New Orleans East is typically ignored, even though it’s home to a critical aspect of America’s striving history—NASA and the Space Race. What’s the story behind this erasure?
In the late fifties and early sixties, New Orleans East was considered “the last great frontier” of New Orleans. The area is vast and diverse—all of the city’s best-known neighborhoods could fit inside of it. NASA was key to much of the area’s economic growth—entire communities were built for its employees and it drew other businesses to the area. My father, Simon Broom, worked at NASA. My brother Carl still does. This NASA plant built the 360-ton rocket boosters used to launch many of the country’s most vital space missions. After the oil boom in the mid-80s, developers pulled out of the East. This was followed by white flight and divestment. The East quickly transformed from a dream community in the making to a stunted, ignored place with few grocery stores, hospitals, good schools, and jobs.