CAPITOL HILL CORNER

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.

Chander Jayaraman marched with the Capitol Hill Little League in the Barracks Row July 4th Parade. Jayaraman coaches the team.

ANC6B’s Chander Jayaraman Will Not Seek Re-Election

by Larry Janezich

Posted July 31, 2024

Long-serving ANC6B commissioner and former chair of ANC6B, Chander Jayaraman announced today he will not seek re-election. 

He joins Frank D’Andrea, 6B04; Kasie Durkit, 6B05, Edward Ryder, 6B08; and Matt LaFortune, 6B09; who have also announced their decision not to run again.

In a statement, Jayaraman said, “It has been my honor and privilege to serve on ANC 6B and represent the amazing residents of Capitol Hill and HillEast over the past 14 years. During these years, I have worked with Commissioners from diverse backgrounds and perspectives who shared a common goal – to make the SE quadrant of Capitol Hill a great place to live and call home. While the Commissioners did not always agree on every issue, we always respected each other’s views and worked to come to a consensus on issues of concern to our residents.  Some of my accomplishments over the past 14 years include helping neighbors navigate the DC bureaucracy to get things done, establishing best practices for restaurants and taverns to be successful while being good neighbors, and fighting for our residents when the ideas of city agencies don’t make sense.  I have also had the pleasure of meeting countless numbers of amazing and accomplished residents who makeup our diverse neighborhood.

Unfortunately, the impact of the ANC continues to be eroded and our voices are diminished by District agencies who think they know what is best for the residents we represent.  Too often now, city agencies view the ANC as a hurdle to overcome rather than a partner to work with – this is especially true of DDOT, ABCA, and the Office of Zoning.  I have fought hard to hold agencies responsible for their actions or inaction to the detriment of our neighborhoods but the rate at which agencies are increasingly ignoring ANC input or view attending an ANC meeting as a box to check off to say they received public input is frustrating.  This continues to get more and more prevalent which is one of the reasons I have decided not to seek reelection.  I will continue to be available to future Commissioners and residents who want advice or guidance.”

Candidates have until August 7 to turn in petitions to get on the ballot for the November election.

Candidates who have picked up petitions are as follows (* indicates incumbent):

• 6B01 Frank Avery*
• 6B02 Gerald Sroufe*
• 6B03 David Sobelsohn*
• 6B04 None
• 6B05 None
• 6B06 Burl Haigwood
• 6B06 Anna Krebs
• 6B07 Vince Mareino*
• 6B08 None
• 6B09 Karen Hughes

(Note the contested race in ANC6B06.)

Go here for more info on becoming a candidate:  https://dcboe.org/candidates/anc-advisory-neighborhood-commissioners

The Week Ahead… Eastern Market Fish Market Up for Sale – & Some Photos from Last Week

by Larry Janezich

July 28, 2024

Eastern Market Fish Market Up for Sale.  Southern Maryland Seafood, owned and operated by Richard Glasgow, is up for sale.  The sign says, “FOR SALE – Business – serious inquiries only –  somdsea@gmail.com. 

The Glasgow family has a long history at Eastern Market:   Currently the family’s footprint in the Market includes:  Union Meat’s, Bill Glasgow; Fine Sweet Shoppe,  Jenny Glasgow; Market Lunch,Tom Glasgow; and Southern Maryland Seafood, Richard Glasgow. 

Wednesday afternoon, thousands of protestor’s gathered at 3^rd and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, to protest the address to a joint session of Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. support of the Israeli conduct of the war in Palestine. 

Another view. (Over at Union Station, another group of protestors were taking down the American Flags in front of the station, burning them, and running up the Palestinian flags.

On Tuesday, July 30, ANC6B will consider applications for two Capitol Hill cannabis gift shops which are applying for Medical Marijuana licenses:  Bud Love, at 1221 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE…

…and High Demand at 511 11th Street, SE.  Neighbors of High Demand are upset about a weed outlet – legal or illegal – on a block which is more than half residential and in close proximity to a school.   (Also, last week, ANC6A’s ABCA Committee considered a medical marijuana application from Luxury Soil at 775 H Street, NE.  Mike Formant of John C. Formant Realty opposed the license application, saying his company owns a building next door and it has been “impossible to attract a tenant for the building “because the presence of a marijuana outlet drives away other businesses.)   The subcommittee subsequently voted 5 – 0 (their SOP) to recommend the full ANC oppose the application unless a Settlement Agreement is reached.  The motion was agreed to, 5 – 0.  See below for meeting details. 

