Washington City Paper (March 20, 2020)

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POLITICS: COUNCIL VOTES FOR REMOTE MEETINGS 3 SPORTS: COVID-19 HALTS EVENTS, SADDENS FANS 8 ARTS: MUSICIANS COPE WITH CANCELED GIGS 12

FREE VOLUME 40, NO. 11 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM MARCH 20–26, 2020

If you are experiencing homelessness or unstable housing, we have resources for you on page 3.

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With COVID-19 canceling all major sporting events, what happens to athletes, fans, and sports media members?

DISTRICT LINE 3 Resource Center: How those experiencing homelessness and hunger can find relief during troubling times 3 Loose Lips: The D.C. Council passes emergency coronavirus legislation and prepares to work remotely.

4 Unsheltered in the Storm: During a state of emergency, D.C. officials still initiated an encampment clearing.

6 Oy Virus: Constantly changing guidance allows coronavirus to spread at a local synagogue.

FOOD 10 The No-Service Industry: A ravaged restaurant industry waits for help while still feeding residents.

ARTS 12 The Day the Music Died: With all gigs canceled, local musicians struggle to make ends meet.

14 Liz at Large: “Brave” 14 Short Subjects: Zilberman on Swallow

CITY LIST 16 City Lights: Events are canceled, but we’re still recommending ways to fill your time.

DIVERSIONS 11 Crossword 18 Savage Love 19 Classifieds

DARROW MONTGOMERY 700 BLOCK OF 15TH ST. NW (REAR), MARCH 6

EDITORIAL

INTERIM EDITOR: CAROLINE JONES ARTS EDITOR: KAYLA RANDALL FOOD EDITOR: LAURA HAYES SPORTS EDITOR: KELYN SOONG LOOSE LIPS REPORTER: MITCH RYALS CITY DESK REPORTER: AMANDA MICHELLE GOMEZ CITY LIGHTS EDITOR: EMMA SARAPPO STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: DARROW MONTGOMERY MULTIMEDIA AND COPY EDITOR: WILL WARREN CREATIVE DIRECTOR: JULIA TERBROCK ONLINE ENGAGEMENT MANAGER: ELIZABETH TUTEN DESIGN ASSISTANT: MADDIE GOLDSTEIN EDITORIAL INTERN: KENNEDY WHITBY CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: MORGAN BASKIN, MICHON BOSTON, KRISTON CAPPS, CHAD CLARK, MATT COHEN, RACHEL M. COHEN, RILEY CROGHAN, JEFFRY CUDLIN, EDDIE DEAN, CUNEYT DIL, TIM EBNER, CASEY EMBERT, JONATHAN L. FISCHER, NOAH GITTELL, SRIRAM GOPAL, HAMIL R. HARRIS, LOUIS JACOBSON, JOSHUA KAPLAN, CHRIS KELLY, AMAN KIDWAI, STEVE KIVIAT, CHRIS KLIMEK, PRIYA KONINGS, NEVIN MARTELL, KEITH MATHIAS, BRIAN MCENTEE, CANDACE Y.A. MONTAGUE, BRIAN MURPHY, BILL MYERS, NENET, TRICIA OLSZEWSKI, EVE OTTENBERG, MIKE PAARLBERG, PAT PADUA, JUSTIN PETERS, REBECCA J. RITZEL, ABID SHAH, TOM SHERWOOD, CHRISTINA STURDIVANT SANI, MATT TERL, IAN THAL, SIDNEY THOMAS, HAYWOOD TURNIPSEED JR., JOE WARMINSKY, ALONA WARTOFSKY, JUSTIN WEBER, MICHAEL J. WEST, DIANA MICHELE YAP, ALAN ZILBERMAN

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Resource Center the Centers for DIsease Control anD PreventIon, as well as the D.C. government, are urging residents to stay in their homes and conduct only essential travel.

While we hope people will heed this guidance to the best of their abilities, we know that many residents don’t necessarily have a home to stay in. If you are experiencing homelessness, housing instability, or hunger, the following resources are available to you.

If you need immediate shelter in an emergency, all of the city’s low-barrier shelters, family shelters, and shelters that serve youth will remain open. Contact the Department of Human Services at (202) 6714200 for a full list of those locations. Those low-barrier shelters will also stay open during the day and serve lunch, according to a service update from the Department of Human Services, but the Downtown Day Services Center and Adams Place Day Center are both closed. If you need transport to shelter, call D.C.’s shelter hotline at (202) 399-7093 or 311.

Other day centers that are open include: Miriam’s Kitchen (2401 Virginia Ave. NW), which will serve breakfast and dinner; N Street Village Women’s Day Center (1333 N St. NW), which will provide bag lunch and dinner; So Others Might Eat (71 O St. NW), which will continue to serve meals; and Thrive D.C. (1525 Newton St. NW), which will serve food Monday through Friday and provide clients with bags of pantry staples on certain days.

There are over 40 sites in most wards across the District where D.C. will serve meals for limited hours to people under 18, as well as several sites where seniors can access free meals. Find addresses for those sites and hours of operation at coronavirus. dc.gov/mealsites.

If you’re experiencing domestic violence and need help seeking shelter, call the District’s 24/7 emergency hotline at 1-844-4HELPDC. Other mutual aid efforts are circulating online: College students who need a place to stay in the wake of university closures can reach out to DC Solidarity Housing, a network of locals who are opening their homes to those who need a bed; through GW Mutual Aid, George Washington University students can find places to stay for free or carpool with people leaving D.C. Bread for the City’s Northwest Medical Clinic is operating under limited hours for urgent patient visits only; call their office (202) 386-7020 for more information.

DC Public Schools have closed until April 1. To secure daytime child care, you can apply for subsidized care through the Congress Heights (4049 S Capitol St. SW) or Taylor Street (1207 Taylor St. NW) Service Centers.

—Morgan Baskin

DISTRICTLINE LOOSE LIPS

Meeting Adjourned

The D.C. Council passed an emergency bill to dull the impact of coronavirus after some last minute amendments from Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray.

By Mitch Ryals It only took a global pandemic to bring two reliably adversarial branches of the D.C. government into agreement. In what will likely be its final in-person legislative meeting for several weeks, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation Tuesday afternoon aimed at addressing many of the immediate impacts of the coronavirus.

The sweeping bill includes provisions intended to help hourly and contract employees, small businesses and nonprofits, renters, people receiving public benefits such as SNAP and TANF, people who need prescription drug refills, people seeking homeless services, and DC Jail inmates, among others.

The bill also pauses the clock on Freedom of Information Act response deadlines, extends the deadline for Mayor Muriel Bowser to submit her budget to the Council from March 19 to May 6, and allows the Council to meet remotely. (The FOIA pause, in LL’s experience, is a waste of time because the D.C. government generally treats the 15-day legal deadline as more of a loose guideline anyway.)

Ahead of the unanimous vote, each of the 12 councilmembers—apparently in no hurry to leave room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building, which held more than the 50 people currently allowed to gather in one place—took turns, as they always do, to pat each other on the back.

One by one, each councilmember sang the familiar refrain: They each thanked the chairman, Phil Mendelson, and his staff; they thanked their colleagues and their staffs; they thanked their own staffs, and the chief financial officer, and the Council secretary, and the general counsel, and the Council budget director, and the assistant budget director, and the attorney general.

Of course they thanked the mayor for her leadership, and they praised the hard decisions she’s had to make. The only people the lawmakers did not shower with praise was themselves. That would be tacky.

But the afternoon, while predictable, was not devoid of a bit of excitement. That came courtesy of Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray,

who lobbed two last minute amendments that caused Mendelson to bristle.

The chairman complained to his Ward 7 colleague, a former Council chairman himself, about the late introductions, which he says were shared with his office 10 minutes before the scheduled start of the day’s public meetings. Gray disputed that, saying that in fact his office circulated the amendments at midnight.

Gray’s first amendment removes the trigger that would activate United Medical Center’s financial control board if the hospital exceeds its $22.14 million subsidy from the District. Mendelson accepted the change, clarifying that the amendment only applies for as long as the Mayor’s declared state of emergency is in effect.

“I have no idea how we’re gonna conduct the next meeting.

This is a mystery to me. Maybe I’ll learn new technologies.”

The second amendment, which was of particular interest to former At-Large Councilmember David Catania, who attended the meeting and told LL he was there to monitor Gray’s amendment, would have created a grant program to funnel money to private health care providers. Catania served on the Council from 1997 to 2015, when he gave up his seat to launch an unsuccessful bid for mayor. After leaving elected life, Catania opened a lobbying shop and has represented clients in the health care industry. He declined to comment after the meeting.

Mendelson said he met with Catania about the measure and, after discussions with Bowser, decided that the grant fund was unnecessary for the time being.

Gray, who says he also met with Catania about the grant program, felt enough pushback from Mendelson, and withdrew the

amendment. After the meeting, Gray told LL that he also spoke with private health care providers, who made an impassioned plea, which apparently had an impact on him.

In another post-meeting conversation, Mendelson told LL that he believes the mayor already has the authority to do much of what Gray’s amendment sought.

“Setting up a fund out of which no money can be spent because it hasn’t been appropriated, and using the reserve funds for the private sector, because that’s what we’re talking about, hospitals in the private sector, these are all legal questions, and they were not resolved,” he said.

If Gray’s efforts to squeeze a Catania-supported amendment into an emergency bill during a global pandemic provided the buzz, CFO Jeffrey DeWitt was there to sober the place up.

The hospitality industry accounts for 30 to 50 percent of the District’s sales tax revenue, DeWitt said, which comes to about $787 million in a normal year. It accounts for about 14 percent of D.C.’s employment and provides 8 percent of income tax revenue.

If the public health crisis doesn’t turn around and hospitality businesses remain closed for an extended period, he said D.C. will have to cut $500 million from its 2020 spending. The city could be looking at about 15 to 20 percent unemployment on a temporary basis.

“Whatever we choose to do, the community needs assistance to recover, but we also have to make sure we get through this,” DeWitt said, promising to give the mayor and chairman weekly updates.

“No matter what you think you know, you don’t know, and it will change,” he added. “Who would have thought restaurants would close three weeks ago and hotels would be where they are?”

After the meeting, Mendelson was similarly unsure how remote Council meetings would work. “I have no idea how we’re gonna conduct the next meeting,” he told LL. “This is a mystery to me. Maybe I’ll learn new technologies.”

CP

washingtoncitypaper.com march 20, 2020 3

DISTRICTLINE CITY DESK

Unsheltered in the Storm The coronavirus crisis didn’t stop an encampment clearing.

The day afTer Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency in the District of Columbia over the global coronavirus pandemic, D.C. government workers swept the homeless encampments around 17th and Corcoran streets NW. “You are not afraid of the coronavirus?” asked Stevie, 34, to no one in particular.

Stevie’s friends and acquaintances were not concerned about the virus, but about her.

They showed up to help her temporarily move.

Stevie lives in a tent with her partner—or as she calls Savon, “my other half ”—in front of the Safeway at 1701 Corcoran Street NW. On Thursday, the D.C. Department of Human Services’ homeless outreach team was tasked with sweeping Stevie’s tent and another tent in front of McDonald’s on 17th Street NW for public safety and health reasons.

“Are you keeping calm?” Stevie’s friend Tim asked her.

Stevie, who declined to give her last name, replied, “Yes.” “Good. Keep calm and carry on, that’s what you got to do,” Tim said assuringly.

