Latest News

Peter Murray • November 12, 2015

A flashy new development in Shaw, the Shay, is buzzing with life as retailers and restaurants open their doors and residents begin to move in to condos upstairs. To many, though, the new, modern buildings, replete with pricey condos, luxury stores and millennial-friendly eateries, seem out of place. At the busy and crime-ridden corner of Florida Ave. and Georgia Ave. NW where the development starts, a giant unfurled banner depicting a modern version of a big-haired Marie Antoinette caricature announces, “She Has Arrived.” It’s not clear who she is exactly, but recent openings provide a clearer picture of what the Shay will bring to Shaw.

Just across the street from popular gay sports bar Nellie’s is Warby Parker, the eyewear brand that opened its first D.C. store at 3225 M St. NW in Georgetown. The space is a bit larger than the Georgetown store with a more modern aesthetic and a bright, nearly-neon mini marquee that shouts the brand’s name from the corner of 9th and U streets NW.

Another formerly online-only retailer Frank & Oak has also moved in over the past few weeks. The Montreal-based company is known for its reasonably priced, fashionable menswear, which is designed in-house, and has been expanding its brick-and-mortar operations over the past few years with store openings in Chicago, Boston, Toronto and Montreal.

A few doors down from Warby Parker, Chrome Industries, an outfitter specializing in durable apparel and messenger bags, opened last week. On Wednesday, over on the corner of 8th street and Florida Avenue NW, employees from Steven Alan, were moving in merchandise, stocking the shelves with what appeared to be mostly luxury menswear. This chic retailer also has a presence in Georgetown with their storefront in Cady’s Alley.

Other highlights at the Shay include a newly opened Compass Coffee and a huge, window-front space for Kit and Ace, a new brand from the family that owns Lululemon. Much of the relatively hip apparel is made with what the company calls technical cashmere, a machine-washable blend of fabrics that mimics cashmere but requires little maintenance.

There are a few tenants that have yet to open, but those that already have provide a clear picture of what the Shay is aiming for: to become a new center of gravity on U Street. Not only will restaurants bring in the millennial cavalcade but also the new retail outlets will likely make the Shay a fashion mecca, particularly for men. (It’s not a coincidence, then, that the development is located across the street from two of the most popular gay nightlife destinations in D.C., Nellie’s and Town Danceboutique.)

Until foot traffic moves in though, the Shay, will mostly turn heads and cause Washingtonians to wonder about the direction this city is headed. They won’t need to think about it too hard though as Atlantic Plumbing, another luxury-focused development up the street, comes online in the coming weeks too. First to open there: a lavish movie theater-cum-cafe-cum-cocktail bar on the street level.

Peter Murray •

After protesting countless funerals, concerts and Pride parades with vitriolic speech and obnoxious signage, the near-universally hated hate group the Westboro Baptist Church is headed to the Sidwell Friends School on Wednesday for a Veterans’ Day picket, according to school officials.

The Topeka, Kansas-based church, which is primarily opposed to LGBT rights, announced the picket of the Northwest Washington private school in a bizarre, rambling Oct. 26 press release that criticizes President Obama for supporting abortion rights and “fag marriage.” The release also states, “expect signs like ‘God Is Sovereign of All,’ ‘God Hates Fag Enablers,’ ‘Divorce + Remarriage = Adultery,’ ‘Marriage = 1 Man + 1 Woman 4 Life,’ ‘God Hates Proud Sinners’ and ‘You’re Going To Hell.'”

Sidwell Friends is no stranger to the hate group: a mass of students and faculty greeted a 2009 Westboro Baptist picket with silence to counter their protest. In an email to students’ parents, Sidwell Friends headmaster Bryan Garman suggested that the school’s community is planning a similar response for Wednesday. Garman also wrote, “The group’s ideology is antithetical to the testimonies on equality and community and violates the central Quaker tenant that the divine is present in each person.”

According to the Washingtonian, Westboro Baptist was last in D.C. in June 2014 to protest Wilson High School’s then-principal Pete Cahall’s coming out. But on that occasion, the church was vastly outnumbered by Cahall and Wilson High supporters.

