If Mardi Gras were not to happen, we would struggle to pay our police, fire (and ambulance) services for months to come.

The best charity work you might ever want to do is to come to New Orleans and have a good time.

It's very controversial and we don't have a position on it.

It's very difficult to estimate how many people are going to attend this year. But we've said we would be absolutely thrilled to have one-third of the usual crowd.

It really is the tale of two cities, where one-half of the city looks devastated, but the other area looks like a bad wind storm hit and everything's been repaired.

It is hard to promote tourism because so many neighborhoods are suffering. But visitors don't realize how much they contribute to our recovery if they just come and have a good time.

While Mardi Gras may be smaller this year, the pageantry is not going to be lacking in any way.