More than 20 people—including DHS staff, sanitation workers, homeless outreach workers with Miriam’s Kitchen, a lawyer with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, police, and volunteers—gathered around 9 a.m. for a scheduled clearing of the Dupont encampments. By noon, Stevie and the other encamped residents had returned their tents and other personal belongings to their usual spots in front of the Safeway and McDonald’s. They moved back as soon as the sanitation workers finished removing any trash or debris that was left behind.

The morning was an emotional one. The people that helped Stevie and others move their stuff from one part of the sidewalk to another did not heed the public health recommendation to practice “social distancing”— that is, to limit social interactions and stay at least six feet away from anyone you do encounter in order to slow the spread of the virus.

J Bernick, a friend of Stevie’s, embraced her before leaving because they knew how emotionally taxing the day was. An elbow bump, in this case, wasn’t enough.

The day became especially tense when Lawrence Sprowls, who lives in a nearby apartment building, confronted Stevie for

Photos by Amanda Michelle Gomez

By Amanda Michelle Gomez

Government workers sweeping a Dupont encampment

A volunteer helps an encamped resident temporarily move for a government clearing.

4 march 20, 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

not leaving permanently and began taking photos of Stevie and her belongings on his cell phone. Sprowls told City Paper he has called and emailed the mayor’s office multiple times since January to complain about the Dupont encampments, and has gone as far as offering Stevie money so she would leave the neighborhood for good. Stevie says Sprowls has even pointed a finger gun at her, which Sprowls independently confirmed. It made her nervous but didn’t scare her off.

“I want her to go away,” says Sprowls, a retired IT worker who’s lived in the area since the 1990s. When asked why the encampments irk him so much, Sprowls says “it is a degradation of the neighborhood. Every little thing that the city does to enable bad behavior makes it worse to live here.”

At one point, Sprowls and another neighbor that declined to give his name got into a verbal altercation with volunteers that helped encamped residents temporarily move. “Move her into your backyard if you want to save the world,” yelled the neighbor. The altercation dissipated when the group of five realized no one was convincing anyone of anything.

Before moving to Dupont Circle five months ago, Stevie used to stay at a tent in the K Street NE underpass in NoMa that was permanently cleared in January to make room for a pedestrian walkway. She’s been trying to move off the streets, but she and an outreach worker with Miriam’s Kitchen have had trouble proving that she’s been chronically homeless for at least a year, which could make her eligible for a housing voucher.

The other tent that was temporarily cleared shelters Keith Richardson. He’s been living in the tent in front of the McDonald’s for nearly two months now, after he was kicked out of the 801 East Men’s Shelter in Southeast D.C. for getting into a physical altercation. He says he was enrolled in the shelter’s transitional rehabilitation program because he’s long struggled with substance misuse, but was recently asked to leave after he defended himself in a fight.

“I left home at 13 years old,” Richardson tells City Paper, “and I was already addicted to drugs by that point.”

Richardson has gone through a lot in his life, but he gets by with help from his church and friends. A new friend of his, Robert Williams, actually pitched the tent in front of McDonald’s and let Richardson stay there when he got kicked out of the shelter. The tent has become

home to many people experiencing homelessness over the past couple years, including Alice Carter, who died in December. While he’s thankful that the sanitation workers picked up the trash near his tent, Richardson says the sweep itself—the act of having to move his belongings just to return them in an hour or so—is hurtful. It’s made more difficult because he has a disability and relies on a walker.

“I turned my back to it, so I didn’t have to actually look at what was going on behind me,” says Richardson. “I have schizophrenia, depression, and I have PTSD. I’m on medication for all of those things and I get really emotional … I’m really weepy in the morning so I did not want to look at that and get emotional over what’s happening.”

Given that tensions are high right now and people can become irritable during sweeps, as perhaps was the case on Thursday, advocates for people experiencing homelessness called on the mayor’s office to cut back on the regularly scheduled clearings and just remove trash. During trash removals, encamped residents do not need to temporarily move all their belongings but can set aside trash they want the Department of Public Works to throw away.

“Everything is so influx and dangerous right now, it just seems like that would be a smart move by the city,” says Ann Marie Staudenmaier, a staff attorney with Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. “Honestly, when we are there for those cleanups, we are dragging people’s tents away and we are making very close contact with people … you are not supposed to be in close contact with anybody right now.”

When City Paper asked about this issue during a press conference on Friday, Bowser said the executive would provide an update at a later date. She reassured the public that homeless outreach workers with the D.C. government are continuing to provide services to people experiencing homelessness and are distributing hand sanitizer. As of Monday morning, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services had “encampment protocol engagements” scheduled through the second week of April on its website, but by the end of the work day, April dates were removed and the March dates listed were “trash-only engagements”.

City Paper reached out to DMHHS for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication. Advocates who work with people experiencing homelessness learned Monday that DMHHS would suspend encampment clearings through March.

These clearings have typically occurred Tuesdays and Thursdays for the last three to four years, says Staudenmaier. While she wasn’t present at the sweep in Dupont Circle on Thursday (another lawyer with Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless was), Staudenmaier has gone to plenty to make sure encamped residents’ rights are not being violated. She says these clearings are generally disruptive, especially when they occur in crowded encampment sites like in NoMa, where tents line M and L streets NE. “It doesn’t accomplish anything,” Stauden-

maier tells City Paper. “All it does is make life more difficult for people whose lives are already incredibly difficult. It’s just this unnecessary exercise of ‘we are in charge and we are going to make your life miserable. If you don’t move your stuff, we are going to throw it away.’”

It’s unclear how DMHHS picks an encampment site to sweep, but the agency has received multiple emails from people complaining about the Dupont encampments.

These encampments have become a point of contention among residents who live in nearby apartment buildings. The advisory neighborhood commissioner for that area, Aaron Landry, has received various calls and emails about the Dupont encampments.

“The people who don’t mind them there don’t necessarily speak up to me. And I’ve asked some neighbors what they thought. I had a neighbor, a guy in his 20s, and he said ‘yeah, they’ve been friendly to me and if I have spare change, I’ll give it to them. No problem.’

It’s no issue,” says Landry. “And then I have some other neighbors that compare what’s happening with their own problems on their own property. People say ‘well, if I do this with my trash or if I leave this out on the sidewalk, I’m going to get a fine but these people get to do whatever they want.’”

Most who write to him, Landry says, are genuinely frustrated because they see the city offering homeless services but they do not see these services reaching the people in their neighborhood. Some housed residents do write to him just to complain about the unhoused residents.

“This homeless situation has [e]scalated to the highest peak,” wrote one Dupont resident on Oct. 30 to Landry’s government email address. “It is unbelievable that residents who pay their taxes and follow all the rules have to tolerate these types of unpleasant situations ranging from harassment and insults if you do not provide them with money.”

Landry forwards these emails to the mayor’s office so they know how his constituents feel or he has the constituents call the city directly.

Sometimes these conversations are in private. City Paper learned of a private Facebook group called “1630 R Street” where one of the administrators of the 51-member group reached out to DMHHS to complain about the Dupont encampments. The agency responded to say there is a scheduled cleanup for March 12.

“Unfortunately, we are unable to restrict the encampment residents from returning, after we have finished with the cleanup,” wrote the DMHHS encampment coordinator. “Persons with no housing alternatives living on the street are protected in part under the 4th and 6th Amendments of the US Constitution.”

Screenshots from the group also show that residents in the building had issues with encamped residents and residents who use housing vouchers to pay rent, accusing the latter of breaking building rules and causing disturbances. City Paper reached out to the two administrators of the Facebook group, but they declined to be quoted in the article.

CP

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DISTRICTLINE Oy Virus

Farragutful via Wikimedia Commons

At least four cases of coronavirus are linked to Ohev Sholom—The National Synagogue.

By Mitch Ryals At leAst four people associated with Ohev Sholom—The National Synagogue have tested positive for coronavirus, according to emails from the synagogue’s leaders to its members.

The Shepherd Park synagogue, which counts more than 350 families as members and is led by the politically active Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, has canceled all services indefinitely, the emails say, and is urging members who gathered at certain events as far back as March 6 to self-quarantine for 14 days.

“Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, another positive case of coronavirus among our members was reported to us last night,” a March 16 email from executive director Monica Wolfe says. “That makes a total of four confirmed cases among our members that we know of.

“Given the limited testing to date, the true total is likely higher,” the email continues.

“And anyone who has been to synagogue over the past 14 days should assume that he or she has been exposed - and act accordingly. That means staying at home and refraining from social gatherings, including playdates.”

There were 31 positive cases in D.C. and more than 100 in the DMV area as of Tuesday, and the global pandemic continues to spread throughout the District metropolitan area, with victims connected to the military, schools, hospitals, the courts, and religious institutions. Leaders of those religious institutions have drawn much attention as their decisions hold sway over hundreds, possibly thousands of people seeking to do the one thing authorities are recommending against: gathering together in large groups.

Emails provided to City Paper from March

6 march 20, 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

12 through March 16 reveal leaders of Ohev Sholom’s initial reluctance to completely close their doors, apparently at the advice of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office, their quick reversal in an effort to keep up with rapidly changing and confusing guidance, and one member’s journey from learning of their potential exposure to living under quarantine.

In that five day time frame, for example, the synagogue sent almost daily updates with different guidance, new details of positive cases, and a new schedule for services.

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office declined to talk on the record on March 16 beyond pointing to DC Health’s rule against gatherings of 250 people or more. Later that evening, the rules changed again when Bowser issued an emergency order banning all gatherings of more than 50 people.

It is unclear when the synagogue’s leaders

first became aware that the virus was spreading among its members, and Herzfeld says the past week has been one big blur. “We shared information as soon as possible,” he says.

The emails indicate that the earliest instances of possible exposure to an infected person happened on March 6 and 7 at a gathering to mourn the death of a community member. The synagogue first alerted its community on March 13 and shortly after canceled all services. By March 15, Herzfeld recommended self-quarantine for members who were possibly exposed to the virus.

An email from one of the synagogue’s members, sent to its listserv and shared with City Paper, lays out a detailed timeline of their exposure, testing, diagnosis, and quarantine.

The community member declined to speak on the record, and City Paper is not identifying them to protect personal medical information. ohev sholom’s story starts on March 1, the same day Rev. Timothy Cole, the rector of Christ Church Georgetown and the first known confirmed coronavirus case in D.C., presided over the Sunday morning service.

That evening, the Ohev Sholom community member, who later tested positive for the virus and emailed their fellow congregants about it, had dinner with a friend in town from New Rochelle, New York, for the American Israel Public Affairs Conference. The friend was infected at the time but did not know it, according to the community member’s email to the listserv. In hindsight, the community member believes they probably contracted the virus during this encounter.

The community member first learned of their exposure to the virus on the afternoon of March 6, after a follow-up conversation with their friend from New Rochelle. The community member immediately left their workplace, contacted their doctor, and “spent several hours trying to get in touch with DC public health officials,” according to the listserv email. The advice, according to the community member, amounted to the same advice any person who hadn’t been exposed to the virus would get.

“The DC public health epidemiologists (I spoke with two of them) told me on March 6 that I was ‘no risk.’ (That’s a quote.),” the community member writes in their email. “They said I did not need to self-quarantine or take any particular steps of any kind. They also said that they saw no reason to test me, nor was there any reason for anyone in my family to be doing things other than regular handwashing, etc. As I said, the guidance clearly has been very much in flux.”

The community member writes that they opted to play it safer than D.C. health officials advised and went into self-quarantine at home beginning March 6. That meant distancing themselves from other members of their family but not complete isolation, according to the email.

By March 7, the community member was still not showing symptoms but notified their employer and other contacts “with all the details and guidance we had received.”

“A couple of days later” they spoke with the synagogue’s leadership, though the exact date is unclear from the email.

