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Anacostia Hops To Its Own Beat: Jazz Hop Sound Sessions Turns a Historic Business Corridor Into a Living Bandstand by Jean-Keith Fagon Anacostia: The Forgotten Federal Park – NPS Breaks Promises to Ward 7 & 8 Residents by Matthew McClure
Can You Get to the Game? Transit Plans for RFK by Elizabeth O’Gorek
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Anacostia Avenue Extension Project Delays Raise Concerns – ANC 7D Report by Sarah Payne Capital Turnaround Public-Space Improvements: ANC 6/8F Report by Elizabeth O’Gorek
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Democracy Needs Places: The Man from Anacostia
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Etienne Charles at DC Jazz Fest. Photo: Jati Linday. Courtesy DC Jazz Fest
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The RFK Master Plan: Six New Neighborhoods Planned by Elizabeth O’Gorek
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WHAT’S ON WASHINGTON
“Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise” at The Phillips
From Aug. 1 to Sept. 20, The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW, presents a major exhibition showcasing 48 artists based in the greater DC region. The result of an open call that drew 1,500 applications, the exhibition brings together an intergenerational group of artists who are grappling with the complexities of the contemporary world. The Phillipa is open daily except Mondays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Third Thursdays, the museum has extended hours with free admission from 5 to 8 p.m. Adult admission is $20; seniors, $15; students with ID, $10; military, $12; 18 and under, free. www.phillipscollection.org Gail Shaw-Clemnons, “Shorthand Revisited 2025.”
Around the World Cultural Food Festival
On Saturday, Aug. 29, rain or shine, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Oronoco Bay Park, 100 Madison St., Alexandria, Virginia, becomes a destination of food, music and culture. The Around the World Cultural Food Festival features two beer gardens, live music, dance and cultural performances, handcrafted goods, art, jewelry from global artisans and a kids’ corner with moon bounces and activities. Admission is free; parking nearby. www. visitalexandria.com
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The Joshua Redman Quartet appears on Sunday, Sept. 6.
WHAT’S ON W A S H I N G T O N
Labor Day Weekend’s DC JazzFest
This Labor Day weekend, Sept. 5 and 6, from 2 to 10 p.m., both days, celebrate all things jazz and enjoy the bustling Wharf neighborhood along DC’s Potomac River. Find the lineup at www.dcjazzfest.org/lineup-2026. Access to shows at Arena Stage on Saturday and Sunday is only available to holders of preferred seating, VIP and ultimate VIP tickets, who can attend performances on Saturday and Sunday at Union Stage and Pearl Street Warehouse. Every seat at each venue is first-come, first-served. Early arrival is recommended for high-demand shows. Ticket options start at $25. www.dcjazzfest.org
Care Fair at the Zoo
“Merrily We Roll Along” at Signature
Sondheim’s masterwork about friendship, ambition and the compromises that shape life is directed by Matthew Gardiner. Told in reverse chronological order, the musical follows three friends as they navigate idealism, loyalty and disappointment over 20 years. “Merrily We Roll Along” is at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, Virginia, from Aug. 25 to Nov. 1. Tickets start at $47. www.sigtheatre.org
On Friday, Sept. 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., step into the world of animal care for a free, in-person event at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and meet the experts who make it happen. Watch feeding and training demonstrations and get hands-on with animal artifacts. Head to Great Meadow to meet staff members and learn about husbandry training with the American Trail team. See how DNA and scientific research keep animals healthy with the Center for Conservation Genomics. Zoo admission is free; parking is $40. Save $10 by purchasing a parking pass at least one day in advance. www.nationalzoo.si.edu/visit/events/care-fair
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, 2020.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
On Saturday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m. (gates at 6:30 p.m.), at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Rd., Vienna, Virginia, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his big band join the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) for the local premiere of Marsalis’ latest work, Symphony No. 5 “Liberty.” Commissioned by the NSO and Wolf Trap Foundation in honor of America250, it joins jazz, blues and orchestral sounds in a celebration of the American story. Tickets start at $51. www.wolftrap.org
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Fresh Food • Live Music • Community Events The Ward 8 Farmers Market
A HOMEGROWN
Ward 8 Institution Our partners:
Located at: 2724 Marin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE • Next to the new Cedar Hill Hospital
Our Farmers
Harvest 2 Health Farm Co-op Harvest2Health.com
Everbriar Farm
Special Events August 8th
August 29th
11:00 A.M. — Capoeira (Brazilian marshal arts)
11:00 A.M. — Yoga with Jalila 12:00 P.M. — Community Participatory Drum
demonstration with Dandara
11:30 A.M. — Yoga with Candace
August 15th 11:00 A.M. — Yoga with Gigi Gilliam 12:00 P.M. — Community Participatory Drum Circle led by Talk2Me Nation
August 22nd 11:00 A.M. — Yoga with Candace 12:00 P.M. — Youth rapper Lil Syxx @LilSyxx.6
Ward8FarmersMarket.org
Circle led by Talk2Me Nation Talk2MeNation.org
September Entrepreneurship Market 12th • Children’s Sign your kid up to participate: kidsmarkets.com/markets/ washington-dc-3
26th • Line & Hand Dance Session
• Dance Instructor Roger Knight
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WHAT’S ON W A S H I N G T O N
DC State Fair
The first DC State Fair was held on Aug. 28, 2010, established by food and garden bloggers to showcase the talents of the District and engage artistic, agricultural and culinary-minded residents in friendly competition. This year, the fair is on Sunday, Sept. 6, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Anthem Row, 700 K St. NW. The contest guide with rules, judging criteria and submission instructions is coming later this summer. Registration for contests is also coming later this summer. The DC State Fair is led by a nonprofit organization that is operated entirely by volunteers. www. dcstatefair.org
Mr. Henry’s Celebrates Turning 60!
Mr. Henry’s is throwing a 60th-anniversary gala to celebrate our diamond birthday on Saturday, August 29, 2026. The entire two floors and patio will be closed for this private, one-of-a-kind party. Starting with a red carpet entrance under the new side awning. Upstairs, three different entertainers will perform throughout the evening. Downstairs, we will highlight new photos and memorabilia incorporated into the existing wall art. Signature cocktails will flow at both bars (including a mocktail to keep up with the times!), along with wine and beer. Heavy, nostalgic and special-for-this-evening hors d’oeuvres will be featured and celebratory swag given out. Many friends joining us will represent our many years as part of the community on Capitol Hill! It will be an anniversary party not soon forgotten! For tickets, visit www.mrhenrysdc.com/event/save-the-date/
“The Fruits of Our Labor” by Step Afrika! at Arena Stage
In commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary, Step Afrika! premieres “The Fruits of Our Labor.” Created in collaboration with artists Jakari Sherman, Conrad R. Kelly II and Vusi Mdoyi, the explosive movement and a bold palette of red, white and blue ask the nation: What have we inherited and what are we still fighting to become? “The Fruits of Our Labor” is at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW, from Sept. 10 to Nov. 1. www.arenastage.org Photo: Tony Powell
Therapy Gecko at The Miracle Theatre
Comedian and unlicensed therapist Therapy Gecko is at the Miracle Theatre, 535 Eighth St. SE, on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m.). Converse with the gecko (also known as Lyle Forever or simply just Geck) live on stage, mixed with personal stories from Lyle’s experience as a world trotting reptile. General admission, $40; premier seating, $63. www.themiracletheatre.com 08
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WHAT’S ON W A S H I N G T O N Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, 1968.
Flying Circus Hot Air Balloon Rally
On Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sunday, Sept. 20, gates open at 6 a.m. for the Hot Air Balloon Rally. Hot air balloons launch both days, 7 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Many of the pilots will be giving tethered and/or chartered flights. The balloon rides are not sold by the Flying Circus. Flight arrangements must be made with the pilot and are subject to availability and weather conditions. Free-flight balloon rides are $300 per person. Tethered rides are $30 for adults; $20 for kids 11 and under; two and under are free. Admission to the rally is $20 for adults; $15 for military; kids 5-12 are $10; under five are free. Admission tickets are only sold at the gate. The Flying Circus Aerodrome is 14 miles southeast of Warrenton and 22 miles northwest of Fredericksburg, Virginia, just off Route 17, at 5114 Ritchie Rd. (Route 644) in Bealeton. www.flyingcircusairshow.com
“The Notebook: The Musical” at the National
Based on the novel that inspired the iconic film, “The Notebook” tells the story of Allie and Noah, from different worlds, who share a lifetime of love despite the forces that threaten to pull them apart. “The Notebook” is at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, from Aug. 18 to 30. Tickets start at $89. www.broadwayatthenational. com/shows
Dear Summer Festival DC at The Bullpen
On Saturday, Aug. 22, from 4 to 10 p.m. (rain or shine), at The Bullpen, 1201 Half St. SE, the Dear Summer Festival experience continues with excitement, food, great music and nonstop dancing. Music is provided by DJ 5’9, DJ BOOGZ and DJ SCHEMES. All attendees must be 21+ with valid proof of ID and have a ticket to attend; no tickets sold at door. Tickets are $84.39, including fees. www. eventbrite.com/e/dear-summer-festival-dc-tickets-1990229318467
AirSpace Live! “Star Trek” at 60 at Air and Space
The original “Star Trek” series only aired for three seasons (1966 to 1969), but it launched a fanbase that transformed pop culture. The National Air and Space Museum celebrates the 60th anniversary on Thursday, Aug. 13, from 7 to 8:15 p.m. A live taping of the museum’s podcast, AirSpace, about the history and cultural impact of “Star Trek” and its fans, features curator and “Trek” expert Margaret Weitekamp and guest Tawny Newsome, known for her work on “Star Trek-Lower Decks” and “Space Force.” Free; registration required. www.airandspace.si.edu
“Marlo Pascual: Making Something Out of Something” at the Women’s Art Museum
The work of Marlo Pascual, who stretched the boundaries of photography, is on view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW, through Feb. 28, 2027. “Marlo Pascual: Making Something Out of Something,” the first solo museum exhibition of Pascual’s work in 15 years, introduces an artist who developed a practice of manipulating found images to create works that blur the line between photography and sculpture. The show presents 17 works made between 2009 and 2014. www. nmwa.org
Detail from an image of a face printed on Plexiglas that has been shattered in the center.
