there was a post on the Triangle blog about a 100-year old tree slated to be removed at 4th and Eye. The Paramount Development group behind the 425 Eye Street project is the entity aiming to cut the tree down. The developer has been renovating the office building for the last year and is now upgrading the sidewalks on Eye Street: http://www.mvtriangleblog.com/?p=1814
When I contacted Commissioner Keith Silver for more information, he said that he'd been coordinating with Casey Trees and that he's arranged the following event. Commissioner Silver urges all concern citizens in favor of “Saving this Historic Tree” or those in favor of “Cutting it Down” located at 425 Eye Street NW to contact him at silverk1@ymail.com within the next Ten (10) Days to determine what should be done.
Dear Friend and Supporter of "Save the Historic Tree at 4th and Eye Sts. N.W"
Kittens need a Home
If anyone would like to give a home to two kittens please let me know. They are 6-7 weeks old and adorable. They were found under a car on Ridge St. If anyone knows of a rescue service that will take them and find a home I could use that information also.
near-complete elimination of the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line."
I just took action on an issue that I consider very important -- adding streetcars to DC's transit network, starting with ensuring that the H Street-Benning Road line begins operating in spring 2012, as planned. I urge you to take action yourself and spread the word!
TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY on this issue.
If the text above does not appear as a link or it wraps across multiple lines, then copy and paste it into the address area of your browser.
Just got this from a neighbor SAS on the 1200 block of 4th St NW:
On a sadly typical note, WASA came through earlier this week and marked up the beautiful new side walk that (I am guessing) DDOT just laid. The side walk took two weeks to complete and is about three weeks old, and WASA will be digging the whole thing up to replace the water main below. I wish I were joking, but this is actually happening. Just some points that immediately jump to mind:
- this is a colossal waste of time
- this is a colossal waste of money
- this is a colossal waste of materials
- this is an inconvenience to residents by unnecessarily tying up our street with construction
- this is an inconvenience to residents by causing prolonged noise, especially in the early morning hours
- the mismanagement of the timing and execution of these projects is so severe it shakes the basic foundations of faith in government and competence in our fellow man
- COMMON SENSE....we expect more from second graders
That said, life will go on and we will all be fine. But I thought you could at least bring this up in the next neighborhood meeting and let the appropriate people know that fourth street is collectively cursing and mocking them.
Gang Tagging
Gang Tagging
Does anybody know if the city will remove gang tagging? I live on Ridge Street and the,”5th n O” critters are at it again. We have new markings on the side of 413 A Ridge St, 1212 4th St and 1230 4th St. I thought the best way to stop future tagging is to remove the present tagging ASAP. I may not have this correct but my neighbor tells me he called the city 311 line and was told it is the responsibility of the homeowner to have it removed.
Dear Councilmembers Evans and Wells,
WASHINGTON, DC--Liberty Farmers Market, which opened Tuesdays last fall on the grounds of the Historical Society of Washington, DC (HSW) at Mount Vernon Square near the corner of 7th & K Sts. NW, has "been suspended indefinitely" after being raided and closed down by D. C. Government when it reopened for the season Tuesday, March 9. The suspension was announced today by Michael Berman, president of Diverse Markets Management (DMM), a D.C. firm contracted by HSW to manage the market. "We're disappointed that the effort to create quality markets at the location has been at least temporarily derailed," said Berman, who noted that the site had housed a market in the 19th Century before the building of the Carnegie Library, which now houses HSW. He said the raid involved both federal park and local police and the D.C. Department of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs, which cited permitting issues for the closure. "DMM tried to work through the issues this week but ran into a complicated maze of jurisdictional overlap," Berman said. "Unfortunately the mess will probably also derail plans to open other open air markets both at HSW and in other city neighborhoods," Berman lamented. "But we know neighborhoods want to start outdoor markets and vendors want additional locations, so we'll continue to try to work with the City."
http://ccca-online.org/ShawDevelopmentUpdate [ click link for video ]
At the Wednesday, March 3, ANC2C public meeting, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans gave an update about the District of Columbia's finances and the effect of the current economy on development in Shaw. He discussed most of the large local developments in the area:
- CityCenter (financing not available)
- Convention Center Hotel (in litigation, when solved, we'll be in the ground the next day)
- CityMarket at O (positive steps being made)
- Kesley Gardens/Addison Square (stuck, cannot find equity partners)
- Parcel 42 (stuck, proposed project no longer doable financially)
- RadioOne (RadioOne bailed out, United Negro College Fund may do the project)
I just recieved my new property tax bill. My assessed value went down and the property tax has more than doubled ! My first half payment for 2010 is more than I paid all of last year. What's up with that. I know some people on my street that pay no property tax. This is not fair...
DCMud has reported that The Arts at 5th and Eye is officially (at least temporarily) dead:
- "The District and the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) are, at least for now, giving up on the Arts at 5th and Eye, the Donohoe Companies and Holland Development project, and installing a parking lot on the undeveloped District-owned site. Though the project team won the right to develop the promised high-end hotel, retail outlets and jazz club in September of 2008, no final agreement has been reached on the land exchange with the District Government since that time."
So I guess the community is left with a pretty website and, soon, another surface parking lot.
There was a great deal of competition for this site with some fine proposals. Even in the wake of the credit and real estate collapse, the bidders pledged that they had the financing to move forward. Many neighborhood residents attended the public meeting on the site and provide their input. I attended the outdoor press conference at which Mayor Fenty and Councilmember Kwame Brown announced the winning bid.
The community did a lot of work to clean up the 900 Block of 5th Street NW -- shutting down Fun Fair Video, working with detectives to substantially reduce drug dealing and prostitution -- it enabled the 5th and Eye Project.
Hell no. That would have been the answer had the DC government asked the community whether it would support using the now grassy, secured lot as a surface parking lot - even on a temporary basis.
Either move the project forward, revisit the previous proposals, or reopen the RFP.
