Barracks Row Stabbing – This empty scene is on the 400 block of Eighth Street Monday morning, May 10. On Saturday, May 9, 29 year old Keith Frye – a nearby Capitol Hill resident – was fatally stabbed here. Monday night, ANC6B Chair Brian Ready told the City-wide meeting of ANC Commissioners that Frye lived a few doors away from Ready’s home and that Ready had talked to the family who were awaiting a police report. Ready said the perpetrator is still at large and he didn’t know why it had happened. MPD has offered a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.
New restaurant on Mass Ave NE? According to the broker for the property, there’s hope that the long-vacant former Romeo and Juliet (and before that, the White Tiger) may be the home of a new restaurant. Lisa Banusiewicz told ANC6C last Wednesday night that the building, at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, is being looked at by a party with other restaurants throughout DC, and has moved the process for leasing the property “quite a ways forward”. Banusiewicz told the ANC, “You’ll be happy if this happens”. Her firm, Abeille, specializes in hospitality properties.
Santa Maria Taqueria. On a less happy note, residents near the corner of 3rd and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, have raised issues with celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn’s proposed relocation of Santa Maria Taqueria to the space formerly occupied by Pret a Manger at 301 Penn Avenue. They say Mendelsohn has not been abiding by a previous DOH rodent control order. Tuesday night, ANC6B voted 10 – 0 to support a letter to ABRA asking for a 30 day extension of the time to protest the move of the liquor license to the new location in order to allow time for negotiations with neighbors – they wants a commitment to indoor trash storage. If negotiations fail, ANC6B says they will protest the license transfer.
Felicity Lounge Update. Over on H Street, ANC6C is raising the alarm about Felicity Lounge at 707-709 H Street, NE. Felicity has indicated it wants to apply for an exemption to the city’s ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in order to offer hookahs. Commissioner Joel Kelty noted the District has a policy against smoking – “It’s a health hazard – “why would we promote an establishment promoting smoking”? The committee voted unanimously to write a letter to DOH opposing any smoking exemption for Felicity. The ANC is already protesting Felicity’s application for a liquor license renewal. In the background is the concern that requests for smoking exemptions look forward to the legalization of recreational cannabis.
Mural Restoration: Piet Mondrian was the inspiration for a series of 13 murals on the walls of the 6th Street, SE, underpass painted by Byron Peck in 1988 during the administration of Mayor Marion Barry. The project was sponsored by the DC Commission on Arts and the Humanities. Remarkably, the works remain untouched by graffiti – but they have suffered from weather and time.
Now ANC6B Chair Brian Ready has pledged to undertake their restoration. He has enlisted the assistance of Guerrilla Gardeners of Washington DC and says restoration work should begin in a few weeks.
Southwest Library. The new library, located at 900 Wesley Place, SW in ANC6D, opened on Saturday, May 15.
The Week Ahead…Meeting Highlights…Some Photos from the Past Week
By Larry Janezich
Posted May 16, 2021
Highlights:
Thursday – DMPED Disposition Hearing on Reservation 13 Phase II
Monday, May 17
ANC 6A Transportation & Public Space Committee meets at 7:00pm.
Update on proposal to site a public bathroom on 17th Street and Benning Road NE, under the Public Restroom Facilities and Promotion Act.
Discussion of DDOT Notice of Intent to install on-way protected bikeways on the 800 and 900 blocks of West Virginia Avenue, NE.
Discussion of public space permit application for an outdoor patio at the Capitol Square Bar and Grill at 1500 East Capitol Street. Drawings: https://bit.ly/3frceyB
Update on Tennessee Avenue. NE, traffic calming. Will Handsfield from DDOT will present.
Discussion of public space permit application for an outdoor patio at Bullfrog Bagels on H Street, NE.
Discussion of fence permit at 1369 C Street, NE.
Discussion of installing a speed hump in the 1500 block of Isherwood Street, NE.
Discussion of converting stoplights to 4-way stops (time permitting).
Tuesday, May 18
The Capitol Hill Business Interest Working Group will hold a virtual meeting from 2:00pm until 3:00pm.
Discussion of the standard and approaches to be used for reviewing special exception requests to regulations that govern the building of a rear wall that extends more than ten feet past an adjoining property.
Thursday, May 20
DMPED will hold a virtual hearing regarding the disposition of Reservation 13 Phase II at 6:00pm.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 