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Robert Devaney • April 11, 2016

The empty store at 3279 M St., NW, once a Annie Creamcheese retro clothing store, is set to be re-born as a Buffalo Exchange, a resale chain with more than 40 thrift stores through the U.S. that focuses on style trends for its customers who can buy or trade clothing. Buffalo Exchange was founded in Tucson, Ariz., in 1974. Georgetown’s Buffalo Exchange hopes to open by the weekend of Oct. 27. Another Buffalo Exchange is already on 14th Street.

Here is how the store explains itself:

“Buffalo Exchange is unique because clothing and accessories are bought, sold and traded locally with store customers. Bring in your former favorites for trade or cash on the spot. Our ever-changing inventory includes designer labels, vintage, jeans, leather, current basics and one-of-a-kind items. You’ll also find brand new merchandise and accessories. Our clothing is by the community, for the community. Buffalo Exchange stores are located in the heart of progressive, urban neighborhoods, minimizing pollution, congestion, habitat loss and urban sprawl. 80 percent of our clothing and accessories are bought directly from local customers. Buffalo Exchange offers clothing for both men and women and is more fashionable than your regular thrift store. At the buy counter, we hand pick the most desirable items from the public that can be resold. Our prices range widely depending on the label, style, condition and other factors. Many items average around $15. Designer jeans are higher in price, but our prices are far lower than retail.

“Selling for the first time? If you’re under the age of 18, please call your local store before visiting the buy counter; local laws vary for minimum age to sell. Buffalo Exchange isn’t a consignment store — it’s quicker than that — if we accept your items, you can get cash or trade on the spot. You’ll get the most money for your clothes if you’re willing to accept trade instead of cash for your clothing.”

The Buffalo Exchange at 3279 M St., NW — 202-333-2829 — plans to open by the end of October.

Gary Tischler •

In the wake of last night’s first presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, I got one of those e-mails from Barack Obama—simply titled, “Hey”—which said, and I quote, “I hope I made you proud out there explaining the vision we share for our country.”

Well, with all due respect, Mr. President, not so much.

I got one from ALG, too, (my friends at Americans for Limited Government) who crowed about your “debacle” in Denver, and one of the Washington Post writers, no Romney fan normally, said that he “cleaned your clock,” while Chris Matthews and the folks at MSNBC—MSNBC! for God’s sake—blew up (a regular occurrence for Matthews) at your poor performance. “Where was Barack Obama?” is what Matthews asked, and it was a good question.

Let’s tell the truth. Mitt Romney won the cosmic all important first debate between the two presidential candidates, the debate that was being trumpeted by the media as the most singular debate ever, the one that could win the election, the political equivalent of 2012 on the Mayan calendar. He took over the debate, attacked your record on the economy, had you looking at your shoes a lot, or nodding your head, and general dominated the conversation with anecdotes—those folks he met on the campaign trail—stats about unemployment, a promise that he would not cut taxes and raise the deficit, and generally had you playing defense all the way. Hell, he even stole your thunder on your own wedding anniversary by making a deft quip about it.

Romney was working on the assumption that it was do-or-die time for him, while the President appeared to think he had the grace of a lead in the polls. Romney came loaded for bear. He won the appearance war for the most part because Obama seemed to be weaving like an unsure driver through his answers, reacting often like a student to a professor.

Media types said it was one of the more substantive debates ever—there were no zingers, but lots of serious economic and domestic issues like tax breaks, tax codes, tax structures, Medicare and Obamacare, who cut what, an oft-made assertion by Obama about a five-trillion tax cut plan by Romney, which Romney repeatedly denied. He said he would cut taxes on the middle class and keep the upper class of money makers on the same rate, which seemed new at the time.

The president made no mention of Romney’s “47 percent” speech which had been used effectively against the challenger in the last few weeks of the campaign. In fact, Romney had had a rocky two weeks, stumbling and losing momentum. If his job in the debate was to regain momentum, appear to be a viable president standing next to the current one, stop the bleeding in his campaign and energize his followers while making independents take a serious look at him, he did his job.

Obama on the other hand seemed to be merely trying to stay in place, and his counter-punching—while sometimes effective—did not save him in a battle of appearance.

It must be said that moderator Jim Lehrer—a Public Broadcasting System news veteran—lost control of the debate early on and never really regained it. Romney, by my count, had the last word on every segment simply because he bulled his way into it.

