Ray Nagin Quotations

We are prepared as a city to put on the best Mardi Gras that we have ever seen.

There are dead bodies floating in some of the water, ... The rescuers would basically push them aside as they were trying to save individuals.

We want (FEMA) to allow us to get back to New Orleans and find an appropriate place to bury the people of New Orleans, ... We will find a plot. We will find a place. We will erect a memorial.

One of the best moments I've ever had in New Orleans is seeing Bourbon Street filled on a weekend night not long ago. Just watching the city breathe again.

Now, with a single step, city departments, businesses and private citizens can access a tool that will help speed the rebuilding of New Orleans into a better, safer and stronger city.

I'm a lifelong Democrat, but I have supported some Republicans. I'm all about results, man. If somebody can deliver, that's where I'm gonna go. It's about who can get the job done.

I had laid out like an eight-week to ten-week timeline where we could get the city back in semblance of order. It's probably been pushed back another four weeks as a result of this,

Get people to higher ground and have the feds and the state airlift supplies to them -- that was the plan, man,

If it were my decision, I'd knock the Superdome down. If I couldn't knock it down, I'd just open the roof and gut the whole inside - totally modernize it. If you just dust it off and paint a little bit but don't reimage it, the legacy will be horrible.

He came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving, ... And he's getting some stuff done. They ought to give that guy - if they don't want to give it to me - give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people.

He came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing, and people started moving, ... I give the president some credit on this. He sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done.

We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared.

Today I feel better about Rita, and I'm not as prone to do a hard, mandatory evacuation, ... But I want to leave that open as an option.

I think it's going to send a wonderful message to the world that New Orleans is on the road to recovery.

I think it's amazing he's making that claim. If he's got that kind of money in the bank, God bless him. We're gonna find out once the campaign reports start being filed.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I had better news for you but we are facing a storm that most of us have feared. This is a threat that we've never faced before.

I was among the people in the Superdome. I knew what was going on every minute. I did not have air conditioning nor shower facilities. I made decisions based upon facts and not what I thought was going to happen. So history will judge me based upon those actions.

It is important for people to see their homes and move forward with the process of building a new future for their families,

People are saying it's too early to bring back jazz, the gumbo and the red beans, ... If it's too early, when is the right time?

Let me just say it one more time and make sure everybody understands it ... We will rebuild this entire city,

We have the most significant challenge of any city in American history and they are dismissing ideas ad nauseam, ... Nobody is coming up with better ideas or alternative ideas, and it's really kind of teeing me off.

We're learning as we go. We're a lot smarter this time. We understand what it takes to mobilize away from the threat of a hurricane.

We want to bring New Orleans back. Rita set us back about three to five days, but we are very much on schedule, ... We will begin the re-entry plan with business owners and residents of Algiers. Then we will stop, assess our progress, and move on to the previously targeted zip codes.

The reality of Katrina didn't really strike me until the first time I flew up in a helicopter and saw areas of the city that I had ridden my bicycle as a youth being fully flooded.

When people are dying, bureaucracy should be thrown out of the water.

There have been too many people who have said we were dead. There were too many people who said we were way too divisive. There were too many people who thought this city should go in a different direction. But the people, the people have said they like the direction we're going in and we have run number one today.

We believe our re-entry plan properly balances safety concerns and the needs of our citizens to begin rebuilding their lives,

We want you to take this very seriously, ... This not a test. This is the real deal. And I don't want to panic you but I wanted to make sure you understand.

We had people trapped on roofs, et cetera ... and they didn't know about it? That's just impossible.

We could receive a storm surge of three to five feet.

Everything that you didn't like about New Orleans, let's get rid of it. Everything that you liked about New Orleans, let's enhance it. Everything you dreamed about and wished New Orleans had, let's make it happen,

everything you hoped to happen is happening. Algiers is alive and well and breathing.

