News from Dupont-Logan-U Street.

From Cody Telep. Follow him on Twitter @codywt, email him at cody[AT]borderstan.com.

A victim was robbed at gunpoint Thursday evening at 16th Street and Florida Avenue NW. The alert from police came at 6:40 pm. Three suspects with a bike heading westbound on W Street NW were reported. No arrests have been announced.

The Borderstan area — Dupont, Logan and U Street — recorded 17 gun robberies in the first three months of 2012, up from 12 in the same time period in 2011. Citywide, gun robberies are up about 51% this year compared to 2011 numbers. See related posts below for more information.

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Related Posts

• MPD Announces Arrests in Area Robberies; Gun Crimes Up (March 21)
• Robberies Up in Borderstan, Citywide; Gun Robberies Increase Most (February 22)
• Borderstan Robberies Down, But Rash of Incidents in Past Week (February 17)

16th Street and Riggs Place NW: The recently poured concrete at the Republic of Congo Embassy came up on December 19. (Luis Gomez Photos)

From Michelle Lancaster. Follow her and tell her your news on Twitter @MichLancaster or email her at michellel@borderstan.com.

Apparently, the squeaky wheel does get the grease. Or perhaps it often just has a better PR person? At any rate, Dupont Circle residents made so much noise about the decision by the Republic of Congo Embassy to pave their front yard that the embassy relented and began tearing up the concrete on Monday. (See No More Concrete at the Embassy of Congo.)

It took the DC Department of Transportation, the State Department and other local officials — along with neighborhood organizations — to make it happen. But now even the Grey Lady is in the picture. The New York Times story on Wednesday was after the Republic of Congo took corrective action with plans to replace the concrete with “bushes and mulch.”

The Dupont Circle Conservancy gets much of the credit in the article and the president is quoted a few times. The actual protests in front of the embassy were organized by the Dupont Circle Citizens Association.

The coverage of this squabble in the The Times means a few things:

• First, it is an extremely slow news week leading up to Christmas.
• Second, enough attention in local blogs can trickle up to the highest echelons of power (I’m talking about the State Department, not the The Times for any of you FOX News lovers).
• Third, be very careful if you want to build/renovate/alter anything in Dupont Circle.

The money quote in the article from the Republic of Congo’s ambassador, Serge Mombouli: “They asked us remove the pavement, and that is what we are doing,” he said. “I know that that will not look nice, but that for me is as far as it goes. If we are required to do more, we will lodge a strong protest with the U.S. government.”

Merry Christmas to you, too, Mr. Ambassador.

Previous Posts

• No More Concrete at the Embassy of Congo
• Pavementgate: State Department Smackdown on Congolese Embassy
• The Other Side on the B&B that Became a Cement Embassy
• Embassies, Trees, B&Bs: Be Careful What You Protest?
• SYMHM: Concrete, Lincoln and Vintage
• DCCA to Protest Congolese Embassy Over 16th Street Renovations
• SYMHM: ANC 2B Says No to Congolese Chancery
• Toutorsky Mansion Owners Apply for Chancery Use

Saturday at 11 pm at 16th and R Streets NW: The street was partially blocked for about two hours due to a collision.(Borderstan)

The intersection of 16th and R Streets NW was partially blocked for about two hours around 9 pm on Saturday. Borderstan spoke to bystanders, witnesses and police on the scene to piece together what happened. A man was driving a station wagon with DC plates westbound on R Street NW when he hit a car at 13th Street NW. The driver of the station wagon continued westbound, with the car and driver he had hit following him. When the driver of the station wagon turned to go north on 16th Street he hit another car. Neither of the drivers in the two cars that were hit were injured.

Following the accident at 16th and R, both DC Police and an ambulance were on the scene. The driver of the station wagon was on a stretcher, having suffered minor injuries from the collision at 16th and R. His passenger, a woman, was on the ground behind the station wagon — police were having difficulty subdueing her. Police eventually took the woman away in a police van while the driver of the station wagon left in an ambulance.

The owners of the Toutorsky mansion at 16th and Riggs NW have applied for zoning review to locate a chancery in the landmark property. (Luis Gomez Photos)

From Tom Hay. Questions for Tom? Send him an email.

The owners of the historic Toutorsky Mansion at 1720 16th Street NW in Dupont Circle have filed an application with the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) seeking approval to locate a chancery in the property. The filing by owners Humberto and Francisco Gonzalez is on behalf of the contract purchaser of the property, The Embassy of the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville). Under the Foreign Mission Act of 1982, the location of a chancery in certain mixed-use areas of the city is subject to review and possible disapproval by the BZA.

Read the full story

From Tom Hay

16th and Corcoran NW: Green Door to close Dupont Clubhouse Dec. 31. (Luis Gomez Photos)

Green Door will be closing its Dupont Circle clubhouse on Dec. 31. The community program prepares women and men with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses to work and live independently in the DC and has operated the clubhouse at 1623 16^th St. NW since 1976.