The debate was indeed substantive: lots of broadly discussed issues, even if the devil remains in the details. How exactly true the facts and their meanings were will be discussed by the fact-checkers, which is turning into a whole new tribe of consultants and experts who themselves may lack enough expertise.

It must be said too, that the debate itself had been so hyped by the media—especially the television media, national and local—that as an event it became something out of all proportion to what had gone before, and what is still to be settled—mainly two more presidential debates and a vice presidential debate. The hype—and its assumptions about what the candidate must do and what the debate would mean, including the possibility of deciding the outcome of the election—existed solely to make the debates yet another reality show where national pundits and anchor men and everyone involved from late night talk hosts to Access Hollywood had a stake. It was as if everything the two candidates had done, the countless money they had spent and the SuperPACs that had been created meant absolutely nothing because the debate—this debate—had become the whole enchilada.

My friend took it to heart and started thinking about getting used to the idea that maybe a Romney presidency wasn’t the end of the world. After all, it’s not listed on the Mayan Calendar.

The hype reached a crescendo on the eve of the debate, which had one local TV reporter saying, “. . . Now, it’s up to the people and the pundits.” Seriously? The people, yes, but the pundits?

Meantime, Mr. President, with all due respect, do yourself proud next time for yourself. Don’t worry about me, I’ve already gotten over last night.

Casey obrien •

With the first presidential debate complete, there’s only one thing on everyone’s mind: what is going to happen to Big Bird? The giant yellow-feathered bird from Sesame Street was brought up for one second during the debates, yet trended nationwide on Twitter, generated 17,000 tweets per minute and had multiple parody accounts set up in the bird’s name.

The comment which sparked it all was when Governor Mitt Romney spoke about stopping the subsidy to the Public Broadcasting Service: “I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. [to moderator Jim Lehrer] But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for.”

Big Bird doesn’t have to worry, however, as PBS gives “very, very little funding” to Sesame Street, said Sherrie Westin, Sesame Street’s executive vice president, in an interview with CNN last week. Corporate sponsorships, product sales and donations make up most of the show’s funding, according to Westin, who is a former head of the Georgetown Business Association.

“Quite frankly, you can debate whether or not there should be funding of public broadcasting,” Westin told CNN. “But when they always try to tout out Big Bird, and say we’re going to kill Big Bird — that is actually misleading, because Sesame Street will be here. Big Bird lives on.”

Despite the reassurance, Big Bird is still conquering social media. It was the fourth mentioned term on Facebook last night, after “Obama,” “Romney” and “debate.” Several Big Bird parody Twitters have popped up, including @BigBirdRomney and @BIGBIRD; another account, @FiredBigBird, has been suspended.

@BigBirdRomney has tweeted “If you don’t vote Obama, Mitt Romney is going to be eating me by the end of November. Show your support. #BigBird2012” and “There was one clear loser in the debates: me.” Among his tweets, @BigBirdRomney has also tweeted several joke pictures, featuring fellow Sesame Street mates, including Grover and Bert and Ernie.

“You’re just reminded of what a connection ‘Sesame Street’ has, and what a place Big Bird and those characters have in people’s hearts,” Westin told Politico Oct. 4, the day after the debate. “The great thing is, that’s on both sides of the aisle.”
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Robert Devaney •

“Sufficient encouragement has already been given to us in our undertaking to make us feel that our interest in Georgetown and our labors will meet with the approval of a kindly and interested public.”

So wrote Ami Stewart, founding editor and publisher of The Georgetowner, on its front page, dated Oct. 7, 1954. It was Volume 1, Number 1, and sold for ten cents. Stewart, a former sales representative for the Washington Star, laid out the new local newspaper at Little Caledonia, a famed home goods store on Wisconsin Avenue, with the Randolph sisters. Yes, you might call it low-tech, old school,

The newspaper grew with its news and profiles of a quieter time and include homespun ads of retail shops along Wisconsin Avenue and M Street. Already, however, it was on its way to becoming the newspaper whose “influence far exceeds its size” — a quote from fashion designer Pierre Cardin during a garden party. Check the Georgetowner archives and see the story, written before the 1960 election season, on an N Street resident who was planning a run for president: John F. Kennedy.

