After last year’s disaster, the Carlotta Street Block Party for Halloween was not expected to continue. But when the party became legal with the help of the Northgate Merchants Association, things started to look up.”[The Baton Rouge Police] came to us and wanted the party to happen,” said Jared Loftus, owner of Tiger District and president of the NGMA. “They’ve worked with us and helped us out.”Loftus said BRPD was aware the party would occur no matter what, but they reached out to the organization so another catastrophe could be avoided. At last year’s party, police on horses and foot attempted to keep the crowd off the street because of the lack of street closures. At the night’s end, no partygoers were allowed access to Carlotta and Chimes streets. A man was tasered, and many were arrested.”It’s costing us about $1,500 to get a permit,” Loftus said in October. The permit included insurance and street closures. Police were also required to be present.The question remains why the NGMA stepped up and took on the responsibility.”Carlotta doesn’t have a set organization that governs them. It’s a loose group of individuals,” Loftus said. “There’s no one they can go to to count on to make the process happen.”So the members of the NGMA, with the permission of the residents of Carlotta, put up the money for the permit and acquired a beer truck so they could make the money back.”It’s our neighborhood. We wanted to see it happen,” Loftus said. Partygoers were satisfied with the event.Ben Abbott, history senior, said in October this year’s party was “safer and more coordinated.””There was a bad vibe last year,” Abbott said. “Everyone is in a much better mood now.”Loftus said the police estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 people attended the party. The NGMA will also plan the party for next Halloween.”We have not started planning next year’s party, but we have had a follow-up meeting with the police,” Loftus said. “We will start our planning around March.”—-Contact Ashley Norsworthy at [email protected]