8/2/02:
There's a new Comfort One Shoes store at 1621 Conn
Ave, where The Burro used to be.
Thai Chef unveiled major renovation at 1712 Conn Ave.
WT profiles the flower stand outside the 19th St exit
of the Dupont Circle station. See "Sidewalk standout,"
http://www.washtimes.com/business/20020719-99959027.htm
The American Friends of the Czech Republic has images
of the Masaryk statue which is coming to Mass Ave &
22nd this September. See http://www.afocr.org/
WP reviews Pierre L'Enfant's 1791 "Plan of the City of
Washington," saying "Dupont is nothing if not a mixing
bowl: of rich and poor, of gay and straight, of old
and young, of black and white and everything in-
between." Quotes an architectural historian as saying
"One of the great misunderstood facts about Washington
is that it is not a densely populated city, not as
great urban centers go" ... "There are fewer people
living in the city per acre of space than in Venice,
than in Amsterdam, than in Paris or in London,
certainly than in New York. Large parts of Washington
empty out at night, but they don't have to -- there is
room for more people and fewer commuters." Article
says "the Mall and Dupont Circle may capture and
preserve L'Enfant's vision better than most Washington
precincts." See "The Man With the Plan,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24995-2002Jul18.html
WP has a video of a "spring produce tour of the
Freshfarm Market at Dupont Circle." See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/liveonline/043002-10v.htm
Three dead crows have been found in the 1400 block of
T St since July 31.
WP reports on burglary at Bishop's Gate, at 15th & S.
See "Confronting A Burglar, District Man Is Stabbed,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8133-2002Jul26.html
Dupont ANC sent out alerts on two other crimes. See
[1] below.
The Current reports on apartment and retail project
for 14th St. Modern 4-story building is planned for NW
corner of 14th & P, over two empty lots and straddling
the long-vacant Pelz building. This portion is part of
a larger 150-loft project stretching to the alley
between Church St and Q St, replacing The Saint, Metro
Cafe, and Diversité. Sam's Pawnbrokers did not sell
and will remain. The burned-out Queen Ann row house on
P St will not be salvaged.
Washingtonian reports on loft trend, citing 14-unit
City Lofts which opens this month at 11th & W, as well
as the 87-unit Hudson opening this winter and the 66-
unit DeSoto opening in 2004, both across from Fresh
Fields. See "Wide-Open Spaces: Developers Are Tearing
Down Walls and Raising Ceilings to Bring New York-
Style Loft Apartments to Washington,"
http://www.washingtonian.com/thismonth/class/RE_wideopenspaces.html
Starbucks is coming to P St, in the Hudson.
WP profiles Maison 14, new elegant furniture store at
1325 14th St. See "Fluent French, Urban Scale,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56681-2002Jul24.html
WP profiles 14th St's Fusebox, quoting a Hirshorn
staffer as saying "I can't tell you how many people I
run into in New York who are talking about Fusebox."
See "Fusebox, Generating A Buzz on the Art Scene,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6404-2002Jul26.html
Sissy City posted a review of 14th St. See
http://www.sissycity.com/dc/accom/visitors_center/14th_Street_Corridor.htm
ANC commissioner Josh Gibson has the lowdown on that
gigantic vending machine at 18th & California, plus a
new brothel on 18th St. See [2] below.
See also http://adamsmorgan.net/vendingthing/
Josh provided an update on new residential projects
for Adams Morgan, such as: high-end condos on north
side of 1400 block of Belmont (incl hotel & 2 adjacent
buildings to be demolished); residential use of the
Colortone building in the alley behind Ontario & 17th
(to get added stories); an addition of several floors
above the Brass Knob Warehouse; a giant project that
will go from (and replace) the corner store at
Champlain and Kalorama through two vacant lots and the
red brick building adjacent to (but not including) the
Brass Knob Warehouse; a renovation of 1701 Kalorama
(the former Brass Knob Warehouse and current parking
garage) into condos; and the possible building of
several new floors above the offices at 1700 Kalorama.
Tom Tom has reopened in the heart of Adams Morgan,
after being closed for over 2 years. The old Pearl
spot at 18th & Kalorama is now Soussi. Further north,
Guantamamera opened next to Julia's Empanadas.
WP visited the 18th St home of Douglas Dillon, above
Chenonceau Antiques. See "Strange but True: An Adams
Morgan Apartment Is a One-Man Show,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56673-2002Jul24.html
WT covers Adams Morgan ANC commissioners who asked
club owners for money. See "D.C. bar owners complain
of 'shakedown',"
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20020726-73752808.htm
See also "2 accused of 'shakedown' can still vote,"
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20020727-96821280.htm
See also "ANC role questioned in light of IG
probe,"
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20020802-21307448.htm
See also "3 Say D.C. Officials Solicited Funds:
Businessmen's Reports About 2 ANC Members Causes
Alarm,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8125-2002Jul26.html
WP looks at study which said each Columbia Heights-
Petworth household spends an average of $17,144
outside the neighborhood, and that home values grew by
12.3 percent from 2000 to 2001. See "Economic Findings
From Two Neighborhoods,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21289-2002Jul17.html
WP says study is being used to lure Target, Costco,
and Wal-Mart to the area. See "Retail Potential Found
in 2 Areas: Columbia Heights, Anacostia Studied,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21288-2002Jul17.html
WP looks at new speed humps near 3rd & V. See "City
Installs Traffic Humps: Officials Respond to NW
Residents' Call to Curb Speeding ,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21287-2002Jul17.html
Speed humps are a bad solution to a serious problem.
