly monopoly that Lucky Dog had.

As an economist, somebody who majored in economics,

I will tell you, monopoly stifles.

In this particular instance,

I think that we're going to see a great change in the way

some of the vending looks down there in the French Quarter.

But the main thing I want to say is, thank you

for your cool and your calm character

taking on a very challenging responsibility here.

I just want to thank you and your staff for your work.

I think that everyone who has any trepidation

needs to know that at the end of the day,

the additional vendors are going to be great

for our city of New Orleans,

and I'm looking forward to seeing them in action.

I also want to thank you, thank publicly

my staff that's worked tirelessly on this.

Mainly, Mr. Charles Toney, and Will Winston Fiore.

By this time let the motion to adopt

seconded by Councilman Moreno?

That's right.

Five yeas and no nays, the motion is adopted.

Thank you.

- Chef Scott. - What's up, baby?

How are you feeling about what just took place in there?

I'm feeling good.

It's a win for the city, it's a win for small vendors,

it's a win small businesses, and it's a win for change.

We needed this change.

We had this thing changed that has been in the last 50 years.

We're pushing, we got to continue to push for more change.

It's not over. It's just the tip of the iceberg.

It's just the beginning.

It's a new day.

It's been a long time coming.

We'd like to thank father King, Councilman King.

Let the people know what just happened in there in that court?

History was made.

They're going to let us be able to vend in the Quarters

to break up that monopoly Lucky Dogs has.

Mainly excited for the people who have weather the storm

and have existed already with such a confinement on their business.

We are now allowed in the Quarter, which is amazing, but now over the city,

except for the French Quarter and now we're allowed in.

Honestly, after 50 years of there being a monopoly in the French Quarter,

we had something really awesome happening today, allowing five vendors.

Everybody should have an opportunity. We're all here for everybody to win.

Not just for me, not just for the five people,

for everybody to win.

It's a new day in New Orleans.

Let's continue to push New Orleans forward.

I run Egyptian food company, it's Andrea.

I came up working in restaurants since I was seven years old,

1st generation Egyptian-American.

I feel like food and flavors, especially here in New Orleans

are so much of a conversation piece.

It's an art form that it's not one-sided.

It's integral to not only survival, but it tells a story.

I feel like everybody being able to showcase their story without it

just being another hot dog that is faceless.

It was a team effort

because without the media picking it up,

we didn't have no fight.

I would like to thank all the media that had a part of deal with it:

Dirty Dogs The Movie, Lee Zurik,

Chef Scott was the spot.

For these things to be reversed, it will just continue to grow on,

literally, and technically, an international scale

because everyone knows that the French Quarter

is the number 1 most economic place in New Orleans for businesses

and for so many more people to be able to bring their world

and their talent and obviously, their food to the French Quarter

and not just be kept on the outskirts is a great thing.

I can't wait to see what the new year looks like

and how much more diversity we get in the Quarter

other than just a hot dog stand outside of some bars.

I think New Orleans is too rich from a culinary standpoint

for that to be the reality

That is a nice, old quaint brand that we have,

so it really fits in with the style of the Quarter.

This city has so many people that come to the French Quarter

and a lot of them don't leave the French Quarter.

They don't get to have all this great food

because they're literally shut out from it.

I'm really excited for people coming to the city

to be able to really see the diverse, awesome flavors

that the city has to provide.

I look forward to getting my permit.

I see y'all in the Quarter.

During the city council's December 1st meeting of 2023,

council member King

introduces a motion adding another 14 pushcart vendors to the Quarter.

The main thing I want everyone to understand

and take on with them is that before there was one company

allowed to legally vend with a pushcart in the French Quarter.

Now that number has been expanded to almost 20, 19.

That's a big jump. I'm happy.

Thanks to my staff for making it happen.

Happy to be a part of this council that as stated earlier

has made history in changing these outdated ordinances.

With that I make a motion to adopt as amended.

City council member Harris.

Thank you.

We have 5 yeas, no nays,

the motion as of this moment has been adopted.

Eventually, even more permits will be available

for the great people of New Orleans.

- What's up? How are you doing? - How are you doing?

How are you doing?

Great. Congratulations.

I know. Thanks to you.

Serious history.

Congratulations on being the first one to come into the French Quarter

after the 50-year-old law has changed.

How does it feel being the very first food vendor

in the French Quarter?

It's new.

Got a lot more foot traffic than where I previously was from.

I think it's going to work for the better.

It was a long time coming.

Fifty years that no one but Lucky Dog

was able to vend in the Quarters.

I would like to thank everybody that had something to do with it,

even if you just liked the post.

- I got the bacon wrapped. - Bacon wrap?

I got the gator, Cajun smoke and regular beef dog, glizzie.

Glizzies.

Because they're not hot dogs, they're glizzies.

They're glizzie. There is a difference.

Yes. I think I'll have the Cajun.

Alright.

Thank you.

It looks delicious.

Love wins.

What's about to happen here right now?

Thirty wingnuts are about to parade in support of finally getting some variety

in the French Quarter, the end of the Lucky Dog monopoly,

and we couldn't be more thrilled.

All Lucky Dogs go to heaven.

The Krew of Hellarious Wingnuts celebrates the end

of Lucky Dogs' 52 monopoly in the French Quarter.

Service, January 19th 2024, 1972-2024.

Forever in our toilets. 21 million dogs sold.

In memoriam, it is with relish and heavy heartburn

that we announce the passing

of the local New Orleans business monopoly, Lucky Dogs,

dominion over pushcart vending in the French Quarter

chomped short at the tender age of 52.