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ANACOSTIA ART S & CULTURE DISTRIC T
ANACOSTIA HOPS TO ITS OWN BEAT
Jazz Hop Sound Sessions Turns a Historic Business Corridor Into a Living Bandstand
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by Jean-Keith Fagon
n Sunday, August 30, Historic Anacostia will not wait JAZZ HOP SOUND SESSIONS for music to enter a concert SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2026 hall. From noon to 8 p.m., 12–8 P.M. Jazz Hop Sound Sessions will turn HISTORIC ANACOSTIA Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE and FREE AND FAMILY-FRIENDLY Marion Barry Avenue SE into a moving suite of jazz, funk, blues and go-go. Started in 2019, Jazz Hop was built on a simple democratic idea: audiences should not utside. They should hop from storefront to sidewalk, from restaurant to gallery, from an intimate indoor set to a full outdoor band. More Crowd at the Jazz Hop main stage at 1234 Marion Barry Ave SE. than a dozen locations and two main Photo credit: Jeremy Reaves stages will make the corridor itself part of the arrangement. The street becomes rhythm. The businesses become verses. The crowd supplies The confirmed lineup carries that the chorus. spirit with The Blackbyrds, one of This year’s edition also serves as the finale of Jazzy Washington, DC’s most influential Sundays in Anacostia, the eight-Sunday summer series jazz-funk bands, blending jazz, funk, launched in 2025. Returning Jazz Hop to late August gives soul, and R&B into a signature sound. The Experience Band & Show. Photo credit: Anacostia BID the season a fitting crescendo–one last invitation to walk Their presence links the avenue to one the avenue, follow the sound and hear Anacostia speak in of the city’s deepest living rhythms. guitar, storytelling, blues feeling and the seaits own musical language. The Experience Band & Show Jazz Hop is not only a cultural celebration. Organizers adds its bright “ja-fun-go” blend of jazz, funk and soned warmth of a performer who understands report a 70 percent uptick in business foot traffic. Local go-go. Known for turning sidewalks, stages and how one honest phrase can carry a lifetime. His caterers will be featured at the main-stage locations, neigh- community spaces into celebrations, the group presence broadens the emotional range of the afborhood businesses will welcome new visitors, and live embodies the open-hearted spirit that makes Jazz ternoon, grounding the celebration in testimony painters will create on the street beside the music. Hop feel less like a concert and more like a neigh- as well as groove. The deepest beauty of Jazz Hop Sound SesThe day is free and family-friendly, an important prom- borhood reunion. sions is that it refuses to separate the art from Rhythminic Accents brings a more jazz-cenise in a city where access to culture can too often depend on the place that made it possible. Anacostia is not price, dress code or geography. For younger listeners who tered texture to the day, blending standards, origiscenery behind the music. It is the bandstand, the discover music through phones and playlists, Jazz Hop of- nal compositions and touches of funk and R&B. memory and the future. On August 30, Washingfers the original form of musical discovery: turn a corner The group reminds listeners that jazz remains one ton will be invited east of the river not simply to and hear something unexpected. Follow a horn. Walk to- of the festival’s central languages–flexible, elegant attend a concert, but to hear a community–proudward a drum. Step inside a business you have never visited. and ready to meet the street on equal terms. ly, freely and in its own unmistakable time. ◆ Rev. Kenn Blanchard, the Blusician, brings Meet an artist you did not know an hour earlier.
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neighborhood news
Anacostia: The Forgotten Federal Park NPS Breaks Promises to Ward 7 & 8 Residents
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n June 26, 2026, the National Park Service (NPS) officially invited the public to celebrate July 4th at Anacostia Park, “a vibrant community gathering space along the Anacostia River with expansive, open-air views of Washington’s July 4 fireworks,” the press release said. Moreover, the agency promised a fireworks display on the water itself, a first, as part of the semiquincentennial. “Anacostia Park is one of Washington’s most beloved community spaces,” said Jessica Bowron, an NPS comptroller. “We’re proud to welcome neighbors and visitors from across the region to share in this July 4 tradition along the river.” Imagine the excitement of Ward 7 and 8 residents, who for the first time would not have to trek across the city to the National Mall to celebrate the national birthday. The reality proved disappointing. The cracked and weedy surface of River Terrace’s tennis courts.
article and photos by Matthew McClure
“Unlike across the (Anacostia) River, there was no free water, no water stations or anything provided for the public within the entire footprint from Nicholson Street over to Marion Barry Avenue,” wrote Tom Donohue, commissioner of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 8A01 in a blog post. “Even the park’s permanent infrastructure failed our community; the existing outdoor water dispenser wasn’t working at all,” Donohue observed scathingly. Donohue’s single member district covers the Fairlawn and Anacostia neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River in Ward 8, where the fireworks display was held in front of the National Park Police headquarters. The few families attending struggled to the display along muddy, unilluminated paths. Much of the waterfront was fenced off, including the park’s popular bike trail. In contrast, just a few miles to the west on the National Mall, NPS rolled out the proverbial red carpet for attendees. July 4th was yet another example of the Park Service’s many broken promises regarding Anacostia Park, whose basic facilities remain in disrepair.
Anacostia Park
Anacostia Park is the second-largest federal park in the DC park system after Rock Creek Park. Administered by NPS, it covers more than 1,200 acres. Divided into C, D, E and F sections, it stretches from the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in the south to Benning Road in the north. It was established on reclaimed mudflats in 1918 and hugs the shoreline of the Anacostia River for five miles. The National Park Police headquarters and the offices of National Capital Parks-East (NACE), an administrative division of the NPS, are located in Anacostia Park Section C. NACE manages over 8,000 acres of parks and historic sites in both DC and Maryland. Anacostia Park Sections D, E and F include: • The Pirate Ship Playground • The Anacostia Park skating pavilion, built in 1976 • River Terrace Park Collectively, Anacostia Park serves over 155,000 residents of Wards 7 and 8 and, according to the nonprofit Anacostia Park advocacy group Friends of Anacostia 14
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River Terrace Park’s collapsing gazebo.
Missing cedar shingles on the roof of River Terrace Park’s only gazebo.
Park, also welcomes more than 1.7 million visitors annually from across the city and the country. Despite this, Anacostia Park’s facilities are decaying due to decades of deferred maintenance ‒ an accumulated $524 million in deferred maintenance
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neighborhood news
LEFT: A burned picnic table in Anacostia Park. TOP RIGHT: Portable toilets in front of non-functional toilets at the Anacostia Park Pirate Ship Playground. The water fountain to the right is also broken. RIGHT: A missing lamppost in Anacostia Park.
and repairs across all NACE facilities, including Anacostia and River Terrace parks, according to an NPS infrastructure fact sheet published in 2025. Playground equipment is outdated and unsafe, toilets and lights are broken, gazebos leak, road and trail surfaces are crumbling, picnic tables are burned from discarded grill coals, and water dispensers, like the one pointed out by Donohue in his blog post, are often rusted and inoperable. “We are intentional in our investments in parks east of the Anacostia River and committed to listening to park neighbors, engaging with communities and fostering vibrant and accessible parks,” stated Tara D. Morrison, National Capital Parks-East superintendent in a January 2025 NACE press release. “These efforts improve park amenities and strengthen the bonds we share with the community, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy their neighborhood national parks.” Despite Morrison’s claim, in River Terrace Park (this writer’s neighborhood) the single gazebo is slowly collapsing. Unstable flooring, missing roof shingles, chipped concrete and exposed electrical wiring are risks nav16
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igated for years by families who gather in the park weekly to celebrate reunions and birthdays.
The Promise
In February 2024, NACE leadership invited residents from across Northeast and Southeast DC to attend community engagement sessions intended to gather feedback for upgrades, repairs and improvements to Anacostia and River Terrace Park, in addition to 12 other NACE sites across Southeast and Northeast DC. The federal Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) allocated funds for repairs and upgrades, Superintendent
Morrison explained to residents at the Langston Golf Course Clubhouse. Passed in 2020, the GAOA LRF, a bipartisan-backed law, allocated $1.9 billion over five years (2021 to 2025) to address deferred maintenance backlogs in national parks across the continental US and its territories. At the time of writing, over 396 projects have been funded, according to the Department of the Interior GAOA website. The GAOA LRF would provide $11.8 million to address the backlog of deferred maintenance and repair across NACE-managed sites, according to an agency press release issued on June 6, 2023. Due to the extensive scope of work across 12 other sites, including River Terrace Park, Kenilworth Park, Fort Davis Park, Fort Dupont Park and the Parklands area of Shepherd Parkway, NACE would draw an additional $22,217,000 from the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to rehabilitate urban recreation areas, according to a 2026 Department of the Interior fact sheet. River Terrace residents present at the engagement session were cautiously optimistic about this news. Rusty playground equipment would be replaced, NPS representatives confirmed. Tennis courts would have their nets fixed and surfaces repaved. Fencing and lighting would be repaired and the brittle, sun-scorched playground equipment would be replaced. NACE leaders promised to repair facilities but warned that no interim maintenance of damaged park facilities would occur until contractors had been procured. With funds drawn in FY 2024, the work would commence in late 2025 or early 2026. It’s been over two years since the Langston Golf Course Clubhouse community engagement session, and there is no sign of the promised work being started, let alone completed. In the interim, and at breakneck speed,
NPS awarded a no-bid contract for maintenance work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and the Department of the Interior spent over $5 million on regilding James Earle Fraser’s arts of peace and arts of war statues on Lincoln Memorial Circle. The repairs and maintenance that residents using parks east of the Anacostia River were promised two years ago are not happening in their neighborhoods but appear to be taking place in record time in parks across the rest of the city. According to a post on the Department of the Interior’s X (formerly Twitter) page in May, NPS staff had replaced over 1,000 benches across the National Mall and other NPS-managed land. The White House boasted that more than 20 fountains and 30 statues, in addition to 130 new trash cans, had been repaired, renovated or installed as part of President Trump’s Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act. While a gargantuan, federally funded makeover of NPS land is underway using taxpayer money, it appears that parks east of the Anacostia River are being overlooked. For residents in Wards 7 and 8 it feels like a slap in the face.
