other neighborhoods – Page 3 – Truxton Is In Shaw

When tranny hookers attack

From the Shaw Neighborhood Yahoo Group via the GLLU Newsletter (gllunewsletter@ gllu.org):

On 5/25/09, at approximately 2:30 a.m., members of the First District responded to a call for an assault in the area of the 600 block of K Street, N.W. According to the victim, he walked in the area confront the prostitutes in his neighborhood. As he was admonishing them, one of the women, who the victim described as a male-to-female Transgender individual, grabbed him between his legs and made sexual advances towards him. The suspect fled the scene prior to the officer’s arrival, however her identity is known. The victim was not injured.

I had thought the development round there had removed some of the gals from the area, I guessed wrong. But then again I’m not over there at 2AM. The lesson here is keep a safe distance from the working girls, they fight back.

Lunch options in Penn Quarter

Dear Wagamama,
How dare you make me wait until 2010 for tasty ramen.
Love,
Mari

I thought I took a picture but apparently, no. Yesterday I spotted signage on 418 7th Street stating that the noodle chain I fell in love with in London will be coming in 2010. Better yet, it will be close enough and priced about right to make a regular lunch spot.

Ridge Street, again

Once again no body entered my contest. When you realize how easy it was you’ll kick yourself. It was:

Here’s the question, what is the address of a Ridge Street NW house that is still standing today but in 1940 was listed as “old and in poor condition” or “poor condition”?

473 Ridge Street NW is up for sale for $379K. In 1940 it’s assessed value was $1,557, and described as “1 2 story frame, 4 rooms; no improvements; very old and in poor condition.”
The house pictured is 425 Ridge Street. In 1940 for 425-425 1/2 Ridge Street the assessed value was $3,732. The description read as follows, “2 2 story bricks, divided into 2 3-room apartments or flats each; no improvements except inside water; old and in poor condition.” The monthly rental for it was $70 and it held 4 families, a total of 19 persons.

So seriously the only Ridge Street houses NOT described as being old and in poor or terrible condition were, 413, 457, 475, 458, 438, 440, 442, and 444. 458 was a blacksmith’s shop and garage, so it wouldn’t have mattered.

Ref- RG 302 P-1, Folder Sq. 512 & 513.

Starting a Rumor- Angelina Jolie @ 7th and PA NW

There have been cars blocking one land of traffic since I came into work and many are still there. On my way to Momiji I saw what I guess are catering trucks or vague vendors with snacks and coffee outside the Starbucks. When I asked a friend what was the commotion he said that Angelina Jolie is filming something at the Navy Memorial.
CAN ANYONE CONFIRM?
The only thing I can confirm is there is a film crew, and a big crowd at the Archives Navy Memorial metro station.

Historic Preservation & Sex: Never underestimate the power of spite

As reported in the Sunday Washington Post, the owner of a hunting and fishing store in Old Town Alexandria wanted to expand, was told by the city he couldn’t, so he rented the space to a shop specializing in lingerie and ‘martial aids’. The then owner of the hunting & fishing shop, Michael Zarlenga, according to the Post did work with city historic preservation staff and a staff member of the Alexandria Board of Architectural Review in developing his plans for expansion of the sporting store. When the plans came up for the Board of Architectural Review to review in 2007, they rejected it The Board staff member Zarlenga was working with decided that the changes would cause an “unreasonable loss of [the] historic fabric.” The Board chairman said that the changes would have changed the roof structure.
What makes me feel badly for Zarlenga is that he was supposedly working with city staff and taking their advice and the city just strung him along. Any way the city of Alexandria was mean and made him cry. He closed his store, and until this year it was vacant. And this is where the spite comes in….
Zarlenga rented his space to an adult store, and is thinking of selling the property to them. The owners of the adult store have several other locations in NoVa and was able to get into Old Town because unlike other landlords, Zarlenga was willing to rent to them. The city of Alexandria has received complaints about the store’s presence. However, in the long run this may be much ado about nothing. The Pleasure Place, a similar establishment, in DC has two locations, both in historic districts. In addition Zarlenga has another Alexandria property, I’m not sure if it is a part of Old Town, that he’s leaving derelict and apparently patching up with duct tape. So with the adult store and the vacant property, that seems like spite.
+++++++
For clarification I am not supporting spite, nor supporting stringing people along.

