Alabama Tornado Assistance @ Busboys on Sunday
The following is a message from a Mount Vernon Triangle resident who is volunteering her time to gather donations for victims of the recent tornado that flattened Tuscaloosa Alabama. She will be outside the 5th & K Busboys and Poets from 11am to 5pm on Sunday May 1st.
My name is Penelope and I’m a current MVT resident, but I’m originally from Tuscaloosa, AL. If you’ve seen the news lately, you know that Tuscaloosa was catastrophically damaged by an EF5 tornado on Wednesday night. Over 200 people have died in Alabama alone, and thousands more are injured or homeless.
Thankfully my friends and family are physically ok, but so many people in the town have lost everything.
I’m unable to go there and help out in person because of job commitments here in DC, so instead I’m trying to raise as much money as possible to send back to help the victims; who are my friends, teachers, and neighbors.My friends and I set up a table outside of Busboys and Poets this afternoon and handed out ribbons for donations. People in the community were extremely generous and I’m very grateful to everyone that stopped by with kind words.
Because it was so successful, we are planning to do the same thing tomorrow. We will be out there from 11am to 5pm, assuming the weather cooperates. I was hoping you could put up a post on the MVT blog to let people know that we will be out there in case they would like to donate to the tornado victims. I can assure you that every dollar will be immediately spent on supplies that will be taken to the shelters and volunteers in my home town and across the state.
If people are unable to come by tomorrow, they can donate online to either of the following organizations:
United Way of Central Alabama
Birmingham Area Chapter of American Red Cross
Latest I-395 Air Rights rendering
Below is one of the latest renderings of the Mass Ave elevation of the future I-395 Air Rights development from the Louis Dreyfus group.
Mass Ave elevation of Future I-395 Air Rights development
Visit our November 2010 posting for more details on the project.
Hat Tip: Tom T
Trans Fashion Show Fundraiser
The staff of the Mount Vernon Triangle CID asked me to post this notice:
The Back Street Girls to Sophisticated Ladies
Many of the men and women, and those in between, who used to be on the stroll at 5th and K Street are now in housing and receiving treatment. As a tribute to their transformation, Leslie Perkins is holding a Trans Fashion Show on Sunday, May 1st from 4:00-8:00 p.m. at St. Martin’s Catholic Church – “The Back Street Girls to Sophisticated Ladies.” The event is a fundraiser, and tickets are $20 at the door. Come support the progress this community has made and watch them transform on the runway. To learn more, call Leslie Perkins at (202) 705-8969 or visit T.H.E. at 1414 North Capitol Street, NW.
WaPo highlights Mandu K Street late night eats
The Washington Post recently highlighted the K Street location of Mandu among their top late night eats.
Photo by Evy Mages for The Washington Post
Excerpt:
After dinner service is over, the kitchen at Mandu’s Fifth and K location begins a second shift of sorts, cranking out Korean-meets-Mexican bar snacks. Night owls sup on piquant quesadillas oozing with cheese and buttery caramelized kimchi, and tacos stuffed with pillows of egg-battered tofu or bulgogi and peppery cucumber slaw. Mandu doesn’t bother with a menu of late-night curiosities; adventurous eaters sidle up to the bar and ask what’s on. It allows the cooks free reign to rifle through the fridge and whip something up, explains co-owner Danny Lee. The bar snacks run $5-$7.
The article also mentions The Passenger and Taylor Gourmet’s H Street NE location.
Usage Stats for nearby Capital Bikeshare Stations
Lydia DePillis of the Washington City Paper posted a link to Capital Bikeshare usage data forthcoming from DDOT. The statistics measure trips originated and terminated for 107 stations through April 9th.
4th & Mass Bikeshare by Sciascia on Flickr
I’ve sort ordered the data and extracted rankings for the Mount Vernon Triangle and nearby Chinatown/Convention Center stations.
Capital Bikeshare usage through 4/9
I think it was expected that the stations near the metro stations and the City Vista retail would do very well. I think 4th & Mass has demonstrated a strong showing as well as it ranks above high profile stations at Eastern Market, H Street NE, the State Department and Barracks Row.
Our ANC Commissioner Arrested in Protest
Mayor Vince Gray, Councilmember Tommy Wells and others made national news when they were arrested by Capitol Police during the DC Autonomy protest on April 11th.
Photo by Matthew Golden, via DCist
Our ANC 6C01 commissioner Keith Silver organized his own mini-protest at the Capitol this past Monday to earn an arrest for himself.
