I can’t deal with this. Even the blue raspberry was out of order!!!
quality of life
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Dear PoPville,
My wife and I were walking back from lunch on Monday afternoon, on Allison between 13th and Georgia, when we noticed that there were fliers on every step. Out of curiosity, I picked one up, only to find that it was essentially hate-speech claiming that Jewish people were planing genocide against Americans. The pamphlets were written by Peter J. Cojanis. I looked him up on Google and found that he has done this before in the Metro area. I was wondering what residents can do?
Do the police have any say over the matter, or are unsolicited pamphlets protected by the 1st Amendment? Is there anyone else we should contact? Usually, I wouldn’t make such a big deal about this, but the pamphlets seemed very menacing and ugly. Personally, I would like to try to keep it out of our neighborhood. Any advice is appreciated.
Ed. Note: In Dec. 2011 anti-semitic fliers hit Cleveland Park.
I love these old school metal porch benches:
I imagine it’s pretty awesome up there:
Photo by PoPville flickr user Néstor Sánchez Cordero
Dear PoPville,
I was walking home Monday and was in front of the wide and quiet (meaning maybe two people in somewhat close proximity to me with no one in front or behind me) sidewalk in front of Luke’s Lobsters when all of a sudden I feel a sudden grab at my arm. It scared the shit out of me–who grabs someone? Ends up being this young woman jogging behind her friend who was passing by me. Startled, I yell after her to not &%&ing touch me.
She doesn’t turn around but I see her and her friend stop at the intersection just ahead and, because I’m a fast walker, I catch up with them (they were heading in the same direction as me so I didn’t go out of my way) and stop her and tell her what a stupid idea it is to grab someone like that. She snarks back, “well if you weren’t in the middle of the sidewalk…” First, it’s a wide sidewalk and most people walk toward the middle instead of right next to the buildings, second, I was walking in a straight line at a good pace, not meandering, and third, all she had to do was either *use her voice* and say, “on your right” or “excuse me” like a normal person OR slowed her pace for half a second to allow for whatever room she lacked to get by without grabbing a stranger.
She clearly didn’t get it and stared at me with a dumb grin on her face, then told me she wasn’t interested in talking to me when I tried to explain that she was very lucky not to get an elbow in the nose attempting something like that. I’m so annoyed by the stupidity in this city sometimes. Is this a common practice among runners? I walk EVERYWHERE and have runners go by me all the time, on crowded and not so crowded streets and not once has any of them even brushed past me.
Some folks have been asking me what are the new wooden stands going up all over town? These are fireworks stands.
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Dear PoPville,
My boyfriend and I biked home to my place Saturday night around 10 pm. We both had headlights and tail lights on our bicycles. An older lady in a white sedan and a younger lady in the passenger seat pulled up in front of m yhouse (in the bike lane no less) and asked, “Ma’am, can I have a word with you?”
I asked her what the problem was, and she told me she almost hit me because I had no front light. I pointed to my headlight which was still on, and told her I DO have a front light. She repeated that I needed to get a front light because she couldn’t see me, and only saw me at the last instant because of the gentleman’s light. My boyfriend and I both said, “I/she have/has a light” and pointed to the light on my bike, which was still on and blinking, because we had literally just gotten to my front door. She responded, “Well, you need to get a light, because you didn’t have one.”
Truly bizzare. After we told her again that I have a light, she again said I needed to get a light because she couldn’t see me. So I said, “Well, I don’t know what to tell ya; maybe get some glasses?” We then just went inside.
By 9:30 am, we found this letter (attached) taped to our front door. She had apparently rooted through my mail to find first names (and didn’t find mine, by the way), went home to type up this letter, and came BACK to post it on my door.
Photo by PoPville flickr user ep_jhu
Dear PoPville,
How does a neighbor or small group of neighbors go about filing a complaint regarding a local business located in that said community and get results?
There is a particular daytime business (not a restaurant or bar) that is often open early mornings 5-6am and many times doesn’t close up until 10 or 11pm at night -even on the weekends. The issue isn’t the hours of operation as much as the noise that is created at the odd hours by trucks, workers, and trash compactors. Are businesses subject to certain operating hours according to their nature and if so how can we find out what this place’s is?
