Good morning, Capitol Hill! Guess what? The Capitol Hill Safeway opens to the public on Wednesday, August 12! Are you making your list and checking it twice? So are we! We’ll be there for today’s preview and will share fun things via Instagram. Make sure you follow!
Incidentally, if you hear cannons firing this morning, it’s because Barracks Row is welcoming their clock back and also Jeni’s. From their newsletter: “Tomorrow, August 11, 2020 at 10:45AM three rounds of cannon fire will begin at Marine Barracks Washington. Is it just a coincidence? You decide! Come by and listen to the cannons roar, then admire our new Row clock. Make sure you take some shots of the spectacular new jungle mural next door to Jeni’s at the entry to Nooshi Sushi, 524 8th St, SE.”
The Washington Post’s John Kelly wrote all about Isherwood Street NE, and our own Robert Pohl was quoted as an expert in the area’s history. Well done, Robert!
In other happy news, we’re getting more slow streets! DCist reports that by September, we will see several new slow streets added around town. In our area, the slow streets will be as follows:
- 3rd Street NE/SE between M Street NE to E Street SE
- E Street SE between 4th Street SE to 11th Street SE/Pennsylvania Avenue SE
- G Street NE between 2nd Street NE and 15h Street NE/Gales Street NE
- Gales Street NE between 15th Street NE and 21st Street NE (crosses Wards 6 and 7)
- K Street NE between Bladensburg Road to 18th Street NE/Maryland Avenue NE
- Oates Street NE between West Virginia Avenue to Bladensburg Road NE
HECK YES we are all worried over here on Capitol Hill (the neighborhood) about the maskless antics on Capitol Hill (the odious metonymy). WAMU/DCist reports on how neighbors across the Hill, especially those who work on one hill and live in the other one, feel about the whole thing.
You know what else is worrisome? The behavior of many drivers around town. Greater Greater Washington analyzed traffic data and found some interesting patterns emerging in the months since the pandemic started.
Neighbor Adrienne Crozat shared the aftermath of a high speed collision on C Street NE via Twitter. This is the second time someone crashes into one of her parked cars on the street. It’s been well over 10 years since neighbors have tried to slow down the area around 15-17th Streets NE but it seems the city has never placed a priority on the neighbors and their safety, choosing instead to keep letting that stretch of C be a highway.
The teen who shot and killed Antonio Gardiner outside the Hill East McDonald’s on July 4 was already under court supervision because he’d been implicated in at least three other murders, according to the Washington Post.
Hill Restaurant Group, which manages Ophelia’s, Lola’s, and several other restaurants in southeast, told Capitol Hill Corner that they were giving up the lease on Finn MacCool’s and Orchid (which closed in 2019). According to the article, Lola’s–which formerly shared a kitchen with Finn MacCool’s– will soon have its own kitchen.
Beuchert’s Saloon is going on hiatus and Andrew Markert and his team will be rising like a tasty phoenix with a new concept called Fight Club. Fight Club will have tasty sandwiches, punches and other quick bites starting August 19. A little sad but mostly super excited for this rebranding. Washingtonian has more details.
PoPVille has info on Brine, which is opening in the old Sova/H Street Coffeeshop space, 1359 H Street NE. Sounds like it’ll have a great seafood menu. Nicest bit? It’ll have outdoor seating! WCP says they’ll open August 17.
Speaking of tasty bites, CONGRATULATIONS! We saved Chupacabra! They will be staying through November in their location just off H Street at 8th NE. Go get some arepas!
By the way, if you were wondering what happened yesterday in front of the White House (it was actually really close and not like three miles away this time), here it is, straight from the mouth of the Secret Service on Twitter:
This happened in Ward 7, but there is just a lot here to unpack: A block party with over 400 people in attendance was viciously shot up and 17-year old Christopher Brown was killed. He leaves behind a 1-year old daughter. Deep condolences to his family. (Washington Post) DC Real Time news on Twitter shared many tweets as the terror unfolded and it was gruesome, but his reporting was fearless. Go follow him because he’s doing an incredible job of sharing local news as they happen.