Dear PoPville

“There is a PUBLIC HEARING about the new club, Play DC at 1541 7th St NW.”

By Prince Of Petworth


1541 7th Street, NW

“Dear PoPville,

There is a PUBLIC HEARING about the new club, Play DC at 1541 7th St NW. It is located in Shaw on 7th St NW between P & Q, next door to The Passenger. The hearing will be on Wednesday, January 30 at 4:30 pm. UPDATE “now set for Wednesday, February 6 at 3:30 pm” See details below.

This club got a lot of attention because they had music and the bass blasting until 4 am in late-Dec, early-Jan. They were running an obstructive car valet blocking 7th. It’s likely that the M80 explosion on Jan. 2 was set off by someone leaving the club.

The more people we can get to attend the hearing the better. Please come!

HEARING DETAILS: (more…)

“Donation pickups for car-free DC residents”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Beau Finley

“Dear PoPville,

I recently moved and am in the process of downsizing and making more room in my new place. To that end, I have about 8 boxes of clothing, shoes and assorted household goods ready to be donated, but I don’t own a car so I can’t just throw everything in and swing by Goodwill, Martha’s Table, etc..

I scheduled a donation pickup through GreenDrop, but ran into the following issue: since I live in a condo and have no room on the sidewalk outside my building’s gate to leave the boxes, I asked that they use the call box, or call me directly to let me know when they were there so I could bring everything down. They said they don’t do that, even though I explained how I couldn’t put things outside my building (I also explained that I didn’t want people rifling through things while the boxes were awaiting pickup which would probably happen if I were to put them out on the sidewalk).

Was wondering if anyone has other recommendations for getting donations picked up that are beyond “leave your boxes on your porch/in your garage/etc” and have a bit more flexibility. I can’t imagine I’m the only person to ever have this issue (and I bet people are ramping up on donations since the latest Marie Kondo craze!!) and I hate the idea of any of this going to waste, so wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions or tips.

“advice on what to do if you see someone horribly mistreating their dog on a walk?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I wanted to write and seek any advice on what to do if you see someone horribly mistreating their dog on a walk. On Tuesday night, 1/22, I was walking my dog on 18th between Ontario Road NW and Summit Place NW around 930pm and saw a man walking with his very large dog, which looked like a Rhodesian Ridgeback, though I’m not certain the breed. I saw him pulling the leash when the dog tried to sniff something, and not just a light pull to redirect attention, but hard enough that the dog was yanked across the sidewalk. As we passed, the man seemed nice enough and said “Oh he’s a big friendly puppy” and kept walking. I turned around to watch as he walked away and the yanking of the dog just seemed to be getting worse. He was just a puppy, so he clearly had a ton of energy and he was large enough that I’m sure he is hard to handle. The dog went to pee and he paused, let the dog walk ahead of him a bit, got his footing sturdy, then pulled the leash back so incredibly hard that the dog spun around 360 degrees. He did this about 3 more times before getting to the end of the block and the last time he did it, after the dog spun full circle, he wrapped the leash around the dogs neck until it ran out and was choking and yelling at him. The dog didn’t yelp or cry, but every time he did it, I thought he was going to snap its neck. I’m not even sure a harness would have been safer since the force he was pulling could have caused more harm than good. (more…)

“Recommendations for interior decorators”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

“Dear PoPville,

Do readers have recommendations for “reasonably priced” interior decorators that work on smaller jobs or at an hourly rate? I’m not looking for high-end or custom items, but someone who can help me select and arrange things that could mainly be bought retail or online.

I tried online services like Havenly and Decorist, and it was a fail both times – I ended up with things that looked cheap in person or weren’t the right scale – ridiculously tiny lamps, end tables that were too low for my sofa, etc. And Homepolish has some reviews online that give me pause. (more…)

“Three months of requests to remove a dead kitten from the side of the road”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

Early last November on my drive home, as I was exiting off of 295N, I noticed a kitten that had been struck by a car and killed. I called 311 to request that the kitten be removed by Animal Control. I was told that Department of Public Works (DPW) would send someone out within a matter of days. When a few days later I received notification that my request had been closed, I assumed that meant that the kitten had been removed and disposed of properly. Imagine my dismay on my drive home that evening to see the body of the kitten still on the side of the road.

It’s now nearly February, and despite a half dozen calls to the 311, three calls the Mayor Bowser’s community relations team, and two calls to DPW, the dead kitten is still on the side of the road. This particular exit ramp is a busy one and it is also part of the staging area for the trucks and equipment for the 295 construction. And of course the weather this fall and winter has been particularly nasty, too. So you can imagine what all of this has done to this dead animal. (more…)

“Have a unique situation, looking for recommendations on DC Tax Preparers.”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

We are looking for recommendations on DC Tax Preparers. Have a unique situation: military and military spouse (spouse works in DC), also sold a house we owed in another state and bought a house in DC (did not make a profit). Need someone that is reasonably priced and can do this right. I always worry about going into the real commercial places because they nickel and dime you. I also don’t want to use the military tax services this year because it is more complex and would like someone with DC knowledge.”

“Does anyone have experience in handling safety concerns in “luxury” apartment buildings re: sketchy neighbors?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

Does anyone have experience in handling safety concerns in “luxury” apartment buildings re: sketchy neighbors? I’ve now had to call the police twice at 2 am on what sounds like some kind of a drug deal/increasingly bold robbery attempts on my floor (breaking into the key locked hall, testing door handles and trying to break in to a couple of units, than going to the unit of the tenant they know and slamming on the door and screaming at the top of their lungs that (more…)

“I can’t seem to figure out a logical reason but there are always a few people who do this.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

I’m hoping you can help me solve a metro mystery:

I commute in the afternoon from Crystal City up to Mt. Vernon Square on the Yellow Line. At Archives station, I almost always see a few people get off and seemingly wait for a train to come in the opposite direction. Why would they do this? If they were switching to the Green line south toward Branch Ave, why wouldn’t they get off at the stop before–L’Enfant? I can’t seem to figure out a logical reason but there are always a few people who do this.

I realize this is a relatively unimportant question related to the Metro but I’ve always been curious. Any thoughts?”

“Would it be foolish to take such a large pay cut, even if it means moving to a job I would feel passionate about?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin

“Dear PoPville,

I’m struggling with a job-related decision and would love to hear others’ thoughts on my dilemma. I know it’s ultimately a decision only I can make, but it always helps to hear from others.

I am currently in a job that I don’t love or feel passionate about. It’s alternately boring and exhausting. The hours are long and the work isn’t particularly rewarding most of the time. However, I’m making a good amount of money that allows me to save a lot and pay down my student loan debt aggressively.

I’ve received an offer from a “dream company” for a “dream job” in another field that I’ve been wanting to break into. The pay is significantly lower (about a 30% cut), but would still allow me to cover my bills, student loans, etc. (more…)

“I’m just worried that some of this work may be ‘unpermitted’.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin

“Dear PoPville,

I currently live in Trinidad. The house that I’m looking to buy is a quick flip by a real estate developer. Because of the various posts and comments that I’ve read on PoPville, I was able to do some digging around. The work was done by a licensed contractor back in October / November 2018 timeframe. He took out 3 post card building permits, 1 electrical post card, and 1 plumbing post card permit. They were all post card permit. From what I understand, this type of permit is solely used for small scope of work. (more…)

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