Monthly Archives: August 2024

Community Group Urges City to Upgrade Eastern Market Security Measures

by Larry Janezich

Posted Tuesday, August 28

Concerns about the security at Eastern Market have steadily increased over the past four years.  Those concerns continue to preoccupy the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC) and have grown increasingly urgent with the yet-another-delay announced in July regarding the installation of security bollards intended to prevent vehicular attacks on the Market and the adjacent weekend-crowded streets. 

During the last year the EMCAC established an ad Hoc Subcommittee on Public Safety to review a wide range of issues including building code compliance, fire prevention, utility infrastructure, general operations, vendor stalls, ADA compliance, lighting, signage, general security and management support.

EMCAC (Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee) recommends that the D.C. Department of General Services (DGS), in cooperation with the D.C. Department of Homeland Security, with support from an experienced risk and security advisory consultant, take steps to (in order of priority):

• Conduct a threat assessment of Eastern Market to assess the likelihood and impact of dangers including, but not limited to, natural disasters, terrorism and other security risks, and the general public safety.
• Conduct research on how large public markets in other cities have prepared similar public spaces from similar threats.
• Review and revise the existing Eastern Market Emergency Response Plans and related procedures to ensure that they are aligned to the current risks and threats facing the market.
• Do an assessment of electrical distribution, water, and gas infrastructure that both addresses the needs of merchants and vendors and ensures public safety.
• Provide expanded MPD and DGS on-site security as crime deterrents.
• Create a list of current emergency response resources (and personnel trained to use them) available at Eastern Market and surrounding facilities such as the Rumsey Aquatic Center and MedStar Urgent Care.  Distribute this list to all EM merchants, vendors and staff and provide training with mandatory attendance.
• Create and make available easily accessible and understandable materials regarding public threats, emergency response, crime deterrents and prevention, health code regulations and violations, etc.  Making this information available could include signage, posters, QR codes, posts on the EM web-site, etc.

EMCAC has tasked itself with developing a timetable for starting and completing these recommendations, providing oversight of the progress on the recommendations, reporting on progress at its monthly meetings, initiating updates with relevant agencies, inviting officials for walkthroughs of the Market, and increasing engagement with relevant stakeholders on public safety and risk reduction. 

EMCAC is the District’s legislatively-established body entrusted with advisory and oversight responsibilities for the operations, management, and renovation of Eastern Market.

The Week Ahead & Some Photos from the Past Week

by Larry Janezich

Posted August 25, 2024

Name change for the former Tyler Elementary.  A new sign announced the change just in time for the start of school on Monday.  On January 9th, 2024, the DC council approved changing the name of John Tyler Elementary to Shirley Chisholm Elementary School.  She was the first Black Congresswoman and the first Black woman to seek a major party’s nomination for president and a strong advocate for early education.

Over on Barracks Row, the in-coming medical marijuana shop at 727 8^th Street – Miel Wellness – drew attention this week for the crown of artificial blossoms over their doorway.  The building was formerly the home Soul to Summit sports clothing outlet.  For more on Miel Wellness, go here:  https://mielwellness.com/menu/

ICYMI Also on Barracks Row, Trattoria Alberto is sporting a new coat of hard-to-miss paint.  The restaurant was a favorite of former Speaker of the House John Boehner. 

Another new sign at 215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, confirms the coming of Dos Toros Taqueria to the space formerly occupied by Firehook Bakery.  Dos Toros has outlets in Chinatown and Duport Circle, and multiple locations in NYC.  For more on their menu, go here:  https://www.dostoros.com/menu

New Pasha Café Sweet Shop’s arrival on PA Ave SE appears to be in doubt.  Here’s a photo from last week of the store front at 615 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, sans the Pasha Café Coming Soon and the Now Hiring signs.  Pasha Café, whose coming was announced by a window sign last May, was (is?) to be a sister restaurant to Pasha Castle on M Street in Georgetown, billed itself as a Mediterranean Dessert Shop. 

Last Wednesday, the Italian Air Force flying team Frecce Tricolori did a flyby over DC, starting on the east side of the city with a single east to west pass just south of the National Mall.  Frecce Tricolori are on a tour of North America, the first time since 1992 that their signature red, white and green smoke has been seen over the United States.  The team will perform flyovers of iconic U.S. landmarks in a series of major U.S. cities.  Separately, a local pigeon pictured above the smoke trails did its own flyover. 

The Week Ahead….

Monday, August 26

ANC6B Southeast Library Taskforce will hold a virtual and in person meeting at 6:30pm at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, second floor, entry adjacent to Trader Joe’s.   

