"Fred Radtke is just like John McCain: they are both old men with old ideas, trying to paint over the past." ---Lord David---
In an effort to show that he is changing his ways at the urging of New Orleanians, the Grey Ghost joined forces with the Downtown Development District in a color matching attempt that we can finally regard as moderately acceptable.
We here at NoLA Rising International Headquarters (located in sunny and tropical New Orleans) have been HARSH critics of Mr. Ghost and will continue that criticism so long as there is no meaningful change in his attitude towards public art and his methodology of grey remains the same. Despite that stance, we would like to applaud his recent efforts attempting to color match at the building on Canal Street. I'm certain, though, that his effort would never have been necessary had the property owners of the building taken proper care of their property.
Blight of this sort is a sign that the people who own the property might not care or the property is being slated for bigger and better designs, making it nearly a moot issue as it were. My concern for the Downtown Development District's interaction with Mr. Ghost is that they will issue funds to him that may go to the furthering of grey in the New Orleans area and that scourge of grey will destroy the downtown area.
We've heard tell that he has a magical cleaning solution that would be better than the grey paint and question why he doesn't use this solution to clean traffic signs and other forms of "graffiti" he finds so offensive. This same solution he has supposedly offered to clean the now infamous Dr. Bob sign with and I'm curious why it isn't available for use on other graffiti. Anyone with suggestions, please let me know in the comments section.
I'd hate not to give due diligence and fairness to the Ghost in his new found efforts to reform his greyed ways, so as a token of our supreme generosity, we've decided to put the link to his website here. Fair and balanced. But, for those of you thinking, "Rex, what the hell are you doing man?" It's simple: Graffiti also includes all of those horrible grey blotches he's painted over property (allegedly without their permission).
Thus, if you have had your property greyed out, please feel free to call him and ask that he remove those unsightly blotches that he may have created. According to the city ordinances on graffiti, those unauthorized blotches qualify as graffiti and he is thereby liable to clean them too. Good luck getting any police action should you attempt that route, as his connections there make him invincible and he knows it. Operation Clean Sweep link HERE. Don't be seedy, erase graffiti...grey and otherwise.
City Business wrote an article about his recent attempt at color matching that you can see here: 'Gray Ghost' teams with DDD in blight fight.
Praises of Mr. Radtke's work from the Oak Street Association, HERE. Re-posted from the internet on Operation Clean Sweep webpage.
Building photos by JAUG
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His other work in case you want to see how well he's cleaned up in the past:
As always, we will continue to bring you news of this sort in a fun and light-hearted manner, with the full import of seriousness behind the scenes.
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