Columbia Heights

Death on Sept. 10th at 11th and Fairmont St, NW ruled a Homicide

By Prince Of Petworth

Thanks to all for sending emails with an update on the unidentified person found on Sept. 10th and a link to the Washington Post story:

“The death of Gaurav Gopalan, who was found dead in Columbia Heights on Sept. 10, has been ruled a homicide by the D.C. Office of the Medical Examiner.

Gopalan’s body was found by a passerby early on a Saturday morning in the 2600 block of 11th Street NW with no significant visible trauma. Although he lived a few blocks away on 13th Street NW, he remained unidentified for three days.”

MPD Looking To Combat Uptick in Crime by Perpetrators on Bikes in Columbia Heights

By Prince Of Petworth

Very interesting story from NBC Washington about crimes and bikes in Columbia Heights (via Mike DeBonis).

Is this a good way to combat an increase in cell phone snatchings by perpetrators on bikes?

MPD Commander Jacob Kishter comments on the story in the Shaw listserv:

“Its not a new policy or initiative but a misrepresented news story. Rest assured we will not be harassing bike riders.

We have noticed an increase in robberies where bicycles are being used and I want my officers to pay more attention to our known violent offenders who are committing these cases.

In fact we made a great robbery arrest last night involving one of our known offenders who was riding a bicycle which he did not own.”

Ed. Note: MPD also sends me an email asking folks to be careful using their smart phones at night – please remember to be alert. Also another reminder to not leave your purses on the backs of chairs while dining or leave electronic equipment like laptops unattended. I don’t mean to blame the victim in anyway here but there are preventative steps we can take to make us less of a target.

The 5pm Post – Neighborhood Cleanups this Weekend

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user C. Michael Poole

From emails:

“Join your neighbors for a Petworth neighborhood street cleanup as part of National Public Lands Day, this Saturday, Sept. 24, 9 am – Noon.

Meet up at the Georgia Avenue/Rock Creek East Collaborative at 1104 Allison Street NW–corner Georgia Avenue. Trash bags & gloves provided. Free coffee & donuts to get you started!

Street litter washes into storm drains which empty into Piney Branch, a tributary of Rock Creek. Let’s beautify the neighborhood and help protect our local waters and parklands!

Sign up online here.

Please spread the word to your friends and neighbors – thanks!”

and

“Dear friends, residents of Columbia Heights, and residents of the greater PoPville Area,

You are invited to the first no-obligation Columbia Heights Community Litter Clean Up Day! This will be a day to meet your neighbors, make friends, make our neighborhood prettier for at least a day, raise awareness about the litter problem in Columbia Heights, and maybe even alert area businesses of the extreme need and desire for a Columbia Heights BID.

When: Sunday September 25th at Noon
(Should last no more than an hour, so you’re all free to attend the National Book Festival activities beginning at 1pm! Clean up as much or as little as you want. I’m a happy camper if you come to say hi and pick up just one candy wrapper.)

Where: Meet at the Civic Plaza right in front of the Columbia Heights Metro Station, at the corner of 14th and Irving.

What: Picking up trash. My goal is to clean up the entire Irving civic plaza and the block south to the 7-11, where the litter is worst, with particular emphasis on the poor rosebeds-turned-trash-dumps. I have no idea how many people will show up, so if it’s more than I think, the area can be expanded however much people want.

What You Should Bring: A pair of gloves and your own large trash bag. I will try to provide a box of surgical gloves for those who don’t already have some, but I personally prefer to wear kitchen dish gloves because I find them more comfortable. I will also bring a box of trash bags, but I can’t guarantee to supply everyone with a bag. (Just grab one from your kitchen!)

Disposal: I have had no problem in the past picking up trash and then putting the entire collected trash bag of litter into one of the emptier sidewalk trash cans up and down the street for city pickup later. (This is where the trash should have been in the first place, right?) We’ll make an effort to spread out where we place our trashbags, while leaving room for people who are actually using the sidewalk trashcans to put their trash in too. We don’t want to cause an overflow which results in more litter. Worst case scenario I can take a couple bags back to the dumpster at my place. I don’t anticipate having a completely unmanageable amount collected.

Fun: For people who feel social, lunch at Potbelly/Five Guys/etc. afterward isn’t out of the question!

Rain Notice: Currently, there is a 30% chance of isolated showers on Sunday. Look out your window at 11:30 am. If it’s raining, it’s cancelled!”

Room 11 Seeks to Expand Outdoor Patio – Columbia Heights Listserv Chaos Ensues

By Prince Of Petworth

What I thought was going to be some just straight up good news – is slowly devolving into listserv hilarity/insanity.

The super popular Room 11 is hoping to expand its outdoor patio at 11th and Lamont St, NW. I hear they’ll be adding 18 seats. To do so they’ll need to amend their voluntary agreement. Which leads us to the Columbia Heights Listserv which started with the following message at 8:25am this morning:

“Commissioner Boese,

You’re a lowlife! I was under no obligation to stay until the very end of the meeting. Other commissioners left before the meeting’s end; why couldn’t I?

–Lenwood Johnson, ANC 1A10”

An email from ANC rep 1A08, Kent Boese, sent to one of the owners of Room 11 (as well as all ANC reps) was included in the above message. Apparently the offending language was:

“1) While we were able to add the amendment of your VA to the agenda of the last ANC meeting, but the time we got to that item Commissioner Lenwood Johnson had left the meeting reducing the number of commissioners present to five. We need at least six for a quorum. Because of this, we were not able to take a vote.”