Neighbors’ Frustrations
“I can’t even keep track of the conversations I’ve had and the people I’ve talked to, how many times I’ve been told it’s a priority,” said Devon Brophy, a River Terrace resident and chair of the River Terrace Community Organization’s (RTCO) Environmental Committee. Brophy also attended NACE’S community engagement session in February 2024. River Terrace Park is less than a 10-minute walk from Brophy’s front door. As a practicing architect, Brophy has offered NPS ideas to improve River Terrace Park. She has documented the dilapidated condition of the picnic tables dotted throughout the park, many of which have been damaged by fire, and has sent this documentation
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to NACE chief of staff Michael Donato. Brophy has scores of emails that record six years of conversations. At monthly RTCO community meetings (at which this writer was present) neighbors shared concerns about the park and NACE leadership’s lack of communication. They wanted to know when the long-promised work would take place. Brophy recalls being told at the Langston meeting that the upgrades would kick off late 2025, early 2026. “I’m thinking that a project doesn’t take that long to get funded and it doesn’t take that long to design.” As a contractor for federally financed projects, Brophy knows how long procurement and contracting can take when working through the federal government’s complex administrative systems. The recent news about warp-speed repairs and upgrades to western federal District parks has left her feeling angry and hopeless.
What Happened?
Searches on www.usaspending.gov and www. openomb.org for GAOA LRF spending for FY 2020 to FY 2025 yield scant detail on the use of this funding in and around parks east of the Anacostia River. An NPS FY 2024 Budget Justification Data Sheet lists just $46,327 spent in FY 2024 on the Rehabilitate Urban Recreation Areas project, a program aimed at addressing deferred maintenance across 12 NACE sites using money from the GAOA LRF. At the time of writing, the GAOA LRF project tracking website lists the status of work on NACE facilities as “under procurement.” Of the original $11.8 million, only 38% has been allocated, predominantly for the planning, design and approval required for work on federal land, said Sharon E. Nichols, director of communications for Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D). The remaining 62% is unobligated and can be used in FY 2026-27, Nichols confirmed. Updates from NACE leadership on the progress of GAOA LRF-funded work have been difficult to obtain. “The Great American Outdoors Act-funded project to improve River Terrace Park will likely not see construction begin in the next couple of years. In the meantime, our maintenance team is working to address the work,” NACE chief of staff Donato stated in recent email correspondence with the RTCO’s environmental committee. 18
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Stonewalling?
According to an NPS spokesperson, in response to a request for comment, “The design and planning of the River Terrace and Anacostia Parks project is ongoing. It is the priority of the National Park Service to ensure that stewardship of public lands is fiscally responsible and meets the public’s needs.” In late June, this writer filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Department of the Interior regarding the use of GAOA LRF funds for deferred maintenance and repair at Anacostia and River Terrace Parks for FY 2024-25. The FOIA included a request for any documentation indicating that these funds were reallocated to other uses, which many River Terrace residents suspect. No such records were available, the department responded. Future communications should be directed to the NPS, the department confirmed. NPS’s FOIA office subsequently redirected queries back to the department. Tammy Stidham, the NPS associate regional director for lands and planning, declined to be interviewed for this story. Why the stonewalling? According to Scott Kratz, the founding director of the 11th Street Bridge Park and president and CEO of Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR), “Over the past several years, NACE has led a community engagement effort to rethink Anacostia Park, and it got some money to start doing some of that work. It wasn’t an insignificant amount. I don’t know where that money is and I don’t know what happened to the plans that came out of that community engagement.” He added, “They had amazing plans. I imagine everyone’s kind of in defensive mode. Candidly, my assumption is that everyone is just crouched down.”
Was the Money Redirected?
Edward Stierli, the mid-Atlantic regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), whose organization played an outsized role in the passage of the GAOA in 2020, cited “a lack of transparency related to the funding for new construction projects underway in DC.” Stierli is hesitant to speculate on any reallocation of GAOA LRF funds from Anacostia Park to projects elsewhere in the city. “I think it’s a question that needs congressional oversight and a clear explanation for taxpayers
and residents in Anacostia,” he said. Given the start of construction on President Trump’s many vanity projects, such as the West Potomac Golf Course and the Garden of American Heroes, the source of their funding is a fair question, Stierli said. As is the status of deferred maintenance and repair across parks east of the Anacostia River.
Glimmerings of Hope
River Terrace residents have noticed sporadic repairs being made by NACE staff in their park over the last few months. The gaping hole at the bottom of the kids’ slide was repaired, and Cherry Pickers arrived at the basketball courts to fix burnedout floodlights. In May, a maintenance worker arrived at the gazebo in River Terrace Park to replace missing roof shingles but quickly left after telling a local resident that the structure’s age and condition necessitated specialized attention. Over in Anacostia Park, NPS
workers were spotted repainting lampposts. NPS recently contracted to renovate the concessions facilities at the skating pavilion. The award carried no confirmation of start or completion dates. While residents who use the beautiful green spaces east of the Anacostia River are happy to see progress, none of this work resembles the grand vision NPS outlined in its community engagement sessions more than four years ago. “They talked a big game,” Brophy says of the meeting. “I was skeptical. The GAOA funding was fantastic, but NPS needed to do something with it.” Matthew McClure is a resident of River Terrace in Ward 7. This article was supported by a grant from Spotlight DC: Capitol City Fund for Investigative Journalism. Spotlight DC encourages the submission for proposals by independent journalists. For more information, visit www.spotlightdc.org. ◆
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notes:
Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana) introduced the America the Beautiful Act last May. The act would extend and expand the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund for eight years, with $2 billion in annual funding. The act is pending passage in the Senate. To read ANC Commissioner Tom Donohue’s blog, visit www.anc8a01.com/blog/ broken-promises-and-pitch-black-paths-what-went-wrong-at-the-anacostia-parkfireworks. For more information on GAOA, visit www.doi.gov/gaoa-project-data. The National-Capital-Parks-East-Deferred-Maintenance-and-Repairs-Factsheet is available at www.nps.gov/subjects/infrastructure/upload/National-Capital-ParksEast-Deferred-Maintenance-and-Repairs-Factsheet.pdf. For information about Rehabilitate Urban Recreation Areas, visit www.doi.gov/ gaoa-lrf-projects-action. The NPS project page for Anacostia Park is available at www.nps.gov/nace/learn/ news/restoring-recreation-areas.htm. The NPS FY 2025 Budget Justification Project Data Sheet is available at www. doi.gov/sites/default/files/fy2024-pds-nps-508.pdf. The NPS June 6, 2023, press release can be found at www.nps.gov/nace/learn/news/ national-park-service-expected-to-receive-more-than-11-million-to-improve-parksin-southeast-washington-d-c.htm. For information on the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, visit www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2026-04/washington-dc-gaoa-factsheet-2026.pdf. E AST OF THE R IVER / A UGUST 2026
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neighborhood news
The RFK Master Plan Six New Neighborhoods Planned
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he District’s draft master plan for the RFK Stadium Campus (https:// dcgov.app.box.com/v/RFKcampusdraftplan) attempts to answer a question Washington has been asking for decades: What should replace the acres of asphalt and fenced-off land around the old stadium site? The answer, in the plan released June 30, is not only a football stadium. It is an entire new riverfront neighborhood with housing, retail, hotels, recreation, parks, a sportsplex and a restored edge along the Anacostia River. The 180-acre site would be organized into six districts, each with a different role in the long-term buildout of the campus. Conceptual drawing of the layout of RFK Campus with new stadium at bottom center. Detail. Robert F. Kennedy Campus Draft Master Plan
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by Elizabeth O’Gorek
The new Commanders Stadium would anchor the Stadium District. But planners describe the broader campus as a “365-day” place meant to thrive outside of a football game. The plan calls for 5,000 to 6,500 homes, at least 30% of them affordable, along with 6-8 million square feet of mixed-use development. District officials said the project could generate about 14,000 construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs.
The Framework
Brian Hanlon, director of the District’s Department of Buildings and lead RFK project executive, said during a June 30 webinar that the plan would
be “more than a stadium development” and “more than a gateway to the city.” He described it as a new neighborhood linking Wards 6 and 7, bringing jobs and housing while opening the Anacostia waterfront to the public. Six districts are meant to transform the site from stadium parking lots to urban neighborhoods: 1. The Stadium District would include the stadium, entry plaza and related event spaces. 2. The Plaza District would be a mixed-use entertainment and retail area closest to transit and game-day activity. 3. The Riverfront District would put housing, restaurants, commercial uses and public access along the water. 4. Kingman Commons, north of C Street and along Oklahoma Avenue, is envisioned as a largely residential and recreational area tied to the sportsplex and nearby fields. 5. The Recreation District would preserve and organize athletic fields and community open space. 6. The Anacostia Commons would create a 30acre natural riparian zone with trails, landscaping and water access. Office of Planning officials said the master plan is not a construction document but a framework that will guide zoning, building heights, street layouts, park design and future development proposals. That distinction matters because many of the details residents care about most remain unsettled. The plan shows where housing, parks and commercial uses could go, but it does not decide which grocer might open, what medical services would be provided, what amenities the sportsplex would contain or exactly when every part of the campus would be built. During the webinar, planners said a neighborhood needs assessment showed demand for fresh food, medical services, drugstores and other community-serving retail, especially after the closure of the Safeway on Maryland Avenue NE last May. They identified the Plaza District and Kingman Commons as possible locations for a grocer because both are close to existing neighborhoods and could serve a broader community. But officials described those
A concept drawing of view looking west on Oklahoma Avenue NE. Robert F. Kenndey Campus Master Plan, p. 26, June 30, 2026.
uses as opportunities created by the plan, not as secured commitments. The same is true for recreation. The plan preserves the fields at RFK and identifies a recreation district of about 27 acres, but the sportsplex is still being conceptualized. Officials said they are reviewing recreational needs nearby and citywide to determine what would best serve District athletes. At a July 1 DC Council roundtable, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen (D) suggested that one area designated as passive park space could instead be used for another field configuration, noting that existing fields are already heavily used.
