And Happy New Year
Dear Celebrants:
I did, in fact, get scolded by a reader for wishing themail's readers
a merry Christmas. He did not want his message printed, but he insisted
that I had to be a Christian, because I would otherwise understand that
to someone who was not a Christian the wish to have a "merry
Christmas" was offensive. I replied that I was not, in fact, a
believer, and that I fully agreed that government should not promote any
religion, or religion in general. But I'm not offended when people who
believe in any religion celebrate their holidays, and I'm happy to be
included in their celebrations when they wish me a happy Hannukah,
Ramadan, or even Christmas.
I'm going to take another chance of giving offense by wishing readers
of themail a happy New Year. I apologize in advance to those who follow
the lunar calendar, but I'll be glad to celebrate New Year's again with
you on February 14 this year. We'll deal with Valentine's Day problems
then, too.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Winners and Losers, Trends and Issues in 2001,
Part 1 of 3
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
The single most important event of 2001 for DC, as for the rest of
the nation, was the terrorist attack of September 11, followed by the
anthrax scare that may or may not have been related to that attack.
September 11th revealed several holes in DC's emergency preparedness. On
that morning, Mayor Williams was at home ill. He didn't appear in public
until approximately 6 p.m. that evening, when he held a press
conference. In his absence, Chief of Staff Kelvin Robinson issued a
frantic E-mail to employees at 1 Judiciary Square, urging them to
evacuate immediately; the E-mail was countered within minutes by an
E-mail from City Administrator John Koskinen, who wrote that the
government had to continue to function, and that essential employees
should remain on duty.
Because local and cell telephone service in downtown DC was
overwhelmed and broke down, communication among top officials was
difficult and spotty. The DC government had purchased satellite
telephones for top officials months before, but had never distributed
them; they were sitting in a closet. A conference call among the Council
of Governments regional partners didn't occur until 3:30 p.m. that day.
Metropolitan Police Department officials tried to persuade WMATA to shut
down, even though nonessential federal employees had been released early
and several downtown businesses had closed; fortunately, when MPD
couldn't cite a specific imminent threat, Metro continued services. DCPS
received no guidance or coordination from the DC government; it decided
to keep children in school. Subsequently, it was revealed that DC didn't
have an emergency preparedness plan in place; Congressional pressure was
applied to force DC to write such a plan, but three and a half months
later that plan is still only in draft form; there has been no citizen
input or consultation into the draft, and no information has been
released to the public about how to respond should there be another
major disaster. The Office of Emergency Management prepared a citizen
guide, but distributed it only at a few community meetings until it was
included in the Washington Post as an insert on December 16; its
web site was never updated throughout the crisis.
Mayor Williams didn't speak to DC residents about the attack and
address the public's collective anxiety until almost a week later, and
then he only taped a speech for broadcast on the Mayor's cable
television channel. When the economic results of the attack became
apparent, the administration initially focused its efforts almost
exclusively on pressuring the federal government to reopen Reagan
National airport, and since then has focused its concerns on the hotel
and restaurant sectors. The administration has completely ignored the
economic impact on DC's small businesses and individual residents. The
DC government and its business community took no steps to establish
local memorial, scholarship, or aid funds similar to those established
in New York City, except for a $1 million contribution by Fannie Mae
that was given to the city in October. The city gave that money to the
DC Emergency Assistance Fund, which took no outreach steps to distribute
the money to affected residents. Only a fifth of the money has been
distributed to community service agencies, and only half of that has so
far been given to needy residents. Williams didn't assume a leadership
role in the crisis, as Mayor Guiliani did in New York, and he was
extremely sensitive about it; when Guiliani's name was raised in a
question by Mark Plotkin at a press conference, Williams didn't let
Plotkin finish the question before he pounded the podium and shouted at
him that he resented any comparison. Next: anthrax, the City Council,
and more.
###############
Among a host of other things, it is a city misrepresented over and
over by its own statistics. In order to make statistical comparisons,
the bases should be similar, if not identical. But what happens with DC?
We come out at the low end of all statistical analyses having to do with
human health and welfare. There is some validity here, because of our
peculiar lack of self-governance, a long and painful history. But there
is this: if one took a platen of this city's demographics and laid it on
top of the same perimeters of, let us say Buffalo, NY, or Cincinnati,
OH, or Trenton, NJ, I wonder what the comparison would look like?