You can find the full emails and resident responses on the Columbia Heights Listserv here.

While ANCs can play a positive role in our neighborhoods, (and personally I think voluntary agreements can be very useful) this is a perfect example of why many people either actively dislike ANCs or completely tune them out.

At the end of the day – I hope this doesn’t negatively affect Room 11’s ability to expand their patio.

Good Deal or Not? “AND 2 PRKG SPACES” edition

By Prince Of Petworth

This condo is located at 1312 Euclid St, NW:


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The flier says:

“THIS IS TRULY ONE OF THE FINEST CONDOMINIUMS IN COLUMBIA HEIGHTS AND BEYOND. IIT’S FLOOR PLAN, IMPECCABLE CONDITION, SPACIOUS ROOMS, HIGH END FINISHES, GORGEOUS HARDWOODS, EXPOSED BRICK, ABUNDANT CLOSET SPACE, LARGE BALCONY AND 2 PRKG SPACES MAKE IT IDEAL . FHA FINANCING PENDING. BLOCKS TO YELLOW AND GREEN LINE METRO STOP. MUST SEE V-TOUR TO APPRECIATE STYLE AND QUALITY.”

You can find more info here and a virtual tour here.

$579,900 ($471 monthly condo fee) sound realistic for this 2 bed/2 bath?

Mon. Afternoon Rental Option – Columbia Heights

By Prince Of Petworth

This rental is located at 3513 11th St, NW:


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The Craigslist ad says:

“Located at 3513 11th st, this apartment has everything including central heat/AC, off-street parking (included), disposal, full bathroom with a bathtub, new windows, etc. It is also in a great location within 7 blocks of the Columbia Heights metro and everything that Columbia Heights has to offer. It is available October 1st, and we are showing it today (Monday) at 6pm, so please come see it.”

$1050 sound right for this 1 bedroom?

New French Bakery, Caprice, Coming to Columbia Heights!

By Prince Of Petworth


Rendering for Caprice to be located at 3460 14th St, NW

Back in Aug. ’10 we first learned of plans for a :

“French coffee shop and bakery, with authentic French pastries and several varieties of bread– including real baguettes!– baked on site.”

It’s been a long year of anticipation but I am overjoyed to say that a lease has been signed and construction has begun on Caprice, a new French Bakery coming to the Allegro retail space at 3460 14th St, NW.

I sat down with the owners on Tuesday afternoon and have been smiling ever since. It is an insane coincidence that I’ve just returned from Paris so every time they explained a pastry or a baguette, I could actually taste what they were talking about.

So let me share some details first:

Construction is slated to be completed around the end of November.

There will be a small indoor sitting area for about 10-12 people and later in the Spring there will likely be a small outdoor patio area.

The Chef Baker lived in France for 20 years.

The bakery is locally owned by a family that lives 2 blocks away.

While there will be a variety of breads including real baguettes baked daily on site, the head Chef Baker also has a passion for pastries so expect to see Pain au Chocolate, Croissants, Macarrons, Petits Choux and more. In the future they will also offer soups and sandwiches. Think cheese and butter on a baguette. Ham on a baguette…

The hours will be 7am – 7pm though they could be extended if there is enough demand (see questions below.)

You can see from the photo about that there are actually two big spaces. They are both roughly 900 square feet with one being the public area and the other being the baking area.

So this leads me to a few questions that owners had for you guys: You can see that the baking area can be visible from the street so if you wanted you could actually watch the baking process – is that something you’d be interested in? Would you like to be able to watch the kitchen/baking area from the street.

Another question they had was about coffee – is there a particular brand you’d like to see served? Illy? Counter Culture? Something else?

Finally, how do you like the hours of 7am – 7pm? Are they good or would you prefer earlier? Later?

Stay tuned for more info/details as we get closer to the opening date.

Trans woman found dead at 11th and Fairmont St, NW

By Prince Of Petworth


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“Dear PoP,

I live right near by 11th & Fairmont. This is the 2nd dead person they have found in this area, I feel like in the last 6 months.

Sounds like there isn’t much info yet, but I was wondering if this was on your radar?

CM Jim Graham sends an email to the Columbia Heights listserv this morning titled “Do you Know this Man? Death Investigation 11th St., NW”. He writes:

“He was the man found dead on the 2600 block of 11th. If so, please respond— Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Metropolitan Police Department at (202) 727-9099. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call 1-888-919-CRIME (2746). Anonymous information may also be forwarded to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411.”

More info from metro weekly here.

Photo of the deceased after the jump. (more…)

Judging Restaurants – Senor Chicken and “Secret” Ramen Noodle Saturdays

By Prince Of Petworth

Senor Chicken is located at 3100 14th St NW (on Park Rd) and opened back in Nov. ’09. I was intrigued to see a Thrillist report this morning about “Secret” Ramen Noodles offered on Saturdays:

“Run by the chef behind People’s Bao catering, the Noodle Bar is a Saturday-only popup ramen shop inconspicuously “located” behind the counter of Columbia Heights’ Peruvian poultry-ists Senor Chicken; to place an order, just walk up and ask for a ramen menu”

Anyone try the ramen out yet? Any fans of the chicken?

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