Stewart ran the Georgetowner until the mid-1970s when she moved to a nursing home. Her assistant editor since the late ’60s had been David Roffman, who took over upon Stewart’s passing and gave the newspaper his own flare, especially during the 1980s. By himself, he swept the streets with an elephant vac, before the work of more formal non-profits. He knew the town when its nightlife was young and on top. His team of writers and sales reps included his brother Randy Roffman. At that time, writer Gary Tischler arrived and remains with the paper and is considered central to its heart and soul.

Publisher David Roffman retired from the newspaper in 2009 and moved south. He still contributes from time to time, as you can see by his opinion piece, “A Portrait of a Georgetowner.” He recalls his own special time here, as so many do, but we would hasten to add the words of Councilman Jack Evans: “Today is the golden age of Georgetown.”

“Small community newspapers are tricky businesses,” said Tischler of the newspaper and Roffman two years ago. “With all due respect to other such publications in this city, no other paper is so associated with place than the Georgetowner. And it’s fair to say that Roffman, when he owned and published the paper, reflected the community in all of its facets. He wasn’t just a publisher, and his efforts weren’t only about stories, scoops, ads, deadlines and headlines. He was the village’s biggest cheerleader and booster.”

Today, owner and publisher Sonya Bernhardt has entered her 13th year at the helm of the newspaper which is now part of the Georgetown Media Group. She publishes the Georgetowner and the Downtowner, directs the business and the group’s presence on the web along with staff and interns. Her passions include the community as well as promotion of small and local businesses. She is also an avid fundraiser for various causes including research for cancer cures. With the newspaper, she is committed to the Georgetown House Tour, the Senior Center, Living in Pink, Volta Park Day and Francis Scott Key Park, to name a few. Many of her other causes echo Roffman’s interests, as do her frustrations as a small business woman. A few of us have laughed, “Sonya, you sound like Dave.”

Bernhardt’s publications reflect a 21st-century vibe and, she says, “the Georgetown lifestyle, focusing on the arts, history, real estate, education, dining, health, fashion and philanthropy.” Her Georgetowner reveals a wider world, while keeping tradition close. Indeed, under her watch, you could read a newspaper that contained an opinion piece by Pierre Salinger, President Kennedy’s press secretary, as well as a style article by a young freelancer.

With a print circulation of 40,000, the Georgetowner is mailed to all Georgetown residents and businesses. The newspapers’ distribution covers parts of D.C., Maryland and Virginia. And, of course, its web site contains all that is in the print product and additional stories and photos not seen in the paper.

So, as the Georgetowner celebrates its 58th birthday, it looks to its past, present and future. It is all there for you to read, both hard copy and digital. Visit www.Georgetowner.com, and look for us on Facebookand Twitter.

Hayley Markovich •

When Mayor Vincent Gray spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the finish of the O and P Streets Rehabilitation Project Sept. 18, he recalled that streetcars last ran along the renovated historic tracks 50 years ago.

Today, the District is going back to the future: Residents, workers and visitors to Washington will travel in the coming years on new D.C. streetcars.

The re-introduction of streetcars were announced by the District Department of Transportation in 2009 and will serve all eight wards of the city. The H Street/Benning Road Line will be the first to open and carry passengers in summer 2013.

This line is a two-mile line that will operate on lines in existing travel lanes from the intersection of 1st Street, NE, and H Street, NE, to the intersection of Benning Road, NE, and Oklahoma Avenue, NE. It will connect Union Station to the H Street business district and the Benning Road business district and residential area. Streetcars will travel east and west and will have a total of eight stops at Union Station: 5th Street, NE and H Street; 8th Street, NE, and H Street; 13th Street, NE, and H Street; 15th Street, NE, and Benning Road; 19th Street, NE, and Benning Road; Oklahoma Avenue, NE, and Benning Road.

The Anacostia Initial Line Segment is scheduled for completion in summer of 2013. It is a three-quarter-mile streetcar line that will run from 2750 South Capitol Street to the Anacostia Metro. It will connect the Naval Annex to Barry Farm and then to the Anacostia Metro Station.
Additional segments are being planned.

The streetcars will bring many benefits to D.C., include another travel choice for residents and commuters, connecting neighborhoods and commercial corridors and encouraging economic development.

