NEIGHBORHOOD
Shaw Streets by Pleasant Mann scene for 25 years, is moving to Shaw. Owner Farid Nouri announced that he was moving his Businesses along Ninth famed nightclub, that Street in Shaw began to regularly saw lines of express concerns when hundreds of people and the District’s Department celebrities trying to get of Transportation in, to 1230 Ninth Street (DDOT) announced at NW. The new club will the end of May that they have two floors like the were installing a new old one, a roof deck, a bar bidirectional, protected on each level and be able bicycle track along the to host multiple live music Ninth Street commercial acts at once. Nouri noted corridor in 2022. After that the lively restaurant an initial study, Mayor and club scene was a major Bowser had put further attraction of the new action on the project on location. The new club will hold for years, during open in four to six months. which time the detailed On the same block, plans for installing a a new speakeasy called cycletrack on Ninth Street Never Looked Better has have never been presented DDOT wants to put protected cycletrack on Ninth Street, which would remove Unconventional Diner’s 100-seat parklet. Photo: Pleasant Mann opened in the basement to the public. of 130 Blagden Alley NW. such as Shaw Main Streets and the Ninth Street The new cycletrack is Reviewer Tierney Plumb describes NLB as a “bar Business Association, which represents restaurants, supposed to start at Florida Avenue/U Street, going that’s different than anything DC has ever seen – a bars and nightclubs on the 1900 block of Ninth down the east side of the street until it reaches place that combines a speakeasy’s serious approach Street, have called for DDOT to publicly present Pennsylvania Avenue downtown. Businesses are to bartending with the bright, loose vibe of an their plans for a Ninth Street cycletrack and to concerned that an uninterrupted track would underground rave.” Patrons are offered a menu of engage with the community to develop workable require reducing north-bound vehicular traffic to cocktails and highballs in an environment bathed solutions to the problems they’ve identified. They one lane, would snarl traffic, eliminate 80 parking in neon and blacklight. are also joining efforts of other businesses and spaces, impose rush hour parking restrictions, and Shaw is also becoming the home of not one, but community organizations pushing inhibit deliveries. The conflicts between the heavy back against DDOT plans to install tractor trailer traffic operations of City Market at cycletracks on 17th Street in Dupont O and the Washington Convention Center are an Circle and in Glover Park and additional concern. Neighborhood churches are Burlieth. troubled by the loss of parking during their Sunday services. There are also concerns that the plans would put a premature end to the parklets and Shaw Business Community Still streeteries outside of Shaw restaurants, which the Expanding District is continuing to allow in order to enhance While some of the District’s revenue of the establishments just coming out of a commercial areas are pockmarked pandemic slump. by vacant retail spaces marking Eric Eden, co-owner of Shaw’s Unconventional businesses lost to the pandemic, Shaw Dinner cautioned that “we ask that the powers that is seeing newcomers moving in. The be carefully consider the economic impact – likely most visible example of this is the in the millions of dollars – to our businesses and the notice that the 18th Street Lounge, Shaw Art All Night, with art markets and performances returns loss of sales taxes from those sales.” Business groups a fixture of the Dupont Circle club
Shaw Business Community Upset Over Planned Cycletrack
September 25. Photo: Pleasant Mann
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