The second problem with this place is the absurd amount of trash that it leaves on the premises on eventually blows into the neighborhood. This has been addressed before and a half-hearted effort has been made to clean it, but days later it is back to its original state of filth. The largest concern is a significant pile of rubbish accumulating behind the trash compactor which now attracts a a lot of rats.
I understand that any person who moved into the neighborhood should understand the designation of zones for commercial/residential and I fully respect that, but this is more of a struggle of how to live in harmony with a business that doesn’t seem to be operating with respect to the neighborhood and possibly in violation of the law (clearly with the trash portion).
Any advise on how to resolve this without direct contact with the company (since we’ve already attempted that with no success) would be appreciated.
Dear PoPville,
This was the scene at the bus stop on 14th across from Target in Columbia Heights this morning. It’s not at all unusual to see that stop trashed. The photo doesn’t capture the smell of urine. (Really? People will pee at a bus stop at a busy intersection in plain view of everyone?) I used to live near Nationals Park, and the Capitol Riverfront folks did a good job keeping public spaces tidy and the atmosphere around the Metro stops friendly. Maybe Target, Best Buy, Chipotle, the banks, and other businesses in Columbia Heights should pony up for something similar. ‘Cause scenes like this sure don’t make me want to live, do business, or wait for the bus in the neighborhood.
1624 Q Street, NW
From a press release on June 9th:
Popular and award-winning Dupont Circle restaurant Hank’s Oyster Bar was informed by Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) investigators on Friday evening, June 8, that the establishment would be required to shut down operation of half of its outdoor dining patio pending review of a prior ABC Board decision approving termination of a “Voluntary Agreement” with six area residents.
The sudden and unexpected order came without prior notification and in advance of an ABC Board hearing on the matter scheduled for Wednesday, June 13. The visit by agency investigators came in response to complaints by the small group of original licensing objectors.
The ABC Board’s decision in November 2010 to terminate certain operating restrictions imposed as a result of lengthy negotiations by the business with a small group of six alcohol-licensing opponents had been legally challenged by the protestors. The establishment, located near the corner of 17th and Q streets, N.W., has encountered multiple licensing protests by the ad hoc group since opening in 2005 despite operating without violation of city regulations and being supported by the overwhelming majority of neighborhood residents.
On May 17 the District Court of Appeals directed the ABC Board to review its decision to ensure that all requirements of the termination process had been met, noting that the regulatory language specifying termination standards was poorly written and difficult to understand. Although the appeals court had issued the ruling over three weeks ago, no directive had been issued by either the court or the city requiring any action by the restaurant pending city agency review.
“Having our popular outdoor dining area suddenly shut down without advance warning and as a result of a spurious complaint by the small group of only six objectors who have been harassing the business since we opened seven years ago is shocking,” said Leeds, who was on-site at the time of the surprise visit by city inspectors. “We haven’t even had our ABC Board hearing on this ongoing nuisance protest,” she continued, “and to be told as the summer season begins that we have to eliminate half of our patio seating is unwarranted and unfair.”
Although the matter had been previously scheduled to come before the ABC Board at a meeting next week, resolution of the licensing issue may take a number of weeks or months.
“Quite frankly,” Leeds added, “it is long overdue for the city government to decide whether it is going to continue to allow small gangs of disgruntled residents opposing every liquor license application to delay and destroy progress by the small business community in providing the social amenities desired by local residents in our neighborhoods.”
In a statement to the neighborhood released on Saturday, Leeds indicated “the right of a group of five residents to hold up a license application should be eliminated from the law. Otherwise the situation I find myself in will undoubtedly occur again.”
The prominent and respected local businesswoman and chef, owner of Hank’s Oyster Bar locations in both Dupont Circle and Old Town Alexandria (Va.), plans to open a third location this summer on Capitol Hill at 633 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E.
Leeds released an open letter to the Dupont Circle community over the weekend.
Full letter after the jump. (more…)