Public Feedback
The public feedback summarized by the District shows residents want the campus to feel less like an event zone and more like a neighborhood. Participants prioritized a riverfront walk, farmers market, intergenerational open spaces, athletic facilities, shade, native landscaping and preservation of heritage trees and natural habitats. They also asked for buildings that scale down toward existing neighborhoods, preserve sunlight and river views and blend into the Anacostia waterfront rather than creating a wall between the river and the rest of the city. Residents also pushed for everyday amenities. The District said it heard repeated calls for com-
munity-serving retail, small-business opportunities, arts and culture space, food access and local retail. In focus groups and public comments, participants also asked for stronger sustainability standards, cooling features, better connections east of the river and anti-displacement strategies so nearby families can remain in place as investment rises around them. For some Kingman Park residents, the plan is promising but still incomplete. In an interview, Kingman Park resident Alexis Pazmino said it was “hard to know what we’re commenting on” because important technical studies and implementation decisions are still pending. Transportation is one of those unresolved subjects. The plan gestures toward a transit-oriented campus and a less car-dependent development pattern, but the traffic analysis, game-day operations, neighborhood parking protections and some transit details are being worked through separately by the District Department of Transportation, Metro and the project team. Those questions affect whether the plan can deliver the neighborhood it promises, but they are not the only open questions. The site has to be rezoned prior to construction. Officials said the District expects to refine the plan after public comment, transmit it to the DC Council later this year and then pursue zoning text and map amendments in 2027. That process would determine the legal rules for height, density and allowed uses across the campus. Future development would have to follow that zoning unless exceptions are obtained. The District opened a 45-day public comment period on June 30, running through Aug. 14. Submit comments online at www.publicinput.com/ rfkmasterplan, via email to the project team at OP.RFKMasterPlan@dc.gov, through ANC resolutions or at public hearings: Aug. 1, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at St. Coletta of Greater Washington (1901 Independence Ave. SE); or Aug. 8 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library (3935 Benning Rd. NE). The RFK master plan offers a sweeping picture of a neighborhood where parking lots become homes, fields, shops, shaded walks and public waterfront. Its ambition is also the source of the questions now before residents and councilmembers. The document describes what the District wants the campus to become. But whether it feels like a real neighborhood, who benefits, what gets built first and what is pushed until later ‒ those decisions are yet to be made. u
A map showing districts of RFK Campus. Robert F. Kennedy Campus Master Plan Official Draft, DC OP, June 30, 2026 The expected development as of Opening Day. Dark grey indicates a structurew; G1 and G2 are parking garages. Light grey indicates surface parking lots. Robert F. Kennedy Campus Master Plan Official Draft, DC OP, June 30, 2026.
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Can You Get to the Game? Transit Plans for RFK by Elizabeth O’Gorek
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n 2030, on opening day of the Commanders’ new 65,000-seat stadium at RFK, the trip to the game will begin long before fans reach East Capitol Street. Perhaps fans might take the Silver Line from Northern Virginia, the Red Line from Montgomery County platform or start their car in a driveway in Prince George’s County or walk from a rowhouse in Kingman Park. The decision matters. According to a 2025 poll by the Washington Post, 53% of DMV residents identify as Commanders fans. A May 2026 transit study by Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) offers the clearest early math. For a major RFK event, Metro rail and bus would likely carry 26,000 to 38,000 attendees. About 25,000 would arrive by private vehicles. Another 2,000 to 14,000 would walk, bike, rideshare, scooter or perhaps kayak. The unresolved question is whether the DC public transportation infrastructure will be ready by opening day.
Metro Rail to Stadium-Armory
Imagine a fan in Ballston leaving home in their burgundy Commanders jersey. They could walk to the Orange Line and ride from Ballston straight to Stadium-Armory. For many Northern Virginia fans, especially those near the Blue, Orange and Silver lines, that is the simplest. It involves no transfer, no parking search, no crawl around the stadium. Stadium-Armory can handle about 14,000 customers an hour today, according to WMATA. In the agency’s high-use scenario, about 32,300 transit riders could depart within the hour after a game. Roughly three-quarters of them would head west toward downtown transfer stations. Without significant station upgrades, WMATA warned, it could take more than two hours to clear the event crowd. The proposed fix is a rebuilt Stadium-Armory: new elevators, escalators and stairs, mezzanine im22
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provements and an expanded north entrance. If those improvements are complete, WMATA says post-event crowd clearing could fall to roughly 60 to 90 minutes. If not, the Arlington fan’s easy ride in could become an odyssey with long, crowded waits outside the station and packed platforms below. Rebuilding the station itself will stress the system, said Metro general manager Randy Clarke at the July 1 DC Council roundtable. Stadium-Armory sits on tracks serving Largo and New Carrollton. Station construction would require significant outages and cannot take place during large events such as the Cherry Blossom Festival. The region may feel the consequences of the stadium plan long before the first kickoff.
Gold & Red Lines
A map of proposed road networks serving RFK Stadium. Map: District of Columbia.
WMATA’s solution is to create a so-called Gold Line, a bus rapid transit (BRT) line along H Street between Union Station and a new transit station at RFK. In the agency’s study, “Cara” takes the Red Line to Union Station, then transfers to the Gold Line, reaching RFK in about 32 minutes. WMATA says that is about seven minutes faster than a transfer to Stadium-Armory station. It’s 5-10 minutes faster than taking the D20 bus and replaces a 15 to 20-minute walk with a planned three-minute walk to the stadium. For suburban Maryland fans who would not start at a station on the Blue, Orange or Silver lines, the Gold Line may hold the key to a quick trip. WMATA recommends center-running, dedicated bus lanes from Union Station to RFK along H Street and Benning Road NE, with signal priority, level boarding, all-door boarding and service as frequent as every three minutes. The line would also
connect the stadium to Amtrak, MARC and VRE riders at Union Station. The WMATA plan also envisions a high-capacity transit center near the stadium, connected to Benning Road by a transitway. This would not be a new Metro station. Nor would it be a staffed building with HVAC and washrooms. It would be a cul-de-sac with shelters, a place where buses can queue, load quickly and depart without getting tangled in garage traffic or rideshare pickups. District Department of Transportation (DDOT) planners say the transit center’s location is key. For the Gold Line to be attractive, the station on the RFK Campus needs to be close to the stadium. Residents have objected to the proposed location at 21st and C streets NE, with Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 7D suggesting the station be relocated to the south side of the campus. However, someone has to fund the Gold Line. The cost for the Union Station-to-RFK segment, DDOT director Sharon Kershbaum told councilmembers, is estimated at $75 million. This is
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replaced with a “main street” with a big lift during a period when the three to five lanes that can change District’s capital budget is already direction before and after games. squeezed. It is also tight schedulThose plans could increase roading. The goal is to build the section way capacity but also depend on between Union Station and RFK game-day management. DDOT by 2030, officials say. If the Gold Line and Stadihas proposed reversible lanes, um-Armory improvements are barriers blocking neighborhood to be ready for the Commanders’ streets, traffic officers and curb planned 2030 opening, the Discontrol. But until a TOPP is detrict and WMATA need agreeveloped and traffic is tested, resiments in place by summer 2026 dents are being asked to accept a for design, procurement and conconcept before seeing whether the struction to begin immediateaccess roads and ramps can absorb ly, Metro general manager Randy NFL traffic or turn the neighborClarke warned. A segment going hood itself into a bottleneck. further east toward Benning Road In that case, even the possiA map of parking and egress to RFK Stadium. Map: District of Columbia could be built by 2032, if similar ble third garage would not progoals are met. Although WMATA vide an escape valve. The RFK reimagines the Gold Line eventualdevelopment law says DDOT and to create the TOPP until closer to the stadium’s ly extending to Rosslyn, no timeline has been givthe team cannot submit a report analyzing whethopening. Citing the experiences of Nationals Staen for that final length. er another garage is needed sooner than July 1, dium and Audi Field, many observers have little For residents along H Street and Benning Road, 2032. Until then, the Bowie family’s drive will test faith in the agency’s plans. the Gold Line raises practical questions. Centerwhether an NFL game can function with far less Moreover, I-295 is famous for its congestion running lanes can make bus service reliable, but parking than fans have associated with the team in the absence of a stadium. The question isn’t just they usually require difficult decisions about turns, for decades. where the cars will park; it is also how they are all parking, deliveries and curbside access. It’s a big going to get to those spots within a limited amount Walking or Biking ask for a corridor that went through similar planof time. For a Hill East resident near C Street NE, the staning and construction for the now-defunct streetWMATA’s study estimates about 25,000 pridium could be close enough to hear and still awkcar about 20 years ago. And design could come bevate-auto attendees. District materials allot roughward to reach. The Commanders’ master developfore analysis. DDOT representatives at the master ly 8,000 parking spaces at opening, about 6,000 in ment plan promises a walkable campus with trails, plan webinar said that there would not be a detailed two garages and 2,000 in temporary surface lots on riverfront access, public spaces and stronger links traffic analysis until the environmental review is future development parcels. The Commanders are to nearby neighborhoods. Agency officials say pubcomplete, expected by summer 2027 at the latest. planning for about 8,200 spaces, including parking lic feedback prioritized limiting parking, increased This all assumes that Commanders fans can be attached to the stadium complex for players, staff Metro access, pedestrian-first spaces and improved weaned from arriving in their cars. and corporate offices, representatives informed the biking and walking trails. DC Council. Driving and Parking However, the most frustrating gaps may be the The plan directs most traffic to a small number of Imagine a family in Bowie, accustomed to driving shortest ones. The East Capitol pedestrian bridge routes: Southeast Boulevard from I-695 under Barto Landover. Sunday football still means a car and over I-295 and CSX, a connection that could help ney Circle; Benning Road and the Whitney Young a tailgate. In 2030, their destination will not be a residents east of the river and near the highway reach Memorial Bridge from the east; Independence Avevast suburban parking lot but a set of garages and the campus, is now expected in 2032, not 2030. nue and C Street from the west; and finally, a rebuilt temporary lots on an urban campus bordered by Bike planning is also still thin. Allen pressed the Oklahoma Avenue NE corridor on the north. The rowhouses, highways, rail lines and parks. Commanders to provide a covered, structured bike network has to thread thousands of drivers between DDOT plans to push vehicles toward the revalet like the popular one at Nationals Park. Team the river, parkland, rail infrastructure and the estabgional highway network, especially I-695 and representatives acknowledged that there needs to lished neighborhoods before they reach the garage. I-295. To discourage transit via neighborhood be a way to serve people arriving by bicycle, possiA backup at any point wouldn’t only make fans late; streets, DDOT plans to employ game-day tools bly in or near a garage, but said the design was still it could push traffic into the neighborhood streets such as traffic control officers, temporary one-way ahead of where planning stood. DDOT says it wants to protect. operations, curbside controls and parking restricPlanners want to convert parts of the street grid. Rideshare and Curbside tions. Those details are supposed to be folded into Modifications are planned to the I-295 and BenPicture a fan walking out of a downtown hotel or a the legally mandated Traffic Operations and Parkning connection. Oklahoma Avenue NE will be pregame bar and opening a rideshare app. That trip ing Plan (TOPP). However, DDOT does not plan 24
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could look easy on a phone but be difficult on the street. Rideshare is likely to absorb some of WMATA’s “other modes” category, along with walking, biking and taxis. However, thousands of private vehicles trying to drop off and pick up near the same gates can undermine every other part of the plan: bus lanes, pedestrian crossings, garage entrances and emergency access. So far, rideshare is more a problem to be assigned to the TOPP than a solved design. The key questions remain open. Where will pickups and drop-offs occur? Will so-called geofencing be employed? How far will riders have to walk? Will app-based rideshare be separated from buses? How will traffic officers keep curbside demand from spilling into residential streets? Those plans matter. If Metro queues are long, the Gold Line is not ready, garages are expensive or neighborhood parking is restricted, some people will reach for rideshare. If that becomes the fallback for thousands, the campus could inherit the congestion it is trying to avoid.
