New Columbia Heights

Chipolte coming along nicely

2009-11-11T15:13:00.002-05:00

Looks like the Chipotle on 14th Street is finally making some progress: the inside is pretty well along. Last I heard (which was months ago) it's supposed to be open in winter, so that sounds about right. We'll see!

City eases poster restrictions

2009-11-10T15:57:00.001-05:00

Posters
Originally uploaded by squidpants

Just saw this on DCist: the city has eased regulations regarding posters for events -- now they can be up any amount of time before the event, but must be taken down after 30 days. Before I've complained about the ANSWER posters that are up forever after the event. The group was fined a number of times for not removing posters.

The rule change stinks. If I've learned anything about poster putter-uppers, it's that they don't mind covering the neighborhood with posters and then not removing them.

Diapers on the street -- Not cool.

2009-11-10T10:08:00.002-05:00

Not cool.
Originally uploaded by squidpants

I saw this the other day on 13th Street around Columbia: it's a bunch of dirty diapers. This is not cool.

There's a bag with them, but they couldn't wait to put them in a trash can? Come on.

Academy Award-nominee Richard Jenkins at Eatonville

2009-11-10T08:14:00.000-05:00

Just got a tip from a reader that they saw actor Richard Jenkins, who's been in lots of things, including Six Feet Under, The Visitor, Step Brothers, Outside Providence, etc, eating dinner at Eatonville at 14th and W on Sunday. (That's him in the middle). Like I said, famous people are everywhere!

Here's Eatonville's website and Twitter.

New Wale video filmed in Columbia Heights

2009-11-09T15:20:00.004-05:00

Looks like Wale, the DC hip hop artist, likes using Columbia Heights as a backdrop for his video. A previous one, "Chillin'", featuring a green-screened Lady Gaga, was filmed partially at Cardozo High School and elsewhere in the neighborhood, and his newest is also in the area. "Pat Your Weave," which is technically video by go-go group UCB featuring Wale, but appears on some of Wale's mixtapes, features the Destiny De'Ve salon on 14th Street prominently. Check it out:

Here's Wale's Wikipedia page and Myspace page. His debut album comes out tomorrow and he has some pretty excellent mixtapes for free download on the Myspace page. "Pat Your Weave" is on one of the mixtapes.

Destiny De'Ve is at 3343 14th St NW, just north of Park Road.

Shooting last night at 11th and Clifton -- see anything?

2009-11-09T12:16:00.000-05:00

ANC commish and South Columbia Heights Neighborhood Association prez Sedrick Muhammad posted this on the South CH list yesterday:

Confirmed Shooting Last Night

Dear Neighbors,

At approximately 10:50pm last night at 11th & Clifton Streets NW, an adult male was shot and transported to the hospital in serious condition. Let's help MPD close this case.

Please call Lt. Pearce with any information (202) 498-9833.

"I am art" stickers around the neighborhood

2009-11-09T11:14:00.002-05:00

Stickers
Originally uploaded by squidpants

Lately I've noticed a lot of these stickers around the neighborhood -- it's a guy in goggles with the caption "I AM ART". They're kind of neat, though I'm not art expert so I'm not sure who is depicted -- or if it's a famous person at all.

Anybody able to enlighten me?

Historic walking tour this Sunday

2009-11-06T14:56:00.003-05:00

This sounds pretty cool: the DC Preservation League is having a walking tour of Holmead Village, the area bounded by 13th, 14th, Spring and Park Road. Holmead Village, built from 1907-1911, is "the largest tract of houses to be built in Washington until that time and the development that instituted front-porch row-houses as the predominant free-standing house type in Washington for the next three decades."

The area even has a listserve!

Anyway, the event is Sunday at noon, starting from the Tivoli. It's free to Citywide Conference attendees, $15 for DCPL Members and $20 for Non-Members.

There's only 25 spots. "To make a reservation or for more information contact Amanda at DCPL by phone at 202.783.5144 or by email at rsvp@dcpreservation.org." Here's the whole ad (PDF).

Movies filmed in Columbia Heights?

2009-11-06T10:48:00.005-05:00

The other day I was wondering about movies filmed in DC, and if any have been filmed in Columbia Heights. Off the top of my head, I thought of D.C. Cab and Syriana.

DC Cab is a pretty crummy (but amusingly crummy) Joel Schumacher movie about a cab company staffed by Mr. T, Gary Busey, Bill Maher, Adam Baldwin, and some wrestlers called the Barbarian Brothers. They have a food fight against another cab company inside Florida Avenue Grill, which is kind of funny. The other one is a little more subtle -- in Syriana, Jeffrey Wright's character is jogging up the hill on 13th Street next to Cardozo High School when a car stops to talk to him.

