TheInTowner
Now in Our 48th Year of Continuous Publication
Next
Issue
November 11
OCTOBER
2016
Vol. 48, No. 4
®
Since 1968 • Serving Washington D.C.’s Intown Neighborhoods
SunTrust Plaza Site Developer’s “Honeymoon” with
Adams Morgan Community Ends With a Bitter Thud
By William G. Schulz *
I
of words. That’s because, at the September
21st meeting of the ANC’s Planning, Zoning
and Transportation (PZT) Committee, a
deep dive into the nitty gritty of the project
brought an upwelling of harsh criticism from
commissioner members of the committee,
n just a few short months, the Adams
Morgan ANC 1C’s “welcoming” of a PN
Hoffman mixed-use residential project to
replace the SunTrust Bank and plaza at 18th
Street and Columbia Road has evolved from
a cordial exchange between neighborhood
Cont., SUNTRUST p. 4
and developer -- albeit with
the promise of hardnosed
negotiation on the road to
a final building -- to today’s
climate of outright hostility and simmering distrust
between the parties.
The ANC’s initial meeting last March with PN
Hoffman founder and
CEO Monty Hoffman and
with all the commissioners in attendance, Hoffman
expressed how much he
had enjoyed working with
image—Eric Colbert Associates Architects.
the community on previous
Elevation showing revised design as viewed looking west cross 18th
development projects.
Street with the Columbia Road intersection to the right. To view
Hoffman might now be initially submitted archiectural renerings, see our May 2016 report
wondering about his choice on this project.
The Unlimited Promise of Community Policing
Has Yet to be Fulfilled in DC, Residents Claim
Neighborhood and Business Association.
Residents were surprised that more than
n the early 1990s, neighbors and busi- 100 businesses were located in this area. A
nesses surrounding the 18th and T vital component of this program was linkStreets intersection formed the 18th Street
ing with the police. An
officer attended the bimonthly meetings and
got to know the participants. Accompanied by
participants, the police
officer went on neighborhood walks. The officer
served as a link to city
agencies when there were
vacant property, vandalism, drinking, drugging,
homeless issues. This
was effective community
policing.
For the past 30 years,
DC residents have
dreamed of community
photo—Larry Ray—InTowner.
policing. They desire for
In 2004, in an effort to improved relations between the community and
police, this 100-year-old, 10th Precinct police station at 750 Park Road,
police to exit their patrol
NW was renovated and transformed into the 4th District Substation
cars and walk the beat.
By Larry Ray*
I
serving the Columbia Heights and Park View (including Georgia
Avenue) neighborhoods. 22 officers are assigned to this full-service
police station.
jjjjjj
On the Website Pages
Community News
Reader Comments & Opinions
Recent Real Estate Sales
Restaurant Reviews
Washington History
By William G. Schulz*
T
he Mayor’s office
isn’t returning phone
calls, City Council
has been forced by the
courts to release documents on a no-bid contract it has claimed
are “privileged,” an
Advisory Neighborhood
Commission has been
pulled apart by warring
factions, and neighbors
photo—William G. Schulz--The InTowner.
all around the city’s historic McMillan Reservoir The sign says it all.
Park between First and
North Capitol Streets in Northwest DC’s
It is a tangled knot, to be sure, but
Bloomingdale neighborhood are hop- it has become almost a straw man for
ping mad. As they see it, the city is every side in the struggles over urban
blithely giving away one of its largest and redevelopment in Washington and elselast remaining, green open spaces.
where. And it’s also why this gentrificaFurther. the DC Court of Appeals, tion quicksand could swallow Mayor
having heard oral arguments from a case Muriel Bowser and members of City
handed up from DC Superior Court, Council if they don’t get it right, starting
is expected early next year to render a with paying better attention to the neighdecision regarding the legality of zoning borhoods most affected by the McMillan
decisions for the McMillan Park area controversy.
made by the DC Zoning Commission
Along with various zoning commisand another entity of special powers at sioners, ANC commissioners, and histor-
ic preservation activists who are playing
starring roles in this
high-stakes
saga
of real estate and
realities in the city’s
amped-up engines
of redevelopment,
residents are becoming so riled up that
it may come to pass
that the Mayor and
photo—William G. Schulz--The InTowner.
some City Council
View showing one line of the original sand filtration towers, many of
members may regret
which are to be demolished.
the deaf ear they are
turning to commitCity Hall, known as the “Mayor’s Agent.” ted citizen activists who are opposed to
[Ed. note: See “Turmoil Continues the current plans for McMillan, and
Over McMillan Park Site Development; whose movement appears to be gaining
Friends Group Contests Validity of steam.