American cities bear a similarity of pattern: The rich and the poor
together, with a proportion of middle class, shrinking. I suspect that
the return to DC of urban middle-class young families will not alter
this migratory effect decisively, at least for the short-term future.
The die were cast post WW II with the flight to the suburbs, the triumph
of roads and cars, and the notion of the nuclear family.
The cost to DC has been great, but I believe in the vitality of this
difficult city. The statistical analyses which place us always at the
bottom are difficult or impossible for me to trust.
###############
This has been a good year in our neighborhood. For years, Lovejoy
School has stood mostly empty and abused at the corner of 12th and D
Streets, NE. It was one of the closed schools that the city said it
wanted to sell but which it never did. A few years ago, The Winter
Companies started the long process of buying the property. They met with
folks in the neighborhood and started an e-mail list to keep folks
informed of their plans. Through many false starts (the usual tales of
bureaucratic ineptitude in countless corners of the DC bureaucracy) the
process dragged on. An obscure provision of Federal law had to be
amended and that was done last year. Now, work is about to begin on
conversion to loft/condominiums. An eyesore and haven for drug sellers
and users is about to be put back on the tax rolls. Councilmember Sharon
Ambrose was most helpful, but the real hero was our ANC commissioner
Ronald Nelson.
Ronald Nelson's election last November is another positive
development. He worked with the developer and the community to
demonstrate the strength of community support for the Lovejoy project at
a critical juncture. He also has become actively involved in trying to
deal with the blight of liquor outlets in our neighborhood. We now have
a voluntary agreement with a liquor store which was a locus for drug
dealing in the neighborhood. Finally, for the first time we have
evidence of a commitment on the part of the Metropolitan Police to deal
with the local drug markets. For the past month the police have moved a
small trailer with flood lights from drug dealing corner to drug dealing
corner. The result is that overall drug activity is declining, though
still not gone, even when the police are not there. Interestingly, when
they position themselves in front of N-A-Minit store, another liquor
outlet right next to the one with whom we have just concluded the
voluntary agreement, the N-A-Minit closes early -- with police out
front, lighting up the street, its business falls off. The connection
between these stores and the drug trade is dramatically limned for all
to see. We hope that this police commitment continues as long as
necessary.
So, on balance, despite the myriad failings of Mayor Williams, it has
been a pretty good year in this little corner of DC.
###############
SmartTrip is so cool. You can put the card in your wallet swipe your
wallet over the sensor without even removing the card. You are covered
if you lose your card. It saves Metro money because they don't have any
more paper passes for each rider, a card reader without moving parts
that won't jam if your card gets wet (you know what I mean if you've
ever been on the Metro after an outdoor concert at RFK stadium), and
they get all kinds of juicy information about rider habits.
So why are they charging people? Every other automated system being
rolled out that I can think of actually gives you a discount for using
it. Presumably they have implemented this system because it will result
in cost savings for Metro. If this is not the case, then it was a bad
idea in the first place. So what possible justification can there be to
charge people to use something that they want you to use, when the old
way doesn't cost $5?
I realize a one-time $5 fee isn't a lot. Many regular Metro riders
will probably pay it. However, I know a few people who refuse to do so
on principle, and if they really care about getting as many people as
possible signed on, they will drop the fee.
###############
Washingtonians
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
Happy New Year! I recently came across a reference to a newspaper
titled The New-England Washingtonian from 1848. The description
from the newspaper catalog read, “The Washingtonians were a society of
'reformed drunkards' who held public meetings at which members would
tell the stories of the misfortune that excessive drinking had brought
to their lives, and how they were working to stay sober.” The
Washingtonians were apparently forerunners of AA. A little investigation
turned up a Washingtonian song: http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page1.cfm?ItemID=2089,
and an interesting book review of Slaying the Dragon: The History of
Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America, by William L. White
(1998, Chestnut Health Systems/Lighthouse Institute).
