quality of life

“Dear PoPville,

I live in a rented townhouse in Dupont that is right behind a restaurant and I’m having some serious problems with the owner. He seems to not realize my property, although rented, is not his. He parks his car in my parking space whenever mine isn’t there; he puts the smelly garbage from his restaurant in my trash cans (and trust me, bloody fish wrappers are VERY smelly and messy); and I often find him on my back porch, which he climbs up onto to access the roof of his unit. Whenever I try to talk to him, he pretends not to understand me. What’s the recourse for something like this? It doesn’t seem serious enough to get the police involved, but I’m tired of having to go into his restaurant to yell at him in front of his customers to move his car.”

“Dear PoPville,

I had an extremely frustrating taxicab experience Saturday night. My husband and I were leaving a bar in Chinatown late Saturday night. We hailed a cab and while I was saying goodbye to our friends my husband tried to get in. The driver instead rolled down the passenger window and asked my husband where we were going. We live in Brookland and taxis often don’t want to drive us there because it is a quieter area and hard to pick up return fares (I’ve actually had a cab driver tell me after I got in and told him my address that his check engine light just came on and he would never make it so I should just get out).

My husband started to tell the driver where we were going when I realized what was going on and told him not to answer but to get in the cab – that it is illegal for taxi drivers to not let a person in once they have stopped. When the driver heard me say that he sped off. Am I right that it is illegal for cab drivers to refuse to pick you up or make choices based on where you are going? I was furious and took down the taxi’s license plate number – is that enough to file a complaint with?”

and while we’re on the topic of cabs:

“Dear PoPville,

I’ve used Yellow Cab or Diamond Cab since I’ve lived in DC. I’ve never had a problem calling a cab to come pick me or a visitor. But at my current home, it basically doesn’t happen. The dispatcher will say she is calling a cab and then no one accepts it. Considering this has happened at least ten times in the year I have moved to North Petworthish, I need a new cab comapny or driver to call who will actually show up.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user yostinator

“Dear PoPville,

I had a disturbing incident yesterday that may be of interest to your readers in the Mt. Pleasant area. At about 4:30 p.m., while walking my dog down 17th across from Lamont Park, I heard two small children get extremely upset that there was a strange shirtless man passed out in their enclosed front yard. Tired of lowlife deadbeats ruling with impunity over our otherwise beautiful neighborhood, I offered to get him out, and their mother took them inside.

I went in, woke up the guy, pulled him up, and sent him staggering out of the front gate. My rusty high school Spanish was enough to know that he was drunkenly threatening to kill me as he staggered out, but then back in the gate, refusing to leave. The family was still watching and extremely upset, so I got him out a second time and called DC’s finest from down the sidewalk.

The most disturbing part of this incident begins when the 911 operator, having heard this story in detail, seemed amazed that I would want a police officer to respond, asking “what’s the problem besides him being in the yard?” When I enumerated: criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct, attempted assault, disturbing the peace, public intoxication, and possession of who-knows-what, the operator shrugged this off as a “low priority incident,” and said something about the “citywide emergency.”

My question for readers is: did you see police officers busy responding to a small, non-destructive earthquake yesterday over two and a half hours after it ended? Having just ridden my bike home 4 miles through the core of the city, I saw not a single MPD officer alleviating gridlock traffic or otherwise responding to anything earthquake-related. There wasn’t even bad traffic in the Third District at all, from what I saw. I’m fairly new in town, but this seems typical of a police force that prioritizes taxi-driver shakedowns for wearing short pants, giving bicyclists stop sign tickets, or other revenue intensive activities. After the failure of MPD to respond, the subject urinated all over the sidewalk in front of the townhome and its occupants, and proceeded to resume his post in Lamont Park, where I’m sure I will again see him passed out in broad daylight, reigning over Mt. Pleasant as before.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user yostinator

“Dear PoPville,

Yesterday morning I as I was walking down Irving Street, just past Acre 121, I accidentally brushed shoulders with someone going the opposite direction. I was zoned out, carrying two bags on that shoulder, and just didn’t judge the distance needed to pass. When it happened I kind of waved back to say I’m sorry, and kept going. I got about two steps further when suddenly the man was in my face screaming and cursing up a storm at me for running into him. I was totally caught off guard, trying to asses whether he was one of the local CoHi crazies or a resident having a rough Monday morning. Needless to say, I was terrified, and was stammering apologies as he continued to scream and curse at me, two inches from my face.