“Though we received no instruction to do so, my entire family began self-quarantine at that point,” the community member writes. By March 11, the individual had a cough but no fever and got tested for coronavirus at their doctor’s recommendation.

The next morning, March 12, an email from Herzfeld and other leaders announced that after “speaking directly with the Mayor’s office,” they were canceling all social gatherings of 30 people or more. But the Saturday morning Shabbat service scheduled for March 14, which typically draws 100 to 200 people, would still go on, the announcement said. The only change was that the service would start at 8:15 a.m., an hour earlier than normal.

“We strongly encourage people to follow the guidelines of DC Health in determining if it is appropriate for you to attend services,” the email says.

At this point, Bowser had declared a public health emergency, DC Health recommended against non-essential mass gatherings of 1,000 people or more, and the Ohev Sholom community member had alerted the synagogue to their exposure but did not have their positive test results back.

Although the synagogue could technically comply with the guidance to avoid gatherings of 1,000 people or more, Herzfeld says he called the mayor asking for clarification.

“Earlier we were following the city’s guidelines, and the city never told anybody to close,” Herzfeld says. “Then we called up the mayor and said ‘what should we do?’ That was Thursday afternoon. She said ‘it would be best to close.’”

Herzfeld emailed his members the following morning, less than 12 hours after canceling only some gatherings.

Twenty-five minutes later, Herzfeld sent another email notifying the community that an unidentified attendee of its Shabbat service on March 7 tested positive for coronavirus.

“It is our understanding that the congregant was in the synagogue for less than one hour, that the congregant was not symptomatic at that time, and that close contacts have been informed,” the email, signed by Herzfeld and Maharat Ruth Friedman, says.

On March 14, the community member received their positive test result and immediately notified the synagogue’s leadership, according to their email to the listserv.

The person also moved from “home quarantine” to “home isolation.” They now stay in a bedroom and are “monitored by government authorities via various telehealth check-ins to ensure isolation,” their email to the listserv says.

On Sunday afternoon, March 15, the synagogue’s leaders sent an update that alerted their congregants to “at least 3 confirmed positive cases among our members.”

The email indicates that on March 7, a person attended a service in the main sanctuary from 10:15 to 11 a.m. and started to show symptoms later that day. Another person at-

tended shiva, a gathering to mourn a death, typically at a residence, on the evening of March 7, but did not show symptoms until two days later, according to the synagogue’s email. The third person attended a shiva gathering on the morning of March 6 and since then “has been quarantined at home,” according to the synagogue’s email. City Paper could not confirm whether the third person referenced in the synagogue’s email is the community member whose diagnosis is detailed here.

“The most important take-away is that the virus has certainly reached our community and that it is imperative for all of us to practice social distancing measures,” Ohev Sholom leaders write in the March 15 email.

Later that evening, at 10:16 p.m., the synagogue emailed its members again after consulting with medical professionals and recommended anyone who attended the shiva gatherings on Friday morning, March 6, and Saturday night, March 7, should self-quarantine until March 20 or 21.

“We apologize for the shifting guidance, but recommendations are being frequently revised and updated based on experience in the field,” the email says. “Please contact your health provider if you need additional medical advice.”

Before noon the following day, March 16, the synagogue emailed again, alerting its members to a fourth case.

The community member’s email arrived about an hour later, encouraging communication and transparency.

“News about coronavirus should not be a secret!” they write.

The community member writes that they have mild symptoms, including a cough but no fever, and spend hours each day on the phone with D.C. public health authorities.

“As the virus expands, I cannot imagine that this degree of monitoring is sustainable (as the people with whom I have spoken have acknowledged),” they write. “I am told that after I am symptom-free, I will be tested twice again at 24-hour intervals and then released.”

Authorities are not testing the other people in the household, the community member writes, adding that they expect other members of the household to be released from quarantine in less than two weeks.

“Whether these measures are going to get eased, tightened, or otherwise changed is impossible to know,” they write. “In the meantime, I would like to echo the calls that everyone simply assume at this point that they have been exposed in some way … and take whatever steps to limit your interaction with others.”

In a phone interview Wednesday, Herzfeld says he is still only aware of the four positive cases, but he is certain there will be more. As the pandemic progresses, he says he is relying on guidance from a committee made of doctors who are members at the synagogue and the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which, if the past week is prologue, could change again.

CP

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6 1 5 I N D E P E N D E N C E AV E S E | WA S H I N G T O N , D . C . 2 0 0 0 3 202-543-5155 | CAPITOLHILLAUTOSERVICE.COM washingtoncitypaper.com march 20, 2020 7

GAME

OVER Shutdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted nearly everyone in the sports world.

For Pam Chvotkin, the month of March means one thing: sports. It’s when the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball championships begin. Opening Day for baseball nears, and the playoff pictures for the NBA and NHL start to get clearer. A significant sports event is on TV almost every day.

As an independent contractor working in sports television production, this time of year is typically Chvotkin’s busiest. Entering the month, she had booked her work schedule through August, including work as a production coordinator at the Final Four with CBS Sports Network and booth coordinator for ESPN’s Sunday night MLB games beginning next month. But by the time Chvotkin returned to D.C. from New York on March 13 after attending the Big East men’s basketball tournament, nothing would be the same. Not this year.

Precautions taken due to the global COVID-19 pandemic have halted sporting events.

The NCAA canceled its winter and spring championships, including basketball’s March Madness. The NBA is on indefinite hiatus with plans to re-evaluate next month, while the NHL hit pause. MLB pushed the start of its season back by at least eight weeks. Major League Soccer suspended its season for 30 days, and the National Women’s Soccer League canceled its preseason matches. Even the Summer Olympics in Tokyo are in jeopardy of being postponed.

Chvotkin can be staring at weeks, if not potentially months, without a job.

“Basically, no games, no paycheck,” Chvotkin says. “No events, no paycheck.”

The sports shutdown has impacted nearly everyone in the industry, from freelance sports media members to part-time arena workers to professional tennis players who rely on prize money for income to college seniors who had their season abruptly ended. It’s forced fans to search for a way to fill the void of sports and reflect on the therapeutic role it can play. Social

Pablo Maurer

BY Kelyn Soong

leagues, recreational sports events, and local road races like the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run have also been canceled.

“Some people are scared,” Chvotkin says.

“Nobody knows what the future holds.” the news didn’t come as a complete shock to Dashawn, a 21-year-old Greenbelt resident who works for the Washington Wizards’ ingame entertainment team. He had been following the news and figured the NBA might postpone or cancel its season.

For the past two years, Dashawn, who asked to only be identified by his first name, has worked at every Wizards home game, in addition to several team-related events. He helps hype up the crowd by throwing T-shirts into the stands and providing an energetic presence on the court during breaks in play at Capital One Arena.

Dashawn estimates that the gig provided about half his income. He also works at Buffalo Wild Wings in Navy Yard, and the cancelation of the rest of the NBA season and the temporary closure of restaurants in D.C. mean he’ll need to find other part-time jobs.

“Gotta roll with the punches,” he says.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) and its chief executive, Ted Leonsis, owner of the Wizards, Capitals, Mystics, and Capital City Go-Go franchises, will pay the part-time employees who were scheduled to work events—15 at Capital One Arena and three at the Entertainment and Sports Arena—canceled in March. The part-time staff in-

8 march 20, 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

cludes ushers, ticket takers, events staff, and operations staff. Their work schedule is determined on the 20th of every month for the following month, and no schedule has been set for April or beyond. If the games or concerts are rescheduled, the workers would be paid again for those events.

“It helps out a lot, but I’m still gonna look for other jobs just as a precaution,” Dashawn says.

Scott Choinski has been eagerly anticipating the start of the baseball season. For the past three years, he’s worked at Nationals Park selling 50-50 raffle tickets. He’s gotten to know regular customers and enjoys the camaraderie with his part-time colleagues.

He does the same job for the Wizards and the Washington NFL team. More recently, he picked up shifts with D.C. United and the DC Defenders of the XFL at Audi Field as an usher and ticket scanner.

All together, the stadium jobs make up about 25 percent of Choinski’s income. Last year, he started working full time for FedEx in the quality assurance department. He uses the money made from the part-time shifts at sports games to help pay his bills.

“If I was only working part-time at FedEx like last year, I’d be hurting,” he says. “The true effects of not working the games probably won’t hit me for another two to three weeks ... but it will.” on marCh 8, the Indian Wells Masters tennis tournament became one of the first major sporting events to be canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Four days later, the Miami Open followed suit, meaning professional tennis players would be without two of the biggest tournaments of the year. That same day, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced it would suspend the men’s professional tour for six weeks.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF), which runs the Davis Cup and Fed Cup, postponed its events until June 8, and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) suspended its tour through May 2. The French Open, originally scheduled to run from May 24 to June 7, will now take place from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4.

For the first few days after leaving Indian Wells, California, Denis Kudla struggled to find purpose in practice. He was set to play in the tournament’s qualifying rounds when he saw the news.

“It felt difficult,” Kudla says. “I was constantly on my phone, looking for next options.

It was weird. Trying to reset and get back to being present, but at the same time, in the back of my mind, knowing I have time to improve, take off, get the body right, asking myself, ‘How am I going to approach all this?’”

Tennis is different from team sports in that professional players don’t make a base salary. Most players earn their income through prize money, and no matches can mean no income. Kudla, who splits his time between Tampa, Florida, and Arlington and is currently ranked No. 111 in the world, knows he’s in a better position than most. In addition to accruing $2,995,987 in prize money over the course of 10 years

At 4:16 p.m. on March 12, the NCAA announced that it would be canceling its winter and spring championships. A day later, individual conferences made the decision to cancel regular season competition for spring sports.

Olivia Beach cried when she heard the news.

Beach, a senior at Slippery Rock University in western Pennsylvania, walked on to the school’s women’s lacrosse team her freshman year and battled through knee injuries to become a starter this year. She understands the decision to cancel the season, but that doesn’t make it hurt less.

“As a team, we put in so much sweat and

tears preparing for our season,” says Beach, a 2016 graduate of Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. “Just not being able to finish that out as a team is really heartbreaking.”

Seniors like Beach will have to live with unanswered questions about how things could or would have turned out. The NCAA will grant student athletes who participated in a spring sport another year of eligibility, but details have yet to be finalized.

The NCAA’s decision also meant the sudden end of collegiate careers. Basketball players getting ready for March Madness can no longer showcase their talents on the sport’s biggest stage. The Maryland women’s basketball team rode a 17-game win streak into the NCAA championships, including winning the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles.

Coach Brenda Frese believes the Terps could’ve added another championship banner to the rafters at Xfinity Center. The year’s team reminds her of the 2006 national cham-

Baker, a senior on the University of Virginia men’s swim team. “We manage time well between class, practice, recovery. We’ve always had so much control in our lives.”

Baker qualified for the NCAA championships in three individual events (50, 100, and 200 freestyle) and four relays (200, 400, 800 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay). He found out that the championships would be canceled as he was warming up on the pool deck before practice.

Afterward, the team gathered in a classroom at the school’s aquatic center, where the seniors took turns addressing their teammates. The mood was somber, and as Baker spoke, he started to realize the gravity of the situation and what that moment meant to him.

“I think everyone understands this is something bigger than sports,” he says.

“It kind of started to sink in, oh, I might never swim again competitively,” Baker adds. An Arlington native who swam at Gonzaga Col-

Pablo Maurer

between singles and doubles matches, he has sponsorship deals with Lacoste and Yonex. But Kudla understands the plights of the tennis world.

Coming up on the professional tour, players can lose money while competing in tournaments when their expenses outpace their earnings.