Update on HGTV featured Madrigal Lofts unit
Back in December HGTV aired an episode of Real Estate Intervention featuring a ground floor 1BR unit at the Madrigal Lofts. Immediately upon watching the episode I was a bit incredulous at the pricing advice the HGTV expert, Mike Aubrey, provided the owner. Aubrey suggested that the price needed to be dropped to $339,500 to match the listing price of a 1BR unit at 777 7th Street NW in Chinatown. However this “expert” advice was based on a sloppy comparable as the Chinatown unit didn’t have a parking spot like the Madrigal condo did.
At the end of the episode the seller decided to take the property off the market rather than follow Aubrey’s advice. While I’m not certain exactly what point in time the show was taped my guess in July/August 2010. The owner put the property back on the market this year for $379,900 and went to closing in March for $378,000 with a $5,000 seller subsidy. That’s a net of nearly $35K more than the HGTV suggested listing price.
On a related note, the unit at 777 7th Street that HGTV leveraged as a comp did not sell before being pulled off the market.
Streetscape Pics
One of our brand new treeboxes from the recent Fourth Street streetscape project has been trampled. Perhaps there was an auto accident(?) or perhaps a large truck from the Steuart/Paradigm construction project a half block away did a very sloppy k-turn. A tree and a parking sign were also run over in the process.
Damaged treeboxes on 1000 block of 4th Street NW
April MVSNA Meeting
This month’s MVSNA membership meeting will be held on Tuesday April 19th at 7:30pm in the community room of the Yale Loft condominiums (437 New York Ave NW). A second round of discussion with Douglas Development and Kettler regarding a proposed apartment project at 450 K Street NW will be a major topic of interest.
For the latest MVSNA newsletter visit this box.net link.
Congress Cuts Woolly’s Funding
The following message went out on Friday to subscribers to Woolly Mammoth Theater’s email news list. Woolly Mammoth Theater is located at 641 D Street NW is Penn Quarter.
Dear Friends,
We need your help. Yesterday, Congress cut $38 billion out of the U.S. government’s current-year budget. Among the many programs they slashed was the National Capital Arts Program.
A quarter of a century ago, Congress established this small Interior Department program to support DC’s major performing arts companies and museums. It was developed in recognition of the vital role these institutions play in creating a vibrant national capital city that millions of Americans visit each year. Unlike every other state in the union, DC does not have a state arts council that provides operating support for its cultural institutions.
This program provided $318,000 in funding to Woolly Mammoth last season – a significant amount, representing 8% of our $4 million annual operating budget.
Congress cut the National Capital Arts Program by 70% this week, meaning Woolly will lose almost $200,000 in funding this year. While this represents a fraction of the U.S. budget, it opens a sizable gap in our budget that would be tough to close any year; but to receive this news with just four months left in the fiscal year (ending July 31st) presents an extraordinary challenge.
The response plan we have developed includes:
1) Expense Reductions ($50,000) – Department heads are scouring their budgets for every penny of savings to be captured in the remaining quarter of the year. We have already cut travel and registration for conferences and staff training; we’re putting off repairs and capital purchases; and we’re delaying new hires. Finally, we are exploring the idea of a weeklong staff furlough.
2) Earned Revenue Enhancements ($75,000) – The popularity of Mike Daisey’s current show, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, has prompted serious exploration of a reprise in July – we’ll know more on this soon. Meanwhile, we are freeing up as much time in our building as possible to accommodate rentals for weddings, receptions, and other events.
3) Contributed Revenue Enhancements ($75,000) – We must increase individual giving from $450,000 to $525,000 this year. Any amount you can give will make a real difference and ensure that Woolly weathers this latest political storm and continues to ‘defy convention.’
Woolly’s artists, staff, and Board will work their hardest to maximize savings and revenues; but we need your support to achieve this revised goal for contributed revenue. If we can succeed with all three parts of our plan, it will see us through in the short-term while we plan and prepare for reduced funding from the National Capital Arts Program over the long-term.
If you’ve been supportive of Woolly’s work in the past (or even this season), thank you for your support and for considering an additional gift at this critical time. And if you’ve never given a gift to Woolly before, please, now is the time. By helping us meet this challenge, you’ll be playing a vital role in maintaining Woolly’s long history of fiscal health and responsibility. You will enable us to continue supporting local artists and producing the most innovative new plays in America.
Thank you for your consideration.
Most Sincerely,
Howard Shalwitz
Artistic Director&
Jeffrey Herrmann
Managing Director
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