ICYMI – As You Like It, Barracks Row LGBTQ+ Bar at 500 Eighth Street, SE, will reopen at 12 noon on August 1.  The bar has been closed since April 8 while the building’s water damage issues were being resolved.    

The Week Ahead…

Tuesday, July 30

ANC6B will hold a virtual Special Call Meeting for Cannabis License Applications at 7:00pm.

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

Agenda:

• High Demand, 511 11th Street, SE; New license application for a Medical Cannabis Retailer License.
• Bud Love, LLC t/a Bud Love, 1221 Pennsylvania Avenue SE; New license application for a Medical Cannabis Retailer License. 

Wednesday, July 31

Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC) will hold a hybrid in person and virtual meeting at 7:00pm in the North Hall of Eastern Market.

Here’s a link to join the meeting virtually:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84573658175?pwd=zxGH47mhlQ8fgbPjgtlmlo7b2Nm3oa.1

Agenda:  TBA

Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:

Wednesday, July 31 ·

NEW – Free Barracks Row Main Street Monthly Social Hour 5:30 – 7:30pm .  Lola’s, Second Floor, 711 8th Street, SE.

“Barracks Row Mainstreet is thrilled to invite our friends and neighbors to this fun new event.

If you’re looking to try something new & get out of your comfort zone – come solo to our events and leave with new memories, connections, and relationships.”

Reserve a spot through Eventbrite  https://bit.ly/4cWfLBi

For more information on Barracks Row Main Street’s programs, events, and more visit Barracksrow.org or contact Logosou Kudayah logosou@barracksrow.org

Wednesday, July 31

The Hill Center:  Global Sounds on the Hill featuring Caymanian Kitchen Dance Music with Swanky Kitchen Band.  7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | $20 | Register Here  https://bit.ly/4c5iuHx

“This Band is on an essential quest to revive the traditional music of the Cayman Islands with an infectiously danceable fiddle-driven style, created through a crossroads of European and African influences.”

A New Navy Museum on M St. SE – 5 Aspirational Concepts

By Larry Janezich

Posted July 26, 2024

The Navy is relocating its National Museum of the US Navy to M Street, SE, to alleviate security concerns associated with high rise development of the M Street site by private developers and to provide greater public access to the museum.  The site is currently owned by GSA which is engaged in a land swap for a piece of the Navy Yard’s SE corner for the purpose.

The Navy held a preliminary competition to explore the design possibilities for the new Navy Museum, and five major architectural firms were selected to present concepts.  These concepts are not part of the final competition for the design of the museum which will come later in the process.  Rather, this competition was to platform the new museum and stir interest among architectural firms, the public, and the Navy at large. 

In April of 2013, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro unveiled five conceptual renderings from five architecture firms:  Bjarke Ingels Group, DLR Group, Frank Gehry Partners, Perkins&Will and Quinn Evans.  Here are the concepts and an image of the current museum:

Bjarke Ingels Group

DLR Group

Frank Gehry Partners

Perkins & Will

Quinn Evans.

The current National Museum of the United States Navy

For more on the concepts and the April 2023 unveiling, go here:  https://bit.ly/4cXvT5s

The relocation of the Navy Museum from its current location inside the Navy Yard to 5th and M Street, SE – close to Harris Teeters – is possible because of the land swap by which a 15 acre parcel of land in the SE comer of the Navy Yard would be exchanged for a 6 acre parcel owned by the General Services Administration just outside the NW corner of the Navy Yard.  The 15 acre parcel GSA would receive would be opened for mixed use development including retail and inclusionary housing.  Before the swap can be done, the land inside the Navy Yard will have to be zoned for development.  That process is underway and the DC Zoning Commission will take up a Zoning application in the fall. 

Here’s an image of the two parcels.  The SE parcel where the Navy Museum currently resides is at the lower right and outlined in blue. The NW parcel where the new museum will be located is at the upper left and outlined in red.

