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New Orleans Police Ask Eagles Fans Not to Climb Poles
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Even before the tragic death of an 18-year-old Temple student this week, the New Orleans police department issued a warning to traveling Eagles fans ahead of the Super Bowl.
Apparently the French Quarter poles are very old and they’ll topple over if you try to climb them.
It’s also illegal and unsafe, according to a police spokesperson who talked to Ximena Conde at the Inquirer:
New Orleans police spokesperson Barry Fletcher said climbing a pole can cost you, especially in a place like the historic French Quarter.
“Regarding climbing street light poles, that is not only illegal (trespassing) but is unsafe as many of the street light poles in the French Quarter are quite old,” Fletcher said in an email. “Climbing on them risks toppling the light pole.”
Beyond the obvious injury revelers risk by climbing atop a pole, Fletcher said climbers can be criminally charged and forced to pay for the damage. Those support poles for balconies that line the French Quarter are also off-limits. Those are private property.
Climbing poles is also illegal in Philadelphia, and who knows what happens in the wake of Tyler Sabapathy’s death. Maybe Philly police change their approach to enforcement or people tone it down following the tragedy. For what it’s worth, down in NOLA they do a pole greasing the Friday before Mardi Gras, so people don’t climb to the balconies outside the Royal Sonesta. There was also the recent terror attack on Bourbon Street and they are already planning on having heightened security all over the place.