For info on how to join the virtual meeting, go here: https://anc6b.org/

Among items on the agenda:

• Discussion of the renovation and the status of the interim library service at the Arthur Capper Recreation Center.

Tuesday, August 27

ANC 6B Executive Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.

For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Agenda:

• The committee will set the agenda for the September meeting of the full ANC6B Commission on Monday, September 9^th.

Posted August 23, 2024

CAPITOL HILL ART LEAGUE ,,,

AND…

Please join the Friends of Lincoln Park for a kid-friendly magic show starting at 10:00am on Sunday,

August 25th! Abracadabra Alex will perform his magic show that inspires amazement and laughter in kids of all ages. Following the 40-minute show, there will be a magic-themed arts and crafts activity for kids. We hope you can join us and fellow neighbors for an entertaining and magical morning and support our efforts to improve our park!

Location: Lincoln Park, near the Mary McLeod Bethune Statue and between the playgrounds.

Suggested donation: $5 (Venmo or Paypal – donations are tax-deductible)

Hungry after the show? Our friends at Della Barba Pizza will be generously donating 20% of all orders Sunday to the Friends of Lincoln Park when you mention us when placing your order. If placing an online order, please write “Friends of Lincoln Park” in the “Special instructions” text box.

The Week Ahead…& Some Photos from the Past Week

by Larry Janezich

Posted August 18, 2024

Barracks Row 7-11 closes suddenly.  Late last week, the Barracks Row 7-11 closed its doors permanently.  A 7-11 employee told Capitol Hill Corner that the reason for closure was because of shoplifting.

Update # 2:  Cease and Desist Order for Safe House Weed Outlet on H Street, NE.  Safe House, at 335 H Street, SE, is just to the left of PhoViet USA in the photo.   On August 8, the DC Board of Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) issued a follow up order affirming its earlier cease and desist order against Safe House, which had been operating as a weed gifting outlet. 

On July 31, ABCA held a meeting to hear an appeal of the cease and desist order of July 3, 2024, by the owners and operators of Safe House. The Board found Safe House to be in violation of cannabis regulations prior to filing for two conditional medical marijuana licenses (retail and on-line), which were subsequently granted. 

However, because they operated as a weed gifting shop before (and apparently after) getting the licenses and because of their inability to explain the nature of transactions involving cannabis, and given the likelihood in the Board’s view that they will continue to operate as a gift shop rather than a medical marijuana dispensary, the Board continued the cease and desist order, holding out the possibility of fines for the business. 

Collecting Memories at the LOC.  A new exhibit at the LOC showcases a collection of intimate records of important moments in individual lives as well as entire societies.  Here a capture of the entrance to the exhibit. 

Among the exhibits is one dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln and contains one of the most signification collections of ephemera the Library’s possession. 

This arresting and poignant exhibit displays the contents of the pockets of President Abraham Lincoln the night he was shot – April 14, 1865. 

Top row:  chamois lens cleaner, white linen handkerchief embroidered with “A. Lincoln” in red thread, silk lined wallet which contained 9 newspaper clippings.

Middle row:  case for glasses and a five dollar Confederate bill – possibly a souvenir of a recent trip to Richmond.

Bottom row:  Eye glasses mended with string, gold quartz watch fob, sleeve button with a gold initial “L” on dark blue enamel, ivory and silver multi-blade pocket knife. 

Also in the exhibit is Lincoln’s handwritten Gettysburg Address, delivered November 19, 1863.  The remarks were written on Executive Mansion stationery in Washington.  Lincoln may have altered the end once in Gettysburg, thus explaining his use of different paper and a pencil on the second page. 

Free same day timed-entry tickets to the LOC are available here:  https://www.etix.com/ticket/e/1038417/timedentry-ticket-reservations-washington-thomas-jefferson-building

The Week Ahead…

Thursday, August 22

ANC6A Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.

For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6a.org/community-calendar/

Among items on the agenda: 

• Motion: That ANC6A protest the license application of Luxury Soil , 775 H Street NE, unless a Settlement Agreement is reached between the ANC and the license applicant prior to the protest deadline.
• Motion: That ANC6A protest the license application of Aldi #15, 801 H Street NE, unless a Settlement Agreement is reached between the ANC and the license applicant prior to the protest deadline.

ANC 6B will hold a virtual special call meeting at 7:00pm for Cannabis License Application. 

For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Among items on the draft agenda:

• High Demand, 511 11th Street SE.  New license application for a Medical Cannabis Retailer,

Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:

Friday, August 23, 5:30–7:30pm

• Arab Music and Poetry Night featuring Laith Alattar and Band.  Free | Folger Front Lawn.

