COACH HONORED
St. Jerome basketball court is named after a coach and teacher passionate about education and students. P. 10
ARTOMATIC
Hyattsville artists Scooter Johnson, Paul Hrusa and Maurie Kathan are showing art at this massive festival. P. 4
Family-owned jeweler moves into their dream space
FINDING A HOME
Two dogs, Dink and Blue Bell, find new homes at a Big Bad Woof adoption event. P. 3
Life&Times & &Times
by Rebecca Bennett
Along with the revitalization happening in the City of Hyattsville came the rebirth of a family legacy. After 62 years in business, Fleisher’s Jewelers liquidated its inventory and closed its doors on Christmas Eve 2012 only to emerge nearly three years later amidst a business shuffle in Historic Hyattsville. Fred Fleisher’s father, William Fleisher, opened the store in 1949, he said. Its original location was in Mount Rainier, but it moved into a larger space in 1962 next to what was then the Giant on Queens Chapel Road. Fleisher said he first started working in his father’s store in 1976 and eventually went on to run it. “I’ve sold a kid his school ring [in junior high], his first ring for his girlfriend, their engagement ring, their anniversary ring and then they bring in their kids …” Fleisher said. William Fleisher retired from the store in 1999 and passed away on July 3, 2014. Fleisher and partner Luis Pena said they left their previous space in Chillum because of increasing rent and other economic reasons. Fleisher said he did everything to keep the store afloat.
NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID EASTON MD PERMIT NO. 43
FLEISHERS continued on page 11
Vol. 12 No. 11
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
SILENT DISCO FLASH MOB
Apartments, townhomes planned for West Hyattsville Metro
Developers try again after previous plan failed in economic recession REBECCA BENNETT On Nov. 7, a small silent disco flash mob started at 39th Avenue and Madison Street and made its way down Longfellow Street. Participants each listened to their own soundtracks and danced to their own beat. The event was organized by local residents via Facebook.
Local band Blue Plains says music flows organically by Caroline Selle
Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781
November 2015
Adam Ortiz and Lee Cain are environmental professionals by day and musicians by night—well, Tuesday nights. “Pretty consistently, Adam and I have played every Tuesday evening for three years,” Cain said. “Tuesday is the day we don’t schedule stuff.” No happy hours, no conference calls, no community meetings. It’s quite the BLUE PLAINS continued on page 6
SHANI WARNER The band Blue Plains played Vigilante Coffeeʼs Second Saturdays Hyattsville Music Showcase in October.
by Rebecca Bennett
A parcel of land near the West Hyattsville Metro Station was purchased for more than $7 million in September, property records show. Representatives from the buyer, a development company called West Hyattsville Property Company, LLC, presented a general plan for the land to the community on Oct. 28. The project would include 460 to 500 units, of which approximately 250 would be apartments in four- or five-story buildings. The rest would be 16-, 20- or 24-foot townhomes, according to Mike Sponseller of Hogan Companies, a representative and advisor to the West Hyattsville Property Co. There would be a number of green spaces, he said. “It's taken us 30 years for us to do anything but have a bite," Prince George’s County Councilmember Deni Taveras (District 2) said. “I wanted to see a new vision for the West Hyattsville Metro stop." The parcel at 5620 Ager Road is approximately 18.5 acres. It rests between the Kirkwood Apartments and the metro station. The property is bordered on the south, in part by a small parcel of land owned by WMATA. It is bordered on the west by the Anacostia River and a strip of land owned by the Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation, according to Sponseller. The site is currently home to a large, old warehouse that Taveras said had most likely been vacant WEST HYATTSVILLE continued on page 12
CENTER SECTION: NOVEMBER 11, 2015 ISSUE OF THE HYATTSVILLE REPORTER — IN ESPANOL TOO!