“We’re purely a commission-based job,” Kudla says. “No salary or anything. You work for anything you get. Until you’re at the highest level, it usually puts you in the negative. It’s a crazy dynamic.”

Kudla, 27, plans to continue training but he now has hours in his day that he can fill with Netflix, practicing the piano, or planning for his career after tennis. Being a regular in the top 100 has made him financially stable so he won’t need other sources of income, but he says he’s “not going to not consider” looking for another job if the tour is suspended for longer than six weeks.

His girlfriend’s parents own a restaurant in St. Augustine, Florida. “Maybe I can help out there,” Kudla says. (Or maybe not. Restaurants in Florida are now required to operate at 50 percent occupancy and tables must be at least six feet apart.)

Like Kudla, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski believes the ATP made the right decision to suspend the tour. He just hopes that the governing body will help players recoup some of the money they spent traveling to tournaments.

Kwiatkowski, the 2017 NCAA men’s singles champion from the University of Virginia, is now ranked No. 182 in the world on the ATP Tour and supports himself with prize money and by participating in international tennis exhibitions.

He had been looking forward to playing at Indian Wells, considered the unofficial fifth Grand Slam in tennis because of the competitive field it draws, for the first time in his career and had already paid for his flight to California.

Kwiatkowski is now back in Charlottesville, trying to figure out how to balance his schedule with the tour’s start date in flux. The communication from the tour’s governing body has been “abysmal,” according to Kwiatkowski, who found out about the Indian Wells cancelation on Twitter.

“We are not employees of ATP—they love saying that—we are members. We are not entitled to anything, but I think they have some sort of responsibility to help us during this time,” Kwiatkowski says. “The guys ranked 100-plus need a little bit of help, whether financially or whatever kind of solution. I don’t know what the answer is. I feel like we’re in the dark.”

pions led by several future WNBA players, including Kristi Toliver, Crystal Langhorne, and Marissa Coleman.

“Everyone was talking about the other three schools, we were kinda under the radar,” Frese says. “I think we would’ve gotten to the Final Four, and then it just comes down to who was playing the best basketball.”

Frese will never know, but she takes solace in the final moments of her team’s season. The Terps won the Big Ten tournament as confetti rained down on their heads at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. “We had better closure than most,” she says. “I feel grateful and blessed for that.”

Elite athletes are used to routines. They’ve been taught that if you work hard enough, you can achieve your goals. The past week has been a lesson in helplessness and patience for the many seniors who could not finish their careers on their own terms.

“For four years, we’ve had a firm schedule.

We’ve known what we’re doing,” says Ryan

lege High School, Baker plans to end his swimming career at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, in June, but fears that the meet could be in doubt because swimmers currently have nowhere to train and no competitions to swim in.

“If there’s one thing athletics has taught you, it’s you have to roll with the punches sometimes, whether it’s season ending injuries, or maybe you get cut, or you’re riding the bench,” he says. “This is a big punch, but just another punch for these people. We have to stay tough and keep on.”

WAtching sports is part of Guthrie Edson’s nightly routine. Before bed, he’ll watch whatever games are on, regardless of the sport or team. Edson watches the games while engaging with other fans on social media or with his friends via text.

The games and the banter give the 22-yearold from Falls Church a sense of community.

“In fourth or fifth grade, I started following

sports more closely,” Edson says. “I study sports management at George Washington University.

Sports have been a part of my life for a long time.”

The loss of sports has created a void. He’s back at home with his parents in Virginia, and hasn’t yet found a replacement in his routine.

“That’s going to take time,” he says. For now, Edson may watch some of the classic NBA games and 30 for 30 documentaries that are on the ESPN+ app.

When Dawn Michele Whitehead moved to D.C. from Indiana just over five years ago, she dove headfirst into D.C. sports fandom, even before the current wave of championships.

She bought partial season tickets for the Wizards, started rooting for the Nationals, and attends about five Mystics home games a year.

Sports provide a way for Whitehead to socialize with friends. It’s not just a game. It’s a part of her lifestyle.

“I’m going to miss that piece of it,” she says.

For the past 15 years, Whitehead has also attended the Miami Open tennis tournament.

She has family in south Florida, and few things can match the thrill of watching players like Serena Williams practice and compete live.

Sports, Whitehead says, is important because it brings people together. She witnessed the passion of D.C. sports fans last year while standing in front of the National Museum of African American History and Culture on a chilly afternoon during the Nationals’ championship parade. The year before, she soaked in the Capitals’ Stanley Cup victory, and in 2017, Whitehead witnessed the city’s collective energy during the Wizards’ playoff run.

In times of crisis, sports can be a comforting constant. Whitehead enjoys reading and says she’ll be able to keep herself busy. But it won’t be the same.

“I’m not quite sure what will replace sports,” she says. “Because they really bring people from such different backgrounds together.” chvotkin tells herself it’ll be fine. She’s grateful for the fact that she has enough money saved up. In addition to being a freelance sports TV producer, she’s an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama, where she teaches an online sports marketing class. CBS Sports announced on March 16 that it would pay all technicians and utilities, including freelancers, scheduled to work March Madness.

Her friends have been sending her job listings for public relations jobs, but Chvotkin doesn’t want to commit to anything full time yet. She’s still glued to her TV, flipping through the channels in hopes of finding sports. She may update her resume, and wants to be ready when the jobs do return. Once that happens, it’s full steam ahead, she says.

For now, she’s using this time to catch up on sleep, clean her apartment, and spend time with family. She can’t remember the last time she slept until 8 in the morning. In live sports, TV producers need to be able to adapt to unexpected situations. That challenge won’t change.

“It’s just weird, just an odd feeling of the unknown,” Chvotkin says. “But the only thing we can do right now is take care of ourselves. Our health is of utmost importance.”

CP

washingtoncitypaper.com march 20, 2020 9

DCFEED

City Paper asked the city’s full-time critics how they’ll use their column space with restaurants closed to dine-in customers.

Look for take-out and delivery reviews from Post critics Tom Sietsema and Tim Carman. Washingtonian’s Ann Limpert will pivot more to news and continue hosting her Friday chats. washingtoncitypaper.com/food

YOUNG & HUNGRY

The No-Service Industry Restaurants and bars are closed except for take-out and delivery.

Now, small business owners and their employees wait for help.

Not eveN a month ago, staff shortages, climbing commercial rents, and Metro’s truncated hours were the local hospitality industry’s biggest woes. But on Monday night, D.C. restaurants and bars served their last dine-in patrons until at least April 1 because of the novel coronavirus. Even though it was the right decision, the move prompted mass layoffs in a field where profit margins are notoriously thin.

ference on Monday and issued a warning to any would-be speakeasies as she talked about enforcement. “We have the power in a state of emergency to revoke business licenses,” she declared. “We would identify the ways a business didn’t comply with the Department of Health mandate or other mandates and once we establish they have defied those orders, we can revoke those licenses ... As mayor, I don’t wake up in the morning thinking about how to shut down a business or issue a fine, but I’ll do it.”

How We Got Here Mayor Muriel Bowser mandated that all restaurants and bars close to on-premise consumption, with take-out and delivery still permitted. The District joined a handful of other jurisdictions that have done the same to urge people to practice social distancing during the global pandemic. The growing list includes Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Kentucky, North Carolina, California, Florida, and Washington.

It’s been a death by a thousand paper cuts. Restaurant and bar owners first panicked last week because they’re in bed with so many other industries that began closing down after Bowser declared a state of emergency. Concert venues like The Anthem and 9:30 Club ceased operations, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center went dark, and the NBA and NHL suspended their seasons, dealing blows to businesses adjacent to these venues.

As diners began to cancel reservations and private event bookings, restaurateurs started pleading. They stuffed diners’ inboxes and social media feeds with details about their increased sanitation measures and promises to send home sick employees.

But restaurant operators aren’t doctors, lawyers, or epidemiologists. Their business goals didn’t align with the public health goal of flattening the curve of coronavirus cases, and eventually, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines caught up with them.

What’s Next Attention shifted Tuesday morning to a critical D.C. Council meeting where councilmembers passed emergency legislation bringing some relief to unemployed workers and small business owners, who are now trying to calculate what kind of financial assistance they need to eventually reopen once permitted to do so. Everyone from the owner and executive chef down to the cook who sends money home to his or her family needs help.

As an industry that pumps up the local economy to the tune of $7.1 billion annually, the nightlife industry is counting on the city to return the favor. “Cash is king,” says Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington CEO Kathy Hollinger. “Relief has to come in the form of immediate, easy access to grants that give restaurants the capital to stay afloat during an uncertain time.

All of the other things are wonderful, but in order for them to reopen they’ll need that kind of financial support.”

Specifically, the “COVID-19 Response Emergency Amendment Act of 2020,” approved unanimously Tuesday, extends unemployment compensation to those who are out of work because of coronavirus; creates a small business grant program; prohibits providers from disconnecting a business’ water, electric, and gas during the crisis; permits bars and restaurants to sell sealed wine, beer, and spirits; and offers assistance with sales and property taxes valued at $266 million.

“I’m concerned that national response

Darrow Montgomery/File

By Laura Hayes

On March 13, the city announced it would follow the CDC’s recommendation and ban gatherings amassing greater than 250 people. Most restaurants and bars in the District have much smaller capacities. That night, droves of diners and drinkers still went out.

Social pressure to stay in began to mount as those at high risk of contracting the virus begged the world to buckle down. A petition with close to 2,000 signatures asked Bowser to step in.

On March 15, the city made some clarifications and instituted new rules. Restaurants and bars couldn’t seat parties of more than six people, had to do away with bar seating, and needed to separate tables by at least six feet. Nightclubs had to cease operating. The new rules didn’t automatically shut down bars, but they weren’t compatible with the bar business.

Then a tectonic momentum shift occurred. Restaurant and bar owners and employees began calling for the city to shut them down and many restaurants and bars voluntarily closed, starting with

10 march 20, 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup. The new regulations had already begun to strangle operations, and some industry professionals believed that if there were mandated closures, it might make businesses more eligible for emergency financial relief.

“We need strong governmental action to survive this pandemic with our businesses intact,” Tail Up Goat posted on Instagram.

“That is why we are urging the mayor to #shutusdown. Doing so properly acknowledges the scale of the current crisis and begins to make available the kind of resources our employees and businesses will require to endure this financial storm.”

“They keep stopping short of mandated closures because of the responsibility that goes with it—rent abatement and unemployment,” Red Bear Brewing Company manager Liz Cox told City Paper. “Severely reducing capacity without offering those services is keeping the industry in the worst kind of limbo—less sales and even less assistance.”

Bowser answered that call in a press con-

has provoked a severe recession and a great number of businesses and individuals will be hurt,� Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said at the legislative meeting. “We all want to minimize the economic impact as much as we can.�

Some business owners are already frustrated that the Council didn’t go far enough.

Thamee owner Simone Jacobson wrote to legislators imploring them to increase unemployment benefits. Currently the District pays $444 per week. Jacobson and others wanted to see that number climb to $1,000, but it was ultimately up to D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt. By his calculation, if this stretches to the end of June, the city will need to cut $500 million in 2020 spending.

Congress is also working on a federal coronavirus relief bill. After a couple of rounds of revisions, it passed in the House Monday night. The Senate should vote on it this week. Expect the legislation to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, a deal that the Post is characterizing as similar to the stimulus packages Congress enacted during the 2008 financial crisis. The hospitality industry is hanging on by a thread and hoping there’s some sector-specific relief. The bill includes some paid sick leave provisions, but that wouldn’t help workers who have been laid off because their businesses have closed.