Zoning Commission’s Green Light for
On Oct. 9, for example, the group,
PUD, Files Appeal with DC Appeals Friends of McMillan Park (FOMP),
Court,” InTowner, June 2016 issue pdf, headed up by neighborhood activist
page 1; also our follow-up report three Kirby Vining, organized a well- attended
days later, “DC Appeals Court Orders walking tour/ fundraiser led and narrated
City Council to Produce Records Related
to Development of McMillan Park Site.”
Cont., MCMILLAN PARK, p. 3
Cont., POLICING, p. 5
☞ What’s Inside? ☞
Editorial: Again we Urge, Vote for
Evans: Here's Why
Page 2
The McMillan Park Reservoir Mess: City officials Seem
to be Ignoring the Increased Opposition to the Plans
for Historic Site’s Development, Perhaps at Their Peril
Reader Comments & Submissions
High Heel
Race Fun
Festivities
2015
Click here to
enjoy the photos
courtesy of Phil
Carney.
n
CareFirst: Two Big to Regulate?
n
Ecuadorian Embassy Sustained Significant
Earthquake Damage, August 23, 2011
n
Balancing Neighborhood Retail: The 25%
Rule
n
Reconstructing Historic Holt House
n
When Does My Cast Iron Staircase Need
Attention?
Art and Culture
National
Gallery of Art
The East Building
Re-opens
View from above looking
west of new East Building
terrace overlooking
Pennsylvania Avenue
Page 7
Page 2 • The InTowner • October 2016
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Publisher & Managing Editor—P.L. Wolff
Associate Editor—William G. Schulz
Contributing Writers—Ben Lasky, Larry Ray
Layout & Design — Mina Rempe
Historic Preservation— Matthew B. Gillmore
By P.L. Wolff
®
Restaurants—Alexandra Greeley
Museum Exhibitions—Joseph R. Phelan
Real Estate—Kevin McDuffie
Photographer—Phil Carney
Webmaster—Eddie Sutton
Founded in 1968 by John J. Schulter
Again we Urge, Vote for Evans: Here’s Why
I
n advance of previous City Council elections we have repeatedly endorsed Ward 2
Councilmember Jack Evans for re-election. He is the longest-serving member (since May
of 1991, having won a special election following John Wilson’s advancement from the Ward
2 seat to chairman in a special election held five months earlier.
We know it’s fashionable among large swaths of the voters this year to push the “out
with the old and in with the new” (and preferably not) politicians. Indeed, often that is a
desirable thing, as with the at-large Council seat previously occupied by Vincent Orange
(more about this below). However, it is not always a good thing to discard merely for the
sake of change. A legislator such as Jack Evans who brings to the table vast institutional
memory and who continues to provide a unique understanding of the institution’s dynamics is a valuable civic asset.
Having chaired the Council’s hugely important Committee on Finance and Revenue
since 1999, Evans was instrumental in guiding the District government’s transition -- in
tandem with then newly elected Mayor Anthony Williams -- out of its Financial Control
Board interregnum. And ever since then he has effectively worked to keep both councilmembers, as well as mayors, from the temptation to spend willy-nilly during times when
the coffers seemed to be overflowing. Jack clearly understood that DC is not New Orleans
and the days of Laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll) which held sway with
too many members of the Council who never encountered an unallocated dollar they
didn’t want to lie idle during the Mayor Marion Barry years could no longer be tolerated.
His insistence that substantial funds be held in reserve for the inevitable “rainy days” -- an
insistence that proved crucial in helping DC government weather the storm of the Great
Recession -- shows that his service, not just to Ward 2 but to all DC taxpayers, is what we
ought to be very glad that he occupies the position that he does.
But, one might ask, what has he really made come about for the “little” people, those
who have to pay taxes on very modest annual incomes ranging between $40,000 and
$60,000? That might sound like gobs of money in Alabama, but here in DC it’s nearly
peanuts and yet applies to 15 percent of our citizens (based on 2014 data, the latest available).
Well, for one thing, as a result of Evans’ push not only to provide for the economic bad
times, he has also been a leading proponent of actually lowering taxes -- and not just for
the “Big Boys” but for ordinary folk. For example, effective January 1st, for those in the
$40-$60,000 tax bracket their rate their will now be at 7% -- down from the previous 8.5%!
Further, the standard deduction for single filers will increase from $4,000 to $5,200; for
married couples filing jointly, the new deduction will double, from $$4,000 to $8,350! As
for the larger middle income tax bracket, the rate will now be at 6.5%.
Another element of tax relief taking effect at the beginning of the year will be of direct
benefit to owners of “mom and pop” and other small businesses with the lowering of the
both the unincorporated and incorporated business franchise tax rate.
