C A P I C O S T I A

BATMAN remembers the old Penn Branch being rather lively.   by Mel Dyer The public safety situation has much improved, at our Shops at Penn Branch, since the publication of my last article on the subject. The CHARACTERS and panhandlers no longer gather in any number, noticeable enough to alarm, annoy or distract from keeping ourselves safe, going about our business, there. Penn Branch no longer operates in an environment that attracts criminal opportunists; so, let us assume that the prospects for intimidation, purse-snatchings, slightly more violent smash-n-grabs and straight-up ARMED ROBBERY ..are significantly less, than before. Chronic vagrancy is not tolerated by the 7-Eleven stores in Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase, Georgetown or Spring Valley - I've been to those stores - and I can tell you it is not tolerated in Penn Branch, either. I have spoken with the owner of our 7-Eleven, and, believe me, ..she is working so hard to keep her store and storefr...

by Mel Dyer A 'Capicostia' blog?  Again? Kinda trying this on. Feeling it out. Capitol Hill + Anacostia = Capicostia?! I think River East needs a blog that speaks to the frustration and quiet hysteria of what it's like to live here, but, sometimes, feel some small part of you might belong on the other side of the river, ..where political intrigue and urbanity slink down the sidewalks, stopping for the occasional latte or imported beer. Mmmm...I'll cop to the angst. Even if you won't. There's something about living here, ..in Penn Branch, Fairfax Village, Pope Branch, Dupont Park, Twining, Hillcrest, the Randall Highlands and probably Fairlawn, too, ..that's different than living in other parts of River East, and the culture-angst is something only we can understand. When you think about it the only thing separating us from Capitol Hill and everything the Hill represents--sophistication, culture, history, relevance, style--is a stupid bridge and ...

  There's a reason Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, newly born son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, won't properly be 'His Royal Highness', ..and it's got nothing to do with his mother being a commoner or a biracial African American woman. And so long as he's 'Prince Archie' to you and your aunties, ..does it matter?   What does any of this have to do with living, between bloody Capitol Hill and Anagoddam'costia? Absolutely nothing. TownAndCountryMag.com breaks it all down for us, here. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a27421887/archie-harrison-mountbatten-windsor-title-prince-charles-king/

  By Mel Dyer   While I don't spend as much time, there, as I used to, I can't give up hope that my home of over twenty years, FAIRFAX VILLAGE, will soon escape the pessimism that some of us have inflicted upon it, since the early 1970s, ..and return to its pastoral niceness, someday. While I have enjoyed friendships, with a wide variety of people from every corner of the planet, I don't think the Village needs cultural OR economic gentrification to make that happen.   Inflicted? Did I say... yes, ..I did. So, what am I talking about?   In the late 1960s, there used to be an Italian restaurant - a RISTORANTE, with a piazza and bistro tables, with candles on them, at night - literally, a mere couple of blocks, from my condo. Long before I moved here in 1995, lovers, old ones and young ones, used to amuse each other, over candlelight, in that piazza, ..right up the street. What happened? I don't care if the lovers are East Indian, Polish, Jamaic...

  by Mel Dyer   In case you haven't been paying attention, CHARACTERS and panhandlers are hanging around our Shops At Penn Branch, now.   As they gather in number - I saw TWO pretty obnoxious ones, out there, tonight - they will create an environment that attracts criminal opportunists. Soon, the word will get out that it's OPEN SEASON on Branchers, ..as we stop to dig in our pockets, open purses, etc. They will create opportunities for intimidation, purse-snatchings, slightly more violent smash-n-grabs and straight-up ARMED ROBBERY, ..and right in the parking lot! It all starts with a few harmless regulars ( characters, we used to call them) hanging out front and in the lot, hustling a little change, harassing passersby, ogling women, dancing [I've seen it!], prostituting themselves, dealing or consuming drugs and, most importantly, ..distracting Branchers from paying attention to their personal safety.   Popping into the...