Doing a little research, I found a couple of neat things from the Post, which actually list addresses and such. It looks like 1412 Harvard Street NW is mentioned in The Day the Earth Stood Still, and parts of Dave are filmed in Mt. Pleasant. There's also a list of movies filmed in DC from Kitty Tours, but it's nor organized by area.

Know of any other movies filmed in Columbia Heights? Let me know in the comments.

And here's the intro of D.C. Cab. Enjoy?

The City Paper on affordable condos in the neighborhood

2009-11-05T14:13:00.000-05:00

Saw an interesting post on the City Paper's Housing Complex blog about affordable condos in the Kenyon Square building in Columbia Heights and elsewhere. New condo buildings have some afforable units that are geared towards people making below the median income in the area. However, if those people sell their condos, they only get a fraction of the money back, and they can only sell to other low income people. After 11 years, for example, they get about half back, with the rest going to a city affordable housing fund.

I see the point of these rules, which is to discourage flipping and such, but as the post points out, sometimes people just need to move -- they have a family now or whatever reason. Local nonprofits are looking to change the rules. Interesting stuff.

ANC1B meeting today (Thursday)

2009-11-05T12:25:00.001-05:00

ANC1b, the neighborhood commission that covers southern Columbia Heights, U Street, and part of Shaw, meets tonight at 7pm on the second floor of the Reeves Center (14th and U). Here's the agenda and a map of the ANC if you aren't sure whether you're in it or not.

Ellwood Thompson's tax relief bill passes

2009-11-05T10:49:00.004-05:00

Lots of news about Ellwood Thompson's recently! Yesterday we heard from Ellwood Thompson's owner Rick Hood that the organic grocery store was looking for funding for construction from the city, and today we learn that the bill Jim Graham introduced giving them a tax break was passed by the city council on Tuesday. Should be interesting!

For those unfamiliar, the grocery store stocks mostly organic and locally grown products, and would be moving into the Irving Street side of DCUSA. Their plans have been on hold since April, saying it was due to the economy, and they've said they're looking for more funding.

Free bike lights Thursday at the Civic Plaza

2009-11-05T08:15:00.001-05:00

This is pretty cool -- the Washington Area Bicyclists Association is giving out free bike lights tomorrow at the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. They're also doing it at the plaza at 18th and Columbia in Adams Morgan. Go get one and be safe!

New mural planned for 14th and Girard Street Park

2009-11-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

Nice to see more art coming into the neighborhood -- a mural is planned for the wall of the basketball court in the newly renovated 14th and Girard Street Park (aka the one that may be renamed Barack Hussein Obama Park). It was proposed by local nonprofit Words, Beats and Life and sponsored by the DC Commission on Arts & Humanities.

It's supposed to be finished this month.

(I cut it in half so you can see the whole thing.)

Ellwood Thompson's asking Fenty for funding?

2009-11-04T11:56:00.004-05:00

I just got this comment on my blog, supposedly from Rick Hood, owner of Ellwood Thompson's, the organic supermarket that planned a store in DCUSA but then put it on hold. Here's the comment:

Ellwood Thompson’s will be appealing to Mayor Fenty for funds to begin construction at DCUSA. I’m told that the Mayor will be at Tubman Elem School tonight (Wed) for a forum to include discussion of “commercial development” starting at 7pm at the meeting of the North Columbia Heights Civic Association. He also can be contacted through dcgov.org under “contact the Mayor”. We need your support !

Rick Hood, Owner

Rick Hood is the name of owner (I Googled it) but I haven't heard this from anywhere else, so I'm asking the company spokespeople to confirm. As noted previously, Jim Graham proposed a bill giving Ellwood Thompson's a tax break.

Now I'm strongly in favor of the store coming to the neighborhood and I'm fine with tax breaks, but I'm less sure about asking the city for construction funds. Then again, that's kind of what happened with DCUSA.

Jim Graham to face some opposition this election

2009-11-04T11:00:00.004-05:00

Looks like our longtime councilman might have a challenge this year -- Adams Morgan ANC commissioner Bryan Weaver is looking into running against Jim Graham, who has faced some scandals lately regarding his chief of staff Ted Loza, who allegedly took some bribes and did other creepy stuff (like forcing his mistress to get an abortion, allegedly).

Scandals aside, however, Graham is very active in the community and has a lot of support, so it'll be interesting to see. What do you think? No more Graham, or keep the bowtie around?

Astronaut in the neighborhood!

2009-11-03T17:15:00.000-05:00

Just saw this on Twitter, there was an astronaut at the Columbia Heights Education Campus today speaking to kids: Jose Hernandez, who was on the most recent Space Shuttle trip to the International Space Station. Pretty cool, hope the kids enjoyed it.