Another break for those in the lower reaches of the middle class who own their homes,
effective January 1st the capital gains exclusion applicable to the sale of their homes following death will double from the unrealistically low $1 million to $2 million. Evans has
assured The InTowner that he will continue to work on finding a path for the budget to
allow for further increasing this exclusion so that in due course it will match that of the
federal Internal Revenue Code.
Set out above are but just a few highlights of Evans’ accomplishments on behalf of
struggling wage earners and small business owners (who, by the way, provide a huge
employment base) -- all this while at the same time looking out for addressing constituent
concerns about oftentimes sloppy or failed city services. It surely works to the advantage of
Ward 2 residents when their councilmember’s office contacts a city agency about a problem requireing action that Evans holds the agency’s purse strings.
Finally, about that at-large Council seat which is now held on an interim basis by
Democrat Robert White following Orange’s resignation to take over as head of the DC
Chamber of Commerce; he is now seeking election to fill out the unexpired term.
Reading what he has posted on his campaign website about his deep knowledge and
experience with DC issues as a one-time key staffer for DC Congressional Delegate
Eleanor Holmes Norton certainly suggests that he is more than qualified.
Unfortunately, as much as we might have wanted to write an endorsement of his candidacy we cannot, simply for the reason that no matter how much we attempted to contact
him, our messages requesting a call never resulted in a response. If elected, he will have
to do better than that!
Copyright © 2016 InTowner Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without
permission is prohibited, except as provided by 17 U.S.C. §107 & 108 (“fair use”).
Member—National Newspaper Association
The InTowner (ISSN 0887-9400) is published 12 times per year by The InTowner Publishing
Corporation, 1730-B Corcoran Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20009. Owned by The InTowner
Publishing Corporation, P.L. Wolff, president and chief executive officer.
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Page 3 • The InTowner • October 2016
MCMILLAN PARK
From p. 1
by volunteer historian, Paul Cerruti. His
thorough documentation and study demonstrated convincingly that McMillan Park
has, since the late 19th century, been an
essential element of the surrounding neighborhoods and their desirability as places to
live.
During the walking tour, Cerruti showed
many other real estate advertisements from
throughout the years that tout the park as a
valuable amenity for potential homebuyers.
He and others say this is strong evidence that
the McMillan site has long been regarded as
parkland, a designation city officials insist
is not true and invoke often in pushing for
major redevelopment.
This contention clearly was put into play
as part of the developer’s strategy. Based
on a Vision McMillan internal company
document obtained through a Freedom of
Information (FOIA) action by opponents
who provided The InTowner with that document’s “talking points,” one that especially
stands out appears under the “misinformation to further its agenda” header in the
“Talking Points” section: “The site was
never a park.”
photo—William G. Schulz--The InTowner.
Being shown to the walking tour group by Paul Cerruti as examples of the established consensus that
McMillan Park had been, and continued to be, truly a park, were early 20th century advertisements promoting the area as an especially attractive place in which to live. The one shown on the left specifically
emphasizes that the nine row houses for sale are directly across the street from a “Beautiful Government
Park.” The advertisement shown in the binder’s right-side leaf for just No. 2609 in that row of nine
houses, according to tour leader Cerruti, just happens to be the home of Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan
McDuffie, one of the City Council members who are backing the developer in this fight.
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photo—William G. Schulz--The InTowner.
Signs like the one shown here have recently been going up all around the park, another example of how
city officials are ignoring reality by allowing the developers to pretend that this 25 acres is private property
when in reality it remains public land.
The most recent example of the city’s
apparent strategy to ignore away the problems with McMillan and its neighbors begin
at the top. After the DC Court of Appeals
heard oral arguments from both sides of the
lawsuit to reverse city zoning decisions and
stop the McMillan project, the city did not
even send its own lawyers to hear the arguments for and against in court. They relied
solely on the development team’s lawyers to
also represent the District.
That is especially striking given that the
appeals court panel will also be deciding the
scope of powers by the so-called “Mayor’s
Agent” in zoning commission decisions to
declare areas “special merit” in order to get
a ruling the Mayor’s office supports. In the
McMillan case, the Mayor’s Agent decision
meant an override from the Comprehensive
Plan to allow a high density medical office
building to be built on the northern end of
the site -- a particular point of opposition for
many McMillan neighbors, and certainly
for the Friends of McMillan Park (FOMP).
A call by The InTowner seeking to interview Mayor Bowser about the appeals
court’s important review of the Zoning
Commission decision and the growing
number of historic preservation groups filing amicus briefs and otherwise joining
in protest of the project, was directed to
her communications director who handed
off our inquiry to the Deputy Mayor for
Planning and Economic Development,
Joaquin McPeek, who scheduled with this
reporter a specific date and time for a phone
interview, but then never made himself
available despite the arrangement and never
returned follow-up calls seeking to reschedule that interview appointment.