Restaurant and bar owners tell City Paper that while some of them have ins u ra n c e p la n s that cover interrupted business, global pandemic isn’t included alongside things like flood and fire. “That would be like getting volcanic eruption insurance in D.C.,� says Coconut Club chef and owner Adam Greenberg.

Greenberg and other business owners shared what kind of assistance they need most from rent deferment and commercial loan deferment to no penalties on future unemployment premiums, and a policy where it would be illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant over missed rent payments.

Timber Pizza Co. and Call Your Mother co-owner Andrew Dana is looking for quick and easy access to Small Business Administration loans with low interest rates.

The agency issued a statement on March 12 detailing how to apply for disaster relief lending. It says the interest rate is 3.75 percent for small businesses without credit available elsewhere. “3.5 percent is the normal rate for disaster bonds, but that isn’t going to cut it,� Dana says. “With margins hovering around zero percent for restaurants, we need interest rates to also hover around zero percent or this disruption will shutter restaurants left

and right. Less than 1 percent interest rates are what we’d like.�

Dana suggests an idea floated by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. “It’s the idea of zero percent bonds with the assurance that we keep folks on payroll,� he says. “I think that’s something we should be fighting for as a restaurant—money in our pockets now to keep paying employees.

It’s simple, avoids the government worrying about the administrative issues of unemployment, and most importantly for so many restaurants, it protects undocumented workers who otherwise don’t have access to unemployment.�

What You Can Do Restaurants and bars can only make money off of take-out and delivery orders, which in no way compares to having a dining room full of patrons. Despite being shut down and squeezed as they await help, some are stepping up to feed those in need.

Steakhouse Medium Rare is bringing free meals to neighbors older than 70 who are at risk if they leave the house. RASA, a fast-casual Indian restaurant in Navy Yard, is serving free take-out meals to school children under 18, hospital workers with valid ID, and employees and their families. Hummus slinger Little Sesame is partnering with Meals for the City to feed the food insecure.

There are a few things diners concerned about their favorite bars and restaurants can do to return the favor in the new normal. If you’re comfortable with it, pick up take-out or order delivery from places that have decided to continue operating within the legal parameters. Even fine dining restaurants that haven’t packed up food before are giving it a go, including Little Serow, Emilie’s, Albi, Centrolina, and Ellē.

Consider purchasing merchandise from businesses that sell swag and gift cards, although the latter option isn’t a perfect solution since some third-party gift card processing companies don’t fork over the cash until they’re redeemed. A handful of grassroots efforts are also growing in the community. Park View restaurant and events space Hook Hall teamed up with RAMW to launch a fund for supplies and meals for restaurant and bar staff.

Then there’s the Virtual Tip Jar. It’s a Google Form that can easily bring you to tears. At press time, 2,106 presumed local bar, coffee shop, and restaurant employees had entered their Venmo handles or PayPal contact information into the spreadsheet, hoping the public would open their wallets and give them a hand. They listed their place of current or former employment and whether or not they have health coverage. Hundreds don’t.

CP

“They keep stopping short of mandated closures because of the responsibility that goes with it— rent abatement and unemployment.�

PUZZLE I NEED MY SPACE

By Brendan Emmett Quigley

1 Picture puzzle 6 "Get training fast" seminars 15 Engages in bloviations 17 Slandering 18 Samsung smartphone line 19 "Behold the Lord High Executioner" comic opera 20 Senate leader?

21 Crunk 23 Winter hrs. in Seattle 24 One who goes along to get along 29 Bess' partner 33 Exquisite style 34 Spaces 36 ___ polloi 37 Flip of a 7" 39 Dole (out) 40 Connected by a thread 41 Public health intervention to reduce transmission of disease, and what's happening literally in this puzzle 44 "Squawk on the Street" channel 45 M.D. specialty 46 Lavs

47 48 49 50 52 57 59 60 61 66 69 70 71 72

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37 Indian National Congress president Gandhi 38 War game weapons 39 Belarus' capital 40 Average chump 41 Sign of healing 42 Proof-of-concept product 43 Comic with the autobiography Born a Crime 48 First aid kit fluid 49 Qantas hub letters 51 See 65-Down 53 Alter 54 Make sacrosanct 55 Polished off 56 Give off effort 58 It is, in Chile 61 Exaggerate on the expense report, e.g.

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washingtoncitypaper.com march 20, 2020 11

CPARTS

Join the City Paper Arts Club!

Social distancing, together. washingtoncitypaper.com/arts

The Day the Music Died D.C. area performers reflect on what life without live music means in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

By Kristina Gaddy

Nick Moreland

Steven Gellman waS on his way from the D.C. area to the Blue Moon Diner in Charlottesville, Virginia, when he received notice that his show had been canceled. He already knew that it might be his last gig for a while. Earlier in the week, his phone started ringing and emails appeared, with cancelation after cancelation. The singer-songwriter and guitarist has been making his living playing live music since the late 1990s, but last week, that income stream disappeared.

“Within 24 hours, 90 percent of my income was gone,” he says. “Every single gig I had booked was canceled, and now I have no income.”

Last week, following increased measures to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, the cancelations grew like a crescendo for local musicians and performing artists. At first, they received emails and phone calls that individual performances, rehearsals, and gigs weren’t going to happen. By last Friday, entire venues, from the Kennedy Center to Black Cat, had shut down, both in response to official bans on mass gatherings like the one issued by DC Health and concern for public health at large.

For musicians in the D.C. area, the result is financial and emotional distress.

Gellman makes his full-time living playing live music. In the late 1990s, he realized that he could make a living playing at nursing homes, hospitals, and other institutional settings. “I’ve created a market for myself,” he says, and now, almost all of his income comes from these gigs. “[The money from] my daytime gigs is what I use to pay my mortgage.” He’s never had to rethink his career until this week.

Blues musician Phil Wiggins says it’s been a long time since he’s felt this uncertainty. He started playing music as a teenager in D.C. in the 1970s, and although he says he struggled early in his career, he’s won multiple awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. To have his performances disappear has created for him a bizarre and unfamiliar feeling. “To know that those gigs are gone and to not have really any idea when they will resume is something that

The JoGo Project

I have not experienced,” he says.

For Alex Boatright, the cancelations came at the worst possible time of year. As a traditional Irish musician and music teacher, she knows that the weeks leading up to St. Patrick’s Day will be filled with gigs. She lost a solo performance at the Embassy of Ireland and another gig in Annapolis, Maryland. The group of students she leads lost all their gigs, including on a float in the D.C. St. Patrick’s Day Parade, at Smithsonian’s Discovery The-

12 march 20, 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

ater on St. Patrick’s Day, and smaller shows, from nursing homes to parties. Her students “are losing a lot of performance and connection opportunities” but “they do really value the safety of their community and they understand needing to cancel to keep their listeners safe.” Boatright does feel lucky to have other sources of income, including teaching private lessons.

But even for those who have other sources of income, canceled performances and re-

hearsals have negative impacts. Becky Hill is a percussive dancer, square dance caller, and MFA student at the University of Maryland.

Her band, the T-Mart Rounders, was supposed to play at the Baltimore Old Time Music Festival, and she was going to call a square dance. While she does receive a stipend for teaching undergraduates at UMD, it’s not enough to cover the cost of living in D.C., she says. “All the sources of my external income are almost dependent on performances,”

she says. “I lost $1,000 in one day of gigs and teaching getting canceled.”

While she’s lost income, she’s also lost opportunities to connect with audiences and the community. “I’m used to these ways of gathering,” she says, and certainly, having a square dance doesn’t work in the world of social distancing. She’s honest and says that not being able to be with her musical community makes her feel depressed and socially isolated.

Saxophonist Elijah Jamal Balbed, who’s involved in D.C.’s go-go and jazz scenes and is the founder of The JoGo Project ensemble, is experiencing local and touring gig cancelations and trying to figure out how to help local artists livestream from home. But he admits for go-go, the experience can’t be replicated. “For go-go bands in particular, one huge element is the call-and-response, the interaction with the audience,” he says. “It’s a struggle for all genres, but in D.C., we’re really going to struggle not having a live audience.”

Non-professional musicians, those who play music or sing as a social function or as a part of school work, are seeing their activities canceled. On Friday, Anne Arundel Community College decided to move all classes online for the rest of the semester and cancel all remaining student performances. Ian Wardenski, chair of the performing arts department, is still figuring out how to put ensemble courses like band, which always works toward a concert at the end of the semester, and small group instrument classes online. “How do you teach 80 to 90 band students online who have to be performing? Does the student have the resource, space to do something like a piano class online?” he asks, admitting he doesn’t have the answers yet.

Last week, Jeanne Kelly, the director of Encore, a choral organization based in Annapolis, Maryland, with more than 20 choruses for adults over 55 in the D.C. area, made the decision to suspend all rehearsals until further notice, knowing her singers are in the at-risk population. She adds the decision didn’t come easily, noting that social isolation is a problem for older adults and the choruses provide an opportunity for friendship, social interaction, and teamwork. “I’m worried about what isolation is going to do to our participants,” she says.

Encore made another major decision when they suspended rehearsals: to still pay all of their conductors. Kelly says that most of their conductors piece together numerous conducting jobs, and she wants to keep them after this is over. “I’m very happy with our conducting staff, and we’re going to keep them happy,” she says.

While some artists might hope for the benevolent venue that can still pay them based on advanced sales, that isn’t the reality. Local folk artist Cathy Fink says she and Marcy Marxer have been playing together for 46 years, and the pair feels grateful that they have been in the business long enough to have diverse income streams. All of their performances in March and April have been canceled, but they still can count on royalties to a certain extent. Fink says that they are taking this time to “work on projects that aren’t yet creating income, but they will be bankable later,”

and seeing the ways in which they can assist younger musicians.

Drummer Jordon Stanley is also trying to take the situation in stride. Although he regularly plays at bars and clubs in Annapolis and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with everyone from jazz to rock bands, he’s felt that having multiple streams of income has made him successful. His drum lessons will continue online and, “until it passes, we’ll do stuff at home,” he says, which for him includes recording and working on new compositions.

For most musicians, this wasn’t a scenario they could imagine, and so imagining what comes next is even harder. In 2014, Baltimorebased musician and author Sarah Pinsker did imagine what would happen if people couldn’t gather and what that would do to musicians in her short story “Our Lady of the Open Road,” which she further developed into the novel A Song for a New Day, published last fall. After a global pandemic and multiple simultaneous acts of domestic terrorism, the government decides gatherings of 30 people or more are prohibited, while schools and public places are shut down. The result is that all music moves to virtual reality streaming, and “there is no path for smaller musicians” because technology companies “get to choose who does and doesn’t have a platform,” she says. The book tells the story of the illegal underground music scene and what musicians and music appreciators do to keep live music alive.

While we wait out our real-life pandemic, many musicians are turning to online platforms like Patreon, Concert Window, and YouTube to stream music. Pinsker warns that relying on a technology can be dangerous. “They can change their model on a dime,” she says, making it less friendly for independent artists. She also doesn’t think it is the best option: “Whether it’s social music, or music that you’re getting paid for, or music you’re getting a little extra money for, or the joy of making that connection, online music is definitely not the same thing.” Becky Hill also hopes that after this, people will put down their phones and be more present. “They’ll realize that social media isn’t actually community,” she says.

“They actually need interaction.”

Artists are also looking for help from relief funds, community, and music sales. Fink notes her union, the American Federation of Musicians Local 1000 always has an emergency relief fund for members. The American Guild of Musical Artists is asking the government “to pass immediate, substantial economic relief for our signatory companies and all non-profit arts organizations likely to be shuttered in response to COVID-19,” while others are taking grassroots approaches to providing resources for musicians like the COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resources website. Wiggins has confidence in the community, saying, “I really feel like the Washington, D.C. music scene is strong and good about taking care of each other.” Boatright, Stanley, and Gellman all encourage people to buy CDs directly from artists and plan for there to be an after, a time when venues book musicians, people buy tickets to live music, and recurring gigs happen again.