Here’s a link to a recent CHC post: Photo Essay – Touring the Navy Yard’s Navy Museum https://bit.ly/3xYy6i7

Saturday, July 27:  Opening reception for Capitol Hill Art League Exhibit “CYCLES”

Posted Friday, July 26, 2024

The Capitol Hill Art League (CHAL) members were invited to submit 2 – or 3 – dimensional works in any media invoking the idea of Cycles.  The resulting work includes repeating patterns, shifting of phases and perspectives, and many notions of the concept of Cycles.  

This members-only exhibition, juried by Joren Lindholm, will be on display in the CHAW Gallery at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) through August 23, 2024.

There will be an opening reception from 5:30-7:00 pm, on Saturday, July 27th, at CHAW, located at 547 7th Street, S.E. Washington, DC, 20003.

Here’s a link to a digital preview of the exhibition:  https://bit.ly/3Wjog2g

Ophelia’s Fish House at 501 8th Street, SE, Barracks Row.

Thursday was Ophelia’s Fish House’s Last Day

by Larry Janezich

Posted Thursday, July 25, 2024

Waiting to see if Ophelia’s Fish House on Barracks Row would close was like waiting for the other shoe to drop.  The shoe dropped Thursday as sources confirmed that the day would be the restaurant’s last.  For months the word on the street has been that Boxcar across from Eastern Market and Ophelia’s would close once their leases were up.  Both restaurants were owned by the Hill Restaurant Group (HRG). 

CHC reported in mid-March – in connection with the death of HRG manager Tom Johnson – that HRG was considering closing some of its Barracks Row venues in the wake of shrinking revenues and lack of foot traffic.  They had just closed the Stadium Lounge and Smokehouse in Navy Yard.  The Washington Business Journal reported that other Hill Restaurant Group outlets could follow as their leases expire.  The outlets on Barracks Row included – Lola’s, Playa Ocho, and Opheila’s Fish House. HRG also owned the Hawk and Dove on Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, and Boxcar across from Eastern Market.  Boxcar closed several weeks ago.  Those remaining – Lola’s, Playa Ocho, and the Hawk and Dove – continue to operate.

Herb Scott, Jazz Saxaphonist. Photo: Herb Scott

DC Casineros and the Gerardo Contino. Photo: Folger Library

July 26:  Two Free Friday Night Music Events

by Larry Janezicn

Posted Friday, July 23, 2024

Friday Night Live Jazz at Eastern Market Metro Plaza features the Herb Scott Band at 5:30pm.

Scott is a star on the Washington, D.C. Jazz scene. While studying at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts under the award-winning educator Davey Yarborough, he performed with renowned trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock.  For more, go here:  https://bit.ly/3PzUeCI

The concert series comes to Eastern Market Metro Plaza through the efforts of Barracks Row Main Street and the Department of Parks and Recreation.  CM Charles Allen secured funding in the current FY DC Budget to program the performance space at the Plaza.

Free Folger Friday with DC Casineros and the Gerardo Contino Band at 5:30pm.

Join the Folger for a relaxed summer evening with food, drinks, music, dancing, poetry, and more. It’s a chance to discover new artists and performers and explore the Folger’s galleries and gardens.

Join us this Friday, July 26 for free dance demonstrations and lessons followed by live music.

Activities begin at 5:30pm and attendees may enter or leave as needed. Picnics are welcome and drinks will be available to purchase. The Folger is open until 9pm, so stay after the performance to visit the exhibitions; timed-entry passes are recommended.  Go here:  https://bit.ly/3SmbwH3

Union Kitchen’s new outlet location at 430 8th Street, SE.

Here’s a photo of the on-going build-out through the obscuring film which covers the windows.

Progress on Union Kitchen Coming to Barracks Row

by Larry Janezich

Posted July 24, 2024

At last, Union Kitchen has posted a sign announcing their prospective arrival on Barracks Row at 430 8^th Street, in the space formerly occupied by the Subway shop.  There’s no word on an anticipated opening date, but there has been an uptick in build-out activity. 

The café/grocery will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and offer specialty grocery items and housewares in the 1400 s.f. storefront space.  Owners had hoped to open in the fall of 2022, but the permitting and buildout took longer than expected.  This comes as good news for a Barracks Row which has recently seen the closure of Lavagna and As You Are. 

Union Kitchen, a local chain which bills itself as a “food business accelerator,” is headquartered at 1369 New York Avenue, (see here:  https://www.unionkitchen.com/  ).  Neighbors in Northeast are familiar with one of Union Kitchen’s 6 outlets at 538 3rd Street, NE.