In yet another twist, last Spring back
when our June issue lead story on McMillan
was being prepared Anne Corbet, an executive with Vision McMillan Partners, had
informed The InTowner that all press inquiries must be directed to Deputy Mayor
McPeek, who at that time did speak with
this reporter and claimed that the entire
project is above board and is what the
community wants, aside from a few naysayers. He dismissed the lawsuits that have
been filed against the city over the project as unimportant now that the Zoning
Commission and the Historic Preservation
Review Board had rendered their decisions.
Kirby Vining sees this behavior from the
Mayor’s office as typical, but he has maintained his drive and commitment to stop
the project. “I have probably spent some
$170,000 of my own money trying to stop
this thing in court,” he says. He sees precedent to overturn a Zoning Commission
decision allowing high-density development
in part of the park area as particularly vulnerable.
In Vining’s view, not only does the decision fly in the face of the Comprehensive
Plan’s goals for immediate for the area, but
the appeals court’s recent Brookland neighborhood decision overturning the Zoning
Commission’s Colonel Brooks Tavern is
instructive with regard to the McMillan
case.
Opponents are convinced that the redevelopment push has been wired for the
Frederick Law Olmsted-designed 25-acre
McMillan Park with its historic walkway
along with the intriguing remains of the
19th century engineering marvel of water
purification and expanse of green lawn and
cool breezes at the crossroads of some of the
city’s oldest, most historic neighborhoods in
favor of development consortium, Vision
McMillan Partners (VMP).
photo—William G. Schulz--The InTowner.
In the distance can be seen the houses lining the
east side of North Capitol Street. Close to the
fence traces of the original Olmsted Walk, as the
walkway was known, can be discerned. The steps
showing in the immediate foreground lead down
to the park’s original Channing Street public
entrance, one of many providing access from different streets.
While no “smoking gun” has yet emerged,
the seeming cozy relationships between DC
and VMP was an issue, especially when
reports of a high-level official of the Deputy
Mayor’s office suddenly was hired for a
senior position by Trammell Crow, one of
the VMP partners, or why, as noted in a lead
story we published two-and-a-half years ago,
did the city pay VMP “to hire a public relations firm from Baltimore to help ‘neutralize
opposition’ to the plan”? (See, “Developer’s
Plan for Historic McMillan Park
Site Vigorously Questioned During
Hearings; Serious Community Issues Said
Unaddressed,” InTowner, May 2014 issue
pdf, page 1.)
For his part, Vining recently received
documents obtained by a FOIA request concerning the City Council’s decision-making
in regards to Vision McMillan Partners and
their no-bid contract with the District. He
says he is still combing through them trying
to understand what might be revealed.
Cont., MCMILLAN PARK, p. 4
Page 4 • The InTowner • October 2016
SUNTRUST
From p. 1
neighbors, and community group representative in attendance.
The talk was often right at the line between
disagreement and the hurling of personal
insults and recriminations. Hoffman’s representatives were clearly caught off guard by
their caustic reception.
Just about the only point of agreement
between the community and Hoffman last
month was that the existing SunTrust Bank
building is an eyesore that nobody likes.
Commissioners zeroed in on what they
did and did not like about the revisions,
often admitting that they were merely voic-
ing personal tastes. They repeated concerns
about the overall “mass” of the building,
altered sightlines, compliance with historic
preservation guidelines in terms of building height, and perhaps most critical, the
fate of the plaza -- currently a barren brick
and concrete triangle at the 18th Street and
Columbia Road intersection.
One neighbor who was in attendance
scolded the PN Hoffman representatives,
stating, “I don’t think you are giving the
community what it wants,” she said, “and
that’s the plaza. The [planned re-designed]
plaza is nothing more than a glorified sidewalk.”
Another person questioned whether there
would be adequate handicap access to the
plaza and questioned whether the develop-
Pet Costume Contest
The Dupont Circle Pet Costume Contest will be held on
Monday, October 31st at 6:30 p.m. to promote Halloween
fun. Prizes will be awarded in three categories:
• Best Costume,
• Fashion Pioneer, and
• Pet-Owner Look Alike
plaza. Although they
promised to come
back to the committee
with that number, they
were accused outright
of hiding an essential
fact from the community.
James
reiterated
KCA’s position that the
plan exceeds construction guidelines for historic districts and must
comport with prevailing heights.
Struggling to hold
on to his composure,
image—Eric Colbert Associates Architects.
Vuong replied, “PN
Revised massing and different façade treatment for the building’s Coumbia
Hoffman believes that
Road side illustrated by this view from across the intersection.
they are within the
guidelines and that’s
ers should have used “universal design,”
what
the
HPRB
is
for.
