1/3/03:   

Current says Benetton will move their Dupont store to
former Janus space at Conn Ave & R. Space might be 
shared with sister brand Sisly for younger fashions.

Melting Pot fondue restaurant now open in underground
space at 19th and Jefferson.

Linda Roth reports Chi Cha/Gazuza owner will open Agua
Ardiente in former West 24 spot at 1250 24th St.

WP says Heurich House price has been lowered from $9.9
to $7.2 million. See "Relocation of City Museum..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64546-2003Jan1.html

See "Luxe and Local: A dash of flash and simple, 
organic ingredients make Local 16 a standout on U St,"
http://www.cultureflux.com/dec_12/local16.html

See "Street Call Boxes Well on Way to Being Saved;
Dupont Circle Neighborhood Groups Join Effort,"
http://www.intowner.com/fr/issue/stories/story2.htm
   See also "For Neighborhoods, a Call to Turn Relics
Into Art,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38177-2002Dec25.html
   See also
http://www.dcheritage.org/information2531/information_show.htm?doc_id=43668

New personal trainer gym opening in basement at 17th &
Q. See http://www.fit-dc.com/

LCCA reviews local gyms. See "Fit and Fabulous ... 
After the Holidays!,"
http://www.logancircle.org/news/news11.html

Crunch, the gym chain located in most gay ghettos (as
seen on Will & Grace), was rumored to have been 
scouting Dupont/Logan.

"Rainbow Paint & Auto Body Lofts" coming to former car
shop on 1400 block of Church St. 20-condo project will
add 4th story to building and include 5 stories on
empty lot on the west side. Was almost called Rainbow
Lofts, but changed in order to "keep it queer but
butch it up a little bit."

See "Almost Famous: Hotel Helix promises all who enter
their 15 minutes of fame,"
http://www.cultureflux.com/dec_12/helix.html

WP profiles Post Mass Ave at 15th & Mass. See "A High
Standard of Living -- and Rent to Match,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42126-2002Dec26.html

CF profiles Go Mama Go, Twins Jazz, and Millennium. 
See "The Resurgence of 14th & U: Zen-like simplicity,
great jazz, and affordable retro furniture all on 14th
& U,"
http://www.cultureflux.com/dec_12/ustreet.html

See profile of "The New U Street,"
http://www.washingtonlife.com/current/u-street.htm

See "Celebrating 13th and U: Student mural depicts 
Temperance Row’s history,"
http://www.thecommondenominator.com/121602_news3.html
  
Blade says "Between Friends" opening soon at 1115A U
St. See "New U St. club adds to New Year's options,"
http://www.washblade.com/point/021227outindc.php3

See "ANC: Logan Circle liquor licenses likely to pour
in,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/12/23/newscolumn1.html

The Green Lantern has begun having smoke-free nights
Saturdays after 10 on the 2nd floor.

Josh Gibson reports that "Norman Jemal withdrew his 
application to redevelop the garage/warehouse at 1701
Kalorama Road into apartments/condos. He faced 
substantial opposition from some neighbors who were 
unwilling to support his building's application for a
seven/seventeen foot (depending how you count) height
special exception. The ANC supported the special 
exception. At a previous ANC meeting, Jemal stated 
that without the additional seven/seventeen feet, a 
residential project wouldn't work, and that he'd keep
the project commercial."

WP piece looks at local lofts, including Lofts at 
Adams Morgan, Lofts14 (14th & Church), Zydeco Lofts 
(16th Street in Columbia Heights), and Langston Lofts 
(14th and V). See "For the Love Of 'Loft': By Any 
Name, It's the Space That's Hot," 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48766-2002Dec13.html

See "Major Anchor Project for Columbia Heights Seen 
Getting Boost from Target Stores,"
http://www.intowner.com/fr/issue/stories/story1.htm

WBJ looks at empty historic market at 7th & O. See
"Design plans progressing for marketplace makeover,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/12/16/focus3.html

See "The new NoMa: After the tech crash, some dreams
have faded, but hope has not,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/12/16/focus1.html

WP says Turner Memorial AME Church at 6th & I was sold
for $5 million. Though listed as "suitable for a 
nightclub," it will be returned to a synagogue, with a
preschool and a Jewish museum. Another former 
synagogue, Corinthian Baptist Church at 5th & I, is 
also looking to move and could sell its building. See
"A Jewish Landmark Again: Businessmen Agree to Buy 
D.C. Church, Hope for Its Restoration as Synagogue,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31458-2002Dec23.html

WP looks at how high-end law firms are fueling the 
growth and expansion of downtown. The Bowen Building 
at 15th & I is expected to undergo a full restoration.
See "Renovations Driven By D.C. Law Firms: Legal 
Sector Leads Downtown Projects,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55972-2002Dec14.html

See photo of Wilson building lit up for Xmas:
http://www.dc.gov/mayor/news/release.asp?id=437

See "Officials, Cyclists Push Pedaling for Commuters,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59422-2002Dec15.html

WP reports on residential proposal for a few blocks 
from Tysons Galleria, with 4 19-story towers with over
1,300 units plus 60 townhouses and a grocery store.
See "Condo Idea Gives Tysons Life After 5,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37871-2002Dec25.html

John Aravosis has an update on his 12/10/02 mugging;
see [1] below.