Georgetowner • November 9, 2015

Georgetown Visitation Esprit de Noel

November 6th, 2015 at 11:00 AM | None | warddt@aol.com | Tel: 3019063677 | Event Website

A Christmas Market

Mark your calendars for the 45th year of this wonderful Georgetown tradition and just in time to get you into the holiday spirit. With a marketplace offering over 60 specialty boutiques, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School’s Esprit de Noel is not to be missed! Enjoy food, treats and family fun. This event is open to everyone and admission is free. There is plenty of free parking on campus. Visit www.visi.org/esprit for more information.

Address

1524 3t5th St. NW

Fiber Art Show & Sale

November 7th, 2015 at 09:30 AM | FallFiberArtSale@gmail.com | Tel: 703.548.0935 | Event Website

Annual sale of wearable art and fiber art supplies by 26 members of the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery. Handcrafted, one-of-a-kind scarves, hats, garments, jewelry, yarn, fabrics, notions and gift items will be sold. Bargain tables include gallery-quality items and artists’ overstock of equipment, materials and supplies, books, and more.

Address

St. Mark Presbyterian Church; 10701 Old Georgetown Road; Rockville, MD 20852

Ninth Annual Parade of Trabants

November 7th, 2015 at 10:00 AM | FREE | info@spymuseum.org | Tel: 202-393-7798 | Event Website

It’s been more than 25 years since the Berlin Wall fell, but one Cold War icon is still chugging away—the Trabant. Despite their questionable performance, these little cars are now regarded as a symbol of East Germany and the fall of Communism. Trabants are a rarity here, but some of the finest examples in the US will chug their way to the International Spy Museum to celebrate our Ninth Annual Parade of Trabants.

Address

International Spy Museum; 800 F Street, NW

Madda Fella’s Open House Event

November 7th, 2015 at 12:00 PM | 0 | thefellas@maddafella.com | Tel: 202-223-4933 | Event Website

Join Madda Fella, the premium Key West inspired menswear brand, this Saturday, November 7th for an open house from 12 PM to 6 PM for drinks, hors d’oeuvres and entertainment. The Key West worthy bash will make you wish you were down south with your toes in the sand and a drink in your hand. Get an early start on shopping before the cold sets in by enjoying a slice of the Florida Sunshine!

Address

Madda Fella; 3277 M Street NW

Slovak Christmas Market

November 7th, 2015 at 10:00 AM | Free/Free parking available | Event Website

The Embassy of the Slovak Republic invites you to a unique Christmas Market on Saturday, November 7 from 10am – 5pm. The Christmas Market will feature beautiful handmade Czech and Slovak Christmas ornaments, world famous Czech and Slovak glassware; and performances of Christmas carols by children from Sokol Washington DC. Traditional Christmas soup and mulled wine will be served at the event. Location: , , DC 20008. Admission is free/Free parking available.

Address

Embassy of the Slovak Republic; 3523 International Court NW

The Raven and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe. Nicholas White and The Raven Consort

November 7th, 2015 at 08:00 PM | $30-$35 | office@dumbarton.org | Tel: (202) 965-2000, ext. 100 | Event Website

Composers have always loved Poe and our deliciously Autumnal program, conducted by Nicholas White, starts with solo song settings by various composers of the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, readings of Poe poetry, and concludes with The Raven, White’s cantata in eight movements for vocal quartet, with string quartet, horn, cor anglais and piano.

Address

Dumbarton Concerts; 3133 Dumbarton Street NW

English Country Dance

November 9th, 2015 at 12:30 PM | $5 | education@dumbartonhouse.org | Tel: 2023372288 | Event Website

English Country Dance is a social, folk dance form, which has earliest documented instances in the late 16th century. English Country Dance (ECD) was popular well into the Baroque and Regency eras. No partner or experience necessary. All that’s needed is a desire to have fun and the willingness to put your best (dance) foot forward!