They will have the
a concept that incorporates access to all
final
say.”
people no matter their physical abilities.
Ultimately, the PZT committee members
The plaza “is our space and we want to
voted
two to one to reject PN Hoffman’s
hold on to it,” shouted community activist
revised
plans for the project on grounds
Chris Otten. He and others, namely Dennis
James, who is the president of the Kalorama that it is out of step with historic presCitizen’s Association (KCA), insisted that ervation guidelines. But before the vote,
the city retains an easement on all or some of Commissioner JonMarc Buffa had one last
the plaza and that the developer has no right zinger to deliver to the Hoffman team:
“I understand you are upset that people
to alone decide its fate.
hate
your project. But it’s not a binary choice
But a clearly annoyed Bao Vuong,
-a
crappy
plaza or your structure.”
Hoffman’s vice president of development,
shot back, “PN Hoffman is the contract
purchaser [of the building and lot] from
SunTrust. There is no easement on the plaza
and the Historic Preservation Review Board
concurs.”
The developer’s representatives earlier
had explained such modifications as a step
back of the 18th street façade, lowered building height, smaller balconies, and a green
roof, but they could not give a number for
the total square footage for the re-designed
MCMILLAN PARK
From p. 3
This fun event will be held in the S Street Dog Park
located at 17th and S Street, NW. Pets and their owners
should gather in the Dog Park at 6:00 p.m. for check-in.
This event is free and open to the public, and will go on
rain or shine. All pets are welcome to enter! This event is
organized by Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets.
The InTowner has received copies of the
same documents from the Council’s FOIA
office and will be examining them for relevant information which we will report when
we next update this continuing McMillan
Park story.
Many members of FOMP -- including many who do not live anywhere near
the Bloomingdale, LeDroit Park, and
Stronghold neighborhoods -- say an “unholy
alliance” of city officials and deep-pocketed
developers are simply itching to get shovels
turning to change the park’s “greenery into
Visit www.dupontcirclemainstreets.org
Who needs to go anywhere else?
The mission of Historic Dupont Main Streets is to promote,
coordinate, and maintain the cultural, economic, and
environmental qualities of Dupont Circle to make it an
exemplary place to live, work, shop, and play.
Copyright © 2016 InTowner Publishing Corp. &
William G. Schulz. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part without permission is prohibited,
except as provided by 17 U.S.C. §§107 & 108 (“fair
use”).
greenbacks.”
“The fix has been in for a long time,”
ANC commissioner Bertha Holliday tells
The InTowner. Holliday is just one of many
ANC commissioners in the area who has,
since 2006, tried to fight or at least extract
significant concessions from developers
before the project could move forward. This
was the year the Comprehensive Plan first
saw light of day and plans for the city-owned
park first got underway.
Others, such as ANC5E commissioner
Debbie Steiner, say it is the commissioners themselves who have abdicated their
responsibilities, thus handing a sweetheart
deal to the McMillan triad of developers
Jared Lynch, Trammell Crow and EYA
residential builders. “Today, it’s a mess,” she
says. “Something needs to be done. There
could be a lot of positive changes. The
ANC has begun to function like more of
a citizen association where commissioners
come to air personal viewpoints instead of
dealing with the ‘nitty gritty’ of government
process.” She says infighting between ANC
commissioners has meant that the opportunity to develop a strong and binding community benefits agreement -- an essential
element for Zoning Commission approvals
-- became a missed opportunity.
*Associate Editor William G. Schulz, a resident
of Dupont Circle since the 1980s, has been a
journalist specializing in science and investigative reporting for over 30 years.
www.DupontCircleMainStreets.org
photo—William G. Schultz--The InTowner.
Advertisement
*Associate Editor William G. Schulz, a resident
of Dupont Circle since the 1980s, has been a
journalist specializing in science and investigative reporting for over 30 years.
The store’s name reflects how the McMillan Park
legacy resonates in the neighborhood.
Copyright © 2016 InTowner Publishing Corp. &
William G. Schulz. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part without permission is prohibited,
except as provided by 17 U.S.C. §§107 & 108 (“fair
use”).
Page 5 • The InTowner • October 2016
POLICING
assignments were completely inconsistent. The
From p. 1
group was assigned a community police officer for
They desire ongoing communication with
about six months until the
the local officers for crime prevention as
officer was transferred.
well as crime solving.
Then another officer was
More than 30 InTowner readers were
assigned until she retired
interviewed and they saw no evidence of
five months later. One
community policing, whether they lived
business owner simply
in Columbia Heights, Dupont Circle or
called it, “disheartening.”