For the people...is it, really? [Photo from the the51st.org] by Mel Dyer I have very good reasons, being a resident of Ward 7 and ANC-7B, both in River East, to oppose DC statehood.  I'll try to state them, as plainly as possible, here. Ward 7 simply isn't ready to be a city/county.  Nor is ANC-7B. Neither have the commercial development or subsequent REVENUE to build strong enough economies to successfully sustain a city or county--to support public works, police, EMS, good schools and to attract subsequently necessary growth.  I see people Downtown, some from Wards 7 and 8, raving about DC statehood, and I continue to ask them how it would benefit Seven Bee and the rest of River East--no answer.  So long as we, east of the Anacostia, have no means of creating industry, DC statehood remains something for affluent people in thriving neighborhoods, like Capitol Hill, NoMa or Georgetown, .. west of the River. There must be s...

  Surprised and delighted to find live music and cafe life, just past the D.C. state line and sitting next to an art gallery, in Mount Rainier, Maryland. Seriously. I am not imagining this. When I recently learned that the  Urban Eats Arts and Music Cafe has just celebrated two years in business, at 3311 Rhode Island Avenue (Mount Rainier, MD), ..I was thrilled! As I'm always looking for places like this, away from the bustle of Downtown Washington and Capitol Hill, and rarely finding them, ..clearly, I have been missing out. There's a cafe area, with charming, little tables for two or three, and a couple of larger, roadhouse tables for small meetings, over coffee. There's the prerequisite, cozy, little lounge area - a coffeehouse standard - with cushy sofas and loveseats, ..where a good buddy of mine reads his comics, while locals soak up the FREE WI-FI on their laptops. The lounge area gives you a fro...

[Third Edition] This is a NAYLOR DUPONT EXCLUSIVE... A corporate website, listing local stores, presently available for franchise, solidly confirm that SEVEN ELEVEN will be opening a new store, between Penn Branch Center’s old, broken down escalators and the H&R Block, in a space that will soon be vacated, by Beltway Beauty and Barber Supply - that's just four doors down from the CVS Pharmacy. Several Penn Branch Center merchants have confirmed the same. The new store will be a corporate store, meaning that it is owned by the 7-Eleven corporation - not a family or individual - and is listed as "UC" (under construction), at, "3218 Pennsylvania Ave SE...Washington DC...20020". Everyone in Penn Branch is talking about this, but, no one is reporting it. No one. Furthermore, there's nothing posted at the address, in the window of 3218 Pennsylvania Avenue, announcing the new tenant. Not sure why that is, ..but, this isn't a rumor, anymore. Th...

  Sprawling, spectacular view of new urbanism in 'Near Southeast'. [Wikipedia.org]   Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood - more specifically, the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District or (BID) - truly has a great deal to be proud of. Having taken what was most surely one of the bleakest corridors of the Nation's Capital, one historically blighted by drugs, crime and unemployment, it has created an inspiring example of urban renewal, strategic investment and civic relevance for neighboring areas to follow... And I applaud them for that. However, for D.C.'s W-JLA Channel 7  to present Capitol Riverfront as an example of a development boom in 'Southeast' is more than a little dishonest, intellectually speaking. When W-JLA refers to 'Southeast Washington' in its numerous, exploitative crime stories, it is almost always referring to some troubled cluster of streets - not even an entire neighborhood - th...

[Second Edition] If you're like me, and you've lived on a side street in the burbs, your entire life, this JEWEL in Fairfax Village will be a refreshing change for you. As this condo is right on a major thoroughfare, Alabama Avenue, there'll be no more braving snow, thunderstorms and dark of night to get back and forth from your car to your front door, anymore. There's enough on-street parking, here, to put you a short walk from your door, at any hour of the day or night, ..and (for River East) there's an uncommonly present police presence. Since this is a major thoroughfare that police and EMS services need to use in a crisis, you can also expect an equally reliable public works commitment - means you'll never be waiting very long for snow plows, salt trucks and power restoration, after violent storms. Location amenities? In Fairfax Village, whether you're renting a townhouse or flat, you're surrounded by private homes, ..which only reinforces...

[Second Edition] NAY-LOR...DU-PONT. This is where we are, ..and it's not Anacostia. It's just Southeast for most of us... Juzz Sowfeest for some of us. It's Seven Bee for the politicos, ..as in ANC-7B. It's still Capicostia, ..somewhere in the blogosphere. It's A'not-costia, ..if that helps. I just pulled that out of my...desperation? Stay with me. It's Naylor Dupont, ..and it's always been Naylor Dupont, ..though I doubt that you'll remember all of that, because we wouldn't be having this one-sided conversation, if that worked for you. ANC-7B and Anacostia (or ANC-8A) really are two totally different places, ..culturally, politically and socially, and have been for a very, very long time. It's like those realtors, who refer to the Atlas area of Eighth Street, as Capitol Hill. It's just plain wrong, whether you're doing that intentionally or unintentionally, and if you try telling any Penn Brancher of long-stand...