Skeptical Public Officials
At a July 1 hearing, Ward 7 Councilmember Wendell Felder (D), a stadium supporter, pressed DDOT on its plans to protect Kingman Park, River Terrace, Hill East and Parkside from spillover parking. Current RFK events already generate calls from residents about visitors taking neighborhood spaces, he noted. The guiding principle is to make driving unattractive enough that fewer people try it, and to use curbside rules and road design to prevent cut-through traffic. However, the agency has not made specifics public. If the stadium depends on people driving themselves and looking for parking, “it’s going to be a disaster,” said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen (D) after the hearing.
That uncertainty feeds broader neighborhood skepticism. Some Kingman Park residents have warned that even current festivals on the RFK grounds strain the area with crowds, noise, trash and parking pressure. The master plan promises everyday amenities, not just game-day spectacle, but residents will judge the transportation plan by whether they can move around their own blocks when 65,000 people arrive.
The 2030 Test
The RFK plan is built around thousands of simultaneous decisions by fans across the region. A Northern Virginia rider could arrive at Stadium-Armory. A Montgomery County fan trusts the Gold Line. A Prince George’s County family buys parking in a garage. A Hill East neighbor decides whether biking is realistic. A downtown visitor calls an Uber. On paper, those choices add up. More than half of attendees could arrive by Metro rail and bus. About 25,000 could come by car. The rest could fill in the gaps. However, the stadium works only if the gaps do not become the problem. The regional road network must be improved. Stadium-Armory must be expanded. The Gold Line and transit center must be funded and built. DDOT must create an effective TOPP. The agency must enforce protections to protect the neighborhood. All of this by opening day. RFK’s transportation future right now is less a map than a deadline. By 2030, the District, Metro and the Commanders will have to prove that “transit-first” is not just how the stadium was sold to the neighbors, but how people from the surrounding areas actually get home. u
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Anacostia Avenue Extension Project Delays Raise Concerns
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by Sarah Payne
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ANC 7D Report
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epresentatives from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) briefed commissioners and community members about the Anacostia Avenue Extension Project. Delays to the construction timeline and the project’s impact on nearby residential areas dominated discussion. The project plans to provide “much-needed circulation improvements to the Parkside and Mayfair communities” through the construction of a new roadway connecting Anacostia Avenue at Benning Road NE near Bridge 78 with Foote Street NE, according to the project website. These efforts would close a gap in the local street network and add pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. The proposed corridor crosses federally owned land and utility property. Therefore, the project must undergo environmental review and coordination with several agencies before construction can proceed. In February, the commission voted to support the extension of Anacostia Avenue through transfers of jurisdiction on various parcels and a part of a reservation north of the intersection of Benning Road and Anacostia Avenue NE. The project is “a critical artery for [the] community,” Commissioner Wright said, noting the limited access available for residents to enter and exit the neighborhood. She expressed concern about the project’s timeline being “significantly behind what was presented” and questioned why the project was pushed back “so dramatically.” “It makes it feel like we’re going to get an extension when we get a stadium, which is absurd,” she added. Project representatives reported that the delays resulted from the land transfer and coordination with the nearby transfer station. An accelerated timeline, the representatives said, is dependent on permits. Chair Alcorn echoed Wright’s concerns and underscored the importance of improving accessibility for neighbors. “We are very motivated to see these improvements done as they are foundational,” Alcorn said. “Still, to this day, it confounds the mind that there’s only one way in and, effectively, two ways out of Parkside.” Rerouting traffic patterns around the con26
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current Benning Road Transfer Station Modernization Project was also of concern. In June, members of the transfer station project’s advisory team shared plans to divert construction traffic to Foote Street to ensure construction access. The use of Foote Street, particularly for large trucks, was a significant concern to commissioners given the access limitations. Citing concerns about noise, vibrations and the foundations of nearby homes “that sit right at the foot of the curb,” traffic, particularly large and heavy trucks, will have a significant, and potentially long-term, negative impact on residents. “It doesn’t seem like there was any consideration for this,” she added. The project team reported that contractors plan to conduct pre- and post-construction surveys to ensure that any damage will “be taken care of ” and discussed the possibility of installing speed humps. According to Wright, many neighbors are not in favor of installing speed humps due to concerns that it could amplify the issues they hope to mitigate. “These houses aren’t set back like a lot of homes in the city are where you have very deep front yards to absorb some of the [impact]” she said. “A speed hump on Foote Street would cause a vibration to someone’s window and front door.” The commission took no vote on this matter. Visit www.anacostia-avenue-extension.ddot. dc.gov to learn more.
Other Matters
Representatives for the RFK redevelopment project briefed commissioners and community members on the project’s master plan and how to submit feedback. The 45-day public comment period began on June 30 and will remain open through Aug. 14. Residents and community members are encouraged to submit feedback and comments at www. publicinput.com/ rfkmasterplan. Learn more about the project and view the master plan at www.ourrfk.dc.gov. The commission voted to: • adopt a resolution to rename the 1500 Block of 45th Street NE in remembrance of Kentrell Devaughn; • support the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) application to construct a third sto-
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ry and a three-story rear addition to an existing, attached, two-story principal dwelling unit with special exception relief from the rear addition and roof top requirements at 443 17th St. SE; support the BZA application to construct a two-story rear addition to an existing attached, two-story principal dwelling with special exception relief from the rear yard and lot occupancy requirements at 222 17th Pl. NE; send a letter to the DC Department of Public Works in opposition of any construction management plan for the Benning Road Transfer Station that would route construction traffic along Foote Street NE and request DPW adopt a different construction route across the Pepco property when necessary; send a letter to the Department of Buildings and the Department of General Services in support of an extended hours permit to expedite reconstruction and renovation of the outdoor running track at Eastern High School (1700 East Capitol St. NE)
Commissioners Artilie Wright (7D03), Katie Murphy (7D04), Ebony Payne (7D05), Dominic Pacheco (7D06, secretary), Brett Astmann (7D07, treasurer), Brian Alcorn (7D08, chair) and Ashley Schapitl (7D09) attended the ANC 7D commission meeting on Tuesday, July 14. Commissioners Joshua Taborn (7D01, vice chair) and Dev Myers (7D10) were absent. SMD 7D02 remains vacant. ANC 7D is not scheduled to meet in August, but Alcorn proposed a potential special meeting to discuss the RFK Master Plan. A date has not been announced. The full commission will meet next on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m., via Zoom. Learn more about the commission and register to attend at www.7d0761.wixsite.com/anc7d-1. Sarah Payne is a reporter for Capital Community News. She can be reached at sarahp@hillrag.com. u
Capital Turnaround Public-Space Improvements ANC 6/8F Report
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by Elizabeth O’Gorek
lex Torres, a civil engineer with Kimley-Horn of DC, presented plans for public-space improvements at Capital Turnaround (770 M St. SE). He was joined by Austin Daly of National Community Church (NCC), which owns the property. The 100,000-square-foot facility is home to the church, event space, a childcare facility and a second location of Ebenezer’s Coffee House. The applicants asked ANC 6/8F to send a letter supporting two related applications: a cafe seating permit and a construction permit. The project would renovate three areas around the historic building. Along Seventh Street SE, NCC proposes a wider, six-
foot tree box and grass strip, a six-foot sidewalk, planters, synthetic turf, movable picnic tables, overhead string lights and an eight-foot marquee. The plans would also close a curb cut. Additional marquees, new stairs and landscaping are proposed at L and Eighth streets and along Eighth Street. At Eighth and M streets, the project would create outdoor seating for Ebenezer's Coffeehouse while maintaining ADA access and pedestrian clearance. Because several marquees would extend beyond the usual five-foot limit, the applicants will seek exemptions from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Public Space Committee. Commissioners supported the design but raised concerns about loading during large events. They unanimously authorized Commissioner Edward Daniels (6/8F04) to testify on the ANC's behalf regarding the project and the need for a designated loading zone. It then voted 4-0-1 to send the requested letter of support. Daniels abstained because of prior business dealings with NCC and Capital Turnaround.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Dan Reynolds reported that approval of the quarterly financial report (QFR) was postponed after the commission identified a possible $55.37 fraudulent transaction from early June. Reynolds said he had contacted the bank, filed a dispute and was working with the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (OANC) to resolve the matter before submitting the QFR.
Resolution in Favor of Bike Signals
Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution urging DDOT to install additional bicycle traffic control signals along key corridors in Navy Yard, citing the area's growing volume of cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles. Introduced by Commissioner Bryant, the resolution noted that while bicycle signals exist at intersections along I Street SE and the Virginia Avenue bikeway, similarly busy locations on M Street and First Street SE lack dedicated signals despite heavy traffic generated by residents, visitors, the Van Ness Elementary School community and the new Amazon delivery pilot. Commissioners emphasized preventing injuries rather
than responding after crashes. The resolution requests that DDOT prioritize signals at intersections including M Street and New Jersey Avenue; M Street and First Street; M Street and Fourth Street and additional locations connecting the Virginia Avenue bikeway with the Sixth Street bike lane SE. During discussion, commissioners also raised concerns about conflicts between cyclists and delivery vehicles and asked DDOT to continue evaluating additional safety improvements as bike traffic increases.
Public Safety
Captain Adam Crist of the Metropolitan Police Department’s First District reported that crime continues to decline in the area. Overall violent crime was down 29% year to date compared with the same period last year, driven by a 46% decrease in robberies and carjackings, which fell from 24 incidents to 13. Property crime was down 45%, with motor vehicle theft and theft from autos each down more than 80%. Crist said the last 30 days included two violent crimes: a juvenile robbery on the unit block of M Street and a sexual assault involving a known suspect. He also reported that MPD’s Civil Disturbance Unit made arrests for illegal fireworks possession and discharge around July 4, including activity in Navy Yard. Commissioner Edward Daniels asked about federal policing activity in the neighborhood and whether MPD could provide data on arrests involving agencies such as ICE, DEA and FBI. Crist said, to his knowledge, MPD is not working with ICE but continues to coordinate with other federal agencies. He directed questions about federal arrest numbers to MPD’s Public Information Office, noting those figures are not maintained at the patrol level.
