U Street

Nicecream Confirmed Coming to The Shay! Turning Natural Juice Bar (and more) Coming Too

By Prince Of Petworth


Florida Ave between 8th and 9th Street, NW

From a press release:

“JBG SMITH (NYSE:JBGS), a leading owner and developer of high-quality, mixed-use properties in the Washington, DC market, announces that a new collection of local retailers will be joining The Shay in Shaw. Located at the corners of 8th and Florida/U Streets NW, JBG SMITH first brought an eclectic and celebrated mix of retail and dining options to the neighborhood in 2015. Since then, a new enclave of DC-based options is slated to join the project.

New Retailers include: (more…)

Get Your Dancing Skates – The Funk Parade is Back On!!

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Pablo Raw

From

“Washington, DC — It’s on.

The 5th Annual Funk Parade will happen Saturday, May 12, after last-minute fundraising raised over $60,000 in just a few weeks. Organizers had announced March 6 the event was unlikely to take place because of a massive budget shortfall.

“Funk Parade has always been an event by and for the people of the city to celebrate what we love about D.C.,” said event co-founder Justin Rood. “Everyone who enjoys this event is grateful to Mayor Bowser, to the hundreds of individual donors and the dozens of local businesses who are making this possible.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged an additional $25,000, which organizers said was essential to make the event happen this year. Residents have given over $20,000 in crowdfunding support the event, as well. Sponsorships from local businesses including Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center, plus a commitment from the ridesharing service Uber, made up the rest. (more…)

Nellie’s Sports Bar: “We messed up. There is no excuse.”

By Prince Of Petworth

A reader sends the photo above and we had a discussion on PoPville’s twitter over the weekend:

This weekend, all of us at Nellie’s learned an extremely important lesson.

At the end of this week, a group of LGBT police officers were meeting at Nellie’s to gather in a welcoming space. This happened to fall just as we were taking down our Irish flag for St. Patrick’s Day, and we opted to welcome them with what we thought was just a flag representing the police.

Soon after the flag was hoisted, we learned from our customers and the community that this flag is also used to undermine the work of the Black Lives Matter movement, and we promptly removed it. We in no way meant to state that we are opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement, especially in the wake of Stephon Clark’s tragic death and the disturbing new facts coming to light in the Alton Sterling case.

We now understand that flying this flag — at this point in time, in particular — was at best tone deaf, and at worst offensive. We sincerely apologize to our customers and our neighbors for this egregious mistake, and want to assure you that this flag will never fly at Nellie’s again. What it represents to you is not what we want to represent, or what we want our bar to be.

We messed up. There is no excuse. We will learn from this and try harder to make Nellie’s the safe, welcoming space for all that we want it to be. Thank you for teaching us this important lesson. We want to make this better — so we will be sending a donation to No Justice No Pride, and recommitting ourselves to learning more every day.

I walked by on Sunday morning and the flag was indeed removed and there was a line around the block to get in:


9th and U Street, NW

“An all night happy hour with $6 cocktails and $2 empanadas all night long”

By Prince Of Petworth


1405 T Street, NW. Photo by Rey Lopez

From a press release:

“Colada Shop Opens Up Rooftop Garden and Kicks Off Havana Nights on Thursdays

WHAT: The wait is over! Colada Shop is ready to welcome guests into the rooftop garden on weekends and celebrate the spirit of the island and its vibrant culture with Havana Nights on Thursdays.

Every Thursday, starting April 12th, Colada Shop will rejoice Cuban life with an all-night happy hour affair. Guests will have access to $6 cocktails and $2 empanadas from 4:00PM – closing while listening to the beats of Caribbean tunes. Havana Nights will take place on both Colada Shop locations.


courtesy Colada Shop

That same weekend, Colada Shop in Washington, DC, will open the much-anticipated rooftop garden where guests can have a different experience with unique offerings which include pouched cocktails (such as the Babalu, Guava Daiquiri, and Rum Mule) priced at $10; pineapple sparkling sangria and mojito pitchers priced at $35; and all-day affair bites like empanadas, pastelitos and croquetas. (more…)

