Local Television Personalities Love Life on the West Bank

BY FRANK J. BORNE, JR.

Many of New Orleans’ television personalities live right here on the West Bank among us, and The West Bank Beacon recently surveyed several of them to find out what it is about life on this side of the river makes them happiest. Not surprisingly, since we are in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the subject of restaurants came up again and again in the responses. Convenience and access to shopping and other businesses also was a recurring theme.

Glynn Boyd, News Anchor/Reporter for WGNO-TV Channel 26, and his wife, Nancy Parker, News Anchor/Reporter for WVUE-TV FOX Channel 8, live in the City of Gretna and love the community’s proximity to the city and this area’s culture and food.

“The West Bank is truly the best bank,” said Boyd. “I’ve been a West Banker all my life growing up in Boutte. Nancy and I have been in Gretna for the past 15½ years. Gretna is a small community and has much of what the big city offers; great food, music and culture. We’re just a stone’s throw from the Big Easy; minutes from the French Quarter. We can get in and out pretty quickly.” Boyd also enjoys Gretna’s services and the security the city provides. “We have 24/7 police patrols. My friends in other parts of the metro area cannot believe that,” he said. “Our elected leaders are also accessible, responsive and accountable. Services are second to none.”

Says Parker of Gretna’s proximity to Downtown New Orleans, “A lot of people who live across the lake say the 30-minute ride helps them to decompress. I decompress in the seconds it takes to cross the Mississippi River on the Crescent City Connection. I love New Orleans, but the West Bank is lagniappe. It’s a great community. We have the best of both worlds. The city is just a few minutes away.” Parker, who recently published her book The Adventures of Yat and Dat: What’s Cookin’?, a delightful story about two birds who sample New Orleans’ finest cuisine, enjoys the West Bank’s offering of eateries. “We have great restaurants. I love Fountain Park Centre, The Boiling Pot, Thanh Thanh, De-No’s Seafood, O’Brien’s, and Empress of China to name a few,” she said. “If you want a taste of the French Market, just go to George’s Produce for Louisiana fare straight from the farmers. It’s authentic New Orleans right on the West Bank. It’s one of those little West Bank nuggets that makes it a really a great place to live.”

Dennis Woltering, Eyewitness News Anchor/Reporter for WWL-TV Channel 4, also cited our community’s restaurants as a reason to want to live here. “Tony Mandina’s has great food and makes you feel like part of the family,” he said. “Sun Ray Café is always a delicious hit. Zea Rotisserie is awesome no matter what you order. The Alligator Pear is tasty, inventive, and fast.” Woltering also likes ethnic fare. “I am also a big fan of some of our Vietnamese restaurants—Pho Tau Bay, Tanh Dinh, and Nine Roses, among them. The Tennou Sushi Bar is a favorite, and I love Pupuseria Divino Corazon. I know there are others I have left out. Guess you can tell I love to eat,” he said. As well, Woltering, who lives in the Tall Timbers Subdivision in Algiers, compliments all that eating with vigorous exercise. “I enjoy bike riding and have discovered a number of great places to ride without a lot of traffic. I often ride early in the morning, 5:00 or 6:00 a.m., so there isn’t a lot of traffic anyway. Sometimes I ride over the Intracoastal Canal Bridge and head down to lower coast Algiers and the Audubon Endangered Species Center,” he said. “Sometimes I ride along Patterson Road in Algiers next to the Mississippi River levee, and it is also fun to ride down to the Algiers Ferry landing then along the paved levee into Gretna and back. Every time I ride there I am overwhelmed by the cityscape and the beauty of this amazing place where we live. We have the best view of the city.”

Angela Hill, Eyewitness News Anchor/Reporter for WWL-TV Channel 4, and her husband have a home in Downtown New Orleans and also one in English Turn. She likes the West Bank’s easy living and friendly people. “We always say when we cross the bridge ‘We are heading to the country’ and what a wonderful feeling that is,” she said. “We especially like that everything is so accessible…grocery store, barber, picture framer, and some great restaurants.” She added, “We can’t forget the friendliness of the people. The West Bank is just easy and we really like that!”

A resident of Algiers Point, Norman Robinson, News Anchor/Reporter for WDSU-TV Channel 6, enjoys his community’s historic structures, view of New Orleans’ skyline, his great neighbors, and all of the sights and sounds of an area directly across from one of the most famous and charming cities in the world. “I simply adore Algiers Point; its historic architecture, its old world charm, its picturesque view of the river against the back drop of the city skyline, the sounds of the ships sailing past on the river, the sounds of passing trains on the riverfront railroads, the wildlife, the colorful people, walks on the levee, the sound of the calliope, the tolling bells that remind us of a neighborhood at peace with humanity and my 115-year-old home that beckons me to rest and enjoy life with family, friends and neighbors,” he said. His favorite eateries are Tout de Suite Café, Aunt Leni’s Café and Market, and the Dry Dock Cafe.

Last, but not least, Mary West, producer and host of “Real New Orleans” who begins her third season of that program in January on WLAE-TV Channel 32, echoes what the others have said about the West Bank’s location. “Living on the West Bank is having the best of both worlds….you have world famous New Orleans right across the river, which is just the right distance for serene, peaceful living, found on the West Bank,” she said. “I love the coziness of everything being so close in proximity, yet it’s big enough to offer anything and everything when it comes to shopping. So I have to say, the West Bank for me is truly the best bank!”

We at The Beacon agree with all of these reasons to live on the West Bank and thank our celebrities for making a home in our community!