Marty N. reviewed the book at http://www.unhooked.com/booktalk/slaying_the_dragon.htm,
in which he wrote, “The very first mutual self-help movement among
European Americans was the Washingtonians. Six artisans and workingmen
started the 'Washingtonian Total Abstinence Society' in a Baltimore
tavern on April 2, 1840. The movement took off like a rocket. It
celebrated its first anniversary with a parade of 5,000 people. Two
years later, a public meeting of the Society in Boston drew 12,000
people. At its peak, it reached many hundreds of thousands, including an
active women's division ('Total abstinence or no husband!' went one
slogan) and a weekly newspaper. Abraham Lincoln addressed one of its
meetings. The Washingtonians operated as 'secular missionaries.' They
went to taverns to recruit. They divided the cities into wards and had
committees assigned to recruit the drunks in each area to come to
meetings and take the pledge. Washingtonians, or most of them, 'believed
that social camaraderie was sufficient to sustain sobriety and that a
religious component would only discourage drinkers from joining.' Clergy
were excluded from the meetings, and some accused the Washingtonians of
'the heresy of humanism -- elevating their own will above God's by
failing to include religion in their meetings.' This was in 1842!”
Here is a wealth of information about the Washingtonians: http://www.historyofaa.com/Washingtonians/wash1.html.
###############
I'm with Ed Barron in going for the meters in cabs. But it would make
things easier for all of us while they fight this out for another five
to ten years to put normal maps in the cabs with the zones drawn in. Why
is it that after ten years of living in DC I still have a hard time
figuring out where in the heck some of the zones start and end? Take a
map from any one of the standard map guides — Rand McNally, Thomas
Guide of DC, etc. — highlight the borders of the taxi zones on it and
put them in the back seat. I am sure you could probably cut it down to
two different sections to hang over the back of the two seats if it were
too big. Somebody should be able to figure out a readable way to do
this. Before I lived here I lived for two years in New York. One of the
things I miss most is the newer, cleaner, and better functioning taxis
of New York City. When I got out of the cab, I knew exactly what I was
supposed to pay. The maps in DC cabs are a joke. Let's at least begin
with a baby step.
###############
Taxis and the Grid
Malcolm L Wiseman, Jr., wiseman@us.net
I agree with Mr. Barron who says taxi zones must go. They have always
been a source of confusion and bilking of DC visitors and residents
alike. However, he's wrong or at least misguided in his complaint about
our circles and diagonals, which to my mind are extremely efficient once
you learn to drive them.
The avenues allow one to traverse the city in two directions on one
vector at the same time. DCPS taught me that the hypotenuse is always
shorter than the sum of the sides. The circles might be seen as the
price you pay for the efficiency of the avenues. I see circles not as
“chaotic” or “nightmarish” but as scenic breaks in the cityscape
which also help to regulate (some would say slow down) traffic flow. In
a metered taxi system avenues and circles save you money.
Maybe the Washington street map should be a part of the driving test
for cabbies and newcomers. I know that I've never seen a city's layout
more logical and predictable than is Washington's, including the
addressing along the avenues. Not so in Manhattan, a city whose dwellers
are fortunate that it is long and narrow and not square-ish as are DC
and other cities. I'll take the beauty and eye-relief of avenues and
circles over the simplicity of a straight grid any day, and twice on
Sunday.
###############
Public Art — H Street Bridge
Richard Layman, Northeast DC, richlaymandc@yahoo.com
I'm getting tired of the recent posts kvetching about the
"hopscotch kids" on the H Street Bridge. If you want to find
out about them, do an article search in the Washington Post. They were
installed a few years ago, and there is some affiliation with the
Children's Museum, which is located at the bottom of the bridge at 3rd
and H Streets, NE. To the best of my knowledge, it was mostly if not
entirely funded by private donations. The view of the rail yard has
always been obscured by the metal wall along the bridge, at least since
1987 when I moved here. I can't say I love them [the murals], and I wish
one side had a railroad theme given the presence of Union Station, but
this has nothing to do with the “donkey and elephant” project that
has been discussed recently.
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities does sponsor a separate
program that supports the development of public art installations --
murals, sculptures, etc. -- in the neighborhoods. I am proud to say that
I wrote a proposal for such a project on behalf of the Near Northeast
Citizens Against Crime and Drugs this year and the proposal was
accepted. (I know that North Lincoln Park is another recipient and there
are three more projects that were funded as part of this round.) If
certain members of the ANC stop their shenanigans with regard to the
public space permit required (they might be fighting it just because I
was involved, I don't know), the sculpture will be installed some time
in early 2002 on a little triangular piece of public land at 8th Street,
K Street, and West Virginia Avenue, NE. — two blocks from H Street and
about that from Gallaudet — and on two bus lines, the 90s series and
the D bus line.