Saturday, August 24, 1pm – 3pm. 

• Opening reception for Capitol Hill Art League exhibit “Seashore,” at Frame of Mind, 545 8^th Street, SE.

ICYMI:  Effort to Recall CM Charles Allen Fails

by Larry Janezich

Posted August 13, 2024

ICYMI:  Effort to Recall CM Charles Allen Fails

Organizers of the effort to recall CM Charles Allen acknowledged on Monday that they had failed to get the minimum number of 6425 signatures on the recall petition.  They came up some 900 votes short.  In reality, they needed at least another 1,000 on top of that to be safe from challenges to ineligible or illegible signatures.  And Allen had a team of volunteers ready to check.   

The recall organizers listed a number of reasons for the failure, including citing the unavailability of a mobile application which they claimed the Board of Elections was supposed to provide them to help get signatures.  It would have allowed signees to sign an iPad instead of a piece of paper – but BOE had discontinued the app after 2022.  They also cited aggressive challenges by the pro-Allen organization Neighbors United for Ward 6, headed by former Ward 6 council member Tommy Wells.  Wells filed campaign finance complaints with BOE related to the organizers’ fundraising methods, citing illegal coordination between the campaign and independent expenditure committees and irregularities in employment information provided by campaign contributors.  Also cited was advertising in support of the recall by the DC Police Union without filing as a campaign contributor. 

There were good reasons that the recall effort failed.  Initially, the effort – while it was centered on Capitol Hill – seemed to have considerable momentum.  Once the low hanging fruit of petition signers had been picked, the effort seemed to fade.  There seemed to be little effort in other parts of Ward 6 such as The Wharf or near Northwest. 

Some Ward 6 residents were put off by the involvement of Republicans in the effort amid news reports of national GOP politicians pointing to the recall as evidence that DC was a liberal city which could not govern itself.  A considerable number of large donations came from Republicans and – according to a source familiar with the recall campaign – the DC Republican Party sent petitions and return envelopes to 6000 Republicans in Ward Six. 

And then there’s this:  Allen is popular in Ward 6 and most residents feel they are well represented.  They were not willing to single him out as being responsible for the increase in violent crime that plagued the city in 2023 – the genesis of the recall movement. Three months after the launch of the recall, crime was trending downward in 2024 even before the City Council passed the Secure DC Crime Bill in March.  In the first half of this year, DC has seen one of the steepest drops in violent crime among major U.S. cities. Organizers of the recall built the movement on the crime wave – but offered no solutions of their own, defaulting to a position of supporting more arrests, more convictions, and more incarcerations.   

See also: 

Editorial Part I: What’s Behind the Recall Charles Allen Campaign?  https://capitolhillcorner.org/2024/03/20/editorial-whats-behind-the-recall-charles-allen-campaign/

Editorial Part II:  What’s Behind the Recall Charles Allen Campaign?  https://capitolhillcorner.org/2024/03/21/editorial-part-ii-whos-behind-the-recall-charles-allen-campaign/

The Week Ahead…& Some Photos from the Past Week

By Larry Janezich

Posted August 11, 1024

Return to the Folger Library… is an occasional feather focusing on some of the most popular exhibits in the new Exhibition Hall.  The much-anticipated Great Hall’s Quill and Crumb café will not open until sometime in September.  The Folger will offer grab-and-go breakfast options, coffee, tea, soups and sandwiches, snacks to eat in the garden, and drinks and light dinner fare in the evenings. 

Artist Mya Golsling is the creator of Good Tickle Brain, a stickfigure webcomic.  She created a whimsical map in keeping with the Folger’s new emphasis that Shakespeare is for everyone:  A Fantastical World of William Shakespeare is a world populated by Shakespeare’s characters in plays grouped according to themes in common. 

A Fantastical World of William Shakespeare.

Key to the Map.

Justice for All?  Legal dramas and political prisoners:  Henry VI, Part 1, King John, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, The Two Nobel Kinsmen, The Winter’s Tale.

Cupid’s Estate:  Love is a many splendored (and sometimes disasterous thing):  All’s Well That Ends Well, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, TheTaming of the Shrew; and, Family Therapy: A group for characters with Problematic Fathers:  Hamlet, Henry IV, Part 1, King Lear.

Strange Powers.  Wizards, witches and other magical sorts:  Julius Caesar, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest.

Isle of Tyrants; Murderous self-obsessesive, scheming anti-heroes:  Macbeth, Richard III, The Winter’s Tale. 