Representing the Capitol Hill/Hill East, Eastland Gardens, Kenilworth, Kingman Park, Mayfair, Parkside, River Terrace and Rosedale neighborhoods and the RFK Stadium Complex.
Join us for our Next Virtual Public Meeting Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026 (2nd Tuesday), 7:00 pm
HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Virtual Login: https://dc-gov.zoom.us/j/82241 895770?pwd=30xgxP1oqOWhDHUuXw1vbrC1 rYieSe.1 and enter password: anc7d
Our Commissioners are here to serve you! COMMISSIONER Brian Alcorn, Chairperson Josh Taborn, Vice Chair Brett Astmann, Treasurer Dom Pacheco, Secretary Artilie Wright Katie Murphy Ebony Payne Ashley Schapitl Vacant SMD Dev Myers
SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT
7D08 – Capitol Hill 7D01 – Eastland Gardens/Kenilworth 7D07 – Rosedale 7D06 – Rosedale 7D03 – Parkside 7D04 – River Terrace 7D05 – Kingman Park 7D09 – Hill East 7D02 – Mayfair 7D10 – Hill East
7d08@anc.dc.gov 7d01@anc.dc.gov 7d07@anc.dc.gov 7d06@anc.dc.gov 7d03@anc.dc.gov 7d04@anc.dc.gov 7d05@anc.dc.gov 7d09@anc.dc.gov 7d02@anc.dc.gov 7d10@anc.dc.gov
For more information, go to:
7d0761.wixsite.com/anc7d-1
Dayan Reynolds (6/8F05, treasurer), Edward Daniels (6/8F04), Brian Strege (6/8F03), Markita Bryant (6/8F02, vice chair) and Nic Wilson (6/8F01) attended the meeting July 28. The commission will not meet in August unless a special meeting is scheduled. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 22, at 7 p.m., in a hybrid format, via Zoom and in person, at 250 M St. SE. Visit www.anc8f.org for more info. u E ast of the R iver / A ugust 2026
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by Kathleen Donner
Back to School “Beyond the Stars” Festival at THEARC
On Saturday, Aug. 23, from 2 to 6 p.m., at THEARC, 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE, this free community celebration features backpacks filled with school supplies, a giveaway of 500 pairs of shoes, free haircuts and braids with over 30 barbers, STEM activities, live entertainment, community resources, a Ward 8 market and fun for the whole family as students start the school year. www.buildingbridgesdc.org/event/rock-the-block-festival-back-toschool-backpack-giveaway.
Weekly Summer Workouts at Anacostia Park Skating Pavilion
Every Saturday through Aug. 29, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Anacostia Park Skating Pavilion, 1500 Anacostia Dr. SE, offers a free mind and body
wellness experience open to all ages and abilities. Enjoy senior fitness/low impact, cardio & movement, mindfulness & restoration and special experiences throughout the summer. www. nps.gov/anac
Hulu Premieres “They Fight,” a Story Rooted in DC’s Boxing Community
“They Fight” has premiered on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. Inspired by the acclaimed 2018 documentary, the film brings attention to the life and legacy of Ward 8 youth boxing coach Walt Manigan, a mentor whose impact continues to shape the District’s boxing community and the young people he guided. While rooted deeply in the District, the film’s themes of redemption, community, and second chances resonate with viewers everywhere. Filmed across locations in Washington and Maryland, the production captured
Can I Kick It? (Kung-Fu x Hip-Hop) Outdoor Movies
Here’s the schedule: “Black Panther,” Aug. 8, at 2211 Town Center Dr. SE; “New Jack City,” Aug. 22 at Washington Monument Sylvan Theater; “Scarface,” Sept. 5 at the Lincoln Memorial. DJs at 7:30 p.m.; movies at 8:30 p.m. www.shaolinjazz.com key scenes throughout Ward 8, neighborhood gyms and local landmarks. www.entertainment.dc.gov
Anacostia Park Care Days
Monthly on the third Saturday at 10 a.m., through Oct. 17, join the Friends of Anacostia Park for their monthly park care day. Clean up litter, remove invasive plants, water/mulch trees or beautify this cherished park’s landscape. Meet at the Anacostia Park Roller Skating Pavilion where all supplies and instructions are provided. Dress for the weather, with sturdy close-toed shoes, and bring water. www.nps.gov/anac
Late Skate at Anacostia Park
DC Central Kitchen Graduates 2,500th Student
On Friday, June 26, DC Central Kitchen graduated the 180th class of students in its Culinary Job Training program. Launched more than 35 years ago, the program has now produced 2,500 graduates through its “knife skills and life skills” curriculum. The ceremony included the presentation of a ceremonial resolution from the DC Council honoring DC Central Kitchen and a special photograph featuring the new graduates of Class 180, the current students of Class 181 and nearly 100 attending alumni representing more than two decades of graduating classes. Learn more about DC Central Kitchen’s Culinary Job Training program at www.dccentralkitchen.org. 28
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Friends of Anacostia Park and the National Park Service have kicked off the Late Skate summer tradition that brings people together for recreation, live music, culture and community in Anacostia Park. From noon to 10 p.m., enjoy free skating and skate rentals, fishing, boat rides with the Anacostia Watershed Society, arts and crafts, games, food and opportunities to connect with local organizations through Partner Village. Remaining Late Skate dates are Aug. 20, Sept.
DCHFA, Your Homeownership Resource in the District.
DC Open Doors DC Open Doors is your key to homeownership in the city. This program offers competitive interest rates and lower mortgage insurance costs on first trust
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HPAP provides interest free deferred loans for down DC4ME years or older who have fallen behind on DC4ME provides mortgage assistance with down HPAP provides interest free loansoptional forofinsurance down serves as a deferred co-administrator and tax payments as a result of their reverse mortgage. payment assistance to D.C. government employees. this DC Department of Housing and Community Qualified District homeowners can receivegovernment up serves as afull-time co-administrator of to Development’s (DHCD) first-time home buyer DC4ME is offered to current District this DC Department Housing and Community program. employees, includingofemployees of District governmentDevelopment’s (DHCD) first-time home buyer based instrumentalities, independent agencies, D.C. Public program. Charter Schools, and organizations, provided the applicant/ DC4MEemployer providesfalls mortgage assistance borrower’s under the oversight with of theoptional Council payment assistance to D.C. government of down the District of Columbia. DC4ME is offered full-time yearsemployees. or older who have fallen behind to oncurrent insurance and District tax payments as a resultemployees, of their reverse mortgage. government including employees Qualified District homeowners receive to of or District government-based instrumentalities, DC4ME VA Loan Product years older who have fallencan behind onup insurance independent D.C. Public Charter Schools, and tax payments as a result of is their reverse mortgage. The DC4ME VA agencies, Loan Product a VA mortgage product and organizations, providedcan thereceive applicant/borrower's Qualified District homeowners up to offered by thefalls District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency employer under the oversight of the Council of (DCHFA). In addition to the traditional VA benefits, like no the District of Columbia. DC4ME provides mortgage assistance with optional down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance, this down payment assistance to D.C. government product includes 3% assistance, funded by DCHFA, that employees. DC4ME is offered to current full-time DC4ME provides assistance optional District employees, including employees can begovernment used towardmortgage eligible closing costswith or prepaid items. COVID-19 payment assistance toinstrumentalities, D.C. government ofdown District government-based This makes the DC4ME VA Loan Product one of the most employees. DC4ME is offered to Charter current full-time independent agencies, D.C. Public Schools, DC MAP COVID-19 provides financial assistance to affordable and accessible loan options for qualified militaryand organizations, provided the applicant/borrower's District government employees, including employees those affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 employer falls under the oversight of the Council of ofconnected District government-based instrumentalities, borrowers. pandemic. Qualified borrowers can receive a loan of the District of Columbia. independent agencies, D.C. Public Charter Schools, up to $5,000 per month to put toward their mortgage and organizations, provided the applicant/borrower's for up falls to six months. employer under the oversight HomeAdvantage DCof the Council of the District of Columbia. makes homeownership in Washington, D.C. more accessible COVID-19 byMAP offering eligible buyers below-market mortgage DC COVID-19 provides financial assistance to financing those the impacts of theThe COVID-19 withaffected flexibleby assistance options. program provides pandemic. borrowers can receive a loan of COVID-19 qualified Qualified homebuyers with a choice of financing structures, up toMAP $5,000COVID-19 per month provides to put toward theirassistance mortgage DC financial including options with and without down payment to for up to six months. those affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 assistance,Qualified to supportborrowers the purchase a homea in theof District pandemic. canofreceive loan ofto Columbia. Qualified may be mortgage eligible for up $5,000 per month home to putbuyers toward their for up to six months. financing with or without down payment assistance, 815 FLORIDA AVENUE, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20001 • 202.777.1600 • WWW.DCHFA.ORG depending on their needs.
Visit www.DCHFA.org how to apply to any of DCHFA’s homeownership programs.
Visit www.DCHFA.org how to apply to any of DCHFA’s homeownership programs.
Visit www.DCHFA.org 815 FLORIDA AVENUE, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20001 • 202.777.1600 • WWW.DCHFA.ORG how to apply to any of DCHFA’s homeownership programs.
815 FLORIDA AVENUE, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20001 • 202.777.1600E AST • WWW.DCHFA.ORG OF THE R IVER / A UGUST 2026 29
neighborhood news
Parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1987 celebrating the Washington Redskins’ victory in the Super Bowl.
“The Declaration’s Promise” Opens at Library of Congress
This exhibition explores the foundational principles of the Declaration of Independence and their impact on American history over the last 250 years. It presents treasures drawn from across the library’s collections, including Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence with edits from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin; Frederick Douglass’ speech on “The Meaning of July Fourth” and Abraham Lincoln’s handwritten Gettysburg Address. The exhibition will be on view in the Thomas Jefferson Building through July 3, 2027. www.loc.gov
DC Board of Elections, PEPCO, Arena Stage, the Southwest Library, the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services, DISB, Office of the People’s Counsel, IRS, Social Security and Councilmember Charles Allen’s Office. Contact jonesbettyjeantolbert@ gmail.com with questions.
