The Brig Beer Garden at 8th and L Streets, SE. From outward appearances, the only thing standing in the way of cries of zum Wohl! and Prost! is warmer weather.
The Week Ahead….Eastern Market Committee Drills Down Into New Business Plan
And DC SafetyNet Launches Good Neighbor Campaign
by Larry Janezich
Monday, May 23
CANCELLED ANC6A Community Outreach Committee will meet at 7:00pm at Maury Elementary School, Multi-purpose room, 1250 Constitution Avenue, NE. (Enter from 13th Street.)
Among items on the agenda:
Community Presentations:
Events DC
KaBoom Playground (21st/C Streets) Update
Installation of Batting Cages on 19th & C
Community Walk with DDOT, DPW & Events DC to survey parking signage in
residential neighborhoods.
Volunteers Needed for June 6th 5:30pm Anacostia Riverwalk Clean-up
GRID Alternatives: Non-profit Solar Panel Company
Tuesday, May 24
DDOT meeting re 17th Street, NE & 19th Street, NE, Redesign. 6:30pm at Rosedale Community Center, 1700 Gales Street, NE.
See 17th & 19th Streets Redesign Plans here: http://bit.ly/1NFI365
Thursday, May 26
Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC). The May meeting of EMCAC has been cancelled. EMCAC’s Market Operations Committee chaired by Tom Kuchenberg will meet at 6:30pm in the upstairs conference room at Eastern Market. The purpose of the meeting is to review EMCAC minutes of the presentation of Forest Hayes of the Department of General Services regarding a 5-year business plan for Eastern Market. EMCAC will consider the report of the Market Operations Committee at its June meeting.
Hayes sent a letter to EMCAC which reads, in part: “The Department of General Services (DGS) looks forward to working with your Committee, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, the Office of Councilmember Charles Allen, and the Market Row Association to develop a Scope of Work for an external contractor with expertise in facilitation and planning to engage the public in a series of sessions to:
- Evaluate present and future opportunities and challenges;
- Capitalize on these opportunities and identify potential solutions to the challenges;
- Incorporate the opportunities, challenges, and solutions into a strategy;
- Prioritize actions to be taken.
The end result of this public engagement process will be a Five-year Plan for Eastern Market that will inform the direction of the Market.”
Ed. Note: DC SafetyNet launches Kind Cool Connected Campaign (KC3) to promote better relations between neighbors in communities, city wide.
DC SaftyNet says of the new KC3 campaign:
“While in the near term we may not be able to cure the cultural, sociological, environmental, or societal issues that underlie our disagreements, today we have the power to lessen their impact.
If we all agree to work together to change one small behavior for the good of our community and each other, we will make a difference. That behavior is the act of pleasantly greeting one another.
Addressing this – and encouraging everyone to greet each other in a friendly way – is a simple beginning that holds the promise of deeper connection, more intimacy, more trust, more of a foundation for addressing the bigger issues that challenge us. This is the vision of KC3.”
For morel, see here: http://bit.ly/1Tp0gHj
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
“1. Evaluate present and future opportunities and challenges;
2. Capitalize on these opportunities and identify potential solutions to the challenges;
3. Incorporate the opportunities, challenges, and solutions into a strategy;
4. Prioritize actions to be taken.”
Sounds like nonsense. Is the Market in financial trouble?
I keep hearing from various people that ought to know that some (don’t know how many) vendors are way behind on rent. I also suspect that the vendors will get clobbered when Trader Joe’s opens.
Eastern Market has become kind of a subsidized Disneyland where vendors pay below market rents (or not!) and provide a European shopping experience.
I like European shopping experiences but would like to see the whole operation privatized and end this ridiculous on-going drama. Tell me again why my tax dollars supporting a handful of people selling overpriced food in the epicenter of the hottest real estate market in DC?
I find that I love the market for what it could be, not what it is. I believe something akin to Uion Kitenchen Grocery is the market’s future.
http://unionkitchendc.com/grocery/
Many of the Eastern Markets vender are reselling products/produce purchased from Costco. On the other hand the grocers that setup outside on weekends and select weekdays aren’t all bad.
Having lived in Seattle, New York, and Paris I understand the value of European lifestyle and I’m willing to pay more for quality. Then again, when I lived in Paris Imfound that the price and quality of produce and meats sold at the open air markets was often better then Supermarché.
The Market lost its European flair years ago. Let’s try something new.
As Mr. Hayes was walking back DGS’s absurd debacle of 2015 when they seized the flea markets operating on the 300 block of 7th street, he promised the ANC6b a 5 year plan with massive public participation. After many months of contemplation, he has decided to incorporate the opportunities, challenges, and solutions into a strategy. Bravo DGS