NEIGHBORHOOD
ANC 6E
A
by Pleasant Mann
dvisory Neighborhood Commission 6E held its monthly meeting for May 2021 on Tuesday evening, May 4. Commission Chair Rachelle Nigro (6E04) called the meeting to order with Michael Eichler (6E01, vice chair), Alex Lopez (6E02, secretary), Frank Wiggins (6E03, treasurer), Patrick Parlej (6E05), Denise Blackson (6E06) and Kevin Rogers (6E07) in attendance.
ments. If the District determines that an encampment has to be removed, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) posts a notice, and homeless advocates help people relocate with their belongings. DPW only has the responsibility to remove the remnants of the encampment after people have left.
DPW Director Visits
Capt. Jonathan Dorrough of the First Police District observed that violent and property crimes for the month remained flat compared to the same month last year. There was a robbery at Tyler House and an assault with a deadly weapon last month, where a gun was pointed at someone after a traffic accident. There was a homicide on First Street when a person drew a gun and was shot in a struggle for it. The incident was ruled a justifiable homicide. Parlej said he had received complaints about the Patricia Handy Women’s Shelter, which was recently converted to a men’s shelter. Dorrough noted that a women’s shelter may not have as many community issues, but that not every annoyance is a crime. Answering a question about noise from ATVs, Dorrough noted that ATVs were a chronic problem. The police try to identify riders through camera photos. Blackson was concerned that police were not consistently monitoring the 1900 block of First Place NW. Dorrough characterized the problem as a lack of manpower, with 70% of the force for the area monitoring those two blocks. Capt. Augustine of the Third Police District started by clarifying that while riding ATVs is illegal in the District, owning them is not il-
Acting Director Christine Davis of the Department of Public Works (DPW) joined the meeting to respond to issues raised by a resolution passed last month for the District to address the dumping of private trash in public bins. Davis said that DPW was reassessing its cans. DPW does issue tickets for private dumping, but it needs to have evidence of the identity of the dumper. Most dumpers are smart enough to avoid leaving mail in their trash. DPW is working on a public campaign against dumping. Nigro asked if DPW could use videos to identify dumpers. Wiggins mentioned the problem of a street memorial set up with beer bottles to commemorate a shooting. Davis said that DPW wants to be sensitive and not clean up memorials too soon after an incident. A resident said that she sees DPW empty the public cans, but they are quickly filled again. Sometimes the crews let trash spill on the sidewalk when they empty them. Davis suggested calling the Core Team to resolve problems like these. Wiggins added that he had not gotten a DPW response to his 311 requests after three months. A question came up about DPW’s role in removing homeless encamp-
2 6 M I D CI T Y D C N EWS . C O M
Police Service Area (PSA) Reports
legal. There was a homicide April 18 on the 1600 block of Seventh Street, with a suspect arrested. There were a number of violent crimes last month, but most were closed by arrests. April 23 saw a string of airbags stolen from cars parked on Seventh Street from the 1300 block going north. Wiggins asked about a block party that spontaneously started on Sixth Street the previous Wednesday. Augustine said that the police only heard about the party, which included food trucks, after it started. They brought in some units to monitor the situation, but it was the same night as President Biden’s address to Congress. The block party went from about 2 p.m. to 1 a.m. Eichler added that some of his constituents were wakened by noise at 3 a.m. Augustine concluded that the police need help from other District agencies to deal with problems like this.
Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Committee (ABC)
1748 Seventh St. NW, Angel’s Share: request for renewal of Class A license. The owner was not available for the ANC meeting but did attend the committee meeting. Committee Chair Alex Padro said that the store’s only violation was a sale to a minor, for which it received an official warning. The committee supported renewal of the license. The ANC supported the renewal by a vote of five yeses, one abstention (Blackson had left the meeting). 1618 Eighth St. NW, ABT Liquors: renewal of license request. Padro said that there were some issues Eichler had to work out with the owner, so they want to have the matter deferred until the next ANC meeting. 1550 Seventh St. NW, Grand
Cata: renewal of license. Grand Cata had three license violations in 2019, two involving sales to minors. An owner told the ANC that the store now has software that will ensure that IDs are checked and validated. The commission supported the renewal. 1401 Sixth St. NW, ABC Grocery: renewal of license. No representative of the grocery attended the meeting, but Padro noted that it had been operating for 28 years and had no infractions over the past two years. Support for the renewal passed. 446 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Guilford Liquor: renewal of license. Padro noted that it had been under the same ownership for 15 years. It had one violation on the record for failure to have an alcohol manager on duty. The owner said that the problem is being corrected by getting a second certified alcohol manager. Support for the renewal passed. 425 I St. NW, Eye Street Cellars: renewal of license. Padro mentioned it had been in business for over 35 years. The store had one sale-to-minor violation, which was its second infraction. It now has technology to scan and verify IDs to prevent this problem. The committee recommended supporting the renewal. Renewal was supported by the commission in a vote of six yeses, one abstention. 500 K St. NW, Select Reserves: request for license renewal. In business for five years, with no violations in the last two years, it gained approval for its request by a vote of five yeas, one abstention. 1027 Seventh St. NW, Petite Cerise: request for a new restaurant license from the proprietors of The Dabney restaurant in Blagden Alley. The committee supported the request after a settlement agreement was drafted. The restaurant will seat 150 with 25 seated outdoors from 7