Sports Fans Asked to Help Mark Washington’s Biggest Sports Moments
DC Public Library has announced “Hail to the Fans: The Spirit of DC Sports,” a citywide exhibition opening April 2027. It asks residents to contribute the memorabilia, photographs and personal memories that will populate the show. Anyone whose life has been touched by DC sports may contribute. Items loaned for the duration of the exhibition remain the property of the owners and will be returned when the exhibition closes. Each contributor’s name will appear on the wall beside their object or story, becoming a permanent part of the public record of Washington sports. The exhibition runs April through October 2027 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and all 25 neighborhood locations. Submit items and stories at www.dclibrary. org/hail-fans.
26 and Oct. 24. www.nps.gov/anac/planyourvisit/roller-skating
AARP and DACL Annual Community Health, Wellness and Resource Fair On Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., join the Southwest Waterfront AARP Chapter and the DC Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL) at the annual Community Health, Wellness and Resource Fair at River Park, 1311 Delaware Ave. SW. The fair offers access to AARP resources and services, DACL resources and services, the Office of the Attorney General, Legal Counsel for the Elderly, Metro Access and Transport DC, the 30
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Volunteer Opportunity at National Museum of African Art
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to the collection, conservation, study and exhibition of Africa’s arts across time and media. Volunteers provide visitors with a welcome and useful information about exhibitions, public programs, services and more. Must be 18 or older. www. OVS-CISServices@si.edu
Pottery Market and Free Community Day at NMWA
On Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Pottery Market from 4 to 7 p.m.), the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW, is holding a summer pop-up market featuring local women and nonbinary potters. The special market spotlights 12 independent makers from across the DMV and draws inspiration from the current exhibition “Burnished: Pueblo Pottery at NMWA.” www.nmwa.org
DDOT Now Accepting Park(ing) Day Applications
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is hosting PARK(ing) Day 2026 on Friday, Sept. 18. Residents, businesses and community organizations may temporarily convert on-street parking spaces into pop-up parks. Running from 9
a.m. to 7 p.m., PARK(ing) Day is an annual event that encourages residents to reimagine the possibilities of public space. Participants are required to sign a release form and provide a certificate of insurance, along with the concept and site design of the proposed activity. Applications must be submitted by Friday, Aug. 21 at www.tops.ddot.dc.gov/ DDOTPERMITSYSTEM/DDOTPERMITonline/landing.aspx. For more information, visit www. public-space-activation-dcgis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/ parking-day or contact Paige Leddy (paige.leddy@ dc.gov) for assistance with activation concepts, location eligibility or general questions.
Love in DC: A Poetry Night Experience at Go-Go Museum and Cafe
On Wednesday, Aug. 26, 8 to 10 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.), at the Go-Go Museum & Café, 920 MLK Ave. SE. the mic is open. Join them for an evening of poetry, connection, and community. This month’s featured poet is a beautiful and powerful spoken word artist, Cookie B!!!! Cookie is Washington, DC based spoken word artist, creative, and curator whose work inspires hope, truth, and personal growth through powerful storytelling. Tickets are $23.18, incl. $3.18 Fee. gogomuseumcafe.com.
Live Entertainment Ticket RESALE Act Passes
The DC Council has given initial approval to Councilmember Charles Allen’s RESALE Act. It approved an amendment from Councilmembers Allen and Christina Henderson to restore a 10% cap on how much a live entertainment ticket can be resold for on sites like StubHub, SeatGeek and Vivid Seats. The measure, with a price cap included, is supported by 9:30 Club, The Anthem, the Black Cat, Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Lincoln Theatre, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Songbyrd, GALA Hispanic Theatre, Pearl Street Warehouse, and many others. www.legiscan.com/DC/ text/B26-0224/id/3211831
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OUT OF CHAOS Opens at Honfleur Gallery
From Aug. 15 to Sept. 26, Honfleur Gallery, 1241 Marion Barry Ave. SE, in collaboration with Valley Place Arts Collaborative, presents OUT OF CHAOS, a powerful exhibition curated by Luis Del Valle. Featuring artists whose creative journeys began in the world of graffiti and street art, the exhibit celebrates transformation, resilience, and the enduring power of artistic expression. After spending years creating unauthorized street art throughout the Washington metropolitan area, these artists have gone on to build respected careers in contemporary visual art, exhibiting in galleries, museums, public art projects, and cultural institutions. OUT OF CHAOS is a celebration of artists who transformed chaos into purpose, proving that art has the power to change lives, strengthCurator of OUT OF CHAOS, en communities, and challenge the way we see the artist Luis Del Valle is a world. The opening reception is on Saturday, Aug. painter, muralist, and arts leader whose creative jour22, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Gallery hours are Wednesdays to ney began as a graffiti artSaturdays, noon to 5 p.m. and by appointment. honist in the Washington metropolitan area at age 13. fleurgallerydc.com.
H Street Festival (Save the Date)
The annual H Street Festival, on Saturday, Sept. 19, noon to 7 p.m., is 12 blocks long on H Street NE. Its 15 staging areas are diversely themed and programmed and feature music of different genres, dance, youth-based performances, interactive children’s programs, fashion, heritage arts and poetry. Started as a block party more than 19 years ago, it has grown into a 150,000-participant event. www.hstreetfestival.org
Fall 5K by Friends of the National Arboretum
On Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., take a 5k run (or walk) through the grounds of the National Arboretum, ending at the Capitol Columns. Tickets are $45; 12 and under, free. Strollers and dogs are allowed but dogs must stay on a sixfoot, non-retractable leash. A virtual 5k option allows participation from anywhere in the country. Sign up at www.fona.org.
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Library of Congress National Book Festival
The Library of Congress hosts the 2026 National Book Festival on Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. This year the library features an expansion of programming to celebrate the nation’s anniversary and to showcase offerings beyond books to include film, music and American folklife. The festival is free and provides a full day of conversations with authors, poets and illustrators from a variety of genres. The festival offers readings, giveaways and activities for children and young adults, as well as the opportunity to purchase books from the official bookseller. Updates on plans for the National Book Festival will be shared at www.loc.gov/bookfest. Do you have a notice for the Bulletin Board? TSend your notice to bulletinboard@hillrag.com. ◆
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east washington life
A Beloved Pastor Retires Celebrating Monsignor Raymond East
M by Pattie Cinelli
onsignor Raymond G. East said his last Mass to a standing room only crowd of more than 500 friends, family and members of his congregation on June 28, ending his 30 years as pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church on V Street in Anacostia. Despite the misty, humid day, not a parking space could be had in the streets surrounding historic St Teresa’s of Avila (established 1879) nor a seat to be spared. Monsignor’s six siblings converged on DC to celebrate their brother’s retirement, which was the first time they all were in the
Monsignor preparing to begin his last Mass at St. Teresa’s.
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nation’s Capital together. “Monsignor East is an incredibly gifted preacher,” said Father Raymond Kemp, who was pastor at Holy Comforter St Cyprian Catholic Church when Monsignor was associate pastor. “He also had a wonderful voice and could break into song at a moment’s notice.” Monsignor celebrated his 40th anniversary as a priest in 2021 and has been a national evangelist who has traveled the world to preach. Before his retirement, he led St Teresa of Avila, helping to build a strong and diverse community. Monsignor came from a deeply spiritual family background. His father’s parents were Baptist missionaries to South Africa near the birthplace of Nelson Mandela. His Aunt Gladys East heard the mission call and spent her life working in the Baptist missions in Liberia. Her experiences influenced Monsignor to enter the seminary. The grandson and nephew of Baptist missionaries to South Africa, Msgr. East told the Catholic Standard, “I always wanted to be a priest. My grandparents were missionaries, so was my Aunt Gladys. Two generations gave their lives (to serve God), and I thought it was my turn.” He also told the Standard that his favorite part of being a priest is “saying Mass and being a minister of the body and blood of Christ.” He is returning to his roots in southern California where his siblings live and where he was raised. Born in Newark, NJ, he received his degree in business administration from the University of San Diego and worked for a business group in the DC area before becoming a priest. Monsignor East is the most
Monsignor Raymond G. East.
holy person I have ever met. He radiates light, goodness and grace. I first met him at Holy Comforter St Cyprian Catholic Church on Capitol Hill. His day-to-day living example of what it means to be a Christian was what inspired me to get to know the man behind the cloth. He sprinkled profound kindness and love on everything he touched. Wherever he looks, he sees the good. When my mother died in New York, he drove five hours to celebrate her final Mass with my family and friends. When I got the call he was retiring and moving back to southern California I wept, shedding tears of sadness as well as of joy for my friend of 37 years. I was happy that he was reuniting with his family yet so sad that he was leaving DC. His final two-hour Mass was filled with special readings and songs. He and his siblings (all of whom are musically gifted) sang the Our Father together. After the formal Mass, each organization that was created, inspired or enhanced by Monsignor’s leadership, paid tribute to a man who uplifted them for decades. Monsignor spent 41 years working in Black parishes in DC as the designated archdiocesan evangelist. This experience allowed him to work with Af-
rican American Catholics, who have had a presence in the archdiocese for over 380 years. Father East loved working with community organizations. His memberships included the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus and The National Association of Pastoral Musicians. He was the general chairman of the “Lead Me Guide Me” hymnal, second edition. As I watched Monsignor East leave the altar one final time, I realized why saying goodbye was so difficult. Rarely do we encounter someone who so fully embodies the love, grace and unity that Christ taught. For 37 years, I was blessed to call him my friend, and like the hundreds of others who gathered that day, I left changed because I knew him. Washington may be losing a beloved pastor, but southern California is gaining back a remarkable son, brother and servant of God. His ministry in DC has ended but his legacy and love endures. Pattie Cinelli has been a columnist for the Hill Rag for more than 30 years. You can contact her at: fitmiss44@aol.com. u
TAE KWON DO TRADITIONAL KOREAN STYLE AGES 4 AND UP CLASSES STARTING MONTHLY
820 6TH ST., NE - PARKING • MASTERGUTMAN@GMAIL.COM Monsignor celebrating his last day at St. Teresa’s.
202-271-5449 • TEXT FRIENDLY E ast of the R iver / A ugust 2026
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east washington life
Democracy Needs Places The Man from Anacostia
B
by Markus Batchelor
efore democracy is practiced, it is learned. Long before someone casts a ballot, attends a public meeting or runs for office, they learn what it means to live in community in churches and schools, at recreation centers and libraries, around dinner tables and on front porches, in union halls, neighborhood associations, civic clubs and Little League bleachers. They learn that rights come with responsibilities, that disagreement need not become division and that communities become stronger when people invest more in them than they take from them. Political scientists often describe these
Community members gather outside the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) headquarters in Atlanta’s Auburn neighborhood – rented space co-located with the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge and WERD, the nation’s first Black-owned radio station. Civil rights marchers gather outside Brown AME Church, an anchor for organizing in Selma.