During the first half of the 20th century, the District had a bustling streetcar network that stopped providing service on Jan. 28, 1962, in favor of busses. With the completion of the first line and continued construction Washington, D.C., will join a growing number of cities that have reinstituted streetcars including Portland, Seattle and Tampa.
For more information, visit www.dcstreetcar.com.
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Robert Devaney •

Members and friends of the Georgetown Business Association gathered at EagleBank on Wisconsin Avenue Sept. 19 to talk about upcoming fall events, including the local and national elections, and enjoyed tasty samples from Neyla Restaurant and desserts from Pie Sisters of Georgetown. [gallery ids="100987,131838,131831,131825" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

The renovated Tony & Joe’s — to re-open Sept. 5 — provided the setting and Nick’s Riverside Grill the food for a networking mixer by the Georgetown Business Association Aug. 22. Members and friends of the GBA were eager to see the reworked space of Tony & Joe’s which was damaged and shut down by the April 2011 flood at Washington Harbour. The family-run restaurants at the lower level and next to the Potomac River have been serving customers at outside tables. Owners Greg Casten and Tony Cibel agreed that something better had come out of the flood damage. The new Tony & Joe’s is more open with higher windows. Also, the fountain at Washington Harbour — part of a $20-million exterior renovation by owners MRP Relaty and Rockpoint Group, LLC — has been upgraded to shoot lighted water jets in time with music a la the fountains and pond of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. During the winter, the fountain area will be encased and extended as it is transformed into an ice skating rink. Nick Cibel said that elliptical-shaped 12,000-square-foot area would exceed the size of the ice rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City. [gallery ids="100952,130501,130442,130491,130452,130481,130460,130474,130467" nav="thumbs"]

Percy Metcalfe • April 8, 2016

Possible plans for the future of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium complex were released April 4 at a press conference, held by Events DC at the Washington Convention Center.

A total of six proposals were released, two of which called for the return of the Washington Redskins to the District in a brand new 65,000-seat stadium. The Washington Redskins vacated RFK in 1996 in favor of the FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. To get the Redskins back home, D.C. leaders would have to entice the team’s owner, Daniel Snyder, with a favorable offer.

Another proposition called for additional development of the property with a 20,000-person arena, jointly occupied by the Capitals and the Wizards.

Other, more short-term projects put forward range from an open-air market to a science center.

Two general design concepts have been introduced for the development.

The first concept, entitled “North-South Axis,” would require considerable re-working of the surrounding grid system. The second idea — “Stitch” — maintains the current street network. Both plans include the construction of pedestrian bridges across the Anacostia River, an urban beach and a family sport and entertainment complex among a number of other amenities for the community.

RFK is currently the home ground of the D.C. United Major League Soccer team, which plans to relocate to a new stadium at Buzzard Point in 2018. Today, RFK has the capacity to seat an audience of 45,600.

The owner of the site, Events DC, is the “official convention and sports authority for the District of Columbia.” Other than RFK, its venues include Nationals Park, Carnegie Library at Mt. Vernon Square and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Georgetowner •

Longtime artistic director of the Washington Ballet, Septime Webre, who will step down at the end of June, will speak at Georgetown Media Group’s next Cultural Leadership Breakfast, Thursday, April 7, 8 to 9:30 a.m., at Capella Washington, D.C., 1050 31st St. NW (note new location).

Following a continental breakfast, Webre will share some of the challenges and accomplishments of his 17-year tenure. His successor, former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Julie Kent, was recently named.

Last fall’s speakers in the series were Sunny Sumter of the DC Jazz Fest, Julian Raby of the Freer-Sackler and Francesca Zambello of Washington National Opera. The speaker on May 5 will be Amy Austin of Theatre Washington.

Admission to the April 7 breakfast is $25. To reserve, email richard@georgetowner.om or call 202-338-4833.

Special Offer: *The Washington Ballet invites Georgetowner readers to attend “Bowie & Queen” at the Kennedy Center, May 6-15. This full-throttle evening combines the artistry and beauty of dance with the power of the world’s most innovative rock icons, who defined an epoch and became part of America’s cultural fabric. The evening features two company premieres: “Mercury Half-Life” by choreographer Trey McIntyre, an electrifying ballet and tap dance work set to the music of Freddie Mercury and Queen, and “Dancing In the Street” by choreographer Edwaard Liang, set to music composed by Gabriel Gaffney Smith intermixed with selections from David Bowie.*

*Save 15% on select price levels. Offer not valid for performances on May 4, May 5 or May 7. Use promo code PRESSURE for in-person purchases at the Kennedy Center box office or when purchasing by phone at 202-467-4600. Offer expires May 15 at 7 p.m. Not valid on previously purchased tickets. Cannot be combined with any other offer.*