Then from the street I hear “Don’t you dare yell at a girl like that.” A car waiting at the light had seen the altercation and apparently pulled over to come to my rescue. The passenger, a rather large man, got out and got in the guy’s face telling him to back off and that it was an accident, as the guy continued yelling at him. At this point, I bolted. I continued on my way just wanting to get out of the situation, but looking back the rest of the way to the bus to be sure the crazy man wasn’t chasing after me, and literally thinking “this guy is going to stab me.”

Once I was safely on the bus (never thought I’d say that) I felt like a real jerk for taking off and not even acknowledging the two people who came to my aid. It’s probably a long shot, but I just wanted to put a giant thank you out into the world to them, since I know many people (admittedly myself included) probably wouldn’t have done the same.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user philliefan99

“Dear PoPville,

The other day I was trying to use the crosswalk that crosses Florida where it meets R st. NW. Obviously no one was stopping, and I began to get a little annoyed given the seemingly endless stream of traffic. In the distance I saw a cop coming and thought “surely they will allow me to cross and set the example for other drivers.” Instead, they showed no signs of stopping and as they drove by I wagged my finger at them. I eventually crossed and the cops caught up with me me, asking if I needed anything. I told them I was wagging my finger because I thought they of all people should have allowed me to cross. The cops then proceeded to lecture me that I had to actually be in the crosswalk to gain the right of way.

So is that really the law?

DC ranks among the highest in the nation for pedestrian injuries when you take into account the number of pedestrian commuters. In a city where walking is so important I think it is a shame if the law really required people to risk their lives and step onto the crosswalk to get cars to yield to them. I, for one, am tired of being terrified our cities dangerous crosswalks.”

“Dear PoPville,

Verizon came down the alleyway between 16th St and Hertford Place NW this morning. Without getting any permission from any of the homeowners, Verizon’s crew proceeded to invade people’s property and erected a series of poles, saying that they will eventually string FiOS lines along them. (Eventually, as in 6-9 months from now, because of the strike.) Don’t know how readily you can tell from the pix I took and attached, but in some cases their poles straddle the property line between the alley and the private property. In a couple of cases, they actually installed the poles completely within the private property.

For the first pole, Verizon’s crew dumped the concrete they tore up into the man’s yard! The last pole is actually blocking the paved parking space for the home they invaded. And one property owner came out and shooed the Verizon crew away — but not before they had started drilling perilously close to his foundation. And the hole is still there, with torn-up concrete piled up. (Maybe it’s an art installation.)

Is this kind of thing happening elsewhere in the District? I can’t imagine Verizon would possibly try to get away with blatant trespass in Georgetown or even Crestwood, just up the block from us. And if it’s happening elsewhere, where? Verizon clearly needs to be sued for this, and the homeowners must be compensated and made whole.”

Another writes on a Columbia Heights listserv:

“Supposedly they are for Verizon Fios fiber optic lines. Supposedly they can’t run them under the porches like the current phone and cable lines because its a fire hazard, or because someone demanded rent to put a box on their house. Not sure which. Supposedly because of the strike actual wires won’t go up for months.

They were put on people’s property (including mine) without permission, which is bad, but it would be bad if they were blocking the ally too. They should be run underground, but that would involve tearing up our newly paved alley.

That’s the sum total of the gossip I’ve collected so far. Anyone with real info, please chime in and correct or clarify.”