Capitol Hill. Most have no idea as to their
Some might confuse
neighborhood patrol police.
the concept of commuMost barely know where their police subnity policing with that of
station is. Sporadically, residents see police
“broken windows” policwalking the sidewalks, but there is little stoping or nuisance policing
ping and talking with either the business
that became popular in the
operators or neighbors. Police seem to be
1990s. They are very differbasically talking to other police.
ent. The broken windows
The top echelon of the Metropolitan
approach was celebrated
Police Department (MPD), such as forby former New York City
mer Chief of Police Cathy Lanier, seem
Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
to understand the concept and promote
This approach directs
community policing. Implementation by
patrol police to watch
the officers, however, seems to be the issue.
out for the little things
Often, when police are asked about comthat may set the stage for
munity policing they make references to
more serious crimes -- loitheir monthly police community meetings.
tering, littering, graffiti,
Those evening meetings are usually poorly
marijuana smoking, minor
attended, and mostly always by the same
photo--Larry Ray--InTowner.
vandalism, etc. Pursuant
handful of neighbors. Neither is much is The 4th District Police Substation is named to honor 16-year veteran to this policy, journalaccomplished. While these kinds of meet- Sergeant Gerard W. Burke, Jr. who died while off-duty on March 23, ist Samantha Sunne was
ings may be related to community policing, 2006. While driving his own car, he spotting a Honda that raised arrested and placed on
As he called it in, he experienced a medical emergency
they are far from what is understood by the suspicion.
probation for having putand his car slammed into the Honda, which had been stolen, causing
professionals as being the bedrock of com- his death.
ting her feet on a New
munity policing.
York subway car seat. This
One anonymous patrol police officer put mer prosecutor Paul Butler gave another policy supposedly creates a semblance of
it like this: “The top police brass love the perspective. He asserted that he has known neighborhood order which in turn lowers
idea of community policing but they don’t many police and in his view, people become the crime rate. Evidence of its efficacy, howhave to do it. We police would rather stay police because they want to apprehend “ the ever, is inconclusive.
safely in our cars using our computers bad guys.” On one hand, this sounds good,
Community policing is very different.
and phones. In fact, community policing but on the other, this is contrary to com- This concept seeks to form a partnership
is antithetical to how we were trained as munity policing which is about prevention between the community and police. Police
police. We were trained in apprehension, rather than apprehension.
This statement proves to be true. The are asked to get out of their cars, walk the
not prevention. We were trained in gun use,
Columbia Heights 11th Street Neighborhood beat, chat with and actually get to know
investigation and fast, but safe car driving.”
a neighborhood’s residents and businessDuring an interview on Diane Rehm’s and Business Association begged for com- people.
September 12, 2018 WAMU interview munity policing when the businesses there
The U.S. Department of Justice created
show, Georgetown Law Professor and for- were working to get established. Police its Office of Community Oriented Policing
Services in 1994 with the key components
of community partnerships and police
problem solving strategies. The relationship between communities and police is
complex but a 2014 study published in
the Journal of Experimental Criminology
resulted in mostly positive outcomes from
community policing. Citizen satisfaction
with the police was up in 80 percent of the
communities researched and crime was
down by five to 10 percent.
At the same time, Mayor Muriel Bowser
emphasized the value of community policing at Fortune magazine’s “2015 Most
Powerful Women Summit.” Bowser has
devoted $15 million of the budge to build
police presence in the city’s neighborhoods.
Her plan calls for body cameras, placing
officers in neighborhoods during both the
bad and good times and harsher penalties
for violent crime. She emphasized that the
trust between the police and community is
fragile and needs constant vigilance.
Matthew Mahl, chairman of the MPD
police union, which has 3,600 members,
agrees: “Community policing does work,
this is something that we have been doing
and dedicating a lot of man hours on as an
agency for years. I think the telltale sign of
our success is the trust that a lot of the communities have with the police department
and the access they have to top level officials
within the agency itself. We do not see a lot
of the problems that other police departments around the country are seeing right
First Baptist Church
now because we have been using the community policing model for so long and have
Corner of 16th & O Streets, NW
the officers entrenched in these communities. I think we can always do better, and
202-387-2206 • www.firstbaptistdc.org
we see that in the neighborhoods that are
constantly plagued with violent crimes, but
change does not happen overnight. I think
Internationally Acclaimed Pianist
Thomas Pandolfi
Playing Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein,
Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Prokofiev
A free concert on Sunday,
October 16, at 4:00 p.m.
there will always be room for improvement,
and I think over time we will start to win
some major headway into the communities
that we have had a hard time breaking the
ice with.”
Interim Chief of Police Peter Newsham
told The InTowner that “working hand in
hand with the community and the people
in their neighborhoods is one of the most
effective ways to ensure public safety. This
requires buy-in from community leaders, as
well as on-going conversations between us
and the people we protect on a daily basis.
