“Dear PoP

This past Saturday afternoon in the 700 block of Gresham Pl. there was an insane amount of police activity. Police cars came speeding down the street as if they were making some sort of huge arrest/bust… there had to be have been about 15 cars all blocking each other in, even a van on the small one-way street. They went into one house and and 5 minutes later went in another a few doors down. After about 15 minutes they began to disperse. I asked an officer who was walking back to his car what was going on and he responded that they had been receiving prank calls that an officer had been shot. When hearing that explained it kind of made me wonder is it really that easy to divert police attention? I would also think that they could do a better job at being able to substantiate a claim of an officer being shot.”

Wow, that’s insane. But I think you have to err on the side of caution in that situation. If there are reports of an officer shot and they can’t confirm they’re pranks then I imagine MPD definitely has to respond in full force. Terrible story though. The fact that people would prank like that and divert necessary resources to crap like this is beyond frustrating. I hope the caught the prank caller.

Here’s a couple more great shots from Bogotron.

Submit your photos via email or to the PoPville flickr pool here.

This condo is located at 936 N Street, NW:

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The flier says:

“STUNNING 2 BEDROOM, 2 BATH, 1140 sq. ft. 2 LEVEL UNIT. HARDWOOD FLOORS WITH RECESSED LIGHTING. OPEN KITCHEN W/ STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES, GRANITE COUNTERTOPS, BREAKFAST BAR & TOP OF THE LINE CABINETS. BATHS ARE COMPLETE WITH MARBLE COUNTERS AND WALK- IN CLOSETS. CLOSE TO METRO, CONVENTION CENTER SHOPS.”

You can find more info and photos here.

Well, the description sounds really nice but I’m a little disappointing with the photos. I’m really surprised there are no photos of the bedrooms. I think yesterday someone said that they were tired of seeing 2 bedrooms under 900 square feet. Given that this one is 1140 square feet do you think $479,900 sounds reasonable?

Eatonville is located at 2121 14th St NW between V and W Streets. I hadn’t stopped in since they opened and holy cow does the place look awesome! The upstairs and downstairs are equally fantastic. I was at an event so only had some appetizers. But for folks who have gone to eat a proper meal – thumbs up or down? Anything on the menu you highly recommend? You can see their menus here.

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. In September, he launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. Every day, People’s District presents a different Washingtonian sharing his or her insights on everything from Go Go music to homelessness to fashion to politics. You can read his previous columns here.

“I was born in France and came to the United States in 1960. I came because I had a sister in North Carolina who suffered a tragic accident. I ended up in Washington because I had a friend here. Thirty years ago, my husband and I bought the Catania Bakery. Neither my husband nor I were bakers, but Grace Caruso, the former owner, taught me everything I know. For the last thirty years, we kept the place just as they did. We still make Italian breads using Grace’s recipes and deliver them to restaurants around the District, Maryland and Virginia.

“Back in 1932 when the Catania Bakery opened, there were Italian stores all along North Capitol Street. This was an Italian neighborhood. The Carusos used a wood burning over and delivered traditional Italian breads door-to-door. Most of the community here was from Southern Italy so it was the bread they knew from home. The Caruso family came from Nicolosi, which was at the base of Mt. Etna. Catania, the name of this bakery, is the name of the province in Sicily where Nicolosi is. You know the Italians, they can’t live without their bread so this place was a staple of the neighborhood. Now, most of the Italians are no longer here, they either died or went down south, but a few of them are still around. This bakery is the last remnant of Italian life on North Capitol Street. The Italians living around here and coming by are mostly older people. The newer Italian generation is more Americanized, but they will still come in on holidays to get some of our bread because they grew up eating at this bakery. We also do events with the Knights of Columbus, the Holy Rosary, Catholic Churches, and we used to do the bread for the big Italian convention in DC.

“The neighborhood started changing after World War II and becoming less Italian. Due to a number of reasons, the neighborhood really got bad. When we first bought the place in the late 1970′s, I never came at night because the neighborhood was so dangerous. It got better, but it is still a very dangerous place. We have children, but they are not involved with the bakery. Because of this area, my husband was not keen on having our children or grandchildren come here. We’ve had a number of robberies, some of them were big time robberies. My granddaughter used to come down and spend Saturday’s here with me ever since she was three-years-old. But, she was here during a robbery and her parents wouldn’t let her come down anymore. Now, I am here by myself. Danger is still here. But, we have been here for a long time and will stay. We are resilient. The neighborhood is getting better, but that doesn’t mean the bad elements are gone. At night, you wouldn’t want to walk around by yourself, but, the neighborhood is slowly changing with new families. Because of that, on Saturday’s, I started making and selling croissants out of the bakery. That is my French addition to this old place. Otherwise, it is and will remain Italian. You know, after all of this time here, I feel more Italian than French!”

Catania Bakery is located at 1404 North Capitol Street NW.

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Just saw this from MPD:

“On November 13, 2009, at approximately 2200 hours, an accident occurred at 13th & Girard Streets, NW. The driver in this case struck a total of 6 cars, including four parked cars and two that were occupied. The driver of the striking vehicle suffered a broken leg and one other person was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. It was discovered that the striking vehicle was stolen and the driver of that vehicle, a 15-year old male, was apprehended and placed under arrest for a number of felony and traffic charges.

The officers handling the scene were Third District Officers Jonathan Amigo, Thomas Dunn, Jesus Perez, Jared Rothman, William Hamm, and MPO Darryl Arrington.”

These incidents sadly seem to be relatively common on 13th Street.