They pose serious dangers for bicyclists. An array of
better traffic-calming devises is described at
http://www.walkinginfo.org/de/curb1.cfm?codename=d&CM_maingroup=TrafficCalming
If you've ever seen a car turn right without
slowing down, and threatening people in the crosswalk,
you'll like the "curb radius reduction" solution. See
http://www.walkinginfo.org/de/curb1.cfm?codename=14b&CM_maingroup=RoadwayDesign
Another great resource is
http://www.trafficcalming.org/
The undeveloped riverfront site at 30th & K will house
the Swedish Embassy, plus offices & residential space,
and will connect to Washington Harbor with pedestrian
walkways and gardens. See "Sweden on the Potomac,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/07/22/story1.html
WBJ reports on plans for development of lot between
RI Ave Metro station and the new Home Depot. See "D.C.
readies RFP for Franklin School redevelopment,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/07/22/newscolumn1.html
See "Urban retail finally gets some attention; next
maybe it can get a little respect,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/07/22/editorial1.html
WT looks at state of city's tree canopy, down 40%
since 1973. See "'City of Trees' loses cover,"
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20020726-34923879.htm
See "Needy for Green, Areas Look Skyward; Arundel,
Arlington Tout Benefits of Roof Gardens,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22411-2002Jul17.html
Now running: Source Theatres Summer Arts Festival. See
http://users.starpower.net/sourcetheatre/fest22.htm
Tonight, August 2: First Friday, Dupont's galleries'
open house. See http://www.artgalleriesdc.com/
Saturday, August 3: Gay Day at Hillwood. See [3] below.
Tuesday, August 6: Fresh Fields' monthly teatime
happy hour with live jazz, 5-7pm.
August 9 - 18: Sales tax "holiday," exempting
clothing, shoes, and school supplies worth under $100
from DC's 5.75% sales tax.
Friday, August 9: Wetskins - DC's gay water polo team
- has a beer-selling fundraiser at The Eagle.
August 10 & 11: Mid City Dog Days Sidewalk Sale. Over
20 businesses along 14th & U participate in 3rd
annual sale.
Saturday, August 10: DCJCC's Screening Room's Urban
Drive-In presents "Saving Silverman" projected
outdoors behind the JCC. See
http://www.dcjcc.org/screeningroom.htm
Sunday, August 11: LadyFest closes with a concert in
Dupont Circle at noon. See http://www.ladyfestdc.org/
Tuesday, August 13: Monthly Speakeasy at HR-57 on 14th
St, with theme of "I'm not that kind of girl/guy:
stories about gender and sexual identity." See
http://www.washingtonstorytellers.org/speakeezy.htm
August 15 - 18: See http://www.georgetownfilmfest.com/
Thursday, August 15: DC Trees Inventory Finale at NBM.
See http://www.caseytrees.org/Finale.htm
Saturday, September 14: BikeDC, a 14- or 36-mile car-
free bike ride through DC. See http://www.waba.org
Thursday, September 19: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
Memorial dedication. See http://www.oai-usa.com/afocr/
Best regards,
Michael
------------------------------------------------------
[1] [from Vince.Micone@DupontCircleANC.net]
MPD PUBLIC SAFETY ALERTS
NEIGHBORHOOD BURGLARIES
On Saturday, July 27, 2002, The Richmond, located on
the 1400 block of 17th Street, NW, experienced a
burglary of a first floor unit. The suspect entered
via a rear first floor window.
On Monday, July 29, 2002, the building located at
1409 15th Street, N.W., incurred burglaries to four of
its units. In this instance, the suspect(s) gained
entry into the residences by prying open the doors.
It is not clear at this point whether these two
incidents are connected, as well as the burglary at
1715 15th Street, NW, last week in which the victim
was stabbed. It is apparent that residential buildings
in the Dupont Circle neighborhood have been targeted.
All of these cases are aggressively being investigated
by the Third District Detective's Office, and several
leads have been developed in reference to the offense
at 1715 15th Street, NW.
Foot beats have been assigned to the area, and
officers have been instructed to patrol the halls of
buildings. Don't be alarmed at the sight of officers
in and around the buildings, I will be providing
information to you regarding any additional incidents.
At this time, we ask your cooperation in helping to
identify and apprehend those responsible. We ask that
you contact 911 in regards to any suspicious persons
inside of, or hanging around your building. Please be
prepared to provide the call taker with a description
of the subject, his whereabouts, and last direction of
travel if they have left the area. Thank you in
advance for your cooperation.
Lieutenant Groomes is on vacation this week, therefore
any questions or problems, contact me, Sergeant
FitzGerald 202-262-6480.