It’s a mutual effort.”
Still, neighbors wonder if they will see
police on their blocks, will get to know
names, and will be able to communicate
with their beat officers to prevent crimes.
Plan elements such as harsher penalties and
body cameras does not capture this idea.
Businesses surely desire community policing. Fran Levine, co-owner of Soho Tea
and Coffee at 22nd and P Streets says, ?My
partner Helene Bloom and I have owned
and operated Soho Tea and Coffee for 21
years at the same location. I love the idea
of community policing but have seen little
evidence of such. It would be great for our
business if we knew our patrol beat officer.
We know what goes on in the neighborhood
and could share that information with the
police aiming for crime prevention.”
photo--courtesy Fraternal Order of Police, MPD Labor
Committee.
FOP Chairman Matthew N. Mahl
On May 26th, two community police
officers walked into the Fireplace Bar at the,
corner of 22nd and P Streets, NW. They
checked with the manager, Scot, to ensure
all was well, which is was. The officers said
hello to all of the customers, who in turn
applauded the officers. This is the way community policing should work. One of the
customers reported on this excellent policing by email to the then Chief of Police,
Cathy Lanier , who replied, “Great to hear.”
Residents want more of this.
*Larry Ray, an attorney and resident of
Columbia Heights, is a Senior Adjunct
Professor at The George Washington
University School of Law and Senior
Trainer with the American Management
Association. He is a former multi-term
Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in
both Dupont Circle and later in Columbia
Heights and has also served as President
of the North Columbia Heights Civic
Association (NCHCA) and as a member
of the DC Citizens Complaint Police Review
Board. Before relocating to DC early in his
career, he served in the office of the Columbus,
Ohio City Prosecutor and was in charge of the
intake of criminal complaints, mediation and
domestic violence cases.
Copyright © 2016 InTowner Publishing Corp. &
Larry Ray. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole
or in part without permission is prohibited, except
as provided by 17 U.S.C. §§107 & 108 (“fair use”).
Page 6 • The InTowner • October 2016
I’m proud to serve as your Council
member. Together we have made DC the
most dynamic city, county, or state in
America.
I’m asking for your vote November 8th
so that we can keep working to improve
our schools, our communities, our Metro
system, and our District for current and
future residents.
Evans 2016. Robert J. Kimbel, Treasurer. A copy of campaign’s reports filed with the D.C.
Office of Campaign Finance.
Page 7 • The InTowner • October 2016
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
4th & Constitution;
(202) 737-4215
Daily, 10am-5pm / www.nga.gov
By Joseph R. Phelan*
F
Art & Culture
The East Building Reopens:
Part One
or Washingtonians and visitors to our
city who love modern and contemporary art, the reopening of the National
Gallery’s East Building is an occasion for
considerable rejoicing. After a three year
renovation of the I.M. Pei building -- iconic,
for sure, but not very satisfactory for displaying art -- there is more floor space, 12,250
square feet more, and more floors, to display
the permanent collection and for special
exhibitions.
In the past, some 350 works were on display but through the makeover, the Gallery
can now show 500 works in different media
-- prints, drawings, photographs, and videos can be seen alongside the paintings
and sculpture. Numerous works from the
Corcoran have been added. There are also
several spectacular gifts and long-term loans.
In many ways the reinstallation feels like a
new museum, one that could easily have
been overwhelming but is, instead, coherent, exhilarating and thought-provoking. In
what follows, I have only picked out a few
artists, works and connections that caught
my imagination.
First, let me offer the briefest overview
of what to expect. Harry Cooper, Head of
Modern Art, who is responsible for the reinstallation of the collection, has chosen to
and disturb the complacency and mendacity of his bourgeoisie audience.
Nietzsche proposed a revolutionary role
for the artist as the prophet/legislator of a
new order. Such ideas inspired the next
vanguard movement, Der Blaue Reiter
(The Blue Rider), a group of younger artists working in Germany in 1911. Led by
Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc and Paul
Klee, they sought to establish this new path
for art. Kandinsky’s Improvisation 31 (Sea
Battle) from 1913 is an especially interesting attempt to push toward pure abstract
painting. What at first lo oks like an explosion of delicate colors is on closer inspection an apocalyptical sea battle inspired
by, among other Biblical texts, the Book of
Revelations. Completed a year before the
beginning of the Great War and four years
before the Russian Revolution, it seems an
uncanny premonition of the furies soon to
be unleashed. Astonishingly, Kandinsky’s
manifesto “On the Spiritual in Art” looks
forward to both cataclysms as the necessary
punishment for Western civilization’s worship of materialism.