CP

Celebrate Women’s History Month with the National Portrait Gallery

FEATURED EXHIBITIONS: One Life: Marian Anderson through May 17, 2020 Women of Progress: Early Camera Portraits through May 31, 2020 Storied Women of the Civil War through March 13, 2022 PLUS: The painting Orange Disaster (Linda Nochlin) by Deborah Kass through fall 2021 THE CELEBRATION WILL CONTINUE WITH:

Birthright by Maren Hassinger Photo: Maren Hassinger by Grace Roselli. Pandora’s BoxX Project

Sunday, June 7, 2020, 1:00 p.m. a performance art commission for the National Portrait Gallery’s IDENTIFY series Her Story: A Century of Women Writers opening July 10, 2020

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washingtoncitypaper.com march 20, 2020 13

LIZ AT LARGE

FILMSHORT SUBJECTS

RECIPE FOR DISASTER Swallow

Directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis

“Brave” by Liz Montague Liz Montague is a D.C.-based cartoonist and cat mom. You can find her work in The New Yorker and City Paper.

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She StareS at the marble with such care.

The object does not have a lot of sentimental value, but its pristine condition suggests that at least one part of her life will be hers, and only hers. Her plan is not to start a marble collection. She puts it in her mouth, then gulps it down. Swallow, the new film from director Carlo Mirabella-Davis, is an attempt to understand this compulsion. It can be explained through a real psychological disorder—commonly referred to as “pica”—except her reasons are more complicated than that. The film starts as a clinical depiction of body horror, only to become something more tender and specific.

Haley Bennett plays Hunter, a beautiful young woman who is unaccustomed to her new life. She lives with her husband, Richie (Austin Stowell), in a modern house overlooking the water. She does not come from money, and Richie is affluent thanks to his position in his family’s company. Hunter’s only obligation is minding the house. Her mother-in-law (Elizabeth Marvel) treats her like something between a pet and an employee, and the subtext to this cold arrangement is about how Hunter must provide the family a child.

Between tense family dinners and long days with little to do, Hunter develops a curious hobby. She swallows things, and saves them when they come out the other end. At first, it’s just a marble, but then she craves bigger and more dangerous objects. Even when she learns she is pregnant, her compulsion cannot stop.

The look of Swallow is crucial to its effect.

Mirabella-Davis and cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi frame Hunter in medium shot, keeping the camera steady in the sterile interiors where she finds herself. She looks like she is on display at a zoo, with her new family as her keepers. The sections where Hunter swallows objects are deliberately uncomfortable. The close-ups and intentional editing are an insight into her thought process, plus there is palpable terror when she eats something pointy like a thumbtack. Hardened horror fans may recoil at all this because Mirabella-Davis presents it in such a matter-of-fact, realistic way. That sense of anticipation and anxiety, however, does not lead to gore or on-screen bodily fluids. We experience horror through impeccable sound design, and by worrying for her safety.

Pica is a symptom for what afflicts Hunter, not the cause. As the film continues, we learn more details about her personal life and how she came to know Richie. The film is saddest when Hunter learns that her new family has little interest in her wellness, beyond how it makes them look. Parts of the film recall Mad Men in how it depicts the prison of domestic life, and not just because Bennett resembles January Jones, who played Betty Draper. Like Betty, Hunter is withdrawn and fiercely angry, to the point that she can shock those who see her as demure. Bennett ably captures all these emotions, including an intense sequence where she abandons her home.

By depicting the interiority of someone with extreme privilege, it unintentionally becomes a good film for this strange, anxiety-inducing, isolating moment in our lives. Hunter has no friends, hardly sees anyone, and can barely grasp what her future holds. Her way of asserting control is unusual, and yet it is recognizably human.

—Alan Zilberman Swallow is available to rent and stream on Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Vudu.

Greetings from our work-from-home stations to yours. And if your work or life prohibits you from working from home, we hope you’re staying safe. We first reported on the coronavirus’ implications for D.C. on March 4, which now feels like a lifetime away from our current situation. Since then, City Paper staff have done our best to bring you to-the-minute updates on closures, the restaurant industry’s creativity, the mayor’s decisions, the council’s moves, and what you can do to keep from going stir crazy while quarantined. We hope that the information we’ve provided has helped you make informed decisions, support your community, and find some levity through it all. We’ll be sending out more special edition COVID-19 email roundups in the coming weeks.

We’re fully prepared to help make your time inside—and ours—pass more quickly. Our City Lights section has already transformed into a recommendation series full of locally linked activities you can enjoy from home. We’ve launched City Paper’s Arts Club, which will bring all of us together to discuss a book and a movie that speak, in some way, to this moment in time. To get you moving, we’ll be reviewing local online fitness classes, and we’re working with local musicians to craft a soundtrack for these next few weeks.

Across our website and social platforms, we’re seeing massive spikes in traffic and engagement. You need us, and we need you—we really need you. The paper is losing a lot of money from canceled events and lost ad sales. We know we’re in the same financial boat as many other industries right now, but we can’t just shut our doors or stop the presses. We feel a responsibility to the 25 percent of Washingtonians who lack broadband access, and the 17 percent who lack access to a computer. They deserve the same access to information, connection, and distraction as everyone else.

Please help us remain a resource for EVERYONE in our community by becoming a member. Not only does it feel great to support your local paper, but you’ll get some fun City Paper swag, too.

If you’re already a member, thank you so much. All we ask is that you share this with a friend who appreciates our community as much as you do.

With gratitude and hope, Your Friends at City Paper

washingtoncitypaper.com/membership washingtoncitypaper.com march 20, 2020 15

CITYLIST

Loyal City Paper readers know City Lights as their go-to section when they're trying to figure out what to do in D.C. However, with COVID-19 spreading, we can't encourage you to leave the house unless strictly necessary right now (and since so much is canceled, there's nowhere for you to go). But never fear: For the foreseeable future, City Lights will provide readers with fascinating D.C.-related things to view, read, do, and make that are all available from the comfort of home. Stay tuned for daily updates online and weekly updates in the paper telling you what's worth watching while working from home. We won't tell your boss.

—Emma Sarappo

CITY LIGHTS

CITY LIGHTS

CITY LIGHTS

CITY LIGHTS

DICK

THE WASHINGTON FREE PRESS

FALLOUT 3

These days, it’s hard to imagine a fun presidential scandal, but the underrated 1999 comedy Dick cleverly skewers the Watergate scandal by reimagining it as the misadventures of two bubbly teens, Betsy and Arlene (Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams), dressed in full 1970s glory. The girls inadvertently witness the Watergate burglary the night before they take a White House tour; after noticing the same man in both places (Harry Shearer’s G. Gordon Liddy), President Richard Nixon tries to keep the girls from spilling the beans by flattering them with an offer to become “official” White House dog walkers. Hijinks ensue, and the girls end up becoming “Deep Throat” for Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Directed by Andrew Fleming (who also directed The Craft), Dick is blessed with an impressive comedic cast, including Dan Hedaya (as the titular president), Ana Gasteyer (as presidential secretary Rose Mary Woods), and Will Ferrell (as Woodward). The brilliance of the movie is how its meandering plot successfully weaves in far-flung tidbits from the Watergate universe in a way that seems almost… plausible? Perhaps that’s why Dick proved to be a darling among critics but not so much among audiences: It’s most fulfilling if you already possess a good knowledge of the scandal’s twists and turns. The film is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime. $3.99–$12.99. —Louis Jacobson

Nothing enhances one’s understanding of another era like immersion in primary sources, so why not get to know D.C. in a new way by taking a surreal trip to the late ‘60s? With DigDC, a web portal for viewing materials archived by the D.C. Public Library, you can browse issues of the Washington Free Press from 1967-1969. WFP was a far-left, underground newspaper that frequently saw its offices raided by the FBI. (The paper’s successor, the Quicksilver Times, was infiltrated by the CIA.) Browsing the archives, you’ll find articles on radical politics, community organizing, and psychedelics. You’ll also read essays and travelogues (one journal by a student on a trip to Southeast Asia reads like it could be the inspiration for the Dead Kennedys’ “Holiday in Cambodia”), tips on how to qualify for unemployment insurance, the best ways to duck the cops, poetry, photography, original illustrations, and classified ads in which young couples invite singles to join them for group sex. References to familiar D.C. landmarks make reading WFP especially surreal, like peeking into an alternate universe.

Archives from the newspaper can be found at digdc.dclibrary.org. Free.

—Will Lennon

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For those looking to exorcise their post-apocalyptic D.C.-area nightmares, what better way to conquer your fear than the classic Fallout 3? The third-person action RPG game takes place in the year 2277 in an America still recovering from a nuclear war that began 200 years earlier. Players control a customized character with different attributes, but events and decisions in the game can drastically affect the plot and the character’s abilities. Much of the game centers around managing resources and survival, as well as fighting and politicking between the many factions that have taken over “the Capital Wasteland,” a fully traversable zone that stretches from the National Mall to Harpers Ferry. While Fallout 3 set the standard for great open-world video games, its relevance to DMV-area players is even greater. Bethesda Studios took great pains to render the shattered husks of the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Pentagon, and other notable landmarks. Players can walk past their own ruined houses as they ride out the pandemic! The area has been reduced to a sweltering desert/swamp mixture due to the environmental catastrophe, but we should all be used to that by now. Considering the mediocrity of 2018’s Fallout 76, perhaps it’s time to break out the classics as we socially distance ourselves. The game is available to purchase on Steam, and can be played on the Xbox 360, PS3, and Windows. $9.99– $19.99.

—Tristan Jung

THE LEGEND OF COOL “DISCO” DAN

It only takes one person with a spray can to change the world. That’s the working thesis of The Legend of Cool “Disco” Dan, a 2013 documentary that delves into the story of Danny Hogg, D.C.’s best-known graffiti artist. Now more difficult to spot due to Hogg’s death in 2017, his tag once appeared all over D.C., with bold, legible block letters that convey a playful swagger.

The tag forms an iconic image with deep roots in the legacy of go-go, and its gregarious ubiquity concealed the shy, reserved personality of the artist behind the spray can. The documentary precisely locates Cool “Disco” Dan’s biography within D.C.’s greater history. Despite celebrating Hogg’s eventual celebrity status, the film doesn’t shy away from tougher aspects of his life—or D.C.’s history. The result is a braided narrative, in which Hogg’s mental health issues and eventual homelessness echo the struggles D.C. faced during the crack epidemic. (Though, it’s important to note, Hogg himself never used or sold drugs.) As other taggers got caught up in the drugs and violence of the era, Cool “Disco” Dan continued steadily tagging, providing the city with a rare gleam of dependability during an uncertain time. The documentary itself is a testament to survival, with multiple interviewees admitting that they didn’t expect to survive the city’s worst years. Fortunately, extensive interviews with the famously shy Hogg fail to erode his enduring mystique. The film is available to rent or buy on Prime Video and to stream free on TubiTV. $3.99–$12.99. —Michelle Delgado

CITY LIGHTS

CITY LIGHTS

HYENAS

SANS SOUCI IN THE HAPPY HOOKER GOES TO WASHINGTON

In a dazzling cross-cultural literary adaptation, director Djibril Diop Mambéty turned a 1956 work by Swiss-German playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt into a study of poverty and greed in a Senegalese village—and made it hilarious and mysterious all at once. The basic plot comes from the play: a wealthy older woman (Ami Diakhate) returns to the impoverished village of Colobane that cast her out 30 years ago when she became pregnant out of wedlock. She’s ready to pump millions into the village, on one condition: that the people kill the man who got her pregnant (Mansour Diouf ). Mambéty’s 1973 feature debut, Touki Bouki, was a revelation of sub-Sarahan cinema, and the 1992 film Hyenas is just as strong, injecting the vibrant colors of women’s dresses into a land otherwise dominated by earth tones and men who wear sacks for uniforms.