VANDALISM IN WEST DUPONT
In the alley between O and P and Hopkins and 21st
Street, someone scratched ("keyed") the hoods of about
9 or 10 cars that regularly park in the alley. This
malicious act, which took place sometime last Thursday
or Friday, appears to be random and unprovoked.
Please report suspicious activity to MPD.
------------------------------------------------------
[2] [from joshgibson@alumni.ksg.harvard.edu, 7/29/02]
Hi everyone,
Wow, we should have stuck with the helicopters from
last week's update. This week's update is too weird.
I'm talking about two of our neighborhood's newest
additions: a "massage parlor" and a gigantic vending
machine.
MASSAGE PARLOR
The "massage parlor" is called Galaxy, and is located
at 2318 18th Street, in the former Flying Saucer Discs
location. The storefront's window is whited out, and
includes only an "open" sign and a sign saying Galaxy.
When I went by at 1:30AM last Tuesday (how many
legit massage parlors are open at 1:30AM?), I was told
as I walked in the front door that I'd be made to feel
"all right," and that I'd be "taken care of." [I
declined.]
A local business owner told me that he sent an
employee in to Galaxy to see what services Galaxy
would offer him. The employee was offered something
that rhymes with "ducky ducky," that, while not the
first thing that came to your mind, WAS the second
thing that came to your mind.
Or, if you prefer creative writing, try this,
Galaxy's ad from the Adult Services section of the
City Paper: "Galaxy Spa, 2318 18th Street, NW. The
mysterious touch of the orient will put new life into
your tired, stressed body. Experience total relaxation
and ultimate pleasure. Walkins are welcome.
202-332-0446."
Needless to say, I have been working with Jim
Graham, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory
Affairs, and the police to get this place shut down,
and pronto.
VENDING MACHINE
As you likely noticed, in the past week, a mysterious
giant silver box "landed" at the corner of 18th St.
and California St. in the Lauriol Plaza satellite
parking lot. Lo and behold, it turns out that this
box is a giant double-sided vending machine that
serves up DVDs on one side and everything from milk to
toilet paper to feminine hygiene on the other side
(see www.yatoopartoo.com/pages/conceptflash.html# for
some photos of a French version of a similar concept).
This machine is owned by a company called Tik Tok
Easy Shop (www.tiktokeasyshop.com), which, it turns
out, is owned by McDonalds.
The problem would seem to be that this machine
meets the DC government's technical definition of a
vending machine and therefore seems to be legal. To
get rid of it, we'll have to resort to moral outrage.
Councilmember Graham and DCRA have also been contacted
on this issue, incidentally.
Does anyone want to defend this machine? I think
that they're technologically cool (coincidentally, I
saw one while on vacation in Paris a couple of months
back...), and they DO have a place in the world.
First, I think these machines could be very handy
inside 24-hour buildings like train stations,
dormitories, etc. (the one I saw in Paris was in the
Gare du Nord). Second (and this is NOT a NIMBY/racist/
classist comment), I think they could be useful in
some of the poorer neighborhoods of the city that are
underserved by retailers, where residents are forced
to pay $5 for a gallon of milk at the corner liquor
store.
However, the corner of 18th and California is
within two blocks of four convenience stores (Admass,
Juanita's, Virginia Market, Home Food Store, and the
obviously 24-hour 7-11) and one video/DVD rental place
(Video Americain, which is great, by the way...).
There is clearly no need for this vending machine in
our neighborhood.
I'll also point out that this vending machine, at
16 feet tall by 9 feet wide and chilled to 35 degrees,
is bigger and surely better air conditioned than many
apartments in Adams Morgan! If it was in the Lofts at
Adams Morgan, it would probably go for $200,000....
In any case, let me know what you think...
Helicopters, massage parlors, and monumental vending
machines. What next?!?
Josh
------------------------------------------------------
[3]
Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Colleagues:
August is just around the corner and I wanted to
provide you with information about Hillwood's first-
ever Gay Day welcoming the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and
Transgender Community to Hillwood Museum & Gardens.
Hillwood is the former residence of cereal heiress,
philanthropist, and collector Marjorie Merriweather
Post and houses the largest collection of Russian
Imperial Art as well as an extensive collection of
18th-century French Decorative Arts. Our inaugural Gay
Day will take place on Saturday, August 3rd from 11:00
A.M. - 6:00 P.M.
Gay Day at Hillwood will be filled with exciting
activities including appearances by Madame de
Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV, performances by
the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C., and
demonstrations of the tradition of kimono.
Reservations are required, $10 adults, $5 students
and children. For reservations, call 202.686.5807.
This event was announced by Hillwood Museum &
Gardens Staff on the evening of June 19th at a
cocktail reception solidifying Hillwood's outreach
and partnership goals with the GLBT community. For a
recap of this event, attended by Washington GLBT
community leaders as well as Hillwood's colleagues in
the D.C. cultural community, please visit
http://www.sissycity.com/dc/article.htm .
For more information about Hillwood and Gay Day,
please visit our website at
http://www.hillwoodmuseum.org .
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