General view looking through the new mezzanine galleries. On the plinth
on the right side of the front room is German Expressionist Ernst Barlach’s
The Avenger (1914).
and Alexander Calder. Their galleries are
connected by a rooftop sculpture terrace
with a striking view of Pennsylvania Avenue
from the Capitol to the White House.
While one could start on any floor, my
suggestion would be to begin on the mezzanine with the anchors of the permanent collection, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso,
the two greatest
figurative painters
of the 20th century.
Among the foundational early works,
Matisse’s 1905 Open
Window, Collioure
offers a breathtaking view through a
French window at
blue boats bobbing
on a pink sea under
a turquoise sky. The
juxtaposition of this
seminal fauvist work
alongside paintings
Alexander Calder’s creations now have one of the Tower galleries devoted to
by Paul Gauguin
his works.
and Vincent Van
arrange the works in roughly chronological Gogh reveals the secret the younger painter
order so that visitors can follow the develop- learned from these older masters -- how to
ment of modern art as they walk through, emancipate color from its naturalistic role
and up, the four levels of galleries: ascend- to one that expressed the artist’s unique
ing from the Post- Impressionism at the end vision of life. In order to “to make my colors
of the 19th century on the ground floor; sing,” Matisse set complementary pairs of
to Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism colors next to each other thereby intensifyon the mezzanine; and then to surrealism, ing them and achieving an unprecedented
abstract expressionism, pop, op, minimal- overall effect of luminosity for this picture
of arcadia. With this breakthrough work, the
ism, etc. on the upper level.
Finally, there are three large sky lighted expressive tradition of modern art was born.
Not to be outdone, 24-year-old Pablo
galleries on the tower level devoted to the
Picasso’s
The Family of the Saltimbanques
artists most closely associated with the East
Building: Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman from 1905 offers a six-foot group portrait
Fauvist and Cubist works (left & right sides, respectively) displayed in a manner to interact with each
other. The large vertical painting seen on the far right is Picasso’s Nude Women (1910) and just to the
left is Cezanne’s Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit (ca. 1900).
of itinerant circus
performers in a
barren landscape.
The
harlequin
figure on the left
is his alter ego, a
stand-in for his
own conflicted status on the margins
Pablo Picasso’s The Family of the Saltimbanques (1905) prominently displayed
among others of his early works.
Among works by artists affiliated with German
Expressionism’s Die Brucke (The Bridge) movement is
Ernst Kirchner’s Two Girls Under the Umbrella (1905), seen
second from the right.
of Parisian society. This autobiographical
work is at the same time, direct, delicate and
full of the richest artistic resonance within
the European tradition from Tiepolo and
Watteau to Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec;
the first “museum” masterpiece of the
Spaniard’s very long career.
By juxtaposing Family alongside
Cezanne’s work, we grasp another source
of modern art, the cerebral, intellectual side
that would lead Picasso to invent Cubism
with Georges Braque a few years later.
Picasso’s Nude Women of 1910 with its
fragmentation and fracturing of the human
figure into disembodied shards shocked and
puzzled audiences expecting, well, a nude
woman. Safe to say it still does.
Thanks to the Expressionist paintings
on long-term loan from the Salzman
Collection, we can see how German artists used the Fauvist technique to plumb
emotional and psychological depths hostile
to Matisse’s joie de vivre. Ernst Kirchner’s
1905 Two Girls Under the Umbrella with
its aggressive, clashing colors and sharp,
angular nudity is fauvism with a troubled
conscience. Die Brucke (The Bridge), the
group of artists which Kirchner founded at
this time, was inspired by the ideas of the
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. In his
prose poem, “Thus Spake Zarathustra,” the
eponymous prophet proclaims, “What is
great about man is that he is a bridge and
not a goal.” The art that Kirchner and his
followers fashioned was designed to trouble
Of course, the Great War brought
four years of death and destruction
on an unimaginable scale. It also
brought into existence two sculptural works of high seriousness.
Ernst Barlach’s The Avenger (1914)
represents concisely the aggressive
and horrific forward movement of
the enemy at the beginning of
that catastrophe while Wilhelm
Lehmbruck Seated Youth (1918)
captures the reflective and melan-
Shown here from the post-World War I years is
Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s imposing sculpture, Seated
Youth (1918).
cholic state of the survivor or mourner at the
end. The latter piece influenced the sculptors Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore,
both of whom will be discussed in Part Two
of this essay. [Ed. note: to be published in
the November issue.]
Copyright © 2016 InTowner Publishing Corp. &
Joseph R. Phelan. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part without permission is prohibited,
except as provided by 17 U.S.C. §107 (“fair use”).
*Joseph R. Phelan is a Washington based
author and teacher. He is the founding editor of Artcyclopedia.com, the fine art search
engine. He has taught at the Catholic
University of America and the University of
Maryland University College.