The Week Ahead…The Fridge Launches Bid to Reopen & Some Photos from the Past Week
By Larry Janezich
Posted July 20, 2025
The Fridge Launches Bid to Reopen – When The Fridge closed in 2023, Barracks Row lost its most interesting business. According to founder Alex Goldstein, the underground gallery helped start the careers of over 1,000 artists in addition to being a gathering space for those often left out of the traditional art world. Now Goldstein – in partnership with Shaymar Higgs of The SPACE Free Art For All – has launched a GoFundMe to make reopening of The Fridge in 2026 a realty. Go here for more information and to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/thefridgedc
This current view of The Fridge features Alicia “Decoy” Cosnahan’s last mural on the walls of The Fridge after it closed. The image is the centerpiece of a larger work by several artists, including Taxi Gang, a tag used by Goldstein.
Celebrating Mary McLeod Bethune – On Saturday, July 12, the National Park Service hosted Mary McLeod Bethune’s 150th Birthday Celebration in Lincoln Park. Mary McLeod Bethune July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955).
This image was not from that event – it’s from July 4th. But it powerfully reflects her spirit and influence as an educator, philanthropist, humanitarian, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune became the first Black woman to lead a federal agency when she was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as the Secretary to lead the National Youth Association. In 1932, she was appointed as a national advisor and worked with Roosevelt to create the Federal Council on Colored Affairs, also known as the Black Cabinet. The 1974 statue as the first monument to honor an African American and a woman in a public park in Washington, D.C. as the Black Cabinet.
Circling Back to the Former Congress Market – To recap, signage appeared Saturday, June 7, on the former Congress Market at 421 East Capitol SE, which led neighbors to fear the store intended to open as a cannabis dispensary. Neighbors protested to CM Charles Allen and ANC6B. At the request of Allen, ABCA investigated and told the owners that signs depicting cannabis symbols violated city regulations. The business owners claimed it was all a mistake – that their intent was to open a business selling cannabis paraphernalia – however, in the six weeks since the sign was painted over, there has been little evidence of activity at the site.
Here’s how it looks today.
Here’s a Little Library on 4th Street, NE: “Libraries and Justice for All.”
And here’s Triple Candies’ latest installation in the space in the front of the former Li’l Pub at 655 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, featuring a 1972 quote by George McGovern.
The Week Ahead…
Monday, July 21
ANC6D will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm
- For info on how to join the meeting, go here: https://www.anc6d.org/
Among items on the draft agenda:
Public Safety Report (PSA 103,105,106)
- Community Announcements (1 minute per speaker, please contact us 48 hours in advance)
- Government Announcements (Executive and Legislative Branch)
- Commissioner Announcements
- Community Concerns (3 minutes per speaker, please send request 48 hours in advance)
- Consent Agenda
- ABC Matters
- Bureau of Zoning Adjustment Application: Will the ANC support this application for 1224 Carrollsburg Place?
- Consideration of an ANC Letter regarding the Better Bus reorganization
- SMD Updates
- Chairperson’s Report
ANC6A Transportation & Public Space 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 draft agenda:
- DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum will join the committee to discuss H Street Transit Priority, Streetcar plans, sidewalk safety and accessibility and other transportation issues affecting the neighborhood.
Tuesday, July 22
ANC6A Alcohol Beverage & Cannabis Committee meeting CANCELLED
Wednesday, July 23
ANC6B Public Safety Committee will hold a virtual meeting a 6:30pm.
- For info on how to join the meeting, go here: https://anc6b.org/
Among items on the draft agenda: TBA
Thursday, Juyly 24
Rescheduled: ANC6B’s Parks and Public Spaces Task Force will hold an in person meeting at 7:00pm.
The meeting will be held on the second floor of 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. The entrance is next to the Trader Joe’s.
Among items on the draft agenda:
- Dogs Off-leash in Parks.
- Open Public School Playgrounds.
- Park Identification Process (and “adoptions” by committee members).
- Adoption of Mission Statement, Working Procedures.
- Rumsey Pool Rebuild.
- Throne Restroom on Eastern Market Metro Park.
- Garfield Park and Underpass Update.
- Signage in Garfield Park.
- Open Streets Review.
- Future agenda items? Thoughts on furthering work of the Committee?
Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:
CM Charles Allen hosts the annual Ward 6 Week. Join Councilmember Charles Allen from Sunday, July 27, through Saturday, Aug. 2, for a week of fun, free activities highlighting all our community has to offer. Here’s a link to the full schedule: https://bit.ly/3GzHz3J
For Sunday, July 27
- CM Allen and his staff kick off Ward 6 Week with a Pop-Up at the Spray Park and Playground: 10 to 11 a.m. at Eastern Market Metro Park (800 Pennsylvania Ave. SE).
- (Registration Full) – LGBTQ+ Cemetery Tour: 1 p.m. at the Congressional Cemetery (1801 E St. SE).
- Cake in the Park!: 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Garfield Park (1-299 South Carolina Ave. SE). Enjoy delicious cake with your neighbors in the park! It’s simple: Sign up to bring a cake of your choosing (bake, buy, or convince a loved one to make one), BYO plate and utensils, and eat your heart out. Thanks to our event partner, Friends of Garfield Park!
Thursday, July 24 – 8:00pm – 10:00pm
Summer Movies on the Lawn at Library of Congress: “Spy Kids” (2001). Free.
Where: Thomas Jefferson Building – Southeast Lawn
Join us for a screening of “Spy Kids” (2001) starring Antonio Banderas as Gregorio Cortez.
For more and to register, go here: https://bit.ly/4lEndpf
Saturday, July 26 – 7:00pm
Folger Library – Members $20/Non-members $25
Join us on Saturday, for our next “Cocktails and Conversation” with writer, culinary historian, and educator Michael W. Twitty, who has appeared on the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods America with Andrew Zimmerman, Hulu’s Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, and Netflix’s High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America.
For more and to purchase tickets, go here: https://www.folger.edu/whats-on/cocktails-convo-michael-twitty/
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 