Bikers in Columbia Heights -- friend or foe?

2009-11-03T14:59:00.004-05:00

Just saw a looooong thread on the Columbia Heights listserve about bikes -- a pedestrian was nearly hit by a fast-moving bicyclist in a sidewalk who yelled "get out of my way." Then the discussion goes from there: should bicyclists obey traffic laws? Are laws biased against bikes in favor of cars? Did the biker know what he was doing?

Most people seem to think everybody should just be courteous, but even so there's going to be some reckless driver, biker, or walker who could cause problems for somebody. I was almost hit by a fast moving bicyclist in a crosswalk the other day, but I wasn't really looking, so that's partially my fault. But again, I was in a sidewalk when I was allowed to walk. It's a sticky situation.

Your thoughts? 14th and 11th Streets do have bike lanes, but even then, they'll have to cross sidewalks and other streets at some point.

Photo by St Stev. Not in Columbia Heights, unfortunately.

Community meeting with Mayor Fenty tonight Wednesday at Tubman School

2009-11-03T11:47:00.001-05:00

His Baldness is coming to Tubman Elementary School ~~tonight~~ Wednesday for a "community forum," starting at 7 pm at the meeting of the North Columbia Heights Civic Association.

Their website says "This will be an open forum focusing on Columbia Heights-specific issues including crime, green / public spaces, commercial and infrastructure development, and schools."

Sounds good! Someone should ask about Ellwood Thompson's, though he might not know anything about it.

Photo by TerranceDC

Lose an iPod?

2009-11-03T10:35:00.004-05:00

A good samaritan found an iPod in a green case on 13th between Otis and Spring on Saturday night and posted about it on the Columbia Heights listserve. If you think it's yours, email with a description of the picture on the back of the case to newcolumbiaheights(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll pass it on to the person who found it. That would stink, losing an iPod.

Tynan Coffee & Tea has breakfast sandwiches

2009-11-02T16:03:00.005-05:00

This weekend I went into Tynan Coffee & Tea looking for some breakfast, as I saw on their site that they had waffles, breakfast sandwiches and breakfast wraps. However, like the first time I went in, I didn't see any breakfast on the boards over the registers, just coffee drinks. There's also the case in front of the register but that only had drinks, salads and pre-made lunch sandwiches.

I picked up a turkey and havarti sandwich. They heated it up and it was very tasty, and then when waiting for my coffee, I noticed the board with all the food on it. It's to the left of all the registers and the rest of the menu, and it did in fact have breakfast sandwiches and wraps, plus waffles. I've heard the breakfast sandwiches are pretty good.

So if you were like me and missed the breakfast food, just look to the left.

Tynan is at 1400 Irving St NW, next to Five Guys

Cate Blanchett shops at Target

2009-11-02T11:49:00.002-05:00

So I posted about Cate Blanchett being spotted at the Columbia Heights Metro, and I wondered why she was in the area. I followed up with the spotter on Twitter and it turns out she saw Ms. Blanchett shopping at Target. Another commenter saw her looking at ottomans in the furniture section.

Pretty funny and cool -- I would have thought that a famous movie actress would have an assistant or something to do stuff like that. I guess that just means that Columbia Heights is the coolest and attracts all the movie stars. Take that, Georgetown and fancy stores on lower 14th Street!

Construction moving to at 14th and Irving

2009-11-02T10:48:00.001-05:00

Work at 14th and Irving
Originally uploaded by squidpants

Looks like the construction on sidewalks has moved down from 14th and Kenyon to 14th and Irving -- saw these guys out there this weekend. They're making the sidewalks wider and it looks like they're also adding benches -- though I'm not sure why anybody would chill outside the CVS unless they were waiting for somebody.

Cate Blanchett spotted at the Columbia Heights Metro

2009-10-31T18:11:00.004-04:00

Whoa! A Twitter user spotted Oscar winner Cate Blanchett at the CH Metro at about 2 pm. Blanchett's in town performing in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Kennedy Center. Pretty wild.

Looks like Columbia Heights is becoming the new cool spot for famous people to go, or something -- for example, Kal Penn the other day plus other famous folks who've been spotted in the neighborhood.

I wonder if she was going to CommonWealth? To be honest I'm surprised when I see famous folks in the hood -- are they getting tacos? Going to CommonWealth? Target? But it's still very cool that they come up.

Halloween party at Social

2009-10-31T10:16:00.002-04:00

Just got a press release about a Halloween party tonight (the 31st) at Social, the new restaurant at 14th and Meridian. They're making Halloween-themed Jagermeister drinks, like the "Death Bomb" in the downstairs bar, and there's a costume contest at midnight for gift certificates. Another thing to do tonight!