Must say...I am sorry that the biggest 'Whole Paychecks' (what we resentful peasants call 'Whole Foods Market') won't be going to our future Skyland Town Center, right here in Naylor Dupont. Just the same, I suppose that Tyson's Corner, being so well planned, ..had this coming. Love that bit about it being 'half a Costco'. Read more in the Washington Business Journal.

Whatever you do, don't miss this upcoming event in ANC-7B. Everyone, who's doing anything relevant in our district, will be at the  Hillcrest Bicentennial Celebration Gala!

[Second Edition] I know this street, very well. Right at the edge of the woods and surrounded by the serenity of nature...and look at that pale, sleepy blue! Just imagine the mornings. Literally minutes from shopping and café life on Capitol Hill, ..and it's all yours. You're welcome. 2937 Fort Baker Drive Southeast, Washington, DC For Sale | Trulia.com

So, SHARKS are being fished out of the waters of St. Mary's County. Let's not pretend that we didn't see this coming. Their ancestral cousin, the bullzjit shark has been sighted, as far inland as Capitol Hill, passing bad legislation... And knocking back cocktails at Sonoma. Read about it, anyway. Seriously...like what else have you got to do, in this neighborhood? An Eight-Foot Bull Shark Was Caught In The Potomac River: DCist

[Second Edition] This is a CAPICOSTIA EXCLUSIVE... A corporate website, listing local stores, presently available for franchise, solidly confirm that SEVEN ELEVEN will be opening a new store, between PB Center’s old, broken down escalators and the H&R Block, in a space that will soon be vacated, by Beltway Beauty and Barber Supply - that's just four doors down from the CVS Pharmacy. Several Penn Branch Center merchants have confirmed the same. Furthermore, SEATTLE'S BEST COFFEE will not be moving into that space, as previously scribbled on this blog. In fact, the opening of a Seven Eleven almost guarantees that PBC will NOT be getting a Seattle's Best, Starbucks, Cosi, Peet's or any other proper coffeeshop, in the immediately forseeable future. The new store will be a corporate store, meaning that it is owned by the 7-Eleven corporation - not a family or individual - and is listed as "UC" (under construction), at, "3218 Pennsylvania Av...

Penn Branch has some problems that won't wait, until 2012 [Movie poster for '2012', above]. I predicted trouble on the horizon for Penn Branch, just a few months back. In spite of the fact that the good folk of Penn Branch are working very hard to feed their families and struggling to keep a roof over their heads, I fear a greater struggle may be ahead for us. As Washington, D.C. descends further and further into the dark future of revenue-creating gateway communities rising, east of Anacostia, ..and the emergence of 'Business Improvement Districts' (or BID s), west-of-River, I fear stable-but-static neighborhoods, like Penn Branch, will see the quality of their services (power, police, EMS) go down. Unlike Penn Branch, the BIDs, according to DC.gov 's Business Resources page, "collect a 'self tax' from property owners to provide services and programs to the entire BID...cleanliness, maintenance, safety, promotion, economic development, an...

A picture of the Old West we're not used to seeing (photo from Face2FaceAfrica.com) Pride. This Mexican American of African descent - fourth generation in the U.S. - who has never even been to L.A., has nothing, but, pride,  over here...

Much has been made of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for President of the United States becoming a coronation. Well...coronation-schmoranation! EVERY presidential election is a coronation to some degree. Ronald Reagan was certainly a coronation of departure from the sociopolitical consciousness of the 60s and 70s - a return to the rugged individualism that America indulged so unapologetically, before the progressive social unrest of the 1960s. If you want Clinton or any other candidate, you consolidate your political power into a voting block, hold your candidate accountable for your issues ..and CORONATE them! There are other candidates running for that office. When I find one that I think represents what's important to me, I will bloody coronate them... So, why NOT Hillary?