Prometheus 6

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson criticized the protesters in an interview aired Friday, saying many of them have never lived in public housing.

"It's amazing how people have little respect for low-income people in the sense that they want them to go back into that drug, crime-infested environment where they don't live," Jackson told WWL-TV in New Orleans.

Razing of New Orleans housing halted
By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 14, 5:26 PM ET

Demolition of three public housing complexes, slated to start this weekend, was halted Friday amid complaints about the scarcity of housing for the poor after Hurricane Katrina.

The Housing Authority of New Orleans, which is run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, agreed to postpone the start of demolition pending a hearing Thursday before City Council. Opponents of the tear-down plan had filed a lawsuit contending that the council's consent was required by the city charter.