I'll admit I'm not fully enamored of the donkey/elephant program. I'd
rather we (as a City) focused upon the fundamentals, rather than
gimmicks, in terms of attracting more tourists and their dollars to the
city. One such fundamental to my way of thinking includes reopening the
museums at night. But I won't bore you with my ideas in this area. At
any rate, happy New Year to all of those whose agitations help make the
city a better place to live.
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themail is one of Washington's great treasures. In no other medium do
our Northwest neighbors so consistently exhibit surprise, yea sometimes
even bewilderment, at the existence and quality of life in the three
other quadrants. Anne Heutte's two recent contributions are a case in
point. "I went east from North Capitol Street onto H Street,
NE" When I read these words my heart leapt up for I knew I was to
have the benefit of more enlightened views on my poor benighted
neighborhood. An anthropological voyage of discovery worthy of Burton
and Speke. Sure enough, our local treasure — not a gift from the DC
government, so not paid for by the worthies of the great Northwest —
was to be trashed. We little folk over here (some of whom actually drive
across the bridge every day and descend from its commanding height into
the deepest Northeast) seem to like the bridge. We even have a name for
it, which if Ms. Heutte's driver had stopped, she could have read. It's
called the Hopscotch Bridge. I don't know the whole story, but local
legend, passed around in hushed tones when we little people gather in
our tribal convocations, is that a local tile worker conceived and
executed the series of dancing children. What's more, he worked with
local school children to mount the tiles on the bridge. Many local
people, and perhaps even some from the great Northwest, contributed to
the effort.
But like all artifacts of primitive peoples, the Hopscotch Bridge and
Ms. Heutte's reaction to it tell us much more. First, the maligned
figures have been on the bridge for over five years. This fact is
important for two reasons — it tells us how often we are visited by
our betters from the great Northwest and the installation is graffiti
free. That's right! It has been up for over five years and has not been
defaced. No one has written on it. No one has removed the tiles. Maybe
that is because the people who see it every day like it and are proud of
it and protect it. Second, the bridge has been up for many more years
than the five that the figures have occupied the space. Before that, the
bridge was a bridge with a high gray metal wall on both sides. It never
did give what Ms. Heutte wants, “a look at the below.” It was dreary
and dirty and no one took care of it. Perhaps Ms. Heutte does not recall
what it looked like before. Third, the bridge evokes responses from
those who see it; most times when I am with people who see the bridge
for the first time I notice that a smile comes to their faces and they
exhibit some curiosity about it. And it is a chance to tell about the
bridge. But there are those who do not like it, I will admit, and Ms.
Heutte is among them and her reaction speaks volumes.
But I feel constrained to note a little irony in her second
contribution: “Instead of doing what a bridge which does what it is
supposed to do, limn over the breach.” At first I thought that I did
not understand the word limn, for I always thought it meant to describe
something. So I went to my dictionary and found out that my
understanding was correct and that the concept of a bridge limning over
the breach made no sense — but lo! once again I was able to learn from
my great Northwest betters for I went to the derivation and found the
root to be inluminare, Latin for “to embellish.” And that is just
what the Hopscotch Bridge does — its creator and his helpful
assistants embellished a formerly drab industrial overpass. So for those
of you in the great Northwest who have not yet seen the bridge, I say,
come on over. We would like to show you how the other three quadrants
live.
###############
Gloria White asked about transfer slips from Metrobuses frequently
being discarded. We have the same problem in our area. About once a
month, maybe a little more often, hundreds of Metrobus transfers will be
discarded on Yuma Street, a bus route. I can't believe a bus driver is
doing it, but who else would?
###############
With all the hubbub about more traffic on Porter, hasn't this road
been open to one-way traffic only for the past year? Will everything
miraculously smooth out when it opens again? To help clear Connecticut,
maybe they will get people to stop crossing the double yellow line to
turn left into the park and shop at Cleveland Park. Also, about the
restriping of Reno Road, when are they ever going to fix the paving
heading north between Quebec and Rodman Streets? There is a dangerous
groove along the bus pad. It seems they quit paving for two blocks when
they re-paved/re-striped Reno over a year ago.
###############
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