The poverty on view is sobering in time when grocery store shortages of paper products are sending civilization into a frenzy. And a frenzy ensues when Colobane’s villagers start spending their new fortunes on refrigerators and air conditioning. Mambéty’s cynical view of humanity seems to argue that we will all be doomed if we don’t take stock of what’s really important.

The film was to be screened at the National Gallery of Art on March 19 as part of the series African Legacy: Francophone Films 1955 to 2019, but you can watch it for free with your D.C. Public Library card. The film is available to stream on Kanopy. Free.

—Pat Padua

If you’re hunkering down and forget what it looks like inside a restaurant, the terrible and dated 1977 drama The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington features a prominent reminder of Washington’s culinary past: Sans Souci, the fabled French restaurant that operated on 17th Street NW until 1983. 1970s TV icon Joey Heatherton stars as Xaviera Hollander, and can be seen dining at one of the city’s finest with another mainstay of the era, George Hamilton. The vinyl booths and elegant décor may have better acting chops than the cast, but there’s at least one line of apt dialogue: “We gotta look out for each other, because no one else will.” You only get to bask in local history for a few minutes, but the scene doesn’t stop giving; watching over this power lunch is veteran 3 ft. 9 in. character actor Billy Barty, another name that us old people will immediately recognize. Washington Post columnist Art Buchwald once wrote that before Sans Souci, “there was no power lunch.” While the restaurant is long gone, you can still dine where presidents and power couples ate beef tartare and sole amandine. But today, you’ll have to settle for the Big Mac; it’s a McDonald’s now. The movie is streaming, which may be as close as you can get until social distancing ends. The film is available to stream or rent on Amazon Prime. $3.99.

—Pat Padua

CITY LIGHTS

CITY LIGHTS

THE CREATIVE INDEPENDENT

LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHERS’ ONLINE GALLERIES

Sometimes, you want to create but run into a roadblock. You aren’t alone in that. Go to The Creative Independent, a growing collection of interviews, how-to guides, and more with musicians, writers, visual artists, and others. A safe place for artists to feel understood and learn, this internet gem focuses on been-there advice that’s practical both inside (your emotional journey) and outside (putting your work out there). Among the many generous people with D.C. ties who share their tips and thoughts here are the writer Marcus J. Moore; writer, producer, and Navajo tapestry weaver Sierra Teller Ornelas; and the musicians and label owners Katie Alice Greer and Ian MacKaye. Just two of the sections I’ve scoured with gratitude in my heart include “Making the Time for Creative Work” and “Overcoming Adversity.” Founded by editor-in-chief Brandon Stosuy and former Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler, the website has an utterly simple design, loads of wisdom, love to the world, and charm. If art is food for the spirit, like the great painter Wassily Kandinsky said in his 1910 treatise Concerning the Spiritual in Art, then The Creative Independent is sustenance for artists—artists just like you. The website can be found at thecreativeindependent.com. Free. —Diana Michele Yap

Museums and galleries around D.C. are closing down for coronavirus 2020, but it’s still possible to experience some first-rate photography from the comfort of your own quarantine quarters. Just tool around the websites of some of the area’s best photographers. Here’s a selection of local photographers who are offering the public a detailed (and free!) online look at some of their best portfolio work. They include Gary Anthes, whose works included a rain-slicked boardwalk scene at night; Sarah Hood Salomon, whose series The Spirit of the Woodlands features ethereal, even ghostly, portrayals of trees and water; Patricia Howard, who produced House to House, a project documenting the eight homes in Spencer, Indiana, that her mother lived in between the 1920s and 1940s; and Craig Nedrow, whose series on steel mills offers a bracing, black-and-white depiction of industrial decline. The images are available on garyanthes.smugmug.com, sarahhoodsalomon.com, howardpatricia.com, and nedrowphotography.com. Free.

—Louis Jacobson

CITY LIGHTS

CITY LIGHTS

THE DC1968 PROJECT

I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE

All that many people know about 1968 in Washington, D.C. is that there was an uprising after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and parts of the city burned to the ground. Fifty years later, in 2018, historian and author Marya McQuirter created a way to address that with the dc1968 project. Each day in 2018, she shared on the website and via Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter something that was happening on that date in 1968. She leaned heavily on items from the Washington Evening Star newspaper collection at the DC Public Library, but also used clippings from the Howard University newspaper and photos from various other sources. She has posts about subjects including the black-activist-owned Drum & Spear bookstore, the Gibbs Elementary School glee club, a Roberta Flack benefit concert, and McKinley Tech High School students protesting the Washington Post’s manipulation of the high school football rankings. There are national news-related postings as well, including a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking on Feb. 7, 1968, at the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, submitted and taken by the now-late D.C. artist Vernard Gray. Some of the posts contain a lot of detail, while others simply request information from the public about the photo that was shared. McQuirter closes out the series with a diary entry from an observant 14-year-old, who notes she watched the TV show The Mod Squad, ate pizza, and then laments the “assassinations, riots, deaths, invasions of the freedom of other countries” she’s seen, praying that the next year can be better. All the posts can be found at dc1968project.com. Free.

—Steve Kiviat

Coronavirus concerns forced The National Museum of Asian Art to scrap its Tsai Ming-liang series, which was to feature 35mm prints of several films from the prolific Taiwanese director. Tsai’s patient, alienated work is perfect for the time of social distancing; in Vive L’Amour (streaming on Kanopy), three lonely strangers in Taipei share a duplex apartment and manage to stay out of each other’s way for the better part of two hours. In the 2006 feature I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone, Tsai, who grew up in Malaysia, immerses the viewer in working class Kuala Lumpur, where people live in hovels that look like the ruins of civilization. An immigrant worker is robbed and beaten and left for dead while a Good Samaritan takes him in and nurses him to health; a mother tends to her paralyzed son, cleaning him diligently every day. These lost, lonely figures, who resort to wearing face masks when a fire rages across the land, are desperate for touch and connection, their dire straits looking like what our own world might descend into. What gets them through life? Affection, of course, and a tender compassion that asks for nothing in return. With long sequences short on dialogue and long on human touch, I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone may seem the antithesis of our historic moment, but it’s a reminder that even under the worst conditions, the human urge to take care of each other is strong.

Catch it on The Criterion Channel—if you’re the type of moviegoer who seeks out a slow Taiwanese drama, you should already have a subscription, right? The film is available to stream on The Criterion Channel. Free with subscription.

—Pat Padua

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SAVAGELOVE DEAR READERS: I live in Seattle, the U.S. epicenter of the novel coronavirus epidemic, with my family. A lot of my readers wrote this week to wish us well. We are fine— scared, but fine—washing our hands compulsively and staying close to home. I’m going to keep churning out the column and recording my podcast, while being careful to maintain a safe social distance from the tech-savvy, at-risk youth. I’m hoping the column and podcast are welcome distractions.

P lease take care of yourselves, take care of the people around you, and wash your damn hands.

—Dan Savage I’m wondering if you know of a word that describes the fetish of getting off from talking dirty. I’ve searched a lot, and I can’t find a label for this kink or fetish. While Googling around, I did learn some new terms, like “katoptronophilia” (being aroused by having sex in front of mirrors) and “pubephilia” (being aroused by pubic hair), but I can’t seem to find one that describes my kink.

—Dirty Talker

me o s d Nee dvice? love a Curious about kinks?

e h t t i s i V er p a P y Cit or more te f ve. i s b e w age Lo Sav washingtoncitypaper.com/ columns

I’m old enough to remember when people who needed to feel a strong emotional connection before they wanted to fuck someone got by without a word or a pride flag of their very own. They just said, “I’m someone who needs to feel a strong emotional connection before wanting to fuck someone.” But now they can say, “I’m a demisexual,” a five-syllable, vaguely scientific-sounding term that first popped up in an online forum in 2006.

Unfortunately, when someone says, “I’m a demisexual,” the usual response is, “What’s that?” And then the demisexual has to say, “I’m someone who needs to feel a strong emotional connection before wanting to fuck someone.” So leading with “I’m a demisexual” seems like a waste of time to me. But it does extend the amount of time the speaker gets to talk about him/her/themselves … and who doesn’t love talking about themselves?

Anyway, DT, you’re someone who enjoys dirty talk. There isn’t a special term (or pride flag) for you that I could find—I did a little half-hearted Googling myself—and I don’t think you need one. You can get by with “I’m someone who enjoys dirty talk.”

—DS My wife and I have been married for a little over two years. We both have demanding jobs, but she admits to being a workaholic and spends almost every night on the couch answering emails and binge-watching Bravo. I’ve resorted to getting high most nights to cover up for the fact that I’m very unhappy. Despite being overworked, she’s started a side hustle selling skincare products to her friends, most of whom she rarely sees in person. Bottom line: I didn’t sign

18 march 20, 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

up for this. I’m beyond bored and want to travel and explore. But she refuses to give up the side hustle and dial back her work or her drinking.

We both earn comfortable salaries and we don’t need the extra income. Would I be justified in leaving because of her newfound hobby?

—Basically Over Redundant Enrichment Side hustle or no, BORE, you aren’t happy, and that’s reason enough to leave. And while you won’t (or shouldn’t) be doing much traveling anytime soon, you can find a lawyer, search for a new apartment, and initiate divorce proceedings while your wife sits on the couch answering work emails and pushing skin-care products to her friends. I would typically encourage someone in your shoes to risk telling the truth before walking out— you’re unhappy, you’re bored, you don’t want to live like this anymore—but it sounds like your mind is made up. So use your time at home over the next couple of weeks to make your escape plan.

—DS I’m a young white woman, and my last boyfriend, a black man, left me two weeks ago.

Ever since, I have been masturbating only while thinking about black guys. My question is: Do I have a “thing” for black guys now? I’ve accepted that our relationship is over, but it was really intense. I feel disgusting after I masturbate, because it feels gross and not respectful toward my ex somehow. What do you think?

—Desperately Horny For Black Men Masturbate about whatever the fuck turns you on, DHFBM, and if you’re worried someone would find your masturbatory fantasies disrespectful … don’t tell that person about your masturbatory fantasies. I suppose it’s possible you have a “thing” for black guys now. (What’s that thing they say? Actually, let’s not say it.)

Unless you are treating black guys as objects and not people, or you fetishize blackness in a way that makes black sex partners feel degraded (in unsexy, nonconsensual ways) or used (in ways they don’t wish to be used), don’t waste your time worrying about your fantasies. Worry about your actions.

—DS I’m a 35-year-old woman in a long-term cohabitating relationship with a man. We opened our relationship about six months ago, and it’s going very well and we both have FWBs. My primary partner and I are going to be getting engaged soon, and I’m wondering what my responsibility is to my FWB of five months. Do I make a special effort to tell him about the engagement—on the phone or in person, like I plan to tell family members and close friends? Or is it okay if he finds out via social media like other people I’ve known for only five months or less

would? My getting engaged (or married) won’t prevent me from remaining his FWB. —Wanna Be Ethical Golden rule this shit, WBE: If your FWB got engaged, would you want to find out via social media or would you want him to tell you personally? I’m guessing you’d rather hear it from him. You’ve known your FWB for only five months, it’s true, and other five-monthsor-less friends don’t rate hearing it from you personally. But you aren’t fucking your other five-months-or-less friends. A little more consideration for your feelings is—or should be—one of the benefits.

