NEW ORLEANS - The mayor's office in New Orleans says a proposal to require bars to shut their doors at 3 a.m. is being abandoned.

The idea was to decrease in-and-out traffic and what Mayor Mitch Landrieu had called an "open pedestrian party" along Bourbon Street and other parts of a city known for all-night bars and legal drinking in the street.

Some bar owners questioned whether the policy would diminish crime - and whether it would hurt their income if it slowed the flow of customers.

Deputy Mayor Ryan Berni said in a news release this week the proposal was dropped after considering safety issues including fire exits and building capacities.

The closed-door policy was part of a broad anti-crime program announced in January.