A friend asked me to ask readers to submit a short
response to this question: "What are your ideas as to
ways in which the city (police, DC citizens, mayor,
city council reps, etc) can reduce crime?" He'll share
the survey results. Respond to rstoff1@yahoo.com

WBJ says DC is the 4th-most dangerous city in America.
See "DC's danger ranking imperils marketing momentum,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/12/09/daily60.html

See "Tree Preservationists Hail Survey: Inventory to
Guide Revival of Greenery,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38181-2002Dec25.html
   See also http://www.ddot.dc.gov/ufa/index.shtm
   See also http://www.caseytrees.org/

See 1-page 2003 calendar with photos of Dupont: 
http://www.dcintricatedetails.com/2003calendar.PDF

Extended through Jan 11: Dingleberries, at WND, 1017 
7th St. See http://www.cherryredproductions.com/

Wednesday, January 8: Dupont Circle ANC meeting, 7pm,
St Thomas Church. Mayor Williams is scheduled speaker.

Tuesday, January 21: 14th & U design committee
meeting. See http://www.14thandu.org

Wednesday, January 22: Columbia Heights Revitalization
lecture at NBM, 6:30, $15. "Once a thriving 
neighborhood, Columbia Heights suffered from years of
neglect and crime. Now, the area has a diverse 
population, a booming real estate market, and eleven 
major projects proposed for the 14th St corridor." See
http://www.nbm.org/Events/Calendar/Lectures_Symposia.html

Best regards,
Michael    
------------------------------------------------------
[1]          [12/30/02, from john@wiredstrategies.com]

A group of us met with Commander Pendergast, her
deputy, and an assistant chief of police the week
before Christmas.  On our side, the participants
included me, Matt Forman of the KCA, Adams Morgan ANC
reps Josh Gibson and Alan Roth, Lisa DuPurier with the
KCA and Adams Morgan, Andy Miscuk (current chair of 
the ANC), Patrick Canavan with the Mayor's Office, and
Councilmember Jim Graham.

The meeting was 3 hours long, and it included a frank
exchange of views, as the folks at the State Dept.
like to say.  We presented a long list of concerns,
including my mugging and the way it was handled, but
then leading into the larger issue of police inaction
and bad action in our area of the city (threatening
people who try to file crime reports), the decrease in
quality of life enforcement in our neighborhoods
(return of the car jockeys, graffiti, etc.), harassing
law-abiding citizens while claiming insufficient time
to investigate hard-core crimes, etc.  At the end of
our meeting we presented a series of action items that
we wanted addressed.  The assistant chief promised to
get back to us on every item, in writing, by January
31.

We mutually agreed with the police to keep our meeting
relatively off-the-record, so that we could freely
exchange our points of view.  I can say that there
didn’t seem to be much of an update on my mugging, and
I didn’t get the impression that there was much
agreement amongst the attendees as to what the problem
is.  As a result of the meeting, I have decided to
move ahead with a full-blown online campaign to gather
police horror stories from across the city and publish
them online in an effort to make our concerns about
the police the number one story in this city over the
next few months.  The police chief’s contract is being
renegotiated over the net 4 months, and this is the
perfect time for all concerned citizens to contact the
mayor and the chief and demand that something finally
be done about the “bad cop” cadre that exists in the
MPD.  

I’ll close by saying that I’ve already received 20 or
so horrendous stories of how the police have treated
folks in our surrounding neighborhoods over the past
few months.  Shots fired at one guy’s head, and the
police across the street say they’re busy, call 911
yourself.  A woman watches a man trying to break into
a row of cars and the officer on the scene says she’s
on lunch break (and the Mayor’s office defends the
officer).  A drugged out man is staring through the
front window of a house at a terrified young woman who
calls 911 – the police arrive 23 minutes later (she
lives 2 blocks from the police headquarters), the man
is still staring through her window, and the police
say the man must be high, lives down the block, so
they let him go, much to the horror of the woman who
is now again alone at home with the guy free to come
back.

Suffice it to say that I’ve now heard from enough
other victims, and have spoken with enough of the
community watchdog organizations, to recognize that
there is a much larger issue here than simply my
mugging.  There is a systemic problem with a cadre of
bad officers in the Metropolitan Police Dept. and we
as a community have to do something about it,
otherwise none of us are safe.  No one is saying that
all the cops are bad, most of them are probably
wonderful hard-working folks willing to risk their
lives for us, and that is to be lauded.  But the
hard-core group of bad cops are ruining it for the
good guys, and for all of us who rely on them for our
safety.

Stay tuned for the launch of the Web campaign, coming
in about a week.

JOHN