RSS FeedNew Poll: Where Will You Be On January 20th?
We would like to draw your attention to the new poll on the sidebar. Where will you be on January 20th, the day of the Presidential Inauguration?
And these are the results from our last poll: Will you shop in downtown DC for the holidays?
68% - Yes, there are stores I’ll patronize downtown.
32% - No, I’m shopping elsewhere or online.
Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Columbia Heights - The loudspeaker preachers make their way up 14th Street NW to Columbia Heights. Apparently, they’re on tour. [New Columbia Heights]
Mount Vernon Triangle - The District Chatter puts a Bravo TV spin on the transvestite prostitutes that sometimes linger at 4th and L Streets NW in the 20001. (PARENTAL WARNING: Some language not for the thin skinned.) [The District Chatter - first, second and third story]
Georgetown - It’s true! Georgetown now has a neighborhood blog, The Georgetown Metropolitan, and they weigh in on the recent ANC 2E and Old Georgetown Board rejections of Apple’s design for a redesigned store front at 1229 Wisconsin Ave NW. There’s plenty of room for an Apple store in the PQ… [The Georgetown Metropolitan] (hat tip to a PQ Living reader)
Inauguration 2009: Collectibles & Guides & Cell Towers, Oh My!
Another Inaugural Store Opens
There’s an inaugural collectibles store opening as can be seen in the above photo. The Official Inaugural Collectible store is setting up shop at 625-627 E Street NW, the space formerly inhabited by the Numark Gallery which closed in the fall of 2006. This collectibles store also has an Internet presence allowing for online shopping.
More Links To Inaugural Guides
Everyone’s getting in on the Inaugural guide action…
DC Inauguration Guide [Washington CityPaper]
Guide to Inauguration 2009 [Washingtonian]
Downtown Inauguration Alerts [Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID)]
Movable Cell Phone Towers In Place Near Capitol Building
Wireless phone operators expect a surge in network traffic with the influx of people coming to DC for the inaugural events on the Mall. Two of the movable cell towers set up to handle the extra load can be seen to the left of the Capitol in the photo below.
Ristorante Luigino Closing On Monday
Another long-time downtown restaurant is closing. Ristorante Luigino (1100 NY Ave, at the corner of 12th & H) is closing for business on Monday, January 5th. They had a big closing bash back in December after going through bankruptcy earlier this year. Luigino wasn’t our favorite Italian restaurant, but they seemed to do well with business lunches and those in DC for a convention.
Did any of our readers make it to the December 20th closing party?
Photo Of The Week: Hanging Out
A reader sends in these photos of a Penn Quarter building getting a bath. We thought them unusual because this almost looks like a military training exercise (or yellow Spidermen scaling the building). Click after the break for a zoom out to get the full perspective including the Washington Monument in view. How often does your building get power washed?
Michael Gross To Exhibit At Pepco’s Edison Place
Pepco’s Edison Place Gallery at 702 8th Street NW (on the other side of 8th Street opposite the 1791 Deli between G and H Streets) will be hosting the exhibit MONO/CHROMATICS, an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and prints by noted painter Michael Gross.
Check after the break for more including the exhibition dates starting January 6.
Happy New Year
The PQ Living staff is on holiday today and will return with our regular programming tomorrow.
We wish everyone a Happy, Peaceful New Year and may 2009 be your best year ever!
Remembering A Gentle Giant
As the year winds down, we wanted to take a moment to remember a friend of ours who passed away late in 2008. We discovered Christmas morning in the latest edition of Street Sense that our friend and former Street Sense vendor, Orin Andrus, had died on the very corner where he sold his papers.
We would see Orin selling papers most weekdays at the corner of 11th & G Streets NW. Orin was friendly and outgoing, so much so that we soon found ourselves looking forward to seeing him each morning. Often we were only exchanging pleasantries, but sometimes he’d tell us about his life in Key West. In fact most of what we talked about were the same things mentioned in Orin’s Street Sense vendor profile; his grandmother, his love of Mexican food (he seriously loved Mexican food), his hope to one day be back on his feet with a permanent job and home. If Orin ever missed a weekday at his usual corner, he’d later tell us of the odd job he had landed that kept him away (small carpentry jobs, helping to unload trucks, or some form of landscaping).
Inauguration Security - We’re In The Zone
.. the security zone, that is. According to this recent WaPo graphic, the Penn Quarter is totally contained within the Homeland Security secure zone for the 2009 inauguration. We’re not entirely sure what this means, but we know that no cars or buses will be allowed to park in the ‘hood. Unfortunitly for our neighbors in the Triangle, buses will be allowed to park in their neck of the woods. However, there is a provision stating that no bus may park in front of a residential building.
Two Closures: Zenith Gallery & Bead Museum
We learned about two closures in our neighborhood…
Zenith Gallery
The Zenith Gallery (413 7th Street NW) will be closing its current location at the end of February 2009 after a 22 year run. What is clear from the press release is that Margery Goldberg, the founder and proprietor of Zenith, will stay engaged in the arts business via managing, curating, consulting, commissioning and acquiring activities. The Zenith Community Arts Foundation will also maintain its ongoing activities. They have announced their intent to open a space in The Arts at 5th and I, the Donohoe project in the Mount Vernon Triangle that will include a hotel, residences and a jazz club. A number of closing events are planned which we’ll post as the date approaches.
Bead Museum
A PQ Living reader pointed us to the stories that narrate The Bead Museum’s (400 7th Street NW) closing after an 11 year run as they were not able to support continuing operations with current income. They might have gotten some good synergy with the once proposed Textile Museum Annex which would have been across the street from where the Inauguration Superstore is now set up (see our post from earlier today). It looks as though history has something else in mind. The Bead Museum’s last day will be December 31st.
Bead Museum to close [Washington Business Journal]
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