The organization also has a facility at 1221 Taylor St. that will remain open and continue some of the programs when the 16th St. location closes.

Judith Johnson, the president of Green Door, said services were threatened by DC Government budget cuts, and shortfalls in billing under Medicaid. After closing and moving to Taylor St., the Dupont clubhouse building will be sold. The DC Real Property Assessment database lists the property assessment as $4.7 million.

Johnson issued the following statement:

The Green Door Clubhouse programs did more than provide education and job training skills to men and women in our community living with mental illness; our members learned to support one another, advocate for themselves and help others in our community by volunteering, speaking out about mental illness and representing Green Door at community forums. Closing our doors was a hard — but necessary — decision. The change in our funding mechanism (billing under Medicaid), the recent DC budget cuts and the operational costs to maintain two locations forced us to review our financial forecast and take decisive action.

According to a 1991 Washington Post article on the $2 million renovation of the clubhouse, the mansion housing Green Door was built in 1886 for Hampton B. Denman, a former mayor of Leavenworth, Kansas. The architectural style was described as a combination of Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque, both popular at the time.

A closing party at the Clubhouse is scheduled for Dec. 29 from 3 to 7 pm.

Repairs to Meridian Hill Parks’ west retaining wall on 16th Street NW begin July 12. (Luis Gomez Photos)

Starting Monday, July 12, the National Park Service will begin repairs on the 35-foot-high retaining wall at Meridian Hill Park that borders northbound 16th Street NW near Crescent Place Drive. Work is expected to be completed in approximately three month. The walls and park’s 13 fountains are constructed with concrete aggregate, a new material at the time.

A portion of the northbound lanes of 16th Street will be closed near the bus stop on the northbound side of 16th Street and the resulting traffic shift will provide two lanes in both directions at all times. There will be no parking along southbound 16th Street in the work area. Pedestrian traffic on the east side of 16th Street will be restricted during the working hours of Monday through Friday, 6:00 am to 5 pm.

Also known as Malcolm X Park, Meridian Hill Park covers 12 ares and is bounded by 15th, W, 16th and Euclid Streets NW and is officially part of Rock Creek Park. Design work on the park began in 1914 and it was given park status in 1936.

Crimes of note for the Dupont-Logan-U Street area.

We have some more information on the three carjackings that occurred on Sunday and Monday in the area. The following details are from DC Police.

What is notable is two of the three crimes occured as the drivers of the cars were preparing to pull out of their parking spaces—be careful when getting into your car in the late-night hours.

• Sunday, June 13: 4:30 am, 11th Street and Florida Avenue NW: “The complainant was sitting in his vehicle when he was approached by a gold SUV. A suspect exited the SUV from the rear passenger door and ordered the victim out of his car at gunpoint. The suspect then demanded the victim’s phone, which he obtained, and fled in the victim’s vehicle east in the 1100 block of Florida Avenue.”
• Sunday, June 13, 11:24 pm, 2000 13th Street NW (at U Street): “Complainant 1 reports that a black [Toyota] Avalon pulled up beside his vehicle and a subject pointed  a silver handgun at him from the rear passenger door. The subject in the front passenger seat exited the vehicle and entered Complainant 1’s vehicle, fleeing northbound on 13th Street. No property was demanded or obtained.”
• Monday, June 134, 1:52 am, 1534 16th Street NW (between P and Church Streets): “A victim was preparing to drive away from the listed location when a black sedan pulled in front of him blocking his path. Suspect 1 exited from the rear passenger door with a black handgun and ordered the victim out of the car and also demanded everything in the victim’s pockets. The victim turned over his wallet. Suspect 1 entered the victim’s car and drove away, followed by the sedan, soutbound on 16th Street.”

Dcist has the details… the block of 16th Street NW between R and S Streets was closed for about an hour this morning starting at 9:40 am due to a “suspicious package.”

16th and Corcoran NW: The Vita Coconut truck. (Luis Gomez Photos)

You can buy coconut water in America? Who knew? New York-based Vita Coco sells the stuff to grocery stores and sports clubs, according to the two delivery drivers in the truck. It even comes in different flavors.

As you might guess, it was the rooftop “basket” full of plastic coconuts that caught our attention.

16th and R NW: An immigration reform supporter prepares to join marchers. (Borderstan)

16th and P NW: Supporters of immigration reform on their way to the rally on the National Mall. (Borderstan)

Marches and rallies are part of life in DC. Because the Borderstan area is close to the White House, Capitol and National Mall, the neighborhood is often a transit point for marchers.

Yesterday was no exception. A contingent of immigration reform supporters marched down 16th Street NW from Meridan Hill Park to the National Mall on Sunday afternoon. They were on their way to a rally at the Mall.