Address

Dumbarton House, 2715 Q Street, NW

Our Walls Bear Witness: Iraq

November 9th, 2015 at 06:30 PM | free | calendar@ushmm.org | Tel: 202.488.0460 | Event Website

In a special nighttime display, the Museum will project images onto its exterior walls featuring religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq, such as Christians and Yazidis, who are being persecuted by the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The event will begin with a program on the evening of Monday, November 9, featuring a discussion with experts who will provide background information and context for the images. The photo projections at the Museum will run through Thursday, November 12.

Address

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW

Robert Devaney •

News outlets have reported about the smart phone app, GroupMe, which was used to communicate possible suspicious behavior within Georgetown’s retail establishments by the Georgetown Business Improvement District as part of its own online group. Questions arouse about the possibility of racial profiling or bias by users, which a few GroupMe texts displayed.

The Georgetowner Newspaper was the first news outlet to report on this concern in its Aug. 8 issue.

Later, because of additional press inquiries and its own review, the Georgetown BID called a timeout on its GroupMe app and is looking over its communication process and rules for this app. No time was given for resumption of the public safety app.

The following is a message from Georgetown Business Improvement District CEO Joe Sternlieb, dated Oct.18, reproduced in its entirety and without any alterations:

“Georgetown is one of the most diverse retail districts in the region, and its merchants work hard every day to welcome visitors — regardless of race, ethnicity or income.

“Over the last several days Georgetown has received a great deal of attention stemming from a news story that evaluated the use of a smartphone app called GroupMe that the BID, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and retail merchant community launched as a pilot in 2014. The intent was to provide real-time communication as part of a public safety partnership to reduce shoplifting.

“While the app has been effective in deterring shoplifting, the news stories and the dialogue that followed have brought up legitimate concerns about the use of the app and its potential to wrongfully identify shoppers as shoplifters. The overriding goal of our retail community is to ensure that everyone who visits Georgetown feels welcomed, comfortable, safe, and that their civil rights and individual dignity are protected and respected. So long as there are questions about how this app is being used, this goal cannot be met.

“The BID’s Executive Committee and staff have decided to take the app off-line in order to do a top to bottom review of the public safety communication program associated with it. Our mission going forward will be to develop a new set of rules and protocols for use of real-time communication tools that may help us meet our mission; to develop a robust anti-racial-profiling training program that would be required to be completed before anyone gets access to a future version of such a tool; and an analysis of the appropriate size and membership criteria of the group. Only after this work has been completed, and we can determine that a tool like the GroupMe app can be deployed to effectively meet the highest standards of professionalism and protection of all Georgetown’s customers, will we revisit putting it back on line.”
 

Gary Tischler •

It’s official. It’s really official.

The District Council of the District of Columbia officially dedicated a plaque that recognizes the famous or infamous steps at Prospect and 36th Streets NW as a significant historic location in Washington, D.C.

The fates—and Andrew Huff, the Dupont Film Festival, the D.C. Film Office and others—got together, celebrated and commemorated the occasion. On hand were William Peter Blatty, the author of “The Exorcist,” the novel on which the film is based, along with director William Friedkin and a hundred or so fans, autograph seekers and early Halloween revelers.  They gathered at the site of the stairs, along with Mayor Muriel Bowser, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans, and Georgetown University President John DeGioia.

Blatty and Friedkin spent two hours or so on Prospect Street, signing autographs, programs, books, posters and other items. Also on hand were “Exorcist” fans, who remembered the filming, read the books or gather every Halloween for screenings of  “The Exorcist.” It was a film that shook up the horror movie world—and the Georgetown landscape, while it was being filmed more than 40 years ago. 

“It was strange watching the film this time,” said Bill Dunlap, artist and a good friend of Friedkin. Dunlap, who showed up with his wife and daughter, remarked about the 1973 film, “Everyone smoking, those weird telephones and the scenes of Georgetown at that time. It was pretty haunting.