On a related note when I did a quick search of 13th and Girard I found this great historical photo from Flickr User rockcreek:

He writes:

“A slightly blurry shot of the Army and Navy Academy – a prep school – at 13th and Girard (then Princeton) Streets, NW. From A Statement of Some of Advantages of Beautiful Columbia Heights (1904).”

CM Bowser second from left
It was pointed out that it had been a while since I interviewed anyone from the Council. Last PoP Profile was At large Member Phil Mendelson back in Feb. Over the past month I have been in the works of setting up this interview and our schedules finally aligned late last week. I decided to focus my conversation with Council Member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) on crime and economic development. The most important issue to many of us is crime so we will start there.

I first asked Bowser if she was supportive of Chief Lanier’s all hands on deck initiative, especially given the current lawsuit with MPD’s union. Bowser replied that she believes of course the labor issue needs to be resolved. Assuming that it will be Bowser replied, “I like all hands on deck because it provides great visibility in the community on a regular basis”. She gave an example of its usefulness the last time we had one a couple of weeks ago. She pointed out that resources were used to hand out fliers in the case of the La Casa Demorata Liquor store murder on Georgia Ave. in which an arrest was made last week. Furthermore the initiative allows officers to be highly visible in the community and “the more the police are in front of people in the neighborhood the better”.

I asked the Council Member if she supported the new transit stop safety zone legislation recently introduced in the Council. She mentioned that the Petworth metro was around the 28th most targeted metro and Takoma was around 21st. As such she supports the legislation but is looking forward to the hearings to determine whether or not stricter sentencing will prove to be an effective deterrent.

One of the popular catch phrases that we’ve heard from MPD is Community Policing. So I wanted to ask the CM what her definition of community policing was and whether or not she thought it was effective. She said most people think community policing is seeing officers walking the beat and then they get frustrated when they see MPD cars driving around. She explained that community policing is a bit more nuanced than simply foot patrols. She explained that in each Police Service Area (PSA) the Lieutenants are being empowered to respond directly to neighborhood concerns at community meetings. Therefore it is very helpful for the residents to let the police know about trouble spots in their community. I asked what else residents could do to be helpful and she mentioned that a pilot Neighborhood Watch Program (NWP) is starting up in Petworth. The NWP has proven very successful in the 2nd District. Currently in Petworth, Block Captains are being trained and will reach out to their entire block. The Block Captain will then liaise with MPD in order to make sure the residents concerns are addressed. The program actually covers a bit more than crime and also includes quality of life issues. IE if an alley needs repair, street lamps are out, or there are trash problems other DC agencies (like DDOT, DCRA etc) will be alerted on a monthly basis. After Petworth this program will spread to other neighborhoods in Ward 4.

The Council Member also mentioned that tools for an effective MPD need to be increased. I asked for an example and she explained that MPD will be getting its own Forensic lab (in South West) in the 2011/2012 time frame. Other tools that have been provided or are going to be provided include laptop computers in MPD cars as well as mobile finger printing stations for quicker identifications.

I asked the Council Member if she thought community meetings after high profile incidents were useful as I’ve often heard that folks find them rather frustrating. She explained that it is a difficult situation but that the meetings are important because it is necessary to convey accurate information to the community and identify next steps.

To conclude this section of the interview Bowser noted that closure rates in Ward 4 aren’t as high as in some other Wards but they are improving. “The number one goal of the police needs to be arresting the bad guys. This will be accomplished through good detective work and cooperation with the community”.

Tomorrow we’ll talk Economic Development in Ward 4.

Consider the following purely scuttlebutt, not sure if others have heard the same, but I thought it was worth sharing. I was at an event where I heard that Results, located at 1612 U St NW, will be moving in 2011. The person who knew the details said that Results would be replaced by a very high-end gym possibly owned by a Salon. I’m just curious if anyone else has heard this rumor?

For a while this Results was going to move into the new View 14 building at 14th and Florida but that is no longer in the works.

I missed this last year but since Logan Circle has some of my favorite houses, I think I gotta get to this one. So in case you do as well, I thought I’d post a bit in advance. The tour is Sunday, December 6, 2009 from 1-5pm. You can buy tickets in advance for $20 on their Web site here. And here’s a list of the properties on the tour:

1814 11th Street, NW
1405 12th Street, NW (former Louise Hand Laundry)
1320 13th Street, NW (The Icon)
1818 13th Street, NW
1333 14th Street, NW (Fathom Creative studios and residence)
1530 14th Street, NW (Gallery Plan B, Rippeteau Architects, and residences)
1515 15th Street, NW (The Metropole)
1310 Q Street, NW (Shipman House)
1331 Vermont Avenue, NW
1800 Vermont Avenue, NW

Anyone go last year?

While these shots aren’t from too far away (Philly) they are among my favorites.

I’m really digging these new lamp posts. I know it’s a small thing but I think they look terrific. This one is from 11th and N Streets, NW.

I’m not sure it is as good as this one but I was pretty impressed. I have zero artistic talent so when I see folks who do, it amazes me.

I thought these were a bit unusual because they’re about twice the size of other transoms I’ve seen. I do think they look great though. (It’s from 13th Street south of Florida).

I love these two from Lamont Street, NW between 11th and 13th. Not sure if you can tell from the photo but the brickwork is really beautiful.

El Tamarindo is located at 1785 Florida Ave, NW. I know winter is coming up but I think if this section of Florida Ave. get some outdoor seating it will really improve the overall feel of the block. They are only applying for a spot to seat 14 people. Looking forward to it!