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The Foggy BoTTom CurrenT
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Vol. XI, No. 45
Serving Foggy Bottom & the West End
Circulator line may extend to National Zoo
Helipad accord obtains nod from divided ANC
ALL SMILES
■ Foggy Bottom: Proposal
needs D.C. Council approval
By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer
By GRACE BIRD
As the National Zoo’s visitation surges and its planned $50 million parking garage advances, officials are considering extending the DC Circulator service a halfmile with a new stop directly outside the park. One DC Circulator route currently runs from 14th and I streets NW through Adams Morgan to the Woodley Park-Zoo Metro station, some five blocks south of the Zoo’s Connecticut Avenue entrance. The Zoo and the D.C. Department of Transportation are reviewing the idea of an extension, representatives told The Current. “DDOT has discussed the possibility of DC Circulator extending to the Zoo,” Transportation Department spokesperson Maura Danehey wrote in an email. “This would be dependent on having access to a turnaround. Right now the Zoo is in the planning phase for capital improvements that See Circulator/Page 10
Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design presented Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage” last weekend. In the play, a playground altercation by young boys brings together their parents for a meeting — but instead of resolving the dispute, tensions soar.
Have lunch on us!
A helipad planned for George Washington University Hospital advanced last week when Foggy Bottom’s advisory neighborhood commission supported the proposal in a narrow 3-2 vote. A 1987 public nuisance law barred hospitals from building new heliports in D.C.’s residential neighborhoods, including Foggy Bottom. But the hospital at 900 23rd St. NW has been lobbying for a change, and Babak Sarani, George Washington’s director of trauma and acute care surgery, said multiple D.C. Council members have already indicated their support. The District has one Level I trauma center with a helipad: MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Ward 5. Patients coming by helicopter to George Washington must land in Southwest and travel the rest of the way in an ambulance — which can take up
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
Some neighbors of the hospital worry about noise impacts and safety risks from helicopters.
to 45 minutes. “Sirens cannot part the seas of traffic,” Sarani said. “Once you’re in gridlock, you’re in gridlock. … If someone’s having a stroke or a heart attack, they’re done for.” After several months of deliberation, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A (Foggy Bottom, West End) reached a compromise with the hospital — intended to balance the hospital’s desire to receive emergency patients quickly against community concerns about helicopter noise and safety. The agreement mandates that the helipad can receive only one See Helipad/Page 8
Shop Made in DC features locally built items By ZOE MORGAN Current Correspondent
Come see us this Saturday from 12 to 3, and receive a free lunch! 4629 41st Street, NW in Tenleytown *text “loveyobi” to 578277 register
www.YobiFresh.com
Shop Made in DC — a store and cafe selling only items made in the District, with offerings ranging from stationery to pottery to jewelry — opened last week at 1330 19th St. NW. The shop is operating as part of the city’s broader Made in DC program, which means that the creators they partner with have a District business license, and live and produce within D.C. The store’s creative director Stacey Price told The Current that the items offered are similar to those sold in a boutique, except that all of the products are made by District residents. “We’re just becoming the clubhouse for that creative, maker class,” Price said. “I think the consumer can always have a little bit of an element of discovery when they come in.” The shop has the space for two years as part of a partnership with the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District and Boston Properties, which is
Brian Kapur/The Current
The store, located at 1330 19th St. NW just south of Dupont Circle, hosted Mayor Muriel Bowser last week at a preview event prior to its grand opening.
subsidizing the space. The D.C. Department of Small and Local Business Development, which oversees the Made in DC program, is also one of the store’s partners and provided seed funding. Price said that the city helped with fast-tracking the project so that the See Shop/Page 13