Ancient Heroes.  Shakespeare’s many classical pasts: Antony and Cleopatra, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titus Andronicus, Troilus and Cressida, the Two Noble Kinsmen.

There was other news this past week.

ICYMI.  East City Bookshop suffered major water damage from a leak in the space above last month.  They reopened with limited hours this weekend and owner Laurie Gillman says:  “I’m happy to announce that we’ll be open for limited hours this week, (August 13^th  – 16^th  ) from noon to 5 pm.  … we’ll be closed Monday, August 12th, for a post-construction deep cleaning. 

We’ll get back to our regular hours on Saturday, August 17th at 10am. To celebrate re-opening, we’re having a sale!  Get 20% off all books in stock, for in-store purchases only–the discount won’t apply to special orders.”

The Palestinian House of Freedom opened up an office in the Penn Medical Building at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, on July 25^th, next door to District Taco. 

ANC6C Commissioner Jay Adelstein and his dog Sylvie thank NPS Facilities crew for installing new water fountain in Stanton Park. Photo: Jay Adelstein.

The week ahead is quiet, with no meetings scheduled for ANC 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D or 7D.  Likewise, many community civic meeting and other events are in a midi-August hiatus before gearing up for the fall season starting next month.  . 

However, Tuesday, August 12, is the date the campaign to recall CM Charles Allen has to turn in signatures to get a recall measure on a special election recall ballot. 

The Week Ahead & Some Photos from the Past Week

by Larry Janezich

Posted August 4, 2024

A new weekend busker at Eastern Market –  Roman Velychko, violinist.  His story is compelling.  Velychko is Ukrainian who, after the war started in 2022, practiced violin in a bunker with aspirations for Julliard.  He came to the US later that year, leaving behind parents, a brother, and grandparents.   Still in high school, he auditioned for the Julliard “pre-college” program, was accepted and is a member of the Julliard pre-college symphony.  After graduating, he hopes to join Julliard as a full –time student.  His story was posted in The Hill, in December of 2022.  See here:  https://bit.ly/3SBGPxw

The 11^th Street Bridge Park will be built on the piers of the old freeway across the Anacostia River.  The space will be a venue for education and the arts featuring gardens, an environmental center, and 175 native trees. 

This is a model of the bridge installed in front of the Botanic Garden.  The park will be managed by Building Bridges, a non-profit designed to provide equitable access to health, arts and economic opportunity.

Here’s a more comprehensive architectural rendering, courtesy of OMA Architects. 

And here’s another.  For more, see here: https://www.oma.com/projects/11th-street-bridge-park

Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains.  National Museum of the American Indian.  On exhibit through January 20, 2026. 

Narrative art of the plains evolved from painting on buffalo hides, muslins, and ledger books to modern works inspired by this tradition. 

Artists recorded events and history in the on hides and muslin.  When ledger books became available – discarded by the U.S. military or trading posts – artists used them with drawings.  

Native artists began reviving “ledger art” in the 1970s.

A traditional buffalo robe painted by Spotted Tail, Crow, depicting ten battle scenes. 

A modern painting of a Sun Dance – the Renewal Ceremony – by Sherman Chaddlesone, Kiowa, 2013.

A modern painting of a buffalo hunt by Sherman Chaddlesone, Kiowa, 2013.

The Week Ahead…

Wednesday, August 7

ANC 7D August Special Virtual Public Meeting at 6:30pm. 

For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://7d0761.wixsite.com/anc7d-1

Agenda:

• Northeast Boundary Trunk Sewer Rehabilitation Project.  Proposed Action: Support 24 hour work period for underwater sewer pipe.

Kingsman Field and Dog Park Meeting

• Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) hosts a virtual meeting on the future of Kingsman Field and Dog Park from 6 to 7pm. Register to learn the full update.  https://kingsmanfielddogpark.splashthat.com/

Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about: 

Thursday, August 8th

Live! The Library of Congress musical performance and summer movie event.

Thomas Jefferson Building – Southeast Lawn

• Panquility Band will perform joyful melodies and rhythms on the Southeast lawn of the Thomas Jefferson Building. This performance will start before the showing of “Lady and the Tramp.” 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm  No tickets are required to attend this event. 

• A screening of “Lady and the Tramp” (1955), the beloved animated classic that tells the story of Lady, a pampered cocker spaniel, and Tramp, a charismatic street-smart mutt. 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm  No tickets are required to attend this event.

Friday, August 9^th

Folger Fridays – Queer Culture Night featuring Be Steadwell and Pretty Boi Drag, 5:30–7:30pm.

Free | Folger Front Lawn

• An evening of queer celebration with Be Steadwell and Pretty Boi Drag.