Condo fury

Neighbors on 15th Street SE must feel like they are being used as a doormat for gentrification.

The area has gotten much nicer and safer than it used to be, but now a four-story condo is making for a new kind of blight.

In October, neighbors were angry that a worker for the developer, Macy Development, killed an old oak tree in front of the new building. The city fined Macy $15,000. Last week, 23 people who live nearby showed up to a meeting to cut Macy principal Bharath Kort down to size.

“We’re really sorry,” Kort said. “We’re ready for the punishment.”

The neighbors harangued Kort first about the tree, then about illegal after-hours work, illegal holiday work, damage to adjacent properties, loss of parking spaces, loss of sidewalk space, workers not wearing safety equipment, collapsing walls and fences, and the building itself.

They called it “ugly,” “a monstrosity” and “an atrocity.”

Macy has two buildings on the 200 block of 15th. One, on the southeast corner of the street, is nothing but a foundation. The other, in the middle of the block on the other side of the street, is called the “Axis.” It is four stories tall and stands in sharp contrast to the modest row houses on the block.

Mike Young, who lives across the street from the Axis, complained that the worker Kort claimed had been fired for killing the tree was still on the job. Kort denied the accusation, and Young became incensed, calling him a liar. Charles Allen, chief of staff for Ward 6 D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells, tried to keep the peace. “It’s helpful, I think, to hear the level of frustration,” Allen said, “and the folks that are upset and feel like —”

“This is not being upset,” interrupted Young. “We’re not upset. We’re beyond that. We’re tired of the s—t that’s going down in our community. It ain’t frustration … This community right here has worked diligently to clean that corner from drugs and alcohol.”  

Young continued ranting, and Allen tried again: “All of what you brought up is exactly why we wanted Mr. Kort and Macy Development to come out to the community and hear the level of frustration and anger that —”

“It ain’t frustration,” Young interrupted again. “Don’t keep calling it that. It’s beyond that. Find another word for it.”

Kort disagreed with a few statements, but he was mostly apologetic and made some promises: Macy will fix any property damage caused by the construction, and work hours will be confined to between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. He volunteered his cell phone number and e-mail address. After the meeting, he told Hillscape it is in his interest as a businessman to keep the neighborhood happy.

“We need community support for future projects,” he said. Maybe he can send everybody nice Christmas cards.

North Hall battle continues 

At the beginning of the month, Market 5 Gallery owner John Harrod said he received notice from the District that Market 5 would be evicted from Eastern Market’s North Hall at the end of December. The city said he owed $12,000 in rent. But Harrod, who is disputing the figure, was surprised by what happened last week: He showed up on Tuesday and could not unlock the door.

Harrod and his lawyer, Donald Temple, called it an illegal eviction.  

“That’s a matter that’s supposed to be addressed in [the Landlord and Tenant Branch of D.C. Superior Court],” Harrod said, sitting in his gray sedan by the cold market plaza. “You can’t just change the locks.”

Also surprised, and slightly disappointed, was Ken Kolodner, who had arrived that afternoon to give a musical performance in the North Hall as part of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ holiday music series. Kolodner set up his PA system, hammered dulcimer and hammered mbira and performed outside.  Bill Rice, communications director for the D.C. Office of Property Management (OPM), told Hillscape that the lockout was not an eviction, but a mix-up between Harrod and OPM construction workers who were supposed to go inside the North Hall that morning. They had to replace the old locks after breaking them to enter.

“We made sure he had a key,” Rice said.

Nonetheless, Harrod is soliciting “Save Market 5” petition signatures on the Market 5 website. He posted a message decrying the situation: “The reason the City will try again to evict Market 5 is because over the past 15 years it has allowed several small interrelated citizens’ groups, who in no way mirror the demographic cross-section of the greater Eastern Market community, to orchestrate a private personal agenda at the expense of a long-standing community-based arts program.” 

You may kiss the bride… after a series of tests 

Ward 8 D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry introduced legislation last week that will require D.C. couples to submit to an HIV test to obtain a marriage license.

Couples have been required to undergo syphilis tests since 1966, a vestige of the days when syphilis was incurable.

The “Safe Marriage Amendment Act of 2007” leaves the old requirement in place. It amends the law “By adding the phrase ‘and HIV/AIDS’ after the word ‘syphilis.’ ”

The bill also provides a $30 discount on the marriage license for couples who have completed a six-hour premarital education program.

The bill does not prohibit people who test positive for HIV/AIDS from obtaining a marriage license. 

Ghost of King George III disrupts

DC Vote staged a protest last Sunday to commemorate the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and the ongoing Taxation Without Representation in Washington. Instead of dumping 45 tons of tea into the Boston Harbor, however, protesters tossed a few crates of old leaves into the Potomac River. Or at least they tried to — wind gusts kept a lot of the foliage ashore.

“That’s King George saying, ‘In your face!’ ” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

“I don’t want to give King George too much credit,” said Paul Strauss, one of D.C.’s shadow senators. Strauss stressed that they did a noble thing by using an environmentally friendly medium to get their message across. “Our enemy is tyranny, not the beautiful Potomac,” he said.

To get into the Revolutionary spirit, DC Vote coordinator Eli Zigas donned 18th-century garb. His facial hair remained in the 19th century, though. You might recognize Zigas as Abe Lincoln from the CNN-YouTube debates.