—DS I used to live in a college town. While there, I hooked up with a gorgeous guy. He had an amazing smile, a nice body, and the most perfect natural dick I’ve ever seen. (Can we please stop saying “uncut”? It’s so disgustingly plastic surgery-ish.) We hooked up a couple times, and he was so much fun. A couple of years later, in another town, he showed up out of the blue at my new job. It was awkward at first, but it got better over the couple of years we worked together. I always wanted to just sneak him into the bathroom and give him another blowjob. He still lives in the same town, and I want to message him to see if he’s up for some more fun. We haven’t spoken in years—and last I heard, he was still not out. I want to message him, but I’m wondering whether there’s a time limit to reconnecting with someone? Fuck, man, he was so hot, and his natural, big, veiny dick was maybe the most perfect cock I’ve ever seen.

—Big Ol’ Dick Seeing as you haven’t spoken to this man in years, BOD, I’m going to assume you no longer work together. And seeing as you hooked up more than once back in that college town, I’m going to assume he liked your blowjobs.

And seeing as there’s a worldwide pandemic on, and seeing as life is short, and seeing as dick is delicious, I’m going to give you the okay to send this guy a message. Social media has made it possible for people to reach out to first loves, exes, and old hookups. And so long as the reacher-outer is respectful, has reason to believe their message won’t tear open old wounds, and instantly takes “no” for an answer (and no response = no), there’s nothing wrong with reaching out. And while socialdistancing protocols will prevent you from sucking that gorgeous natural dick anytime soon, BOD, who doesn’t need something to look forward to right now?

—DS Email your Savage Love questions to mail@savagelove.net.

clver aka Dale Maclver who died on November 25, 2019, with a Will Adult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 SUPERIOR COURT and will serve without OF THE DISTRICT OF Court Auto/Wheels/Boat . . Supervision. . . . . . . . . .All42 COLUMBIA PROBATE unknown heirs and heirs Buy, 2020 Sell, ADM Trade . . whose . . . . .whereabouts . . . . . . . . .are . .

DIVISION 000209 unknown shall enter Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

42 Name of Decedent, their appearance in this Clifford Powell. Notice .of Community . . . . proceeding. . . . . . . . . Objections . . . . . 42 Appointment, Notice to to such appointment Employment . . . .be . .filed . . .with . . . the . 42 Creditors and Notice to . . . . shall Unknown Heirs, Adam Register of Wills, D.C., Health/Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Powell, whose address 515 5th Street, N.W., is 3706 Camden St SE, . . . Building Body & Spirit . . . . . . .A, . .3rd . . .Floor, . . 42 Washington, DC 20020, Washington, D.C. Housing/Rentals . . . . . on . . or . . before . . . . 42 was appointed Personal 20001, Representative of the 9/19/2020. Claims Legal Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 estate of Clifford Powell against the decedent who died on January Row . shall Music/Music . . .be . .presented . . . . . . .to42 28, 2018, without a Will the undersigned with a Pets . . . . . . . . . copy . . . .to . .the . . Register . . . . . 42 and will serve . .without of Court Supervision. All Wills or to the Register Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

42 unknown heirs and heirs of Wills with a copy to whoseShared whereabouts are or Housing . the . . .undersigned, . . . . . . . . .on . 42 unknown shall enter before 9/192020, or be Services .in . this . . . . . . forever . . . . . barred. . . . . . .Persons . . 42 their appearance proceeding. Objections believed to be heirs or to such appointment legatees of the decedent shall be filed with the who do not receive a Register of Wills, D.C., copy of this notice by 515 5th Street, N.W., mail within 25 days of Building A, 3rd Floor, its publication shall so Washington, D.C. inform the Register of 20001, on or before Wills, including name, 9/19/2020. Claims address and relationagainst the decedent ship. Date of first shall be presented to publication: 3/19/2020 the undersigned with a Name of Newspaper copy to the Register of and/or periodical: Wills or to the Register Washington City Paper/ of Wills with a copy to Daily Washington Law the undersigned, on or Reporter. Name of Perbefore 9/192020, or be sonal Representative: forever barred. Persons Adam Powell TRUE TEST believed to be heirs or copy Nicole Stevens Actlegatees of the decedent ing Register of Wills Pub who do not receive a Dates: March 19, 26, copy of this notice by April 2. mail within 25 days of its publication shall so Academy of Hope inform the Register of Adult PCS, a leader in Wills, including name, DC Adult Education, is address and relationsoliciting proposals for a ship. Date of first Substitute Teacher Netpublication: 3/19/2020 work in March 2020 for Name of Newspaper School Year 2020 at our and/or periodical: Washington, D.C. locaWashington City Paper/ tions. All interested apDaily Washington Law plicants can go to www.

Reporter. Name of Peraohdc.org/jobs for more sonal Representative: information. Responses Adam Powell TRUE TEST should be provided in copy Nicole Stevens Actelectronic format and ing Register of Wills Pub emailed to Summer Ellis, Dates: March 19, 26, Principal, at summer@ April 2. aohdc.org by Friday, March 27, 2020.

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON LEADCOLUMBIA PROBATE ERSHIP ACADEMY DIVISION 2020 ADM PUBLIC CHARTER 000194 SCHOOL Name of Decedent, NOTICE OF INTENT Lorne Dale Maclver aka TO AWARD A SOLE Dale Maclver. Name and SOURCE CONTRACT Address of Attorney Construction Services Robin C. Alexander, Washington Leader901 Sixth Street, SW, ship Academy intends #602A, Washington, to award a sole source DC 20024. Notice of contract to MCN Build Appointment, Notice to for construction and Creditors and Notice to renovation services. For Unknown Heirs, Robin more information conC. Alexanderl, whose tact Mandy Leiter at address is 901 Sixth mleiter@wlapcs.org .

Street, SW, #602A, For full Notice of Intent Washington, DC 20024, to Award Sole Source was appointed Personal Contract, please visit: Representative of the www.wlapcs.org/bids estate of Lorne Dale Ma-

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For the latest changes to our calendar, please visit IMPconcerts.com.

If an event date changes or the event is cancelled - you will always have the option for a full refund!

Merriweather Post Pavilion • Columbia, MD M3 ROCK FESTIVAL FEATURING

Kix • Tesla • RATT • Night Ranger and more! ..................MAY 1-3 For a full lineup and more info, visit m3rockfest.com

APRIL

MAY (cont.)

The Lone Bellow

lovelytheband

DiscoBENT

STEEZ PROMO PRESENTS BASS NATION FEAT.

w/ Early James...........................Sa 11

feat. JoAnn Fabrixx, Diyanna Monet, Lemz & KeenanOrr (Sleaze DJs), Pussy Noir, Jaxknife Complex .Sa 18

MAY AN EVENING WITH

Eric Hutchinson

Late Show! 10pm Doors ....................Sa 2

Greg Dulli (of The Afghan Whigs and The Twilight Singers) w/ Joseph Arthur .........................Tu 5

EDEN w/ keshi & Rence ...............W 6 Brendan Schaub

This is a seated show. .......................Sa 9

The Tallest Man On Earth

w/ Tessa Violet & VALLEY ..........Su 24

Svdden Death

w/ Phiso • Curro • Arcrux ........Sa 30

JUNE

Tycho w/ Com Truise ...................M 1 mxmtoon w/ Claud ....................Tu 2 Bombay Bicycle Club w/ Liza Anne .................................Su 7

U STREET MUSIC HALL PRESENTS

Yaeji w/ Jessy Lanza...................M 8 EOB ............................................Th 11 Jeremy Zucker w/ cehryl ......Su 14 BenDeLaCreme This is a seated show. ......................M 15

w/ Courtney Marie Andrews........W 13

ALL GOOD PRESENTS

The Motet & TAUK ..............Th 14 Natiruts w/ 4th & Orange...........F 15 Luttrell .....................................Sa 16 Orville Peck .............................W 20 Mew ...........................................Sa 23

JULY

Ernest • Brandi Cyrus (DJ Set) ................................................................................... JUL 25

AJR with Quinn XCII * w/ Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers and Ashe.........AUG 1 Lindsey Stirling * w/ KIESZA & Mako ................................................... AUG 4 Rod Stewart * w/ Cheap Trick ....................................................... AUG 15 Wilco and Sleater-Kinney w/ NNAMDÏ.................................. AUG 21 Daryl Hall & John Oates * w/ Squeeze & KT Tunstall ........ AUG 22 Kenny Chesney w/ Michael Franti & Spearhead ................................. AUG 26 The Black Keys * w/ Gary Clark Jr. & Yola................................. AUG 28 Pet Shop Boys & New Order * .........................................SEPT 15 Maren Morris w/ James Arthur & Caitlyn Smith.....................................SEPT 19 Tenacious D with an Orchestra! feat. Soulful Symphony w/ Wynchester ..............................................................................................................OCT 4

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Delta Rae

The Anthem

w/ Frances Cone & Carrie Welling New date! All original tickets honored. Th 16

AUGUST

Weyes Blood w/ Ana Roxanne ...F 7

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9:30 CUPCAKES

Luke Bryan w/ Morgan Wallen & Caylee Hammack................... JUN 20 Sam Hunt w/ Kip Moore • Travis Denning •

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savor: An American Craft Beer

& Food Experience ................MAY 15

Steve Miller Band w/ Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives & Gary Mule Deer.........AUG 11

Violent Femmes and X..JUN 7 Coheed and Cambria Car Seat Headrest w/ Twin Peaks .................................. JUN 14

AEG PRESENTS

Kraftwerk 3-D ................. JUL 11

Neverender NWFT w/ Chon ..SEP 15

Kaleo w/ Matt Maeson & Belle Mt. SEP 18

For a full lineup & more info, visit: theanthemdc.com • impconcerts.com • Ticketmaster.com

Lincoln Theatre • 1215 U Street, NW Washington, D.C. 9:30 CLUB PRESENTS AT U STREET MUSIC HALL Yves Tumor w/ ECCO2K ....... M APR 20 The Ballroom Thieves .............Th 30 Brendan Benson w/ Rookie ........Su 26 U.S. Girls w/ Mourning (A) Bikstar ............Tu MAY 5 Sammy Rae & The Friends w/ Melt.......................................W 29 Felly...........................................W 6

POLITICS AND PROSE PRESENTS

Hell and Other Destinations ...APR 27

Watch What Crappens........ MAY 2 Liz Phair......................................MAY 13 thelincolndc.com • impconcerts.com •

HAPPY HOUR DRINK PRICES impconcerts.com AFTER THE SHOW AT THE BACK BAR!

Russell Brand: Recovery Live

16+ to enter. ....................................MAY 28

Waxahatchee New date and venue!

All original 9:30 tickets honored. ....... OCT 4

Snow Patrol (Acoustic) .......... OCT 24

• 930.com/u-hall • impconcerts.com • Buy advance tickets at the 9:30 Club box office. •

TICKETS for all shows are available at IMPconcerts.com, and at the 9:30 Club, Lincoln Theatre, The Anthem, and Merriweather Post Pavilion box offices. Check venue websites for box office hours.

AEG PRESENTS

Madeleine Albright-

U Street (Green/Yellow) stop across the street!

PARKING: The 9:30 Club parking lot is now located at 2222 8th St NW, just

past the Atlantic Plumbing building, about a 3 minute walk from the Club.

Buy your advance parking tickets at the same time as your concert tickets!

930.com