On Prospect Street, promoters dressed as nuns and priests handed out containers for holy waters to hype “Exorcist Live!”  A young girl who answered to the name of Regan, in a greenish, Linda Blair-like dress was also there. 

Friedkin said he had, in one way or another, spend half of his life on this film. “It’s great to see that there are still so many people interested in the film,” he said. “It’s really appreciated.”

Smoke and shrieking noises were in evidence at the bottom of the steps as fans waited for the arrival of of Blatty, Friedkin and the rest. “Somebody should throw a dummy or something down the stairs,” one fan said. “That would really scare the hell out of people.”

Asked what kind of movies he might be directing today,  Friedkin, who is working in the opera world these days, replied: “Movies that are in focus . . . plus, movies that tell a good story.”

“This film is part of the history of Georgetown and Georgetown University,” DiGioia said. “It’s a part of our cultural history,” Evans added. 

The proclamation noted that “The Exorcist” was in the National Film Registry by way of the Library of Congress and that the steps, once known as the “Hitchcock steps”  had taken “their place in the annals of film and Georgetown history as a perennial destination for residents and visitors of the nation’s capital.”
[gallery ids="102337,125736,125726,125747,125711,125718,125754,125741" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

As a full day of Halloween occurred Oct. 31 since it was Saturday, Georgetown more than lived to its role as Halloween central for nearby residents and visitors alike. Some moms, dads and little children were dressed up along with the young adults and teenagers. Police were out in force throughout the commercial and residential parts of the town.

While a go-go band played in the PNC parking are little too long and long lines in front of El Centro and Old Glory blocked the sidewalks, the costumed revelers kept coming. It helped that a part of M Street near Wisconsin Avenue had its sidewalk extended thanks to barricades placed on the street. Some public intoxication was evident along the sidewalk, whether it was a woman face down on the sidewalk on 31st Street near the C&O Canal or two women fighting in front of George’s King of Falafel and Cheesesteak on 28th Street.

Meanwhile, sports cars revved their engines inpatient with the unsurprising heavy traffic.

There were crimes—one involving a gun—amid the Georgetown crowds, according to MPD (sent from the Second District; PSA 201-208):

= Robbery Force and Violence at 21:51 hours in the 1200 block of 28th St NW.

= Robbery Force and Violence at 22:29 hours in the 3300 block of M Street NW.

?= Robbery Force and Violence at 23:46 hours in the 3000 block of M Street NW.

= Robbery Gun at 23:06 hours in the 1100 block of 34th Street NW. ?

= Robbery Snatch at 2301 hours in the 3100 block of M Street NW.

Before the Halloween parties got in full swing, the Second District of the Metropolitan Police Department sent this advice Oct. 31 to its email subscribers:

“Citizens, please be advised that the Second District and the rest of the city have the potential for a high volume of robberies on Halloween night. Please keep your cell phones put away and your valuables kept under your clothing or in your pockets. We want everyone that is going to come out to have a good time to enjoy themselves, but there are those that come here to take advantage of innocent victims. 

“The Metropolitan Police and outside agencies are out in force tonight and your safety is our first priority and that usually involves a team effort. Our presence will be great, but robbery is usually a crime of opportunity. Don’t give them the opportunity and have a wonderful and safe night all. We look forward to seeing you and we want you to return home just as safe as you left.”?

Robert Devaney •

The family of Ben Bradlee and a small circle of friends and guests gathered Oct. 21 to attend the remains of the legend of American journalism. Bradlee was interred at noon in a bright, new mausoleum at historic Oak Hill Cemetery on a bright, autumn day—a year to the day of his death in 2014.

All of that moved gracefully, but it is Bradlee’s final resting place that is getting some critical notice.

The landscape “is significantly altered with the addition of this mausoleum,” said Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, according to WTOP, which added, “The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs decided Wednesday that the family needs a permit for the mausoleum.”

The story was first reported by Kriston Capps, a writer for the Atlantic’s City Lab on Oct. 20.

“We will comply with whatever the city requires,” David Jackson, superintendent of Oak Hill Cemetery, told The Georgetowner Oct. 22.