At the Superdome, a young man came up to me holding a baby. He'd run out of diapers. He'd run out of medicine. His baby was sick. The guy's saying, 'Help me! Take my baby.' What could I do? That's the definition of helpless.

At the end of the day, I believe truth is stronger than any lie that's out there.

Now is not the time to change leadership. I ask the citizens of New Orleans to let me continue this important job of rebuilding our city.

This is huge, ... I can't tell you how much I appreciate them being here.

This city will be chocolate at the end of the day. This city will be a majority-African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way.

They tell me it's dry, and I'm going to try and drive through there before the weekend is out, ... Once I see it we may be on our normal schedule which is normally we open up a new area on Wednesday.

It's a good time to run for mayor because it'll be less poor, less black, less democratic.

It may not be totally back to what it was pre-Katrina, but every day we make progress,

It's something we're very excited about, ... It's something the mayor has been pushing for, because the Sewerage & Water Board testing was showing good signs, but we needed the regulatory agency to sign off on it. We hope it makes it easier for citizens in New Orleans to live in their own homes, for those who still have homes.

It scared the crap out of me, ... I immediately said, 'My God, I have to call a mandatory evacuation.'

I want to continue to stay plugged into New Orleans and help people who are still struggling with the recovery here, and then, if I can help around the country and around the world, absolutely, I'll be open to that.

I'm going to announce a phased repopulation plan that is going to deal with some of the areas that were least hit by the hurricane and had less water, and then within the next week or two we should have about 180,000 people back in the city of New Orleans,

I need a break from politics, that's for sure. This is the hardest job in America.

I'll just tell you, I'm not a big FEMA fan.

I know a lot of you are frustrated. I am frustrated, too. But 80 percent of our city went under water and we have a lot of work to do. And the only way we are going to get that done is if we stick together.

I don't think that any person can fix FEMA. I think FEMA needs a total restructuring. I think it needs to be taken from scratch and redone. The regulations are outdated; the rules are outdated.

The housing challenge, both temporary and long term, is the No. 1 issue, ... Pre-Katrina, you could rent a decent place for $400 or $500 a month. Now, some landlords are charging $1,000 or $1,500.

The city of New Orleans is in a state of devastation. We probably have 80 percent of our city underwater. With some sections of our city, the water is as deep as 20 feet.

It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans - the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans.

They're feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying.

We're out of nuclear crisis mode and into normal, day-to-day crisis mode.

You are in a position to create wealth not only for yourself but for your children and your children's children.

Candor is the only way I know how to do it. I'm way too old to change. At the end of the day, I believe the truth is stronger than any lie that's out there.

The people of our city are holding on by a thread. Time has run out. Can we survive another night? And who can we depend on? Only God knows.

If we're unified, there's nothing we cannot do.

Excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed.

The reality is this city will not be the same for a while, ... We're not saying bring New Orleans back today.

I just tell you, I'm not a big FEMA fan.

I think I did everything possible known to any mayor in the country as it relates to saving lives.

One of the best moments Ive ever had in New Orleans is seeing Bourbon Street filled on a weekend night not long ago. Just watching the city breathe again.

I dont think that any person can fix FEMA. I think FEMA needs a total restructuring. I think it needs to be taken from scratch and redone. The regulations are outdated; the rules are outdated.

I always feel that in politics, you have a bridle on. Well, I took the bridle off. And I tell you, it felt pretty good.

The rise of the Earth's temperature, causing sea level increases that could add up to one foot over the next 30 years, threatens the very existence of New Orleans.

It's all right. You guys in New York City can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later, so let's be fair.

This economic pie that is getting ready to explode before our eyes is going to be shared equally.

Some of these guys are so violent that it is hard for witnesses to come forward, and they get involved in repeat criminal activities, so it is unfortunate that they had to die, but it did kind of end the cycle that we were struggling with.

Basically, the start of my thinking process is: 'OK, if you didn't have to worry about re-election, what would you be doing?' That's kind of how I'm starting to think.

You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about.