Constructing a Courtyard Marriott

The hotel over by the New York Avenue Metro station is coming along and seems to be going at a pretty good pace. As you can see there are windows. Windows that can peer into the souls of the ATF workers across the way…. or not.
Waiting hotel visitors, once the joint opens, is the Sisters Pizza and Mussels, the 5 Guys, Pound Coffee, and Heidi’s Deli. Hopefully success on NoMa’s 2nd St NE, will trickle some smaller scale development (think 14th St Shaw not 14th St Columbia Heights) over on to North Cap.

iWant

Dear Apple,
Forget Georgetown. The parking is lousy and there is no metro station. When my Mac mini needs a fixin’ or whatever, I don’t want to bring it on the bus or haul it on my bike. I could, but I don’t want to.
When Georgetown rejects you for the umteenth or whenever you’re tired of submitting design proposals you know won’t fly with the ANC and the Historic Preservation people, come to the land of the Green line. Columbia Heights, U Street, Gallery Place and Penn Quarter would love to have you. Yes, these areas have historic districts, but they also like business. And the thing with Gallery Place, it’s still called Chinatown so you’d have to put Chinese characters on your signage. That shouldn’t be a problem since a lot of what you have comes from China anyway.
Gallery Place also has a bunch of hipster white earbud pod people walking around with office drones and other people who will buy your stuff. People like tourists from places where there are no Apple stores. People who want to kill time before a game.
So come to the land of the Green line, you’d like it over here.

Fun with ProQuest:1825 T Street NW

Yes, this is a couple of blocks west of 16th Street, so definately not in Shaw. But I came across a Washington Post article* when looking for Northwest slum housing with no electricity. 1825 T Street was built as negro housing, replacing 5 frame houses that once sat on that spot. It was part of a plan to clear (tear down) slum housing from 16th to Conneticut Avenue. Currently they are condos, and appear to have been condos since the 80s. I thought it was interesting, so thus, I post.

*”Apartments To Replace Slum Area.” by Robert P. Jordan. The Washington Post (1877-1954) [Washington, D.C.] 9 Jul 1950,R1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 – 1992). ProQuest.

Sort of Retelling/rewriting History

I’m trudging through Monique M. Taylor’s Harlem: Between heaven and hell which looks at the role of the black middle class and gentrification in Harlem. Harlem, has a special place in AfrAmerican and American cultural history, so there is that attractive and laudable past that attracts middle and upper middle class blacks.
In the first chapter Taylor writes how Harlem came into being via a real estate bust. Speculators bought up properties in Harlem around the turn of the 20th century because the Manhattan subway or street car (I’m not clear which) was coming up to Harlem and well, you know. Too many houses constructed, too high of a price, and then the bubble popped. Sound familiar? In this economic crisis ” many landlords were willing to rent properties to blacks. … Others shrewdly took advantage of white prejudice. The hope was that by placing blacks into certain properties, neighboring whites would vacate their properties and free them up at extremely low prices.”[1] Around the mid to late 1910s Harlem became a majority black neighborhood. Then by 1920 notable and influential black organizations had established or relocated themselves in Harlem. Over time the positives that Harlem is known for flourished.
However, while there was this great Harlem Renaissance taking place, the glory outshone the negative side of Harlem. The unemployment, the crowded living conditions, the poverty and segregation. The famous Cotton Club was for white patrons only. The realities of the negatives resulted in large homes being carved up into smaller units to crowd poor people into and when the glitter of Harlem’s shine started getting dull a depressing ghetto began to show underneath.
The background is needed to understand the black middle class who come to or returned to Harlem to ‘restore it to it’s former glory.’ As I was reading the stories of the black mid class (let’s say buppies for short) fixing up properties I noticed something. They are making the buildings reflect their pre-black neighborhood past, while lauding the Harlem Renaissance period. You mix your time periods long enough they meld into one, so that it is easy to imagine people like us (buppies) living in the grand houses and participating in the Renaissance. No one in the book, so far, has confused the periods, but the thinking seems to skate very close to it.
The book is very interesting in addressing class. But class seems to be too clunky and static a term. Taylor does show in one example how the relationship between buppies and poor blacks goes from we are all one to those sorry so-and-sos. Maybe more about that later.

[1]Taylor, Monique M. Harlem: Between heaven and hell. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, 2002. p. 5

With Lawyers and Money All Things are Possible

I’m going through zoning cases at the place they pay me and I noticed something funny. Well I notice a lot of odd, “huh?” stuff. For example, I’m trying to figure out what happened to the Salvation Army Headquarters that was supposed to be at the spot where 555 Massachusetts sits now. Around 1990 there was supposed to be a non-profit with shelter (Zoning Commission 90-8M/88-23C). But instead there is something else. Maybe not enough lawyers and money.
Another project was the 7th Street Penn Quarter area with the older facades and the modern high rise behind it. I have read/heard complaints about how the whole facade thing is bad and it’s bad for historic preservation. Well looking at the papers, the Historic Preservation people signed off on the project. Yes, there is a signature and everything. Were they browbeaten by the developer’s lawyers?
And there are other projects, other PUDs, where I’ll admit, I don’t have all the information. But I look at what the paperwork says, remember what the location looks like now and sometimes things don’t match up.