The larger-than-life Bradlee’s final resting place is front and center—not unlike the man himself in life—at Oak Hill Cemetery on R Street and can be seen from the sidewalk. Until Oct. 21, Bradlee’s remain lay in a crypt in the nearby historic Renwick Chapel also on the front grounds of the cemetery.

The Bradlee mausoleum’s inside wall is emblazoned with a bas-relief of the American flag. Its floor is etched with a stanza from Maya Angelou’s “When Great Trees Fall.” It contains space for more family members.

A slate walkway—which leads to the Bradlee vault—bisects the cemetery’s front ellipse but will likely be changed, according to Jackson of Oak Hill Cemetery. The fountain that was at the center of the ellipse has been temporarily removed but will be reinstalled. There are plans for a row of other vaults to run along the rear of the ellipse, as approved by the cemetery board five years ago.

George Hill, president of Oak Hill Cemetery Company, responded to Birnbaum’s concerns in an Oct. 13 letter. In part, Hill wrote: “We see our role as the stewards of Oak Hill on many levels and aim to be guardians of its many sacred places. It is also a working cemetery, and citizens continue to need a place be interred in Georgetown. … Oak Hill does not and cannot survive on charity alone. We have survived for 166 years by being a working cemetery, and we hope to continue. Eventually, we may need to end sales of interment spaces and become a museum, but not quite yet. …”

Born on Aug. 26, 1921, Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee died last year at the age of 93 at his N Street home, which he shared with his wife Sally Quinn and son Quinn Bradlee. The revered and feared editor of the Washington Post was best known for the Post’s winning coverage of the Watergate scandal which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Open to the pubic at certain hours, the 22-acre Oak Hill Cemetery, founded in 1849, contains monuments and mausoleums and includes such famous figures as Dean Acheson, William Corcoran, Uriah Forrest, Herman Hollerith, Philip Barton Key, John Howard Payne and Albert Pike. For a time, Willie Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln’s son, was buried there. It has nearly 20,000 burial sites.
[gallery ids="102330,125801,125807" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

Just in time for Halloween in Georgetown, the Exorcist Steps at 36th Street—between Prospect and M Streets NW— will get an official commemorative plaque, signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, Friday, Oct. 30.

The 75 steps down to M Street from Prospect Street figured in the climatic scene of the 1973 film “The Exorcist,” when the priest sacrificed himself for the girl possessed by the devil, leaping from a window in a Prospect Street home and tumbling down the steps to his death.

“The Exorcist,” written by William Peter Blatty, a Georgetown University alumnus, and directed by William Friedkin, is considered by many to be the greatest horror movie of all time. The filming in Georgetown occurred during October 1972.

Andrew Huff coordinated the event in collaboration with the D.C. Office of Motion Picture and Television Development, the Executive Office of the Mayor, the Dupont Festival and Councilmember Jack Evans, at whose office he worked.

On Oct. 30, the film’s director Bill Friedkin will be at the top of the steps at 36th and Prospect Streets at 4 p.m. for a talk as well as a meet and greet. Writer Bill Blatty will be at the top of the steps at 5 p.m. With the mayor expected to attend, the plaque dedication ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. at the bottom of the steps on M Street.

After the plaque dedication ceremony, the Georgetown Business Association will hold its monthly networking reception — themed for Halloween and “The Exorcist” and a short walk from the dedication—at Malmaison Restaurant at 3401 K St., NW, starting at 6:30 p.m; all are welcome.

A 7:30 p.m. screening of “The Exorcist” — with Friedkin in the audience — at Georgetown Loews AMC on K Street is reportedly sold out.
[gallery ids="102335,125757" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler •

Crime and policing issues wear different faces in different places in the District of Columbia, as Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier well knows.  

At an Oct. 27 Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association breakfast meeting, Lanier spoke to residents and business leaders and owners in the constantly changing Penn Quarter area, where policing, it turns out, was often not so much about violent crimes and robberies, but about noise, the homeless and a rising issue with homeless encampments, and the spread of the sale and use of synthetic drugs.

