Petworth

Community Meetings – Neighborhood Watch Captains and General DC Cares Meeting

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user mediaslave

Block Captain Meeting RSVP by Sunday

Please spread the word about the next NWCHCA Neighborhood Watch Block Captains Training. If you’re interested in becoming a Block Captain, please come!

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Time: 7:30 to 9 PM (please come by 7:15 to sign in, so that we can start on time)

Place: MPD 3D Substation, 750 Park Road NW (between Sherman and Georgia Ave)

Who Should Attend: People who want to become Neighborhood Watch Block Captains. Not sure? Please read the attached guide that describes Neighborhood Watch and Block Captain responsibilities. Businesses & Apartments: You can participate too.

Cost: Free! All are welcome, materials and refreshments are also free

RSVP: Please e-mail [email protected] to RSVP by Sunday, December 6.

We will have MPD support and participation!

PROGRAM:

Samantha Nolan, long-time Neighborhood Watch Director and MPD 2nd District Citizens Advisory Chair will conduct the training session

Topics:

* Starting and managing Neighborhood Watch programs
* Reporting crime: how to communicate effectively with police
* How communities can take back their neighborhoods by working effectively with police
* Tips for Block Captains and success stories

Samantha will be showing a brand new slide show of actual photographs taken in Columbia Heights. The photos will show real photographs of potential crime scenes. I’m sure that it will be very interesting and educational.

Jason Berry, a Columbia Heights community leader, will present a practical guide to being a Block Captain. Jason has years of experience in community organizing and will help us with the difficult work of outreach.

With the holidays coming, people are going to be busier and busier–please approach your neighbors who you know would make great Block Captains and ask that they put our training on their calendar now.

Greater DC Cares Meeting Wed.

Greater DC Cares encourages Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, U Street, and Petworth residents to attend a neighborhood meeting on December 2nd from 6:30-8:00pm at the Parkview Recreation Center, located at 693 Otis Pl NW. We will be introducing various projects that Greater DC Cares is forming in these communities, and discussing ways to increase involvement in the programs. To sign up, register at http://communitymeetingdecember2.eventbrite.com, or email Meghan at [email protected].

SisterSpace Bookstore Opens in Petworth

By Prince Of Petworth

Back in June we learned that SisterSpace would be opening up at 3717 Georgia Ave. right by the Petworth Metro. I’m happy to report that they’ve opened! (Thanks to a reader for the heads up.) While the space is small it looks great. I briefly chatted with the owners who were super nice and mentioned that if they don’t have a book that you’d like they’ll happily order it for you. At the moment the hours are a bit limited and they’ll be open Thursday – Sunday from 12pm – 7pm. You can learn more about SisterSpace on their Web site here, they’re much more than just a bookstore. They’ll also be hosting educational and cultural events as well as workshops.

Judging Buildings – Corner of Upshur and New Hampshire

By Prince Of Petworth

It’s been a while since we’ve looked at the former “Petworth Eyesore” located at the corner of Upshur and New Hampshire. Here’s what it looked like in April 2007 and here’s what it looked like in July of this year. I have to say the difference between July and now is amazing. I’m not saying it’s my favorite renovation but it’s a hell of a lot better than what it was fixing to look like.

Dear PoP – Shout Out for Kilroy Cleaners

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

I just wanted to give a shout-out for Kilroy’s Cleaners, in part because they’ve gone green. Apparently they’ve replaced their machines and are now one of the only dry cleaners in the District to use a non-toxic dry cleaning method.

I’ve lived in Petworth for many years now and finally tried Kilroy’s a couple of months ago. I hesitated because I read a negative post or two on PoP, and the storefront isn’t the most attractive in the world. Well, I’ve found them to be the perfect neighborhood cleaners. All their employees try to know my name and will do anything to make sure I’m happy. The prices are very reasonable, and they are flexible when you need a garment turned around right away. When I learned they went green, I mentioned that they should reach out to you. Turns out they still very much regret that they had an unfriendly employee at the time that you did a profile of them or something. I hope you’ll consider giving them an opportunity to shine. Everyone deserves a second chance, particularly those that are investing and creating jobs in our neighborhood.”

This is great news. I’ll be sure to try them out again (at 826 Upshur St NW) for my next batch of dry cleaning!

Corehaus Designs Coming to 825 Upshur St., NW

By Prince Of Petworth

Corehaus will be opening up next week in the former Shaka King space located at 825 Upshur St (near Domku). The owner, James Kerns, was extremely nice and succinctly characterized the business as “taking old stuff and making it cool again”. While the finishing touches were still being completed I was able to take some photos and the items do indeed look pretty cool. This is Mr. Kerns first brick and mortar store, but you can see his Web site here.