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institutions as “third places” between home and work, where relationships naturally form. They are right to recognize their importance. But I have always thought they deserve a bigger name. They are democracy’s classrooms. They are where we discover that citizenship is not something we perform every two or four years at the ballot box. It is a habit of showing up. A practice of serving. A willingness to see our own future bound up in the futures of people we may never have chosen but are nevertheless called to live alongside. History bears this out.
Movements Require Institutions
America’s greatest democratic movements were never built by isolated individuals. The abolitionist movement was sustained by churches, newspapers and mutual aid societies. The labor movement grew from union halls. The women’s suffrage movement organized through civic associations that spent decades changing hearts before they changed the Constitution. Long before the March on Washington or the Edmund Pettus Bridge became national symbols, Black churches, historically Black colleges and universities, neighborhood organizations, NAACP chapters, fraternities and sororities and ordinary meeting rooms were quietly cultivating leadership, trust, discipline and hope. When I was sworn into office as an elected representative on the DC State Board of Education nearly a decade ago, I reflected on growing up in Congress Heights. I spoke about the deacon who drove me to Vacation Bible School each summer, the veteran up the street who gave me history books and flew an American flag on my birthday because he insisted that I would do something meaningful one day. And the neighbors who looked Volunteers serve at one of the Black Panther Party’s free breakfast programs for children. out for every child on the block as though we all belonged to one another. Organizers stuff mail at an NAACP headquarters. I talked about the schools, recreation centers, churches, Democratic clubs and community meetings that shaped my understanding of service long before I ever thought about running for office. At the time, I said something I still believe: The village raised the child. The answer is not nostalgia. Many of the institutions that shaped earlier generations were deeply imperfect. Some excluded Black Americans, women, immigrants, LGBTQ people or anyone who challenged the status quo. They deserved to change, and many did. But the human need they fulfilled has not disappeared.
At age 18, I speak at a Ward 8 Democrats meeting, Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, 2011.
Building the Civic Architecture
Every generation must build the civic architecture its democracy requires. That work will not look exactly like it did for previous generations. Some people will find their community through traditional institutions. Others will create new ones. What matters is not preserving every organization exactly as it existed, but rebuilding the relationships and responsibilities those institutions once cultivated. It means becoming the person who shows up. The neighbor who knows the children’s names on the block. The mentor who invests in a young person. The volunteer who joins a cause before there is a crisis. The citizen who understands that community is not something we consume; it is something we build. That work happens every day, by people willing to show up, invest in one another and believe that the future of their neighbors is connected to their own. Because democracy is not sustained only by the institutions that govern us. It is sustained by the communities that teach us how to govern ourselves. ◆
S I G N U P T O D AY ! LOCAL NEWS IN YOUR INBOX eastoftheriverdcnews.com
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east washington life
Changing Hands
Changing Hands is a list of residential sales in Capitol Hill and contiguous neighborhoods from the previous month. A feature of every issue, this list, based on the MRIS, is provided courtesy of Don Denton, Associate Broker at Coldwell Banker Realty on Capitol Hill. The list includes address, sales price and number of bedrooms.
SKYLAND 1175 46th Pl SE $435,000 3 2719 Hartford St SE $519,000 4 1700 Fort Davis St SE $425,000 4 $399,900 2 719 Hilltop Ter SE WASHINGTON HIGHLANDS 1151 $295,000 3 44th Pl SE FEE SIMPLE 149 Mississippi Ave SE $370,000 3 404 Burbank St SE $235,000 3 ANACOSTIA $230,000 2 1139 44th Pl SE 2441 Shannon Pl SE $600,500 3 486 Burbank St SE $185,000 2 2449 Shannon Pl SE $550,000 3 CONDO FORT LINCOLN 1334 Ridge Pl SE $375,000 2 CARVER LANGSTON 2526 Baldwin Cres NE $815,000 3 BARRY FARMS 2019 M St NE #1 $389,999 2 3222 Theodore R Hagans Dr NE $737,000 4 1412 Morris Rd SE $409,000 3 DEANWOOD HENSON RIDGE 210 43rd Rd NE #103 $177,000 2 CONGRESS HEIGHTS 1837 Tubman Rd SE $470,000 4 612 Eastern Ave NE #C02 $68,000 1 3313 Cornwell Drive SE $535,000 3 1822 Bruce Pl SE $445,000 4 3214 5th St SE $529,900 6 ECKINGTON HILL EAST 70 Darrington St SW $475,000 4 2116 4th St NE #C $535,000 3 727 Kentucky Ave SE $989,000 3 3005 7th St SE $450,000 3 1343 Ives Pl SE $640,000 2 516 Lebaum St SE $380,000 3 FAIRFAX VILLAGE 1372 C St NE $615,000 2 4007 1st St SW $349,900 2 3810 W St SE #302 $165,000 2 847 Hr Dr SE $315,000 4 HILLCREST HILLCREST 4014 Blakney Ln SE $264,700 3 3126 Westover Dr SE $1,250,000 5 2102 38th St SE #A $155,000 2 3222 10th Pl SE $240,000 2 1361 Branch Ave SE $741,000 3 u 517 Parkland Pl SE $215,000 6 2604 32nd St SE $535,000 3 449 Valley Ave SE $185,000 3 2959 Fort Baker Dr SE $430,000 4 625 Chesapeake St SE #301 $93,000 2 KINGMAN PARK DEANWOOD 2022 C St NE $776,000 3 1202 Eastern Ave NE $575,000 4 561 23rd Pl NE $375,000 2 4410 Foote St NE $550,000 4 5025 Blaine St NE $505,000 4 LILY PONDS 823 46th St NE $477,500 3 128 Kenilworth Ave NE $350,000 3 4035 Benning Rd NE $412,000 3 MARSHALL HEIGHTS 840 Division Ave NE $400,000 3 5525 Bass Pl SE $410,000 3 4203 Eads St NE $384,000 3 4053 Benning Rd NE $350,000 4 RANDLE HEIGHTS 1027 49th St NE $350,000 5 1948 Valley Ter SE $405,000 4 5515 Jay St NE $236,000 2 3427 25th St SE $212,000 3 812 Division Ave NE $191,500 2 RIVER TERRACE FORT DUPONT PARK 311 35th St NE $455,000 2 4616 Hanna Pl SE $437,000 3 NEIGHBORHOOD
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Devices and gadgets by Myles Mellor
Across:
1. H.S. math 4. Theory 7. Six-year VIP 10. Lock sites 16. Short-billed rail 18. Top secret? 19. ___ lunch 21. Land on Lake Victoria 22. Multipurpose tool 25. Aka cell 26. Back roads 27. Get ready to drive 28. Shaq’s sch. 30. 60s rebel singer 31. Wall St. letters 32. Choose 36. “It’s Impossible” singer 40. Env. extra 42. Atmospheric phenomena 45. Waiter’s need 48. Stuffed chicken 50. World War II important event 52. Source of DNA evidence, often 53. Houston stadium 55. Make the calls 57. Entreat 58. Carpenter’s tool 59. Pix maker 66. Zap 67. “....___ magic” 70. Yemen seaport 71. Plunges into liquid 72. Pan, e.g. 74. John, to Ringo 75. Ringlet 76. Mame, for one 77. Simpsons’ character 79. Nabokov novel 80. Montgomery of jazz 83. Desktop go-with 86. Modern-day tablets 88. K-O connection 89. “What did I tell you?”
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90. Theoretician 94. Emblem of victory 98. Some cameras, abbr. 101. Genesis brother 102. Chest muscle 103. Makes possible 105. Permit 106. Andes tubers 108. Supple 110. Feathery scarves 113. Cut-glass object 118. Richard Bach novel 119. Guitar stroke 121. Come back again 122. Health gadget 127. Online essential 130. Cast out 131. Picks up 132. Familiar address for a man 133. Useless, in batteries 134. Wholly 135. Female sib, briefly 136. Stomach muscles 137. Numbered hwy.
Down:
1. Syrian leader 2. Menial 3. Give the third degree 4. “___ a Teen-age Werewolf” 5. Polite address to a customer 6. People in charge, abbr. 7. Allowance 8. Spider is one 9. Christmas carols 10. Dense, puffy cloud 11. History-textbook adjective 12. Catch in the act 13. Daw’s cousin 14. Blood test letters 15. Envelope that comes back to you 17. No longer in port
E a s t o f t h e R i v er D C N e w s . c o m
Look for this months answers at labyrinthgameshop.com 19. ___-doke 20. Brand new 23. Harmony 24. Monetary unit of Japan 29. Word after Red or Black 33. Geological time span 34. USMC rank 35. Families 37. Accepted 38. Padua possessive 39. Original manufactured item 41. Golfer’s transport 43. Assert as a fact 44. It’s a long story 45. Autocrat until 1917 46. Wee 47. Canada’s Grand ___ National Historic Park 49. Sacred Hindu writings
51. Fermentation agent 53. Furry alien comedy 54. East 56. Goes with fauna 60. Lazybones 61. Hollow crystal lined stone 62. Combined 63. Reminded 64. Attack violently 65. Spanish for month 68. Cosmonaut, Dennis 69. Prods 72. Police blotter abbr. 73. Nods 76. Occurring every year 78. Liquorish flavor 80. Undertake 81. Cabinet dept. 82. Compass point
83. M.’s counterpart 84. Middle-eastern kingdom 85. Hive component 87. Make a sharp explosive noise 91. “In excelsis ___” 92. Lister’s abbr. 93. 80s group who sang Take on Me 95. Baseball score 96. Chicago transports 97. South African nation 99. Snubs 100. “Quit that!” 104. Many a delivery 107. Description 109. Whimpers 111. Kindergarten instruction 112. Jack of ‘’Barney Miller’’ 114. On a pension, abbr. 115. Cooler 116. Young hog 117. Paris newspaper, with “Le” 120. Org. with the Sun and Sky 121. Civil War soldiers 122. G-men’s org. 123. McKellen who played Gandalf 124. Dynamite acronym 125. C.V. 126. Philosopher suffix 128. Third guy with the same name 129. Gist
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