Fundraiser for Funeral Expenses for Midtown Youth Academy’s Legendary Founder – Eugene “Thunder” Hughes

By Prince Of Petworth


Courtesy the family of Eugene THUNDER Hughes

On Wednesday we learned that “Midtown Youth Academy lost its beloved curator and father this past weekend, Eugene THUNDER Hughes“. A fundraiser has been launched for funeral expenses:

“Eugene Hughes (Gene) and his twelve brothers and sisters were raised by their mother and grandmother in inner-city Washington, D.C., where Gene quickly learned the basics of survival on the streets. Growing up, Gene found himself constantly in trouble; when a mentor, “Sonny Boy West,” convinced him to channel that youthful energy into boxing. Gene went on to become the Diamond Belt Champion (before African Americans were allowed to participate in the Golden Gloves) in 1951, 1952, and 1953. In 1954, Gene deservingly won the Golden Gloves Championships. After his boxing career, Gene became a successful trainer, but he never forgot his community, always combining boxing with youth mentoring and drug counseling. (more…)

“Midtown Youth Academy lost its beloved curator and father this past weekend, Eugene THUNDER Hughes”

By Prince Of Petworth


“Eugene, right, is pictured with Jeffrey, one of the Midtown Youth Academy’s boxing coaches and a graduate of Dr. Hughes’ program.” Photo by Danny Harris.

“Dear PoPville,

Midtown Youth Academy, the all purpose youth center located at 14th and W street NW lost its beloved curator and father this past weekend, Eugene THUNDER Hughes. Mr. Hughes was an incredible human, and his story is one that needs to be told throughout the district, especially as Midtown Youth Academy is attempting to raise funds to reopen this spring. Attached below, I have a video about the Academy, as I could go on for days about what an impact this man has had on our community for more then 40 years, let alone my personal life.”

Midtown Youth Academy: A Story of Perseverance from Kristen Monae on Vimeo.


2206 14th Street, NW

“Whoever did this, you are scum.”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

My husband and I were walking on 10th and V Saturday morning and we saw something very disturbing — someone ripped the cross from the local church out of the ground and threw it on the sidewalk. My husband and I tried to put it back, but we couldn’t push it deep enough, so we leaned it on the side of the church. Whoever did this, you are scum.”

U Street Music Hall Kicks Off their 8-year Anniversary Week celebration Sunday – Check Out the full line up

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user washingtonydc

From U Street Music Hall:

“U Street Music Hall is thrilled to announce its weeklong lineup of 10 shows in celebration of the acclaimed venue’s eight-year anniversary. From March 11-18, U Street Music Hall will present artists spanning genres from electronic and dance to hip-hop to homegrown genres like go-go and moombahton, at three venues across the city.

Anniversary Week kicks off at U Street Music Hall Sunday, March 11 with legendary D.C. go-go band Trouble Funk performing as part of U Hall’s ongoing “Go-Go Returns to U Street” series. DMV-native MC and producer Oddisee, whose live performances have earned him rave reviews around the world, plays U Hall on the second night of Anniversary Week in support of his lauded new album, The Iceberg. (more…)

Party at Marvin Still Happening But “It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Funk Parade will most likely not be happening in 2018.”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Pablo Raw

Well this is terrible news:

“A Message From Funk Parade

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Funk Parade will most likely not be happening in 2018. Despite an early organizing start, hundreds of hours of work and team planning, our financial situation for the 2018 event is worse than it has ever been. As it sits now, there is very little chance of raising the amount needed to put on this event in the 10 weeks we have left.

We will announce an official decision in the next few days. We wanted to inform the community now because our annual kickoff event is happening Wednesday March 7, and we could not go into it without being transparent regarding the event’s situation.

As the event has grown in popularity and size, its costs have increased beyond the community’s ability to fund it. While support from the community has remained strong, small-dollar donations from residents and local businesses are not enough to meet the event’s budget. Funk Parade has come to rely increasingly on larger contributions and sponsorships to cover what individuals and local businesses cannot.

Unfortunately, the vision of the event is at odds with what many larger sponsors say they want, and some don’t see the point of the event at all. (more…)

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