This is a great addition to the block along with Bentley’s across the street.

 

GDoN Revisited by Hipchickindc

By Prince Of Petworth

In real life, hipchickindc is licensed as a real estate broker in the District of Columbia and Virginia, and as a real estate salesperson in Maryland.  Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below.  Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system.  Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 610 Upshur St NW

Original List Price: $375,000.

List Price at Contract: $285,000.

List Date: 03/19/2009

Days on Market: 142

Settled Sales Price: $267,200.

Settlement Date:  10/16/2009

Seller Subsidy:  $10,700.

Bank Owned?: No

Type Of Financing: FHA with loan amount of $296,726.  The property was not in condition that would meet criteria for a regular FHA loan.  This was likely a 203 streamline product.

Original GDoN Post is:   Here.

Recent Listing is:  Here. Sorry. No extra pics.

Good Deal or Not (GDoN) commenters were at a disadvantage on this one in that there were no interior photos posted with the listing. I visited this property with buyer clients back in the Spring when it was newly listed. The property had been owned by an organization called, “Anchor Mental Health” and may have been a group home. It had been cleaned out prior to listing, but definitely was in need of updating. The property is a detached brick home and, as Jamie mentioned in the GDoN comments, it is wedge shaped. Anybody who has looked at lots of houses in Petworth is used to seeing about two or three variations upon the basic porch front rowhouse floor plan, so in relation, the layout of this property is a bit unique. If I recall correctly, the staircase was straight and central, with a rectangular dining room on one side of the stairs and a rectangular living room on the other side and the kitchen along the back. There are four bedrooms on the second level. Continues after the jump. (more…)

Arrest Made in Petworth Stabbing Nov. 6th

By Prince Of Petworth

A reader writes in about the incident and arrest in case others hadn’t heard yet. I’m not sure how I missed this one. I’m glad to hear an arrest was made:

“My wife and I just bought a house in Petworth, and in looking over the crime reports for the area we saw that there was a homicide at 4211 Second Street. Here is the Police Report and subsequent arrest report.”

Detectives assigned to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch have announced that an arrest has been made in the homicide of Kevin Massey who was fatally stabbed in the 4200 block of 2nd Street, NW, on November 6, 2009.  At approximately 5:30 am on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 24-year-old Justin Lee Navarro was arrested in Southwest Washington by members from the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force.  Mr. Navarro of Northwest Washington has been charged with First Degree Murder While Armed pursuant to an arrest warrant in the death of Kevin Massey.

At approximately 11:45 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2009, officers from the Fourth District responded to the 4200 block of 2nd Street, NW, to investigate the report of a stabbing. Upon arrival, officers discovered an adult male inside of an apartment suffering from apparent multiple stab wounds.  The victim, identified as 31-year-old Kevin Massey, was subsequently pronounced dead on the scene by a representative from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia.

Manny & Olga’s Pizza Coming to Petworth – The Hunger Stopper!

By Prince Of Petworth

It was back in Jan. ’08 that Manny & Olga’s first issued a press release about coming to Petworth. At the time they hoped to be open by “Summer 2008”. So I was shocked to walk by the old Hunger Stopper Restaurant at 3624 Georgia Ave. (a few storefronts south of Looking Glass Lounge) and noticed the following sign:

I’m not exactly sure what the “this location available for franchise” means. Are they going to build it first and then sell the franchise or vice versa? It does say coming soon though. You guys think this is a good addition to this section of Georgia Ave.? Remember The Green Room sports bar is still set to come nearby at 3632 Georgia Ave.

Love of Copper Part 24 – Fasika

By Prince Of Petworth

Fasika, formerly Abol, Ethiopian restaurant has a nice external renovation going on at 4422 Georgia Ave, NW. I wonder what the center part will be covered with. I’m totally digging the copper though…

How To Volunteer at the Armed Forces Retirement Home

By Prince Of Petworth

On this Veteran’s Day some folks have asked me how they can volunteer at the Armed Forces Retirement Home.

I received the following info on how to do it:

“ Here is a link with all sorts of information on how to volunteer at the Home. Our volunteers find it a rewarding experience. Each resident has an amazing story to tell; 80 percent of the residents were career enlisted men or women. We have a group of absolutely amazing women who served in World War II who served overseas and can tell some amazing tales of the war years.”

Here is a story I wrote about Master Sergeant Gary Rice, a resident.

Thanks to all our Veterans on this day and all days.

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