Both the rise of encampments and the spread of synthetic drug use and sales have become larger problems throughout the city as a whole. The presence of encampments—at construction sites, on door fronts of businesses and alleys—are at odds with the city government’s avowed long-term strategic plans to all but eradicate homelessness.

According to Lanier, the police now operate under an “encampment protocol,” which assesses what an encampment is, how , if and when to deal with it. Per police missives on reporting a homeless encampment, the “objective of the encampment protocol is not only to clean the site, but also to build relationships with our most vulnerable residents and ultimately bring them into housing.”

As the the protocol statement explains, “an encampment” is a set up of an abode or place of residence of one or more persons on public property or an accumulation of personal belongings that is present even when the individual may not be.”

Residents complained that  Penn Quarter also has a noise problem coming often from street musicians, gatherings of people who are shouting loudly, or gathering on the street, blocking passage.

“Some of this comprises first amendment issues,” Lanier said. “Some of these activities are not per se illegal. It’s complicated, especially in this area.”

Lanier expressed concern about the spread of synthetic drugs among the homeless.  “The trade has moved out of the stores, and now individuals are selling the drugs, one at a time,” she said. “The chemistry and chemical content of the drugs change so often, we don’t even know what’s in the drugs, or its effects. It’s one of the most dangerous drugs around now, precisely because of that.  And to make it worse, the people selling the drugs have taken to selling to the homeless one item at a time for a dollar or two dollars. That makes it more difficult to deal with homeless people who may be using the drugs.  It’s a real issue and problem.”

Georgetowner •

The following is a parking and traffic alert from the Georgetown Business Improvement District:

On Saturday, Oct. 31, Halloween celebrations will take place throughout Georgetown. It is expected that thousands will converge in Georgetown.

NO-PARKING RESTRICTIONS

Please note the following no-parking restrictions, which will be posted 72 hours in advance:

No parking on M Street, NW between Potomac and 31st Street from Saturday, Oct. 31, 6 a.m. until 6 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1.

No parking along the following areas from Saturday, Oct. 31, from noon until 6 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1:

= K St, NW from 30th Street to Wisconsin Avenue, NW;

= Water Street, NW from 32nd Street west to the mouth of the Capital Crescent Trail;

= 1000 to 1300 blocks of Wisconsin Avenue NW;

= M Street NW, from 25th Street to the Key Bridge;

= 1100 block of 26th Street NW.

Please also note that access to the residential streets will be limited on Saturday starting in the late afternoon through the evening (likely through 9 or 10 p.m., at Metropolitan Police Department discretion). Residents and Georgetown employees will be granted access.

RESIDENTIAL ACCESS RESTRICTIONS

LOCATIONS and COMMENTS

Wisc. Ave. & P St. NW — No Traffic N/B or S/B from P St. NW

Wisc. Ave. & K St. NW — No Traffic N/B from K St. NW

Wisc. Ave. & M St. NW — No Traffic S/B or N/B from Wisc. Ave

Key Bridge & M St. NW — No Traffic E/B on M St. NW

34th & M St. NW — No Traffic E/B on M St. NW

33rd & M St. NW — No Traffic E/B from 34th St. NW

Potomac & M St. NW — No Traffic E/B or W/B from Potomac St. NW

31st & M St. NW — No Traffic S/B or N/B from 31st St. NW

Thomas Jefferson & M St. NW– No Traffic S/B or N/B from Thomas Jefferson

30th & M St. NW — No Traffic S/B or N/B from 30th St. NW

29th & M St. NW — No Traffic S/B or N/B from 29th St. NW

28th & M St. NW — No Traffic S/B or N/B from 28th St. NW

29th & Penn Ave. NW — No Traffic W/B from Penn Ave. NW

28th & Penn Ave. NW — No Traffic W/B from Penn Ave. NW

For more traffic details in Georgetown, direct your questions to Georgetown Business Improvement District Operations Director John Wiebenson at jwiebenson@georgetowndc.com.